I started racing mountain bikes at twelve. Within a couple of years my whole family was spending weekends driving around the Pacific Northwest chasing races.
Mountain bikes came first — two trips to the World Championships on the US team. From there I turned pro on the cyclocross circuit and raced World Cups in Europe, Cat 1 on the road, and eventually worked my way up to A-level off-road moto. Different bikes, same addiction.
After racing I spent years in tech, building products and leading teams at companies from Amazon to early-stage startups. Bikes stayed the constant.
Now I'm a husband, a dad to two young riders, and the guy who runs Flowstate Bike Works.
The name comes from a feeling — the one where the noise drops away and it's just you and the next hundred feet of trail. It's why I mountain bike, why I ski, why I ride moto. If you've felt it, you know.
Racing meant wrenching. Nobody was setting up my bikes for me, so I learned — frantically building a bike up in the race parking lot after a delayed flight, stripping everything down in a hotel room after a muddy World Cup course session so it'd be ready to race the next day, dialing suspension, bleeding brakes. Nothing's changed except the parking lot. I'm still wrenching, still chasing the last bit of performance out of a setup most people would call good enough.
A dialed bike is obvious the second you're on it. Suspension freshly serviced and set up, buttery off the top. Crisp shifting. Smooth dialed brakes.
Every bike that comes through here gets the same attention I'd give my own.
Training, commuting, chasing friends through the woods, teaching your kid to ride — glad you're here.
See you on the trails.
-Ryan