I posted this in the dh forum too. Thanks!
http://ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2961156#post2961156
Kain Leonard, 2007 Mountain States Cup downhill champion has qualified to represent the US at the UCI World Mountain Championships next week in Italy! As you may or not know USA Cycling receives the bulk of their funding from the US Olympic Committee and therefore only supports Olympic sports. Since downhill mountain biking is not an a Olympic sport USA Cycling and NORBA could care less about downhill (where the bulk of my $150 pro license goes is any ones guess) and provides no financial support to our racers. This really hurts the racers who have to support themselves and don't have big sponsorship dollars as the cost to go to the Worlds and do it cheaply is over $3, 500! That is a lot of coin for a recent college graduate to come up with. To help my long time friend, former teammate and training partner I am pitching in $500 to help Kain go for the gold (he has consistently placed in the top 3 Americans at the biggest races in this country) and hope you can pitch in a little too. He has set up a paypal account where you can donate to his cause, simply log into paypal and send money to his account at kainsparksleonard@yahoo.com or if you prefer checks or cash you can email him at the same email address to fund him that way. With my donation and the help of his parents, friends and relatives is is half way there but we need to hurry as he leaves for Italy in just a few days.
About Kain Leonard: Kain is fierce competitor but is also one of the friendliest, most supportive racers on the circuit. He is always smiling and radiates good energy to everyone he meets. He represents himself and the sport well and is giving back to the sport by starting and coaching a mountain bike team at the Crested Butte Academy. Why sponsors aren't falling all over him I don't know but think it has do with the fact that he isn't a hyper self promoter like a lot of racers who have much higher levels of sponsorship despite not having Kain's results or friendly approachable attitude. Kain (and I) would like to thank Todd Kerbs (T.RU.E Inc.) for sponsoring us with the fine products he represents, Troy Lee Designs and Maxxis.
About the author and why he is supporting Kain. With four racers that I have coached representing the US in the Worlds this year (Congratulations to Naish Ulmer, Graeme Pitts, Joey Schusler and Dusti Belcher! Have fun and kick some butt in Italy) why am I giving financial support to Kain and not the other racers that I coach? Two reasons one, the juniors I coach that are going to the Worlds all still live under their parents roof, a huge savings and two Kain and I have trained at the races together your years, just following him forces me to let off my brakes and ride at my best, seeing how fired up and excited he is just to ride fires me up. Thanks for reading and we thank you for your support.
Go Kain!
http://ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2961156#post2961156
Kain Leonard, 2007 Mountain States Cup downhill champion has qualified to represent the US at the UCI World Mountain Championships next week in Italy! As you may or not know USA Cycling receives the bulk of their funding from the US Olympic Committee and therefore only supports Olympic sports. Since downhill mountain biking is not an a Olympic sport USA Cycling and NORBA could care less about downhill (where the bulk of my $150 pro license goes is any ones guess) and provides no financial support to our racers. This really hurts the racers who have to support themselves and don't have big sponsorship dollars as the cost to go to the Worlds and do it cheaply is over $3, 500! That is a lot of coin for a recent college graduate to come up with. To help my long time friend, former teammate and training partner I am pitching in $500 to help Kain go for the gold (he has consistently placed in the top 3 Americans at the biggest races in this country) and hope you can pitch in a little too. He has set up a paypal account where you can donate to his cause, simply log into paypal and send money to his account at kainsparksleonard@yahoo.com or if you prefer checks or cash you can email him at the same email address to fund him that way. With my donation and the help of his parents, friends and relatives is is half way there but we need to hurry as he leaves for Italy in just a few days.
About Kain Leonard: Kain is fierce competitor but is also one of the friendliest, most supportive racers on the circuit. He is always smiling and radiates good energy to everyone he meets. He represents himself and the sport well and is giving back to the sport by starting and coaching a mountain bike team at the Crested Butte Academy. Why sponsors aren't falling all over him I don't know but think it has do with the fact that he isn't a hyper self promoter like a lot of racers who have much higher levels of sponsorship despite not having Kain's results or friendly approachable attitude. Kain (and I) would like to thank Todd Kerbs (T.RU.E Inc.) for sponsoring us with the fine products he represents, Troy Lee Designs and Maxxis.
About the author and why he is supporting Kain. With four racers that I have coached representing the US in the Worlds this year (Congratulations to Naish Ulmer, Graeme Pitts, Joey Schusler and Dusti Belcher! Have fun and kick some butt in Italy) why am I giving financial support to Kain and not the other racers that I coach? Two reasons one, the juniors I coach that are going to the Worlds all still live under their parents roof, a huge savings and two Kain and I have trained at the races together your years, just following him forces me to let off my brakes and ride at my best, seeing how fired up and excited he is just to ride fires me up. Thanks for reading and we thank you for your support.
Go Kain!