Mountain Biking - The Art of Falling

I have been mountain biking since 1993 and have been active in Mountain Bike Advocacy since 1997.   I am a self-proclaimed MTB Junkie.  I have been involved with MTB advocacy for over 11 years, 6 of those years on the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts  (MORE)  Board in various positions, including President twice.  I have helped to maintain and/or build and design portions of the trails at Fountainhead, Schaeffer, Rosaryville, Gambrill, Cabin John, Wakefield, Accotink, Colt's neck, Cedarville, Conway Robinson and Riverbend.  All legal mountain bike venues within 100 miles of Washington DC.  I am  the current International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) Representative for the DC Metro area.  I also represents IMBA on the National Rivers and Trails Coalition Working Group.  I am currently President of  the Board of Directors for the local Trips for Kid’s  Chapter. I was Race Director for their first 2 Charity Mountain Bike Races held the end of October   I joined Potomac Velo Bike Racing Club in 1999 and have helped run their MTB and cross races for over 9 years performing various duties including course designer, assistant race director, announcer, course setup, registration, and awards.  I have raced both MTB and Cyclocross since 1995 but have spent the past  4 years doing a few MTB races while I concentrate on the sport of Off-Road Triathlon, XTERRA .   I am also a member of the Bike Lane Elite Racing team.  I started racing XTERRA just a couple of years ago and was totally hooked from the beginning. I have competed in 16 XTERRA races including the 2005 and 2007 National Championships in Lake Tahoe finishing 5th  in 2007 and ended up Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion in 2004. I also competed in the 2007 XTERRA World  Championships.    I am also currently  a staff member for EX2Adventures. They produce local off-road races that challenge competitors of varied interest and ability. From  Trail running, mountain biking, adventure racing, off road triathlons they pretty much have an event for anyone.    I have  given MTB instruction clinics to the newbie’s before the 2004 VQ. I have competed in two VentureQuest races, the EX2 Off-Road Half Marathon, the Backyard Burn 10 mile Trail Runs, numerous Cranky Monkey  MTB races, and the EX2 Off-Road Xterra Triathlon  three times.     I love mountain biking and all that it does for me.  It is my passion and also my mid-life crisis.  

 Shawn Punga was the other member of the team that did the video.  As an active member of MORE for over three years,his involvement with the club has included trail work, trail advocacy, and trail planning at Fairlands, Patapsco, Hoyles Mill, the Upper Rock Creek project, the Watershed, Schaeefer and Roseryville. He has organized and taught a variety of different skills clinics, for different levels of riders as well as leading dozens rides at nearly every venue in the area, His contributions were recognized in 2006 with a Silver Spoke award for Ride Leader of the Year.