1. How long have you been biking?
30 yrs, or 14 yrs, the answer depends on what you call mountain biking. I've been riding off-road (in the woods) since I was about 4 years old (mid-70's). My friend (Robert) & I lived on a dead end street that butted up to the woods and the Rockaway River. As a kid you'd never find me in the house watching Tv; we'd be playing in the woods & trying to tear down the trails with our big wheels, but in NJ the woods are filled with boulders which really limited our access until we got real bikes. When I turned 5 yrs old and received my Schwinn Stingray (yellow with a clear glitter banana seat) I was hitting the trails whenever I could, those legs on the banana seat where bent backwards at a 90* angle within weeks!! My first real mountain bike was a Bridgestone MB-1, bought in '92-'93. I love that bike, one of the best feeling steel bikes I've ever ridden on.

2. What kind of bike(s) do you ride?
-make/model
~Cannondale / F5000sl Team Ed.
~Titus / Switchblade F/S
~Bianchi / GUSS (SingleSpeed)
~Gary Fisher / Freestyle BMX
~Giant / Iguana ('89-'90)
~Trek / 2300 Tri-tube Carbon fiber

-components
Anything that will hold up to my weight & abuse.
Mostly Shimano Xtr, Xt, Sram 9.0 / X-9 stuff.
I am in love with my new Team Reba forks, but
my most coveted components are my Mike Garcia
hand-built wheels.

3. What is your favorite style of racing?
Hah, I'm not really into racing for myself, but I really enjoy watching Downhill racing, for many reasons.
The sport is super fast, and the skill sets needed to complete the runs are just crazy, but most of all the
even on a Pro-level, the contestants are friends and show excellent sportsmanship.
I do enjoy XC, but only on the "Grassroots" level, the Pro level seems to have become unfriendly and cut-throat.

4. What contributions have you made to the Mountain Biking in Virginia?
For the first 2 yrs of living here I would visit local shops and ask about group rides and such, but no one had any information for me.
I wasn't used to not having the LBS's not being involved in cycling beyond the sale. In Fredericksburg the 2 shops up there would
put on rides a few times a week as a way to get involved.
So my start into the Richmond mountain bike scene was via my website, CyclingCentralVa.org. It's a mostly forums site for locals to
gather and talk all things cycling. It has gone beyond my wildest expectations with well over 300 members in less than 2 yrs.
Within 4 months of being up and running a group of local folks started a new local mountain bike club called "Richmond-MORE". For me
this was a huge compliment to how well the site was working to bring local cyclists together in sharing ideas & rides. Besides just making sure that CyclingCentralVa.org stays up & running, it's success has less to do with me, and more to do with the people that post information, ask questions, and gather daily to share rides, events, and questions with the others on the boards.
Some contributions that I do other than the site would be I serve as a "Local Board Member" on Richmond-MORE as well as their web guy & a
ride leader for the club. Trail maintenance & trail building has become a huge part of my life too, I may not get out and help as much as I want too,
but I do the best I can to help organize it and get more people involved also.
I try very hard to leave my site services open to local promoters (events & clubs) and also try very hard to remain neutral with local bike shops (at least public ally).
My main goal is to do the very best I can to get people to share information and let them do with it as they may.
My involvement has gone much deeper than I ever wanted it too, but I wouldn't trade it for anything, the folks in the area are great folks and
any time spent connecting people and cycling has paid off 10 fold.

Perhaps the contribution that is the most satisfying is when I take to the time to help new riders that find the sport of mountain biking. It's a great feeling to
see someone smile after a ride in the woods despite the fact that they might be covered in mud, bumps, & bruises! It's one of the closest experiences to
finding that inner kid again & I feel strongly feel that by helping out nebies, we'll keep more people in the sport as well as keeping it that wonderful friendly like
mountain biking comradery.

5. What has been your best mountain bike adventure(s)?
My best mountain biking adventure is simply anytime I ride. It's always a new day on the trail.
My best recent memories were a friend on mine & I hit Douthat & Sherdando in just over a week,
great climbs, beautiful views from the peaks, and downhill that rocks you world, does life get any
better?!

6. What has been your worst mountain bike adventure(s)?
Anytime that the bike fails, but even more so when I do. Having an off day can be the worst
of times on a trail, especailly if you are hurting on mile 2 or 20+. You can turn it around though
and really learn something about yourself as committment and attitude can take you far in this
sport. On days like this, fall back to your own pace and be there only to have fun.

7. What are some other activities outside of Mountain Biking?
I recently just got into home brewing beer, it's pretty fun & satisfying too, plus at the end you have 2+ cases of beer to drink!
Mountain biking pretty much takes up most of my time, but I am a VW enthusiast, love my motorcycle, and thinking about
getting involved with VCU's rugby team.

8. What is your Mantra?
I always tell myself, "When in doubt, bail out. There is always tomorrow."

9. What is your day job?
No real day job hear as I am a full-time student at VCU.
I do work the odd & end jobs to make some side cash.