Neil Miner
Sponsor/Team: Bach Builders/Sports Garage
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Where are you from?
Originally from Tooele, Utah. I’ll give you a dollar if you can say it right. (Due to the current economic crisis, you must be present to win, prizes limited to the first person only. No purchase necessary.) But now I live in Boulder, Colorado.
What kind of bike do you ride
A 2006 BMC Fourstroke, we’ve been around the block a time or four.
What do you love about it?
Flat out, she’s a workhorse. She never questions anything, likes to get dirty, cleans up nicely, and gets along with almost everyone. Plus, her flat black paint just screams fastness (I know white is hot right now, but B.A.D. (black as death) is where it’s at).
Solo or team competitor? Why?
Solo. There’s an old wives’ tale, about two pairs of footprints in the sand, and something about only one during the tough times, so what I think it’s saying is “Do it solo… hard.”
Done any ultra-endurance stuff before?
I’ve done Leadville, The 12 Hours of E100, the 12 hours of Mesa Verde (duo), the 18 hours of Fruita (team), and 24 Hours of Moab (teams) a boatload of times (6).
Favorite food?
Gummy worms/bears, burritos, and cookies in no particular order.
Movie?
Rad. How can an 80’s BMX movie NOT be awesome?
Book?
I just finished Me Talk Pretty One Day, so far that is the only book to make me laugh out loud.
CD? Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (ok, I cheated that wasn’t a question, but I like music.)
Worst experience on a bike?
When you’re far enough into a ride or race and you are flat out toast, bonked, stick a fork in you… your done, and you think that there is no way in hell that you are finishing the ride/race.
Best experience on a bike?
After you push through that bonked phase, and you get your second, forth, or eighth wind. You stop pedaling squares and start railing the corners. And then, at the finish line, or the car, or the doorstep, you realize you’re done, and you’re stoked, and can’t wait to get out and do it again.
Tell us about your LBS (Local Bike Shop):
The Sports Garage in Boulder, CO. They’re rad there, super personable, remember your name from day one, and have some pretty sweet style. Now I am no pro or anything, but I’ve been around bikes for a few years, and been into a fair number of shops, I have never felt the ‘elitist’ vibe from these guys and girls (wish the same could be said for all shops).
Tell us about your favorite ride EVER:
It’s full of smooth, buff, narrow, flowy singletrack. There are enough tough technical spots to keep you honest. The climbs are long, just long enough to cause a little pain and let you know that you are alive, long enough to get in a rhythm and grind away life’s little worries. There are a wider road sections to let you ride a couple wide and chat it up with your friends. I don’t have ONE specific ride in mind, as these rides just happen, you can’t make them happen, they just do.
Who will play you in the Breck Epic movie and why?
I think Jon Heder could represent me well. Our looks are close enough, and from what I’ve seen in Napoleon Dynamite, we have a similar riding style.
What do you hope to get out of this experience?
I hope to seriously get my ass handed to me. I am by no means going to be up with the front runners, but I will be there, giving it my all, smiling, and chatting it up with the other racers. I want to be a part of the beginning of something big.
Tell us about your history as a cyclist or in the industry:
I’ve been riding for a while now. I don’t know if I was actually considered a ‘cyclist’ back when I was riding Huffy with speckled, confetti colored paint, but it let me experience the freedom that has kept me involved in the sport. I started racing mountain bikes when I was 14 years old, and have been for the past 15 years. The highest I’ve raced is the expert class, I would much rather ‘go for a long ride’ than ‘go train’. I have focused on the endurance racing scene a little more lately, as this fits in with my ‘I’d rather go for a long ride than do intervals till my ears bleed’ thinking. This year, I started racing cyclocross as well, and totally became infatuated with it (plus, that’s just one more excuse for more bikes, right?).
Feel free to blatantly self-promote here. A quote you like, a direct appeal to the voters, some hateful vitriolic slander for your political opponents. This is your space, decorate it however you like:
So, I’m a little too modest to do any flat out self-promotion, but if you vote for me, I will promise to get new vending machines in the cafeteria. Or wait… that was high school. But yeah, I will do what I can to ride hard, smile, and make everyone laugh. Oh, yeah, and I’ll probably have at least one reference to the phrase “What just happened? I blacked out a little.” And I’ll probably make more than my (or anyone else’s for that matter) share of “That’s what she said” jokes before, during, and after the race. Cause that’s how I roll.
Links to your work:
http://neilminer.blogspot.com/2008/05/round-round-like-record-baby.html
http://neilminer.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-not-to-win-bike-race-or-how-to-have.html
