Mark Pyper
Author's posts
The Mobile Sweat Unit
In the summer of 1997, I was working for Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston, TX. As my first foray into product marketing, I was a bit overwhelmed. While cranking away on some spreadsheet, my boss asked to borrow my car since his was in the shop. He was a buttoned-down East Coast prep school guy …
Street Youths…
Schmidt loses his car wheels to a roving band of street youths in the terribly irreverent TV show “New Girl.” With no tires to roll with, Schmidt’s only recourse is to curse this lost generation. Over the years, generational gaps have seemingly separated us from each other. One has only to look at the strictly …
Ride Like A Girl…
While climbing to the top of the infamous Porcupine Rim, arguably the best downhill trail in Moab, I was struggling. My legs were weak, my cardio non-existent and my attitude sour. This was the spring of 2002 and I hated climbing. As I slogged up the hill, I could hear the steady cadence of a …
iBikes Under The Tree?
I don’t own an iThingy. No iPod, no iTouch, no iPhone, no iPad and certainly no iPad Mini. I have nothing against iThingys—my wife and two daughters have iPhones, iTouchs and iPods. Truth be told, I have downloaded some un-cool, old guy music from iTunes once or twice with their help. For me, the whole”i” …
Scars Rule!
As Halloween approaches I am reminded of…scars. While nobody can rock a scar like Frankenstein, scars have found a place in my psyche. I stare down at my left arm above my hand. A newly minted scar in licorice red has formed. I acquired this in a recent disagreement with a step-up jump at The …
Finding Your Flow
As strange as this may seem, I was not always a mountain biker. There was a time when I was blissfully unaware of the total awesomeness that is mountain biking. My life was a series of long work days, memorably short holidays and grand family togetherness. Great wife-check. Great kids-check. Great job-mostly-check. Life was good …
My Final Playlist…
Truth is I have never made a mix tape. Sadly, I never received one either. With as many times as my trusty little heart has been crushed, you’d think at least one tape would have made it into my cassette player. Having a sad mix tape would have come in handy for those inevitable “It’s …
Facing Down Fear
I sat on my bike, gripped the handlebars, and stared down the trail counting the jumps. One, two, three…and finally thirteen. Notwithstanding the first two easy ones, every jump was challenging but doable—except number six. Arguably the biggest in the park, that jump terrified me. Measuring almost six feet tall and an imposing twenty-eight feet …
