Jeff Lenosky
Full Name: Jeff Lenosky
Date of Birth: April 19
Place of Birth: Passaic, NJ
Home now: Sparta, NJ
Height: 6’ 4”
Weight: 220 lbs
Marital Status: Married
Year turned Pro: 1993
Former Team (s): Schwinn/Toyota
With Giant MTB Team since: 2002
Race Preferences: Speed Trials, Freeride Championships: 3-Time US Mountain Bike Trials Champion, 2006 Teva Mountain Games Champion, Bunnyhop World Record Holder Sporting goals: Keep learning new things and traveling to new places
Career Highlights: Bike Magazine Award Winner, Everest Award Nominee, Mountain Biking UK Magazine “Legend,” Mountain Bike Rider “Top 30 Freeriders in the World”
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BIKE LESSONS; LIFE LESSONS
09-07-2007
I was driving to Minnesota a couple of weeks ago and along the 25-hour ride I was thinking how funny my journey as a bike rider has been. It's weird to think that 20 years ago I was a goofy kid doing tricks in front of the local convenience store, and now I'm a goofy adult doing tricks around the world. There have been many times throughout my life that I’ve tried to be a little too cool for my own good, and in the end, it usually comes back to bite me.
One of my funniest memories takes me back to when I was a kid just riding around the streets in front of my house jumping curbs. Growing up in New Jersey in the 80’s there wasn’t a strong BMX scene, so most kids just rode their bikes to get around. Somewhere along the line I picked up a BMX mag and was instantly hooked, making myself the local bike fanatic. All the kids in my neighborhood always thought I was a little weird for being so hooked on bikes, so one summer evening while everyone was hanging out I decided to show them what a BMX God I had become. The conversation had turned to “who was your favorite band” and back then if you said you liked a musician, you had to be able to prove it by naming at least three songs. It was a cut throat word back then, and if you didn’t know your stuff you could be labeled a poser for at least a week. I decided to shout out that my favorite band was AC/DC and I was going to punctuate it with a sweet air off my neighbor’s driveway. I pedaled through the crowd, hit the curb, pulled back on the handlebars as hard as I could and yelled “Back in Black!” As I flew through the air I realized I pulled back on the bars way to hard, and the next thing I knew I was laying flat on my back with the wind knocked out of me. I lay on the ground for at least 10 minutes gasping for breath looking
like a total dork, and in the process everyone had forgot that I picked such a sick band and song.
Needless to say, I practiced my riding in the backyard for the next couple of weeks where I didn’t have to hear everyone making fun of me and my half back flip. Another funny story involves my short BMX racing career. My dad was always a football and car racing fanatic, so my bike addiction was a little strange to him. He always did his best to support me by making sure I had a cool bike and he drove me to a bunch of races when I was a kid. I had entered about three or four races, and was finally starting to find my groove out on the racetrack. It was the second moto of the 13 novice race at the Oakland Raceway, and I was lined up at the starting line with my chrome Thruster Tri Power, red Skyway Tuff Wheels, paper plate number plate, Thruster jersey and skin-tight jeans. The starter yelled out the commands and the gate fell; before I knew it, I had gotten the holeshot! I remember pedaling my brains out and the race seemed to take forever. As I came around the last turn and headed into the final straight, I realized my dream of winning a race was about to come true. I was about to cross the finish line and I thought I’d throw in a victory wheelie. Before I knew it, I was looping out and I skidded on my knees stopping just short of the finish line! I ground right through the reinforced knees of my Toughskin jeans, but more importantly I got passed by two other riders and ended up in third place. Instead of winning that day, I ended up in third place with bloody knees.
It's been a pretty wild journey, one that even surprises me a lot times. But at the end of the day, I still feel like a kid jumping curbs.
Needless to say, I practiced my riding in the backyard for the next couple of weeks where I didn’t have to hear everyone making fun of me and my half back flip. Another funny story involves my short BMX racing career. My dad was always a football and car racing fanatic, so my bike addiction was a little strange to him. He always did his best to support me by making sure I had a cool bike and he drove me to a bunch of races when I was a kid. I had entered about three or four races, and was finally starting to find my groove out on the racetrack. It was the second moto of the 13 novice race at the Oakland Raceway, and I was lined up at the starting line with my chrome Thruster Tri Power, red Skyway Tuff Wheels, paper plate number plate, Thruster jersey and skin-tight jeans. The starter yelled out the commands and the gate fell; before I knew it, I had gotten the holeshot! I remember pedaling my brains out and the race seemed to take forever. As I came around the last turn and headed into the final straight, I realized my dream of winning a race was about to come true. I was about to cross the finish line and I thought I’d throw in a victory wheelie. Before I knew it, I was looping out and I skidded on my knees stopping just short of the finish line! I ground right through the reinforced knees of my Toughskin jeans, but more importantly I got passed by two other riders and ended up in third place. Instead of winning that day, I ended up in third place with bloody knees.
It's been a pretty wild journey, one that even surprises me a lot times. But at the end of the day, I still feel like a kid jumping curbs.