The Voices of Mountain Bike Radio
The people of MBR who keep the voice of mountain biking alive.
Ben Welnak - Creator, Owner, CEO, and Guy with the Wisconsin Accent
The journey of Mountain Bike Radio began a crazy idea to bring a fresh sound and idea to the world of outdoor podcasts - a source for a variety of talk about your favorite type of cycling. Through the help and support of many people, including the listeners, along the way, I'm proud of what Mountain Bike Radio has become. Thank you!
My beautiful wife, Amy, son, Clae, and daughter, Paige, are very supportive and hear about bikes way more than any normal family. I am originally from Wisconsin and recently lived near Denver, Colorado, before moving to North Dakota. Currently my home trail is the Maah Daah Hey Trail near Watford City, North Dakota.
I started mountain biking in 2006 after five years of running various distances and racing triathlons of various distances. I'm a competitve guy and turned to racing as soon as I started mountain biking. Since then, I have a lot of experience racing all distances, including 24 hour solos, 12 hour solos, 100 miles, 50 milers, XC distance, fatbikes, gravel, and everything in between.
I hope that my passion for mountain biking comes across and I'm able to share as much as I can within the mountain bike community. I appreciate constructive criticism and am thrilled with all of the support and feedback I've received so far in growing MBR. I look forward to the future and hope that you'll continue to support MBR!
The "Just Riding Along" Crew
Andrea Wilson
Andrea has ridden and raced bikes since 2006. Before that, she had been everything from professional horse trainer to desk jockey to college teacher.
When she rode her first mountain bike in 2009, she was immediately addicted. Over the past two years, Andrea has worked as a mechanic in a local shop and raced extensively across the US in
off-road endurance events. You can check
out more information about her over at her blog at http://blog.brickhouseracing.com
FullFace Kenny
My name is Kenny. I used to work in the corporate world, but now I work at a bike shop in Memphis, Tennesse. I ride and race as much as possible.
This season I will be concentrating on the marathon side of mountain biking.
I'll be doing mostly 50 mile "baby" races. I wear a fullface helmet because I like to smash my face into things.
Pool Boy Matt
I am Matt McCulley. I got my start into bike racing with BMX at the wee age of 9 years young (1998). I raced BMX until the age of 16-17 and stopped mainly because most of my friends weren't making great life choices. When I started college I got a sweet used road bike (a huge terd, nicely polished) for $400. I went to another shop to buy some tires for it because I kept getting flat tires and they had a help wanted sign. The rest is pretty much great from there.
I continued with college, gained a degree in English and Philosophy, and decided to continue my quest for the perfectly adjusted rear derailleur. Now it is 2012, I am 24 years old, and I
am well versed in most road, cyclocross, and cross-country mountain bike technology. I never gave up my love of BMX and it shows when I jumo things on my rigid 29er, ride wheelies on
my road bike, or hop barriers on the 'cross bike.
I may have just started a new career in the corporate world in order
to explore a new career path but I feel that I am just getting started
when it comes to my journey of exploring what type of fun I can have
with a bicycle. I have found over the last few years that the cycling
community is extremely supportive and has been a great family to help
me succeed. I hope over the coming years to still provide service for
those who are looking for premium care but also find a few more
weekends to ride and race, allowing me to be even more involved in the
cycling community that has done so much for me.
Mark Stover - Host of "The Last Aid Station"
Mark Stover is a reformed competitive road cyclist who fell head over heels (too often literally given his list of injuries over the past 3 years) for the exhilarating, oft grueling, punishing, euphoric, self prescribed torturous world of endurance mountain bike racing.
Mark has often quit bicycle racing altogether several times in the course of a single ultra mountain bike race, while his glycogen depleted and addled gray matter has often made him question his common sense and sanity. Though he still rides a skinny tired road race machine on occasion, there is absolutely no proof he likes it.
Kelli Jennings - Host of "The Apex Nutrition Podcast"
Kelli graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Dietetics, completed her residency/Dietetics Board Exam to become an RD, and maintains continuing education to stay one. She began her career at George Washington University Hospital, then moved into private practice to focus on endurance sports nutrition, wellness, disease prevention, and metabolism.
Outside of work, Kelli loves living with her husband & two boys (3rd on the way summer 2011) in Colorado where she spends her free time backcountry skiing, cycling, mountain biking, cooking, reading, and pulling/pushing her kids up hills in their Chariot (yes, pregnant - that's a sight!).
She's had top finishes in long-distance mountain bike races including a top 20 overall, 2nd place female, finish in the Crested Butte Classic (100+ mile, 12000+ ft elevation gain) four months after giving birth to her 2nd son, and a first place finish as part of Team Leonard Skinners in the 24 hours of Sunlight Rando Race, and a 1st place finish in the Durango 100K Mountain Bike Race.
But mostly, she's enjoys adventures that don't require entrance fees, gear check-ins, and do require that you carry all your own stuff. These include moutain biking in the mountains & desert (WRIAD, Kokepeli trail unsupported in 2 days), backpacking, and climbing mountains - she's climbed the 54 summits of all of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks (8 snow climb/ski descents).
Drew Edsall - Host and Creator of "The Dirt with Drew Edsall"
Drew Edsall is a USAC cycling coach with Endurance Factor LLC. With a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Sciences from Gettysburg College and 8 years of coaching experience, Drew has helped clients get to the podium over 150 times in just the last two years alone.
Drew is not only a coach, he is also a very experienced and successful rider.
In 2012 he joined forces with the Kenda/Felt Professional Mountain Bike team. Drew quickly established a presence on the team with wins in the True Grit 50, Syllamos Revenge NUE, and Tatanka 100 mountain bike races.
On “The Dirt with Drew Edsall", Drew will be discussing training, nutrition, equipment choice, racing, and other mountain bike related topics. Drew will be joined by other professional mountain bikers, as well as others throughout the mountain biking community as he brings the latest and greatest mountain biking info to you every month.
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