Profile

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 2
Early Summer 2000

Name: Elayna Caldwell
Occupation: Promotions Manager at RockShox
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA
Residence: Santa Cruz, CA
Years cycling: 9
Learned to Ride: Age 6, no training wheels
Favorite Trail: Porcupine Rim, Moab, UT. Husband Micheal proposed on the trail
Likes: Formula one racing, cycling, snowboarding, good books
Dislike: Traffic, chain e-mail

How did you get into cycling?

I had some friends in Thousand Oaks who worked in a bike shop and I bought a mountain bike and went riding with them. When I moved to Arcata to go to college, I continued to ride; we went nearly every day. This is how I met my husband Michael.

How did you arrive at Rock Shox?

When I finally finished school, I took a job at Bell Sports in Customer Service. Then I learned about a job opening in the new RockShox Santa Cruz office. Since I was commuting "over the hill" to work at Bell, the idea of working for RockShox and in Santa Cruz was awesome. I interviewed and started working two weeks later. That was in 1996.

Why is it important for RockShox to support IMBA?

From a purely business perspective, we are all trail users and our business is about riding trails and if RockShox is to stay in business, there must be trails. We all want to preserve the environment so we have somewhere to go. We want to keep it natural, so we can ride our bikes on trails in the forests and meadows. IMBA's work not only benefits mountain bikers, it protects open space from development. We all need to act as stewards for the land.

"Stewards" is a good word.

I went to school to be a park ranger. It's a good word, I believe in it.

A park ranger?

Yes. My dad worked as a firefighter for LA County. He was a "smoke jumper," one of the guys who jump out of helicopters to fight forest fires. We were a pretty active, outdoorsy family. Lots of camping, water skiing, alpine skiing, bike riding, being outside.

Do you think people have any misconceptions about mountain bikers?

Mountain bikers? Yes, but mountain bikers have misconceptions about IMBA! First, a lot of mountain bikers don't know about IMBA and some that do don't really understand it. When I explain it to them, they think it's a good thing and understand why they should join, but some are still hesitant.

Personally, I didn't really understand why IMBA needs more members until Ashley Korenblat, IMBA's President, explained it like this: when she, or anyone, from IMBA goes to national policy meetings, people ask, ³How many members does IMBA have?² Members - lots of members - guarantee clout. Often the Sierra Club is there and they have 550,000 members. We all know that there are millions of people who ride mountain bikes and that almost every one of them wants more and better trail access. Right now IMBA has 28,000 members. That number needs to grow to help IMBA influence national policy decisions - decisions that affect local riding.

There's a rumor that you drive a big truck and have a few cars?

Michael has a couple Alfa Romeros, actually, four. I drive a big truck. It's a full size, 4 x 4 Chevy, nothing fancy, king cab. It's actually quite practical. In the days when we raced, we could take both our downhill and cross-country bikes. We don't race any more; we work too much.

Any final thoughts?

Yes, I am really proud and happy about the IMBA Epics program. It will help with awareness and be a good tool to promote IMBA. We all love to ride our bikes and we want to continue to be able to ride in forests and deserts and coastal mountains - wherever. IMBA exists to keep trails open for us to ride.

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	Profile IMBA Trail News Volume 13, Number 2 Early Summer 2000 Name: Elayna Caldwell Occupation: Promotions Manager at RockShox Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA Residence: Santa Cruz, CA Years cycling: 9 Learned to Ride: Age 6, no training wheels Favorite Trail: Porcupine Rim, Moab, UT. Husband Micheal proposed on the trail Likes: Formula one racing, cycling, snowboarding, good books Dislike: Traffic, chain e-mail How did you get into cycling? I had some friends in Thousand Oaks who worked in a bike shop and I bought a mountain bike and went riding with them. When I moved to Arcata to go to college, I continued to ride; we went nearly every day. This is how I met my husband Michael. How did you arrive at Rock Shox? When I finally finished school, I took a job at Bell Sports in Customer Service. Then I learned about a job opening in the new RockShox Santa Cruz office. Since I was commuting "over the hill" to work at Bell, the idea of working for RockShox and in Santa Cruz was awesome. I interviewed and started working two weeks later. That was in 1996. Why is it important for RockShox to support IMBA? From a purely business perspective, we are all trail users and our business is about riding trails and if RockShox is to stay in business, there must be trails. We all want to preserve the environment so we have somewhere to go. We want to keep it natural, so we can ride our bikes on trails in the forests and meadows. IMBA's work not only benefits mountain bikers, it protects open space from development. We all need to act as stewards for the land. "Stewards" is a good word. I went to school to be a park ranger. It's a good word, I believe in it. A park ranger? Yes. My dad worked as a firefighter for LA County. He was a "smoke jumper," one of the guys who jump out of helicopters to fight forest fires. We were a pretty active, outdoorsy family. Lots of camping, water skiing, alpine skiing, bike riding, being outside. Do you think people have any misconceptions about mountain bikers? Mountain bikers? Yes, but mountain bikers have misconceptions about IMBA! First, a lot of mountain bikers don't know about IMBA and some that do don't really understand it. When I explain it to them, they think it's a good thing and understand why they should join, but some are still hesitant. Personally, I didn't really understand why IMBA needs more members until Ashley Korenblat, IMBA's President, explained it like this: when she, or anyone, from IMBA goes to national policy meetings, people ask, ³How many members does IMBA have?² Members - lots of members - guarantee clout. Often the Sierra Club is there and they have 550,000 members. We all know that there are millions of people who ride mountain bikes and that almost every one of them wants more and better trail access. Right now IMBA has 28,000 members. That number needs to grow to help IMBA influence national policy decisions - decisions that affect local riding. There's a rumor that you drive a big truck and have a few cars? Michael has a couple Alfa Romeros, actually, four. I drive a big truck. It's a full size, 4 x 4 Chevy, nothing fancy, king cab. It's actually quite practical. In the days when we raced, we could take both our downhill and cross-country bikes. We don't race any more; we work too much. Any final thoughts? Yes, I am really proud and happy about the IMBA Epics program. It will help with awareness and be a good tool to promote IMBA. We all love to ride our bikes and we want to continue to be able to ride in forests and deserts and coastal mountains - wherever. IMBA exists to keep trails open for us to ride.


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright