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Nickname: D-Sapp
Age: 23
Current Town: Boone, NC
Home Town: Kernersville, NC
Favorite Trail?
Canyons, besides that, anywhere I’m riding with good buddies.
Sponsors/Supporters?
Transition Bikes, Cycletherapy, Boone Bike
Favorite place to ride?
It all depends on what I’m trying to ride on any given day. But, East Pisgah Forest, NC, Hawksnest Resort, or most anything in the Pacific NW is at the top of my list. Being more specific than that would be difficult.
Favorite place to race?
Sugar Mountain in the rain.
What sparked your interest in biking when you were young?
Sometime, several years before I could drive, I started riding around town with my friends from school whose parents owned a local bike shop. It was just something to do but we all got pretty into it being that we didn’t have much else to do. I remember watching videos on the computer from Pinkbike and NSMB and some VHS videos with my friends and getting stoked to jump off of stuff. We would then go find drops, skinnys, and sets of stairs around town and repeatedly jump our xc bikes with 63mm forks to flat and brag about who hit the sickest drop that day.
When did you get into biking, and what form of biking was it?
Growing up, I had a few mountain bikes and was riding a lot and racing a little. I got a DH/freeride bike in 2001 and started riding a little with some folks in NC that called themselves the “Hick Hucksters.” I learned a lot about how to ride a bike from riding with them. I didn’t ride as much for a couple of years while in high school, but still kept up with what was happening and got out to ride with friends from time to time. Once I was in college, I got a road bike and I joined the club team at the school and did a couple races, but mainly rode around on the road bike to keep my fitness up. I borrowed a 6” trail bike from the owner of the local bike shop in Boone and started riding trails again and haven’t looked back since.
We understand that you ride in all categories of biking. What is your favorite and why?
Currently It’s riding DH and racing XC. DH is incredibly fun to ride but racing it is one run and done. With XC it’s a two or more hour race with plenty of time to make up for one mistake. It’s awesome to see your training pay off as well and having an XC bike just to ride gives me the opportunity for more time on the bike than you can ever get riding DH unless you live at a resort.
Have you had any serious injuries while riding or competing? How long did it take you to get back on the saddle?
I have had a lot of injuries, most were fairly minor but I did bust my face open pretty well in High School leading to a pretty nasty infection that kept me on my back for over a week and off the bike for awhile after that. The worst was definitely mangling my shoulder trying out some lines a couple weeks before Collegiate Nationals in the fall of 2008. This kept me off the bike completely for over a month, limited to the road bike for a few months after that, and is still not quite right.
Who are your favorite Riders?
I enjoy riding with my crew around here and people from North Carolina the most. Nothing against folks from other places, I really like riding with them too, but a lot of them have weird accents and a lacking vocabulary. Mueller, Trilliam, and Steven T. along with former North Carolinians Motomike, Kelend Hawks, and especially Brad Walton are some of my favorite people to ride with because they keep it real.
What events do you plan on attending or racing this coming season?
I’m going to mostly be on the east coast this year for a change while I help with opening a bike park here in NC. I’ll be racing XC including the southeast AMBC races, 6 hours of Warrior Creek, and Burn 24 hour race. I’m also going to be racing DH at some local and regional events and possibly one or two east coast GRT’s. I’ll be on the west coast sometime over the summer doing some riding with my crew in Washington and B.C.
What are the greatest Podiums you have won thus far in your racing career?
Probably the Collegiate Nationals team podiums. It has been awesome to be involved with and see the Appalachian State team and collegiate racing itself grow as much as it has in the past 5 years I have been on it.
Is racing more mental or physical for you? Why?
It’s more mental for me I believe. Racing bikes takes a lot of work and training in order to race at the higher levels. It requires mostly physical strength and skills however, you have to have mental focus and determination to do the workouts, race well, and get the strength and practice you need and get to where you want to be on the bike.
Do any other sports influence your biking or style?
Biking is kind of its own deal for me. Skiing is fun too but I don’t think it has a lot of influence on my style. I’ve recently started holding what we call “Sledder Cross” or “Sledder-X” races when the curvy hill outside my house is slick. Think mountain cross but on snow/ice, with plastic sleds, more people, crashes, and complete chaos. You have to be taking risks and making passes with consequences to win.
What are your biggest goals for this coming season? And the following season?
This season I want to help get the scene amped up around here, host some races, race some races, and win some races. Next season, depending on where I am and what I’m doing, hopefully I’ll be doing a full racing calendar and win a few of whatever races I end up doing in whatever disciplines they are. I’m not big on the road bike, but I may even do a few road races.
What do you do to occupy your time when you’re not on the bike?
I work at the Alpine Ski Center in Banner Elk, NC and do a little ski racing for fun in the Winter. I’ve been finishing up college at Appalachian State University and looking for a job that will allow me to ride my bikes and race all that I want to and stay involved in the industry. Besides that, I’ve been trying to do some hiking and camping and just hanging out with people that are awesome and important to me.
If you were to give one piece of advice to up-coming riders, what would it be?
Enjoy it, have fun, take a lot of chances, and challenge yourself, but remember that no matter how serious you are that we’re riding bikes…and that’s what’s so sick about what we do.
Everybody has a dream, what is yours?
Have a job that allows me to be able to ride all that I want to and travel all that I can and still be able to eat.
Photos by Tommy Penick
