As you may well know, it’s Thanksgiving today on the other side of the pond. It’s a day where the Yanks commemorate their Pilgrim Fathers’ good harvest, yadda yadda, then they basically they eat turkey and pumpkin pie – and say what they’re thankful for. It’s not a holiday we celebrate here in the UK, though sometimes we wish it was – it’s like Christmas come early!

Ordinarily we’re all for taking the piss out of our Yankee brothers. After all, they are notoriously loud-mouthed, overweight, gas-guzzling gun-lovers. But we’re feeling in good spirits today and so we might risk saying something positive for a change (don’t shoot us!) After all, for every douchebag redneck out there, there’s a seriously sound American. And for every Shaun White, there’s a rad rider who’s just got it… well, right.

We could never hope to make this an exhaustive or comprehensive list (yes before you mention it in the comments, we know there are tons of riders we’ve left out) but here to celebrate Thanksgiving, are five American riders who we’re pretty damn glad exist.