Utah and Louisville native Eric Porter is a 13-year veteran professional mountain bike rider. He grew up on Sylvan Wynde, a cul-de-sac off Newburg Road. He spent his early years with his friends on K-Mart bikes in Louisville Mega Cavern.
Porter became one of the first to ride the internationally publicized Louisville bike attraction in February 2015. Currently, he lives outside of Park City, Utah which is considered as the highest-rated mountain bike city in the world. According to Courier Journal, he also spends about 100 days a year on the road being filmed in other top bike destinations as a sponsored ambassador for the Diamondback bike line-up.
Porter even recalled hot his "day job" wasn't greeted with autographs and photo opps.
"Around Park City, the whole community really embraces what I do and the way I live. Here, mountain biking is a normal thing," Porter said. "Growing up I was pretty much the only one in my school that was a mountain biker. It wasn't the cool thing to do."
"I always knew I'd be doing what I loved to do for work, one way or another," Porter added. "When I talk to kids now I tell them if you're really in to something, you can make it your job."
And now, he gives all the bikers tips on how to mountain bike like a pro. Porter shares tips regarding basic bike maintenance, off-trail practice tips, finding trails, and trail etiquette, to National Geographic. Here are the following:
Porter says to check your bike before you take a ride, specifically, check tire pressure, chain, and gears before and after rides.
He adds that pump track, a looping trail system with dirt paths and mounds, is a great way to improve your mountain bike skills.
The best way to find a good location to mountain bike is to use apps like MTB Project which helps search trails near the biker. It has the trail difficulty rating systems like ski runs - green, blue, black, double black.
Have an adventure with Eric Porter through the video below:
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
