A trip back in time

The longer I ride, the more I sit back and reflect on how long I've been riding. I've been wanting to do a post like this for a while now and since I just got a new camera, I thought this would be a great opportunity to dig through all my old jerseys and post them all in a blog entry.

When our team started in 2001, our title sponsor was a small shop in Easley, SC called Trails End Bicycles. It's no longer in business (hopefully no thanks to us!) and when it went under, we had to look for a new sponsor and a new name. That's when we changed our name to SEI Racing (South East Independent) and hooked up with Sycamore Cycles in Brevard. Since the beginning we've seen a lot of changes both within our team and within the sport of downhill mountain biking in general.

I've joked around that our team reminds me of one of those bands like Van Halen or the Ramones. They've been around forever but some of the faces have changed. Right now, Jeremy Raney and I are the only original members of the band, and hopefully they'll let me stick around for a little while longer.

Our team has seen the sport change a lot over the years. The courses have become more challenging, the technology has become more advanced, and just when you think the limits of what can be done on a bicycle have been pushed to their limits, somebody takes it a little bit further. Through my time with SEI racing, I know I've pushed way beyond the limits of what I thought I could do when I first started.

We've also had a lot of great sponsors over the years. Some have come and gone and some have been with us since the beginning. If it weren't for all of our sponsors over the years, it would have made it extremely difficult for us to do what we've been doing all these years. Our goal is to always make it worthwhile for our sponsors to continue their support and we look forward to continuing for many years to come.

Well, enough of the flapping. Here's were it all started. This was the only jersey we ever had specifically made for our team. That was thanks to Interim Health Care in Greenville SC who gave us a generous sponsorship for 2001 and 2002. Our original team members were Myself, Jeremy Raney, Cecil Linder and Tyler Williams. In 2002, we added Butch Green David Thacker. For both years, we rode Turner Suspension Frames. Michelin tires hooked us up with an unbelievable sponsorship and continues to be a main sponsor today.

In 2003, after Trails End shut its doors, we were in a bind. With no title sponsor, we knew it was going to be difficult to get new equipment sponsors. Our longtime bud and former teamate Tyler Williams and I hatched the South East Independent title one night. Chris Herndon, then owner of Sycamore Cycles, offered us a sponsorship package through his shop. During this season our team expanded to include Ryan Bloch. We continued riding Turner bikes for '03.

I'm fully aware that this shot is sideways and that's OK. This was our 2004 Jersey. This was the year that we decided to "go moto" with the NoFear kits. We looked like candy canes that year but at least we were flashy! Tyler Williams went on to bigger and better things (Dental school in Charleston) and had to leave the team after a debilitating shoulder separation. Cecil Linder also left the team to start a family. Turner Bikes remained our frame sponsor.

In a backlash against the candycane motif of the previous year, 2005 saw us back in black with our names and an arbitrary number printed on the back. We got back with Sycamore Cycles after a brief hiatus during the 2004 season. David Thacker and Ryan Bloch both moved on after this season. Turner bikes hooked up the frames again.

The great white kits of 2006 and 2007 were again provided by NoFear. In 2006 we begain riding Specialized frames. Butch Greene left the team in 2007 and long time Florida Freeride super-star, DemoDave Perez moved up to the Greenville area and expressed an interest in getting into racing. He joined the team, along with Moto-Mike Thomas, a young shredder from North Carolina.

This year, 2008, our Royal jerseys were purchased and printed by FreerideSouth, a Florida-based mtb forum site. We picked up Steven Trottier, another young NC pinner. This season, Jeremy, Steven, and Mike decided to try out Morewood Frames, a company out of South Africa with their US headquarters located in Asheville NC. Because of our relationship with Sycamore Cyles, we are able to ride Specialized and SantaCruz and Morewood because all three frames are carried in their shop.

With this season drawing to a close, we are already looking forward to next season and the changes we'll see then! We've had a great time and we really want to express our appreciation to our sponsors. Without sounding to much like a cliched supercross interview, we especially want to thank the crew at Sycamore for being so cool with us. We also want to thank Michelin, Cane Creek Components, Thomson Components, E-13 and Crank Bros for helping us out so much over the course of several season. For some of our newer sponsors, like SRAM, and FreeRide South, we have appreciated everything you've done for us and we look forward to working with you for seasons to come!

Thanks for reading,

Matt Griffin.