‘People who make the Industry’ – a conversation with Anna Cipullo

In this edition of our ‘People who make the Industry’ series, we hear from a Former GMBN Presenter turned YouTuber and content creator.

With much of the industry media focused on showcasing pro rider extreme feats, presenting riding as an accessible activity which anyone can do might not sound radical, yet that’s exactly what it is.

As Anna Cipullo points out: “Whether I’m riding bikes or just talking about them, my aim is to remind you that at the end of the day… It’s just bikes, so get inspired and get involved.”

How did you get started with cycling?

I moved to Bath after university and landed my first job… in Bristol. Not ideal. I couldn’t afford a car, and even the train or bus was a stretch. So, I borrowed a mate’s old Specialized Rockhopper and braved the 13-mile commute along the off-road cycle path. He promised it would be easy, but it took me an hour and forty minutes!

Eventually, I bought myself an alloy road bike, shaved the commute down to an hour, and became known as “the cyclist” in the office. I was working at KPMG at the time, and they offered time off for charity events, plus they’d double any money you raised. So, when I saw a Marie Curie London-to-Paris ride, I jumped at it for the free holiday!

What I didn’t expect was for it to completely change how I saw cycling. It wasn’t just a sweaty slog to work anymore; it was social, fun, scenic, even relaxing. Later that year, my local bike shop suggested I join a women’s MTB ride. One ride into the hills above Bath, looking across the Avon towards Wales, and I was totally hooked. I bought a second-hand Kona NuNu with v-brakes and started racing cross-country straight away. At age 24ish, I was late to the party!

Working in the industry – how did that come about?

After a year of racing and working in pensions admin (spoiler: not my dream job), I figured I’d try getting a job with a bike brand. I thought that even data entry sounded appealing if it meant talking bikes all day, but I stumbled on my ideal job: Cycling Development Officer for CTC (now Cycling UK) in Swindon. I couldn’t believe it when I got it.

The goal was to get more people on bikes in the city. I ran skills sessions in schools, taught over-50s how to ride for the first time, and organised “cycle buses” from neighbourhoods to major workplaces. I even started writing for their in-house touring magazine.

When the lottery funding ended, I pivoted to sales for a while (selling SIS gels to bike shops), but that’s when my freelance journalism really took off. I’ve basically been creating cycling content for over fifteen years now, in slightly different guises for different companies each time.

Tell us about your journey in the industry.

While at CTC, I started writing the odd product review — mostly bikepacking gear — and thought it was very cool to get freebies. Then a new mag called Women’s Cycling asked me to write some event features, and I leapt at the chance.

Before I knew it, I was racing all over the world and writing about it. I then started contributing to Cyclist, BikeRadar, Singletrack, Cranked — you name it. I even helped launch Bikesoup Magazine for Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Touker Suleyman (though, sadly, finances on the “bike marketplace” side of the business didn’t go to plan).

A few years ago, I was running Saddleback’s social media and launched a YouTube channel for them. That caught the eye of Doddy, and after we met at Malverns Classic, he asked me to join him on GMBN Tech. I was honestly star struck and said yes! We had a great two-year run, but after he moved on, the vibe changed for me, so I decided it was time for something new.

What’s the next big thing for you?

That would be my own channel: AnnaontheBike. I’d already built the name on social media, and people seemed to enjoy my blend of self-deprecating humour and no-nonsense bike chat, so I wanted to carry that into long-form content.

I started uploading weekly videos right after leaving GMBN. I figured it would be a slow build, maybe a year to get momentum, but somehow, even with modest subscriber numbers, the videos started hitting around 10k views each. I’m still a bit stunned!

The biggest boost was having Trek, and recently Shimano, came on board with sponsorships, which means I can keep going full throttle.

Right now, I’m still holding down a full-time job outside of the bike industry to keep the lights on and the cats fed! However, my YouTube channel is my passion project, and I’m immensely proud of it. It’s not about flashy reviews or constant gear plugs. I’m trying to create something a little different, more storytelling, more thought-provocation, and hopefully a bit of comic relief. At the very least, I hope it adds a dash of personality and diversity to the MTB space.