David Nash

Clinic Director, Team Manager

Resides:

Years riding:

Favorite trail:

CO-Moore Fun to Mack Ridge, HI-Kealia, UT-Dark Hollow, OR- 15 mile loop, so many more......

Favorite cycling destination:

Wherever my friends can all meet up. sometimes fruita, sometimes gooseberry, sometimes in Hawaii....

Bikes owned:

Maverick ML 7, Specialized Big Hit, Lemond roadie, surf bike

Locations you teach in:

Hawaii, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah

Why do you teach?

I love seeing people have that epiphany moment. whether it is cleaning a difficult section, getting both wheels up on a bunnyhop and having video that proves it, or teaching my 4 year old niece to ride her new bike. There is no replacement for that feeling of helping someone reach their goals. I want to help the student see and understand the moves and physics that go into becoming one with the bike.

Freeform:

I met Akira a few years ago and was blown away at both his skills on a trials bike and his humbleness about his skill. We were both teaching for another company and that was a great experience but we observed some things we felt were missing and we started talking about what we thought an instruction company could become and the rest became history.

Qualifications:

I would like to say that i have been world champion downhiller, or have a resting heart rate of 26, but i have always been a better instructor and guide than a competitor.
After 11 years of being a professional guide and instructor i find i can handle many learning types on all types of trails. My favorite trails range from slippery rocky, rooty, rainy trail in Hawaii to 6 inch wide-buffed-alpine single track or anywhere in between.

I have taught Surfing in Hawaii, Snowboarding in Colorado, Wilderness Medicine in Hawaii, Kayaking and Climbing in Utah. It is this diverse teaching experience that lead me to see what had been done and what was being done in the mountain bike industry and see how i thought i could contribute to a professional teaching system. Akira and I have done this along with our instructors in the Trail Skills Method^tm, the most thorough system for teaching mountain biking we know of.

Interests:

I love to write and take photography for publications and companies in the mountain bike and outdoor industry. I climb when i have a chance. In the winter i become a surfer with an occasional mountain bike addiction. I love to ride snowboards, but only in powder (I am spoiled after 15 years in Colorado.) I really love to read about society and current events and try to understand the historical context that brought us there. Road bikes are a ton of fun, nothing like a screaming descent on tread smaller than a dime.

Involvement in the industry:

I like to engage in the cycling world and show up and help form public policy around bikes and also try to bring others into the world of cycling. Mountain bikers in particular are the best people on the planet.

Honolulu Mayors advisory Committee on Cycling- member
Na Ala Hele advisory committee- (hawaii's state wide trail system) Mountain bike member
Breckenridge SingleTrack Festival- Director

Final words:

Mountain biking is our passion at RipStoke and I hope you will come join us on the trail for mountain biking in Hawaii or Colorado, an instructional course, or just head out for a long ride and a lot of laughs with the gang. This life is all about the fun factor and sharing the amazing places that i know and love. Come Along!!
Aloha

Please visit David's Photography Site:

www.sustainablephotography.com