Mountain Biking Legend

Riding for team Mongoose, professional mountain biker Brian Lopes has become an icon for the mountain biking industry. He has more than proven his talent by winning several awards.

I caught up with this world-class downhiller while he was in Hawaii for the Grundig/UCI World Cup Downhill Finals. He shared his insights, triumphs and defeats with me as I explored how he became one of the most well-know mountain bike racers in history.

1996 was a good year for him. He won the dual slalom national race at Mt. Snow, Vermont and Mammoth. He then went on to become the National Downhill Champion overall in 1996, regaining his 1995 title. He also won second place overall for the Dual Slalom. His favorite race is the NORBA national championship race in Traverse City, Michigan. He won that race four years in a row.

Lopes, a native Californian, now resides in Mission Viejo, California. He has been a pro racer for about seven years. Prior to racing mountain bikes he was a pro BMX racer for eight years. When asked why he does it, Lopes replied, "Because it's fun!"

"I like the downhill competition," Lopes said. "I like traveling and hanging out with the people in the circuit. They are all cool. But most of all I do it because I like going fast, taking chances and winning."

Lopes said one of the most difficult parts about being a pro mountain biker is not getting hurt. He said that his worst injury was at the Reebok Eliminator race in Mammoth in 1993, where he suffered a dislocated shoulder when crashed into another rider going thirtyfive miles per hour.

"If there's a difficult section and it's raining, you never know what could happen," Lopes said. "Accidents happen all the time. It takes skill to make it through the rough parts."

Lopes has high expectations of himself. "I want to train harder, work on my technical skills, and try to win the National Championship race again. Competition is getting very tough," Lopes said.

For training Lopes rides one to two and a half hours and day while he's on the road. When he is home he also does weight training three to four days a week. He trains with the team, but also does individual training.

Enthusiasm,energy, and the love of riding a bike fast will keep this mountain bike racer in the winning ranks.

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