By Brian Tolbert
We started the KUHL team 5 years ago when cross country racing and big factory teams were disappearing. We started this team with the backing of KUHL outdoor clothing and an idea to gather people together that we wanted to travel and hang out with at races not necessarily the high maintenance prima donnas that we saw standing on the top step of the podiums back then. So we started with a handful of new friends and old friends and a van that we stole from the warehouse and drove around looking for the coolest races on the coolest trails around. 5 years later the team has grown across the country and across disciplines but it still has the same idea behind it, we don’t really care about your results as much as we care about you being good dude (or dudette) that can talk to people about more than your placing in your last race but about that sweet jump on the third lap. Our little experiment has worked pretty well over the years and we actually have some really fast guys and gals on the team that are out winning big races across the country but it is still about having fun and joking with your team mates and friends.
We got to know the guys at Outdoor Technology through our mutual friend (and OT catalog model) Blake Nyman (no serious Blake is on every other page of the catalog). After hanging out with the guys at the OR show we knew we found some kindred spirits (whoa that was deep). What it really comes down to is that in a sport where you spend hours every day by yourself pedaling in the back woods, it’s good to have some sweet tunes. I no longer have to cut holes in my jerseys to fish those crappy white headphones through and up around my helmet, I just put my tags on and go.
