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Mark Weir The quest for the trail. Not some wide, rolling leisure cruise, as fun as that may be, but the quest for the truly sick, steep, root-filled, drop-off blessed, hairpin curved and hairball singletrack. This is what downhillers' want, this is what they need and crave. Daily thoughts for Pro Mountain biker Mark Weir and his crew at Wilderness Trail Bikes that push daily to tone, tweak and improve their downhilling capabilities. We met our featured Go Huge athlete for a photo-shoot at a spot that he and a crazy guy known as Wild Bill spend their free-time training. Mark rides and works for Wilderness Trail Bikes, a frame and component manufacturer based in Marin, Mark's local stomping grounds. He works at the corporate office and focuses on a training schedule that will have him ripping up the circuit this year, in his first season as a pro rider. Mark has been riding with WTB in the cross-country realm for 5 years. The last two years have been nothing but downhill for Mark, moving from expert to pro in only 7 months. A passion for downhill creates the first hurdle. Where does one find killer terrain, with an abundance of varying challenges, that isn't a fire road, like the majority of Marins' trail system. Enter the solution, a technically geared, lethal monster trail, harder than hell from top to bottom. This beast eats bike parts, shins, hips and anything else that takes a huge slam on its intentionally rocky, rutted surface. Sections with names like ‘Broken Arm’ and ’Metal Scrap taunt Mark and his Bro's daily as they run them again and again, hunting a faster and cleaner line. 'No brakes is the key,' says Mark. At this point, I am very happy to be on my side of the camera. Today, Mark is riding a sick frameset designed by Karpiel. The combination of a sweet ride with eleven inches of rear travel, and some serious leg and arm muscles helps him to suck up 4-foot drops, five in a row with no problem. Mark amazes us, he gets tossed a couple of times, his grin gets bigger and he charges up the hill, carrying his 40 pound example of downhill technology to shoot the evil sections again. This rigorous practice has already had a positive outcome on race day. Mark is ranked top 20 in the points, which places him thirteenth in the USA. As we start to lose the sun, I pack up my gear and carry my bike to the bottom. I can't ride a single section of this thing on my hardtail. Mark slaps us five and smiles with his obvious good attitude. He tells us he is going to hit it a couple more times before it is completely dark. Bike shouldered, he heads back to the top to continue the purposeful beating. We all look forward to Mark and the WTB team ripping up some terrain and the competition this year. We'll keep you posted on Mark's progress this year as he continues to 'Go Huge.' |
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