Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Which Pro Racers Have You Met? Were They Cool?

8K views 139 replies 72 participants last post by  bikeranzin 
#1 ·
Pro MTB Racing is a small niche sport within a small niche sport. Races are almost never televised in the states. Salaries range between modest to non-existent to negative. The recognizability of the sport's stars ranges from very low to zero.

The inclusion of MTB XC Racing in the olympics has raised the profile of the sport a little bit, though. All in all, I'm led to assume that the sport's "stars" are more accessible, nicer and more down to earth. Am I right?

Which racers have you met? Were they cool?
 
#3 ·
I met Shonny Vanlandingham once, but didn't realize who she was until later. I never followed racing, but must have seen her photo in a magazine, because she looked familiar. She seemed nice and normal. Wade Simmons is our local Race Face rep and he seemed fine as well. A local friend raced the EWS in Whistler, which is pretty cool, and you will never meet a nicer young man.
 
#38 ·
Sort of funny that you haven't run into the large number of Pro's who are in and out of the Courtney, Cumberland area.
Katerina Nash spends a lot time there with her boyfriend Geoff Kabush.
2004 Canadian MTB Olympian Kiara Bisaro is from there and is on the trails time to time.
Locally you have two most fastest juniors in the country and arguably in north america (Carter Woods and Emilly Johnson).
 
#4 ·
The World Cup races are all available to stream live on redbull tv.

At the races I've been to, almost all of the athletes are accessible in the pit area the day before the race and again after the race is over. Yes, every one is super nice. If your timing is right, you can stop and chat with world champions just the same way as you'd talk to anyone else at the trails.
 
#7 ·
Mick Hannah was one of the most down to earth guys I've ever met. He not only signed stuff, but initiated the conversation and it was for about 20 minutes.

Sam Hill was laid back and very cool. Easy to talk to.

Peaty was ready to party.

Arron Gwin is very easy going and relaxed. An all around nice guy.

The Atherton are self centered and couldn't be interrupted for 2 hours before a race.

Emily Batty was in a hurry, so I'm not sure if I was bothering her or not. But after saying that while signing my jersey she turned back and talked more to her friends before leaving to get to the starting line.

Brook Macdonald made it sound like I was bothering him.

Nick Beers was very cool. I remember having him sign my jersey and he saw that Missy Giove signed it. He stops and goes "Whoah! Missy signed this! Do you mind if I sign it next to her?"

Lars Tribus is relaxed but energetic! He can motivate you to do something that you didn't think you could.

Danny Hart was fun. I asked him to sign my jersey the year after he won the UCI World cup. I asked him what color marker he wanted to sign with. He said "The gold of course!" and signed it "Danny Hart #1" and laughed.

My favorite of all was Missy Giove. She came back to racing in the 2015(?) World Cup. I was walking around the pits and saw her and was kinda star struck. I reached in my pocket for a marker and she's sitting on a curb and sees me and says** "Yo! What's up dude! Whacha got there?" I said a jersey and she's like "Bring that thing back here!". She drops the F-bomb more than an adult with turrets in a nursery. But is AWESOME to be around. She treated me like her best friend that she hasn't seen in a couple years. After her race run that day, I saw her and her wife walking away from the finish area and just wanted to congratulate her on her comeback. But instead she goes "Get the f+*# over here! Take a selfie of us and f+=#ing send it to me!"

These were from 2012-2015ish when Windham hosted the UCI world cup. Ttyl, Fahn


**The quotes are along those lines. Just quoted to break up "them" vs "me" .
 
#8 ·
I agree about Missy. I was also at Windham that year....I went out the day before to see Missy qualify, so I got to spend some time with her both days. She really does treat everyone like they're her favorite.

I thought the Atherton camp was very business-like about prepping before the race, but I met Rachel after the race and got to talk for 5 minutes or so....super friendly.

Josh Bryceland was kind of the rock star of the moment...he never stopped smiling.

I really, really enjoyed meeting Loic Bruni.
 
#10 ·
Josh Bryceland was kind of the rock star of the moment...he never stopped smiling.
.
So I already met Peaty and Minnar had they signed the jersey and chatted for a bit. Side note here- a good conversation starter is always about the course conditions and stuff. I'm wandering around looking for the racers that I had on my list. As I'm walking past the SC/Syndicate tent some guy in a Syndicate jersey walks out with his bike and just stops me and and asks if he wanted me to have him sign my jersey. Uhh, yeah! I have NO idea who this is, but figured he was someone who I wanted to sign my jersey. Very energetic, cool and looking to make you feel like a friend of his! He was filling me in on the course. I asked him what his favorite course was and he just started telling me all different courses and highlights from them all. I wished him luck and shook his hand. As he walked away I took a pic of his jersey and zoomed in. It said something like "Ratboy" but part of it was obstructed by his goggles. What? Ratboy? Who the F is that? I looked up the Syndicate team and found out that Brycelands nickname was Ratboy! Lol!
 
#26 ·
I've met a few but the one that sticks out the most was meeting Missy Giove. It was mid 90's at The Norba Nationals in Big Bear. I was walking around checking out the booths and she came cruising up with her girlfriend on the handlebars. I knew who she was immediately but the dried out piranha hanging from her neck secured it, LOL. I said hi and good luck in the race. She was super friendly but was more interested in what the booth was offering, so I moved along.
 
#11 ·
I haven't had the chance to meet any racers just yet. I did say hi to Curtis Keene on Facebook and he responded. He is the same age as myself and I told him happy birthday and thanks for inspiring me to try racing out at my age. He responded and told me that mountain biking keeps us young and thanked me for my comments. I honestly hope that I can meet him in person one day.
 
#14 ·
Racers are people, some will be cool and some will not be.
I hear Ya. But they're getting paid to represent. How many WC races are there a year? 7 maybe? That's 21 days a year that you really HAVE to be social and in your best behavior.

The part that bugged me about the Athertons was that they were racing for GT at the time. The shop I worked at for 15 years was a GT dealer for 30 years. That's almost from the beginning of GT! The shop owner was retiring and closing the one shop. He gave me a GT banner. I thought it would be cool to have the Athertons sign it and give it back to him. They were just walking around behind the tents. Gee was mixing up some drink and Rachel was just going in and out of the trailer. They both had in ear buds and didn't even look towards the people walking by/standing there. I asked the woman if I could have them sign the banner and she looked at her watch and said they were getting ready to warm up for the race. It was 2 hours away yet! Seriously? I told her that we've sold GT through the highs and lows and that I wanted to give this to the retiring shop owner. I even asked if I could leave the banner there but she said that they might lose it. So she told me to come back after the race. So I did. An hour after the race. I was told that they were cooling down. I walked by once more on my way to the car and while walking by I said "let me guess, they're too busy?" and she said "I'm sorry"

If you get paid to rep and can't say hi to someone or be interrupted for a portion of your weekend, then you're not worth the phone call to be sponsored.
 
#16 ·
Does it count if you just hang around the women's XC warm-up tent?
 
#20 ·
I haven't met many pro bike racers of any sort. They generally only go to the midwest when they're paid to do so.

I met Ryan Leech a couple years ago. He was a coach in a clinic I had signed up for. I got to talk to him for a bit, but everybody else did, too, so our conversation was fairly businesslike, with me asking riding skill advice. Super nice guy, though.

A few others I had a chance to meet at some event or another, but never managed to talk to them. No big. I'm not the sort to push my way through crowds to talk to someone like that. If I have a chance, I'll say hi or whatever, but I won't seek it out.

I worked with Chloe Dygert in a shop for a little while right before she went off to training camp. She wasn't famous yet, and hadn't won any big races (but had placed well at a national juniors race and got the attention of some teams). But she was signed by a team at that point. After I met her, she won some junior national and world's road races and some UCI senior world's track races, and some road race stage wins. She won silver in the 2016 Olympics in the team pursuit event. She got the world record in the individual pursuit twice (set the record in one heat, then beat her own record in the next) earlier this year. Shortly after that she had a nasty wreck and got a concussion, IIRC, which has messed her up a bit. When I met her, she was a fairly typical teenager. I ran into her at the shop once after she won some of those big races, and she was on hugging terms with everyone. I keep in touch with her, but she's obviously pretty busy these days.

I've met more pro athletes from other sports. Mostly pro football, but also Indycar racing. Not that I sought those interactions out, either. They were just customers of the shop where I worked. My favorite was meeting Chuck Pagano after he had finished his cancer treatment and was back to coaching the Indianapolis Colts. In addition to helping him out at the shop (helped him buy his wife a bike for mother's day), I got to talk to him about my own leukemia diagnosis, and we spoke about that for a few minutes. He actually came back a few months later and we talked a bit again.
 
#25 ·
This was about a decade ago, but I still have the email. In Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley Velodrome has a flea market twice a year. That's where this occurred. Keep in mind that Lemond was not a fan favorite at the time.

10-7-2006


As were walking around, We hear the announcer say that Bobby Jullich (Pro roadie who races in the TDF) is present and doing autographs. In our search we see Marty Nosthine. He raced the velodrome races in the Olympics and is a local legend as he grew up racing at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. Marty, I believe won a couple gold medals in his days and is now part owner of the LVVD.

As Dan and I are looking for Bobby, we hear the announcer say someone special is present and makes some joke about a guy he personally knows. He comes back with a laugh saying that actually Greg Lemond is present by turn 4! Me and Dan look at each other in dis-belief knowing this has got to be a joke. The announcer never corrected himself this time. Some of the people were approaching the turn at the same time we were. Sure enough, there's Greg! He was shaking hands and talking to anybody. Though no pen or camera was handy, we both got to shake his hand!

We now find out where Bobby Jullich is at. We find our way over and there he stands. A very down-to-earth type of guy. We got his autograph and Dan talked to him for a couple about what it's like to race and travel. It's kinda cool to run into 3 American legends that influenced riding in general as we see it today, all in one place at the same time.
 
#28 ·
I haven't met any big time pros. I live in the same small city as Ben King whos a world tour rider with Dimension Data (road cycling). I ride a lot of the same roads so I figure I'll be passed by him eventually.

On less of a globally known scale I have ridden with a woman named Sue George about half dozen times. She was a member of the women's US National Cycling team and has won quite a few Junior and collegiate titles I believe from the late 80's to 90's. She's also raced in international and world championships. Extremely energetic and friendly. Jeremiah Bishop lives around here somewhere and I've been around him at a few local mountain bike races. Seems like a pretty nice guy.
 
#29 ·
I've met a few pros since I started mtb. Before Chris (singlesprocket) and I met, he met Hans "No way" Rey. Chris reports he was very nice and friendly.

In 2009, I did a riding skills workshop (small class- 5 of us) led by Wade Simmons. As an ice breaker Wade mooned me and Chris. That cracked me up. He was social and fun and a great rider.

In 2010, Emily Batty and her husband were riding in the opposite direction on a local trail (3-Stage). I recognised her and said hi and wished her a good ride. She wished me well too. We waved smiled and kept riding.

In 2011 I saw Emily Batty again at a local indoor bike park (Joyride 500) She had a group of riders following her around sessioning some features. I watched as she rode by me and then she lost her balance and fell off on an off-camber skinny. Her peeps helped her up and she rode away.

In 2011, I met mtb hall of famer Brett Tippie. Together we rode down one of the trails at a local DH park... needless to say I met him at the bottom and he gave me a big hug for my effort and told he me that I wasn't fast but he was more stoked that I beat cancer. He was incredibly strong.

Wheel Leg Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel rim Bicycle wheel


In 2013 I met freerider Geoff Gulevich at a local DH park. I walked up to him and told him he was badass and wished him a good ride at the upcoming Red Bull Rampage... he finished 15th. Not too shabby

Window Shirt Neighbourhood Shorts House


Clothing Roller skates Window Inline skating Neighbourhood


In 2018 I met trials rider Kenny Belaey downtown Toronto. He was filming for RedBull. He was taking a break in Kensington Market and my hubby and I noticed him and his bike. He was also very nice to chat with

Bicycle tire Wheel Tire Bicycle frame Bicycle wheel


Human body Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel Jacket Bicycle frame
 
#34 ·
Racing is Stressful and Demanding. I met two Pros. Actually more like 4. Jake Kahn, Neko Mullaly to name two of them. Personality is influenced on how well you handle stress and if you let it get to you or not. Years ago, I attended my last Midwest Area NHRA national event. Met Anderson, Angelle Sampey, Ashley Force and John Force. No matter the racing, there's good and bad in everyone. Anderson is cool. Sampey snapped at me and a group of kids behind me because she was stressed and we wanted autographs. John was hard to get a hold of. Ashley was mellow and cool. So, yes, to answer your question, I have met Pros. Not just in DH MTB, but in other types of Racing as well.
 
#36 ·
Chris Eatough- He won the Solo 24hr World championship like 7 times. He raced on the Trek East Coast Factory Team in the early 2000's. Cedar Bike had a race team that I was part of and we'd race the Mid-Atlantic Super Series. He was at every race (and was always first of course). He was very well connected to all the racers and willing to give advice.
 
#48 ·
I briefly exchanged some friendly conversation with Tinker Juarez during that race also. He was also quite polite.
Tinker may be the most polite person ever. I was at a NORBA national back in the early 90's, and cheered for him as he passed. As he goes by he says "Hey, thank you" in the most polite voice you've ever heard. Wouldn't know he was going at race pace.

Also saw Dave Wiens at that same race. He crashed right in front of where I was watching. Seemed super pissed (it was a nasty mud race in southern Indiana). He chucked his glasses and a head band off into the grass. I picked up the head band and kept it. Met him at a trail building summit about a year ago, and ate lunch with him and had a long chat about trail building. Super nice down to earth guy, regardless of folks opinions about IMBA.

I've also done trail build day's with Adam Craig. He and I built a little hidden kicker off a log that most people would never notice. Super mellow guy. I've also raced against him at local cyclocross races (yeah, he lapped me).

I've met Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon a few years back. Barry is from the town I live in. Met him when I donated some money to him so he could get to CX Worlds. Also ran into them both on the trails, and raced with them at local XC races. Both were friendly an approachable.

Also met Sonya Looney at a trailhead. Chatted a bit. She seemed nice.

I've raced against a small handful of other fairly well known pro's that didn't seem so nice. Won't name names (honestly can't even remember one of they guy's names anymore), but a couple of them were known dopers that didn't seem so cool, and also seemed to be a$$hats on the race course and treated the volunteer officials like crap.

Thankfully, those types seemed to be more of the exception.
 
#40 ·
Crossed paths with a number of pros at DH races over the years and used to ride socially with a handful back when I did the chairlift thing a lot. Still catch up with some of them for trail rides here and there. Most of their names wouldn't ring any bells except for those who were actually racing DH on the east coast bitd.

Cooler than meeting one to me is the fact that I actually got a friend into DHing who went on to race pro and continues to work in the industry as a guide/coach. Got to meet and ride along with a number of very fast ladies through her.
:thumbsup:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top