I’ve been in love with all types of riding ever since. Like most kids of the 80’s I rode a BMX bike, did a few races, built a few ramps, broke some bones. I commuted on a 10 speed through college, and bought my first mountain bike in 1998. I spent the next 15 years riding and racing road and MTB and proving that you don’t have to know what you are doing to have fun, but it hurts a lot more and the learning is (painfully) slow. 

I did have one advantage though. After college I moved to Taiwan for a few years and eventually auditioned to join a motorcycle road racing team. Our team manager wouldn’t let me make any upgrades on my motorcycle until I had consistently achieved certain lap times. This ingrained in me the idea that it was smarter to focus on finding the last bit of performance in myself before I confused the situation by throwing tech into the mix prematurely. It also taught me the importance of intentionality, repeatability, and accuracy (as opposed to just survival) for the learning process. It also helped me become the First American to race in the Taiwan Nation Grand Prix of Motorcycles finishing 3rd in the 1997 Championship Finals in the Sport Production class.

Fast forward to 2012 and I took my love of mountain biking and carpentry and built The Wheel Mill Indoor Bike Park in Pittsburgh which opened in 2013. In 2014 I took my first mountain bike lesson and my life really changed forever. I was raised in the “follow someone faster than you until you can’t keep up or crash and that’s how you learn” school of thought. Working with a coach who taught me that there is actually a method to the madness, that you can work your way through specific techniques in safe increments, blew my mind and got me addicted to progress. Progress that I controlled through regular, intentional practice. 

Since then I spent a lot of time fixing old, bad habits (lol), practicing and learning as much as I could, taking in as many private coaching sessions, group camps, and clinics as I could. I worked my way through a League of American Cyclists Instructor Certification and up through the PMBIA Level 2 Air Instructor Certification. As the owner of The Wheel Mill I watched thousands of riders of all abilities ranging from just learning to ride a bike to competing in the X-Games progress over the course of more than a decade, and I filtered out the elements that the most improved riders had in common. For the last ten years my purpose has been to bring all that I have been taught, practiced, studied, and learned to bear to help you on your journey, to give you the tools to create your own riding future.  

• I don’t like to take things too seriously (outside of safety) and I’d prefer to be playful
• I’m “lazy” in some ways. I look for the easiest way to do something and I’ll discard conventional methods if I can find an easier way
• Having fun, being curious and creative, and expressing myself on the trail is the #1 reason I ride
  • #2 for the thrill
  • #3 to get out in nature and zone out
  • #4 my competitive side
• I’m rebellious and don’t just accept things without supporting information or my own experience
• I’m a wanna be science nerd so I read a lot of research papers
• I have many other interests outside of mountain biking, and I don’t need mtb to be my entire identity, and I don’t need you to live and breathe mtb either. Just have fun!
• I believe accountability is essential for growth
• I believe precision is essential for growth
• I believe you have to do the work (but you should have fun doing it!)

Some people like to be told what to do and that they “did it right” or “did it wrong”. And some people like to be told “do this, don’t do that!”. The “outside-in” approach can produce results initially, but without the framework to take ownership of your own experience progress will soon stall, and that is not what my teaching style is relying on. What I see helping the most riders make lasting change, and what is most fulfilling for me is helping you develop the tools to be in control of your own progress as a rider in all aspects from physical, to mental, to emotional with joy and curiosity as the primary motivators. 

My job is to help you:

• Experience operating your bicycle by learning what all of the available riding technique “dials” are
• Gain a full range of use of all of your dials
• Understand what the effects are of turning those dials up and down
• Develop an integrated mental process that organizes your thoughts and actions to produce the best outcomes while allowing you to feel more relaxed and confident on the trail
• Develop a personal system for troubleshooting your own riding challenges and development hurdles so that your progress continues even after you leave camp
• Not just learn “skills”, but to gain actual control of all aspects of your riding