Memory Pilot and Lonewolf Suspension Send Local Shredders to the EWS
With the enduro season beginning to pick up the pace there are dozens of team camp videos and factory teams flexing their speed and professionalism. Who doesn’t love that? Team shredits, one off bikes, loose laps down epic tracks, etc etc. However, for two guys from California’s south coast, the program is a bit different. Ryan Reish and Tor Weiland are Santa Barbara locals often found battling for KOM’s between the daily grind of running valet and building trail.
Ryan is a 25 years old student of kinesiology at Northern Arizona University, where he will be moving after the summer. Alongside his studies, Ryan works on his local trails through SAGE Trail Alliance trail crew, and spends his evenings producing custom mountain bike fenders for Memory Pilot. Once clocked out, you’ll most likely find him riding his moto up whatever techy bit of trail he can find. And of course grinding his enduro bike up the famous Gibraltar road to smash down some rocky trail.
Tor is the young gun of the two at 21 years old. He gets in his cardio training working as a valet at one of Santa Barbara’s finest hotels. When he’s not wearing a suit and tie he’s stacking, shaping, and boosting dirt jumps; Similar to Ryan, after another summer of the Santa Barbara life and racing, he’ll be heading up north to attend Western Washington University for statistics. Like most racers, these two put in their time on the clock and save their pennies to go against it. A routine not that uncommon to most riders. Where parties and days at the beach are part of the Santa Barbara lifestyle, these two send their summer weekends to all corners of California chasing the California Enduro Series and other races around the west coast. Some of the furthest stretches the two have traveled to slap on number plates are as far east as Colorado, south to Baja Mexico, and up north to the PNW.
After a brief conversation between the two friends, the decision was made to go all in and race internationally. For the 2021 season before heading their separate ways for college, race entries were booked for the Enduro World Series 100 rounds: Val Di Fassa, and La Thuile. As privateers in the purest sense, the work ahead to make this dream a reality was set. Second jobs and extra shifts were the first logical step. From the time the first race entry was locked in for Val Di Fassa, they had 6 months to save up and watch the covid restrictions of Italy closely.
As word of the trip began to spread around the small riding community in Santa Barbara, a couple of local companies hopped on board to support the 2 aspiring EWS racers.
Lonewolf Suspension is based in Santa Barbara, CA loving on forks and shocks abused by the local terrain Lonewolf Suspension is based in Santa Barbara, CA loving on forks and shocks abused by the local terrain Maxwell Frank Click photo to change size and caption
Lonewolf Suspension and Memory Pilot are current sponsors for Tor and Ryan, so it was no surprise that both brands were eager to help. Lonewolf Suspension is owned and operated by Brian Alexander who has an extensive background in mountain bike suspension and racing. Lonewolf Suspension is dedicated to the passion and pursuit of bicycle suspension service at the highest caliber. Since starting his business just over a year ago, Brian has seen a progressive rate of growth. As an ex racer himself, Brian, aka BA, is familiar with the challenges of racing and offered to provide additional support.
Erik Saunders Memory Pilots his way through life Erik Saunders Memory Pilots his way through life Nate Cannon Click photo to change size and caption
Memory Pilot, specializing in custom fenders and compression socks, was founded by Erik Saunders. Erik is no rookie when it comes to international racing on the road side of the spectrum and has dedicated the time to starting and operating the California Enduro Series. He is all in for anyone looking to race and has been kicking around the idea of starting an EWS development team, so this was a natural fit.
Memory Pilot matched Lonewolf’s support and things were set. The guidance from these two local legends has been astronomical in launching what has so far been a successful program to go racing on a grand stage.
The blessing of having two mountain bike focused brands in a small town is the perfect recipe to get a couple of enduro racers up and rolling in a grassroots fashion. This side, our side of mountain bike racing, is the minority and we see why. It’s no cake walk. Though this story is not the first of its kind, the determination exerted from Tor and Ryan is proof that you don't need factory level support or a big bike brand for international racing to be an achievable goal. Sure they received help from a couple of great companies but we’re not talking thousands of dollars. Yes they’ll be living out of a rental van, showering in streams, and maybe performing street tricks for gas money.. But there will be copious amounts of park laps, gelato, seat time on the amazing trails northern Italy has to offer, and pasta. Set aside the time, make a plan, and go for it.
Ryan and Tor will be flying out to Italy mid June, attempting to cover as many miles of Italian singletrack as possible. If you’d like to follow the boys and the rad local businesses, you can find them all on Instragram at:
@ryanreish @tor.mw @memorypilot @lonewolfsuspension
Ryan | Raw Jim Bob
50ft Road Gap
Tor | Raw Andrew Parker