Mt. Bike Celeb Sightings

SoCal_Rider said:
Was this a big STR inspired PCE group ride 5 or 6 years ago or so? If so, I was on that ride too. Richard ended up doing a little write up about it in Mountain Bike Action.
Click to expand...
Now that you guys mention it, I do remember the STR ride but I wasn't on that ride. I believe this was after the STR ride. I believe the STR ride was his first time out there. When I rode it with him, he had already rode out there a few times and if I remember correctly, there were no more that 12 us. This ride was set up by Tom the Bomb and Sailor Ripley invited him out. I'm pretty sure @rossage you weren't on this one because I'm pretty sure the first time I met you was when we went up to Santa Barbara to ride Tunnel and Cold Spring.
FB_IMG_1454998288798.jpg
 
rojomas said:
Awe come on! Saying you had celebrity cyclist sighting at the races is like saying I ran into Steven Tyler at an Aerosmith concert.

Living in SoCal I've had my fair share of Tinker sightings. One time I saw him riding his road bike through Running Springs. Ran into Lopes on Telonics. Saw Kyle Strait at SS. April Lawyer on San Juan. Leigh Donovan all over the place. Hans Rey in Laguna. Toby Henderson on Mt. Wilson. And actually rode PCE with Richard Cunningham. I've probably have had many more than that but just didn't recognize em.
Click to expand...
Pictures or it didn't happen;)
 
rojomas said:
Now that you guys mention it, I do remember the STR ride but I wasn't on that ride. I believe this was after the STR ride. I believe the STR ride was his first time out there. When I rode it with him, he had already rode out there a few times and if I remember correctly, there were no more that 12 us. This ride was set up by Tom the Bomb and Sailor Ripley invited him out. I'm pretty sure @rossage you weren't on this one because I'm pretty sure the first time I met you was when we went up to Santa Barbara to ride Tunnel and Cold Spring.
View attachment 13651
Click to expand...

You may be pretty sure I wasn't there, but I was. I rode up in the truck with Sailor Ripley and Cunningham. I remember here being more people than I like which is more than 3!
 
rojomas said:
Awe come on! Saying you had celebrity cyclist sighting at the races is like saying I ran into Steven Tyler at an Aerosmith concert.

Living in SoCal I've had my fair share of Tinker sightings. One time I saw him riding his road bike through Running Springs. Ran into Lopes on Telonics. Saw Kyle Strait at SS. April Lawyer on San Juan. Leigh Donovan all over the place. Hans Rey in Laguna. Toby Henderson on Mt. Wilson. And actually rode PCE with Richard Cunningham. I've probably have had many more than that but just didn't recognize em.
Click to expand...
Maybe, but is Steven Tyler going to show up at the local dive bar to sing karaoke?

These riders show up at the local race and ride.
 
rossage said:
You may be pretty sure I wasn't there, but I was. I rode up in the truck with Sailor Ripley and Cunningham. I remember here being more people than I like which is more than 3!
Click to expand...
That's why I said I think this was a different time. This was not an STR ride and he didn't write about about this outing. When we did this ride, he had already written that piece like a year or two earlier.
 
I think mountain biking (and bike racing in general) is one of the few sports where pros interact with the hoi polloi. Same events for sure, sometimes on the course at the same time even. And out riding the same trails & roads when they're not competing. That's like playing ball with your work softball league at the same time/field as the Dodgers are playing. One of the really cool facets of bike riding/racing.
 
Headed over to Zen trail while we are here honeymooning in St George. Pulled into the parking area and saw Cannondale's Factory RV.
20160218_123344-1-3200x1800.jpg

Didn't think much of it. Figured they were here testing. About a mile up Zen trail I ran into a couple of Cannondale riders. I immediately recognized the second one being Tinker. As I passed him I shouted out hey Tinker! Say hi to Jennifer when you pass her! He said okay! Have a great ride! She was ecstatic when he rolled by and said hi! Very cool dude in my book.
 
ChampGroupRide1.jpg

- Fans gathering around the champ

ChampBabyRattler.jpg

- Sycamore looked great today

ChampAmmoDump1.jpg

- Fun day with the Champ

ChampPose.jpg

- Bruce Lee impersonations

ChampSycamoreJumps.jpg

- One more pic of Sycamore, with the Champ being led through the jump section, using the fancy photo-enhancing filters, cause the other pics don't quite do it justice
 
Last edited:
doublewide said:
I didn't know Richard was a celebrity....
Click to expand...
I read a PCE article he wrote, and it appears he rode it without shin pads despite being advised, which was the only interesting bit I remember from it. :x3:


<--- not a fan of most bike journalists' work. The AngryAsian was one of the few I respected, cause he actually criticized stuff fairly personally. Keyword, personally, as in no publisher "filter" to protect advertising revenue to keep things running and still "free". Wonder how he got them to agree to publish his work, besides him saying he takes full responsibility. Sad to see him go. The one I like the least is Mike Levy of pinkbike; too bad he's the basically spotlight on that site, instead of guys that do decent work like Mike Kazimer. If only Matt Wragg did bike [destruction] reviews too, I'd respect pinkbike more than the advertising-centric piece of crap it is now.
 
Last edited:
I passed on the autograph. I passed down some of my ancient Asian techniques and wisdom to him though. Hope he doesn't use the one I showed him on BFR, where I almost blew my front tire off the rim, in an actual race though.

JKing of course. Only really wondered how he liked American food (Aaron Gwin's diet inspired him, saying that he really likes Sprouts, but he says he still likes junk food) and what he was planning after racing (has an internship, to help create products at 100%). He got a good laugh out of my save, from me going waaayyyy too fast for my little short travel bike down that steep ass rock. :laugh:
 
Last edited:
Well this was unexpected...

I am presently at a family reunion in Temecula. Our family is notorious for taking FOREVER to make a decision and get someplace - especially as a group. To those that have ridden with me, this probably comes as no surprise. So last night, as we were all arriving, one of my brothers decided we would eat at Bushfire Kitchen a healthy, gluten-free joint. It was 8:00pm.

I pull in to the parking lot and see a rather large pickup truck engulfed in Fox (tail) decals with a Dakine tailgate pad. I tell my wife - "That's Aaron Gwin's truck."

And it was. He was there eating a healthy dinner (no alcohol, of course), hat on backward, accompanied by an attractive blonde. I said "Hi Aaron" but nothing more. I happened to be wearing my Yeti baseball cap, so he probably assumed I was an awesome mt. biking dude. I didn't disturb them for a photo, or try to get an autograph. I did gush to my family that the world's best mt. biker was sitting over there and explained his story. They feigned interest appropriately.

By the way - the menu was great and the food was outstanding. I may go back tonight. I had a BBQ Tri Tip sandwich, baked beans with bacon and a cold draft beer. Sorry, no pictures of that either. 15 family members, and every one of us was pleased with his/her meal!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top