Ep 15: Ashley Korenblat is a mountain biking pioneer, advocate, innovator, CEO, and all-round inspiration
Mountain-biking pioneer, Ashley Korenblat, has one of the coolest stories in cycling. After graduating from Dartmouth Business School in the ‘80s, the Arkansas native did a stint on Wall Street, but found that bond trading got in the way of her passions for cycling and skiing. She made her way back to New England where she joined the startup bike company, Merlin Metalworks, as CEO. She helped fellow Arkansan, Bill Clinton, get elected president before bailing on the East Coast altogether and relocating to Moab, Utah, where she has resided ever since. Ashley and her husband acquired Western Spirit Cycling, and she has led the company as CEO for the past 23 years and counting. In today’s episode, Ashley shares how she has seen mountain biking explode in popularity since she first got involved in the early ‘90s and how we can advocate for the value that mountain bikers provide when it comes to public land management in the pivot from resource extraction to recreation. We also touch on the ride she did with Bill Clinton, what her transition from Merlin Metalworks to Western Spirit taught her about problem-solving and leadership, and how she hopes to make the mountain bike industry more welcoming and accessible. All this and more in today’s episode. Make sure not to miss it!
Key Points From This Episode:
Ashley shares her most recent memorable ride experience in Manti, Utah.
Learn about Outerbike, the demo bike event where consumers can test bikes on real rides.
The rise of demo programming as a tactic for building brand loyalty and dealer support.
Bike availability at the most recent event, which Ashely jokingly called ‘Out-of-bikes’.
How Ashley discovered cycling and the bike industry after a stint on Wall Street.
The sense she had for the moment in history she was part of at Merlin Metalworks.
How she has seen mountain biking explode since its heyday between 1990 and 1994.
Ashley tells the story of the iconic photograph of her and Bill Clinton riding together in 1992.
Her time serving as chair of IMBA and deepening her commitment as an advocate.
Learn how Ashley has fought to prove the value of mountain bikers for public land.
Hear about some of the big wins that Ashley has seen during her time as an advocate.
The parallels between mountain biking and skiing when it comes to land in its natural state functioning as an economic driver.
Ashley reflects on how the IMBA mandate has evolved and changed over the years.
Why it’s public land management and not wilderness that is the challenge right now.
The role that clean air plays in the pivot from resource extraction to recreation.
What Ashley has learned about things like sewage and zoning from her work in Moab.
Ashley on her transition from Merlin Metalworks to Western Spirit and what it has taught her about problem solving and leadership.
Why Ashley says that her favourite mountain biking trip is the one she is going on next.
What’s next for her and Western Spirit; making the industry more welcoming and accessible.
Tweetables:
“If you start riding, you may not ride every day but, if biking becomes part of your life, it’s likely to stay that way unless you do something crazy like have children.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:12:01]
“My claim to fame [is] I beat Missy Giove in a dual slalom once and that was pretty much the start of my [mountain bike] racing career.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:18:07]
“Sometimes, people get confused and they think we have to fight for our rights. The problem is that there is no right to ride your bike on any piece of public land, anywhere, anytime. [It] is not in the constitution. Instead, we have had to prove the value of our constituency.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:33:35]
“When you see what communities are doing now to bring quality of life to their community, it’s all about building trails. That combined with the growth of remote working is going to change the prospects of a lot of the rural west and other parts of the country.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:37:14]
“There is an opportunity to benefit from mountain biking the way Moab has, but also maintain the character of your community. It doesn’t have to be quite as crazy as the growth spurt that Moab has been on.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:44:06]
“In biking, if we’ve been off the bike two weeks, we’re afraid to call ourselves a cyclist. I want to change that. I think it’s time for us to welcome all these super casual cyclists who just want to go for a spin that might not even count as a ride on Strava.” — Ashley Korenblat [0:52:39]