Interviews

Last weekend while doing trail work Cannondale-WTB OverMountain rider Mark Weir was crushed by a 300-pound tree limb, breaking his pelvis in three places. We talked to him by phone from his home in Novato, California, where he’s recuperating for the next six to eight weeks. Mark was especially disappointed about the accident because he ...

At the end of June American enduro racer Ben Cruz of Team Cannondale OverMountain finally earned his first ever international victory at round 3 of the Superenduro Series in the Lombardia Alps of Madesimo, Italy. It was a nasty, rainy event where weather definitely played a role. Like his WTB-Cannondale OverMountain teammates Mark Weir and ...

Editor’s note: “At the Helm” was a project we undertook earlier this year as part of our 25th Anniversary celebration. Four bikes, four companies, four founders. Much like Dirt Rag’s own history, each of these founders has seen rough times, but the ship still sails with a firm hand on the wheel. The stories you’ll read ...

Editor’s note: At the end of last month Jeremiah Bishop got an email from his Sho-Air sponsored team titled, “Sponsorship/Opportunity.” The content was to let him know he was laid off, sighting a small section in the contract that rendered 2015, which he was signed through, as meaningful as a wooden nickel, in his own ...

  Few brands conjure the reverence in hallowed mountain bike circles as Fat City. Born in the early 1980s from the mind of framebuilder Chris Chance, the Fat Chance bikes were the gold standard in the early days of mountain biking. In this middle of this week word began to spread around Interbike that Chance ...

Cover story from issue #187 Words by Chris Milucky Photos by John Shafer   Amanda Batty gained a degree of notoriety earlier this year, not because of her race results as a professional downhill and enduro racer but because she abruptly resigned from a position as an online columnist due to sexism, double standards and ...

Words and photos by Malcolm Mclaws From Issue #187 Andreu Lacondeguy made his Crankworx debut in 2006. His arrival in Whistler, British Columbia, as a fresh-faced, clean-cut unknown was an introduction to someone who would become one of the most well-known and colorful riders ever. This is Little Andy. With a riding style that has ...

Words by Chris “Bama” Milucky Photos by John Shafer Originally published in Issue #187 Amanda Batty gained a degree of notoriety [in 2015], not because of her race results as a professional downhill and enduro racer but because she abruptly resigned from a position as an online columnist due to sexism, double standards and misogyny ...

Words: Christopher Harland-Dunaway Photos: Toby Kahn and courtesy of VVA Victor Vincente of America, a man born as Michael Beckwith Hiltner, stood on a dirt road that runs along the small mountaintop valley he calls home most of the year. “I mean look at this party!” he implored, as much to me as to the ...

For Issue #190, contributing editor Adam Newman sat down with Tony Ellsworth to catch up on the last few years and talk about bike technology. Photo: Adam Newman You’ve been off the radar lately. What have you been up to the last couple of years? That’s a big question. I could write a book with ...

Charlie Kelly was one of the early pioneers of mountain biking in Marin County, California, in the late 1970s. He’s seen quite a few things in cycling change over the years, so we asked him to share his thoughts on cycling technology. Originally published in Bicycle Times (our sister magazine) Issue #40.  I’m way low ...

As told to Stevil Kinevil Illustrations: Greta Mudflap Originally published in Issue #192 I’m Greta Mudflap. You may or may not have heard of me. What you are about to read is 100 percent true, except for the parts that aren’t, and even those are. MUDFLAP WAS PUBLISHED FROM 1990 TO 1995, SEVEN ISSUES IN ...

Words: Clayton Wangbichler Photo: Ken Viale Semper Fidelis, meaning “always faithful.” This is the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps. To many, presence of the motto in our lives is likely limited to the stickers proudly and neatly displayed on the vehicles of our nation’s veterans. To a Marine, it’s a guiding principle and reminder ...

Words: Trey Richardson Photo: J. Barety Anne-Caroline Chausson—who has won 19 World Championships, more than any other cyclist in history—suddenly fell ill in 2015 during round four of the Enduro World Series and disappeared from the scene. Recently, she revealed she had ovarian cancer. Anne-Caro took some time to chat with me from her home ...

Words by Chris “Bama” Milucky Photos by Devon Balet It’s not that I hate roadies, but some are pompous, and the most famous has a reputation—now bordering rap sheet—for lies, manipulation and legal threats. So when my editor, Mike Cushionbury (Cush), called at exactly 4:20 p.m. and told me Floyd Landis was starting a marijuana-product ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association has just announced that Dave Wiens will be taking the position of Executive Director. Leslie Kehmeier caught up with Dave during his previous role as Chairman of the organization’s Board of Directors, a role to which he was elected this past November. This interview was also published in our latest issue, ...

Words by Trey Richardson. Photos by Mike Cushionbury and David Wiltshire. A former mountain bike pro for the Giant Mid-Atlantic Pro Cycling Team turned mad scientist, Matt Miller took his hands-on racing experience and conjured up an idea that, quite honestly, both he and I couldn’t believe hadn’t been done before … and not just ...

Arriving at Paul Camp in Chico, California (Back in May), I was immediately drawn to one particular bike-to-rule-them-all, Travis T’s “Krusty Diamond,” built by Cameron Falconer over in Quincy, California, painted by Russ Picket of Mountain Goat fame, and built with as many California and U.S. made parts as humanly possible. I thought I should find out ...

By Captain Dondo Like the 25th anniversary of that drunken wedding you had in Las Vegas that seemed like a good idea at the time (but knew deep down had no chance of going the distance), Dirt Rag is still here. The 25th anniversary passed a while back and recently we celebrated the 200th issue, ...

Interview by Patrick Brady, photos by Devon Balet The mountain bike was a thing and would sell We went high-end. Gary Fisher bikes were super expensive. I mean, come on, you could buy a full Campagnolo-equipped Colnago for 450 bucks in 1979. You could buy a Ben Serotta super-nice custom bike, complete, for $995—Mavic rims, ...

The other day, while I burnt minutes trying to decide what to eat for lunch, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and something new caught my eye: pen and ink, perhaps some watercolors. I stopped and scrolled back to see this interpretation of a mountain biker lofting through the air. I was instantly taken ...

A few weeks ago we caught up with Chris McGovern of McGovern Cycles as he prepares for NAHBS. In our conversation, we asked Chris who he was looking forward to seeing during the show this year, and his answer was Peter Olivetti. Olivetti Bicycles is located in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado. Peter left his job ...

Tegan Phillips is a comic artist who first started drawing for a contest to win a touring bike and gear. Guess what – she won that bike and set off riding it around the world. Today, she is an avid cyclist, artist, motivational speaker and all-around interesting and adventurous person. We caught up with Tegan ...

Lauren Cat West is an artist living and riding in the city of Philadelphia, PA. Her keen sense of observational humor is reflected both in her work and in her personality. When she’s not hanging from scaffolding painting murals on the walls of Philadelphia, she’s out pedaling around in search of subject matter and strange ...

For perhaps the first time in modern history, government officials beyond the highest-ranking are household names in the United States. People who are not very involved in politics and invested in policy-making likely had no idea who was Administrator or Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prior to the recently-resigned Scott Pruitt. And ...

Photography provided by Meyvn Creative On September 15th, Brittany Konsella became the first person to ride all 750 miles of unique trail in the Gunnison Crested Butte area. To cover every unique mile, some rides required revisiting areas she had already ridden and many included a dirt road approach. In all, it took about 3,600 miles and ...

Editors Note: This the first installment of an ongoing series where we find out from the mountain biking community what their go-to accessories are for tackling the trails, enhancing the ride and saving the day. Thanks to Alexandera Houchir for volunteering to be first  Alexandera Houchin recently set a new women’s singlespeed record at the ...

On October 4, 2019, a friend from Surly Bikes posted news on social media. The United Bicycle Institute was closing its Portland location. She, amongst many others, had a life-changing experience there. Education, friendship, and bikes, they have that power. On a positive note, UBI is keeping open their Ashland, Oregon location! Phew. When any ...

Editors Note This the third installment of an ongoing series where we ask the mountain biking community what their go-to accessories are for tackling the trails, enhancing the ride, or saving the day. Check out the first installment here and the second installment here. I had emailed Bina, asking her directly what her favorite bike ...

Fergus Liam is a former San Fransico bike messenger turned marketing manager for Ritchey Design and self-proclaimed mediocre elite bike racer, lover of burritos, bikes, and his cat.  Big thanks to Fergus for taking time out of his day to answer the very crucial question, “What is your favorite mountain bike accessory?”:  Years ago, my ...