Goodbye ‘Jumpin’ Jez Avery
It is with shock and sadness that we can report the death of the legend that is Jez Avery. Our thoughts are with his family and his friends.
I thought I’d catch Jez later. Part way through commentating a bunnyhop competition at the Malverns Classic in 2024, he was in his element. Just the right balance of encouragement and cheek, surrounded by GT logos and a bunch of faces you might recognise had you been at the original Malverns Classics. Indeed, plenty of fans were stopping for a selfie with their teenage idol. I figured I’d not interrupt, and left Jez to doing what he loved.
Jez Avery was an icon in the early days of mountain biking in the UK, remembered especially for ‘Team Hot Pies’, and later the Jez Avery Stunt Show. His cheer and chat along with a bag of bike based stunts and tricks made him an easy guest at events and on TV shows. You could count on him to wow you with his performance, building the suspense – or talking his way out of a mishap. If you said ‘oh shit’, or worse, on hearing of his death last week, you’d not be alone. You’d better also apologise – Jez rarely swore, and always apologised if he did. A habit, perhaps, of having so many of his words pumped straight through a microphone and into the public’s ear. He was safe family viewing, and a committed family man, hit hard by the loss of his parents in his younger years, and doting on his daughter, Olivia.
I did not catch Jez later, at that Malverns Festival last year. Instead, my last memory of him is of his Jez Avery roadshow truck and trailer hitting the road – weaving its way along the valley across from the campsite, on his way to another summer show date. Maybe my mind’s eye is tricking me, but in it Jez is honking some crazy horn and all the festival campers are waving. I hope I didn’t imagine that, because it would be a perfect send off.
I wrote of Jez’s successes and struggles back in 2019, and you can read that article below. Jez leaves behind his much loved daughter, Olivia. There is a collection in his memory to help her with his funeral costs.
Thanks to Jez for all the chat and entertainment. Gone too soon, let him remind us to check in and catch up with our friends. Sometimes there isn’t a next time.
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RIP Jez Avery
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Posted 2 days ago
From The Malverns Classic FB just now
“Sad News coming in today that we have lost the ‘Greatest Showman’ – Jumping Jez Avery (pictured on the right here next to Les Dalley).
Jez was at there at the beginning of MTB in the UK both racing and freestyling and was one of the very best.
I still can’t work out was he a better bike rider or comedian!!
Jez made it along to last years Malverns Classic and brought along his Bunny Hop kit so we could again run a bunny hop comp in typical Jez style with all his enthusiasm and banter!
Our thoughts and wishes are now with his daughter Olivia and all of his friends and family. May he rest in eternal peace.
A polite reminder, check in on your friends now, give them a call. This time of year can be tough.”Posted 2 days agoI have just seen this, I’m in a bit of shock! My thoughts are with his friends and family. RIP Jez.
Posted 2 days agoI’ve been riding mountain bikes way too long. I remember Jez, Team Hot Pies and his Switzerland squeaker featuring regularly in MBUK. One of those names I’ll always associate with those founding days of UK mountain biking
Posted 2 days agoJust seen this as well. Really sad news.
Posted 2 days agoSad news
Forever Team Hot Pies
You’ll be missed Jez
Posted 2 days agoSame here. Regular face in MBUK in the early 90s. Good memories of seeing him at the Malverns 96/97 ish.
Posted 2 days agoSaw this earlier but I never want to be the one to post this type of thread.
He’s from my part of the world and I used to see him cruising around on his polished Zaskar in the mbuk days. I tried to impress him with my wheelie skills at Seaburn beach.
Jez and JMC were the first 2 mountain bikers I knew.
Posted 2 days agoReally sad news grow up watching him at the original Malvern Hills Classic as my grandparents lived there! Always seemed a cheeky happy chap but believed suffered with depression.. RIP Jez.. gutted
Posted 2 days agooh shit that is sad news
i actually sent mr avery an email about 3-4 months ago hoping he was well and saying how much of a hero he was to us and he kindly replied back.
rip mr avery
Posted 2 days agoI remember well his appearance in Dirt, one of the forerunners of the MTB films. He appeared like a time traveller from the future, head to toe armour and full sun Pro-Flex. The film hasn’t aged well but, at the time, I watched it until the VHS tape wore out.
Posted 2 days agoI missed it at the time but this is a tough read.
Singletrack Magazine Issue 125 | Jez Avery – Tears Of A Clown
Look after your mates everyone, lots of people need all the help they can get.
Posted 2 days agoRIP…a great showman. Some great old pics on this part of his website
Posted 2 days agoThat’s terrible news. A proper legend of mountain biking. Thinking of his family.
Posted 2 days agoHe was a major part of mountain biking growing up in the nineties when my MTB world revolved around MBUK.
A loss to the mountain biking community as well as to his friends and family
Posted 2 days agoThat’s horrible horrible news. He, along with JMC and Dave Hemming, were the riders who really drove the UK scene in the early days. Inspired a whole generation.
Love to his close family and friends.
(photo from 93 or 94 Malverns)
Posted 2 days agoWent to school with Jez. Fond memeries of a group of us building ramps with a sheet of ply and some bricks and Jez jumping over us other Evel Kneival style. RIP fella.
Posted 2 days agoRIP Jez. Thoughts with family and friends.
He was the first ‘Pro’ mountain biker I met, at a show in the local park in the north east in summer of ‘93. A brilliant entertainer and inspiring kids.
Posted 2 days agoRip Jez
One of my early MTB heroes and I had the pleasure of being soundly beaten by him in the bunny hop competition at the Malverns in ’92 (or maybe ’93).
Posted 1 day agoThat 2019 article is tough. RIP Jez.
Posted 1 day agoWhen I was 18/19 (1986/87) I worked at a short lived MTB shop in Morpeth run by Frank. As well as some seriously high end bikes that it sold (Funks, Klein’s, Pace RC100), Jez used to drop in regularly and we’d ask him to do bunny hops in the precinct outside the shop. Amazing rider and nice guy.
Posted 1 day agoRIP Jez, thanks for the memories
Posted 1 day agoIt’s all been said above really. What an impact he had on the scene back in the 90s! Such a sad loss.
Posted 1 day agoAnyone else remember Jez vs JMC at Hamsterly NEMBA evening slalem?
Jez could ride a bike alright. Magic times.Posted 1 day agoSeen him a few times, remember him in the magazines and I have a vague recollection of meeting him.
That 2019 article really strikes some person notes too and good for him to speak so openly.
RIP.
Posted 1 day agoRemember the Hamsterly dual race, but can’t remember who won! Jez was everything that was great about early 90s mountain biking. As juvenile racers at the time he was the guy we all wanted to be. Absolutely gutted to hear of his passing. RIP Jez.
Posted 1 day agoOnly saw his show last year, he was great with the crowds. RIP.
Posted 1 day agoAs others have said, he was a staple of my teenage MTB world, one of the superstars for a starstruck lad. Then he pops up performing at Pately Show a few years back and I was a starstruck teen all over again.
Ride free Jez.
Posted 1 day agoRip Jez. Sad, sad news. He was the ‘Danny MacAskill’ of my early mtb years and I looked on in awe at his skills
Posted 1 day agoSo sad ?
most of us who remember the 90’s and mbuk in its prime years will recall him fondly.
Posted 1 day agoDirt is still my top MTB film of all time. I might watch it later, RIP Jez
Posted 1 day agoDonated .
RIP Big Man
Posted 1 day agoI am very saddened to hear this news. Jez was one of the stars in that early Golden Era of British mountain biking.
Posted 21 hours agoI saw Jez at a few recent events and spoke to him at the Malverns – he was approachable, also self-deprecating and very funny.
He was a key figure I remember well from the early days of the UK MTB scene.
Thinking of his friends and family.
Edit. Apologies, I didn’t see the Gi Fund Me link posted earlier in the thread.
There is a Go Fund Me that has been set up to help pay for his funeral.
Posted 8 hours agoVery sad news, he was definitely a big part of British MTB back in the 90’s. I remember sheltering with him, amongst others from the rain at Eastridge back in 1994 before the Dual Slalom. A real character, kept everyone entertained while we waited for the rain to pass. I seem to remember he rode pretty much the whole track backwards!
Also met JMC at that same race so it was definitely a weekend to remember (I have my signed program framed on my office wall).RIP Jez
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