Meet Shawn Neer | Professional Mountain Bike Athlete and Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shawn Neer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shawn, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
I famous motocross racer once told me ” Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

I was a pretty lazy kid and had my dreams of a being professional racer fall from hands pretty quickly when I hit the pro ranks. After working in the oil fields as a electrician for a few years I decided to give it another go but with one change – I had to focus on enjoying the process of making my weaknesses my strengths.

My weakness? Fitness. I was a pretty overweight kid who’s identity was wrapped in on 2 wheels – the only place he felt comfortable in my skin. To get myself to train properly to compete for World Titles I made a deal with the inner fat kid in me – you can eat whatever you want if you just get through this brutal workout. It worked – I trained hard and then got addicted to feeling of getting stronger and the rest was history. I grabbed that World Title I dreamed of in 2019 in Finale Ligure, Italy alongside USA teammates Richie Rude and Cody Kelley.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The most important thing I’ve learned over my 20 year race career is that the world rewards a very specific ask and dismisses a vague wish. Make lofty goals and specific ones.

As a kid that grew up racing mountain bikes in Colorado, you know my specific ask was to ride for the Yeti-Fox Factory Team. Based in Durango back in the 90’s – Yeti has a laundry list of the best racers in the world: John Tomac, Missy Giove, Aaron Gwin, Richie Rude, ect. After dreaming about being on the Yeti-Fox team my whole race career, I finally wound up on the brand in 2014.

After years of growing through the ranks of the team to the World Cup level, I started mentoring the development team of kids here in Colorado and loved every bit of it. I was almost more passionate about passing on the knowledge that changed my life as kid than I was for my racing. That is where the Moniker Method Coaching platform came from – biking gave me a sense of self worth as a kid and passing that on to kids and adults is special to me.

As far as what makes the Moniker Method special is that you can only coach up to your level. I see a lot of coaches here in Colorado doing a great job getting riders into the right riding position but the riders leave with a static riding style. We specialize in getting the riders into a dynamic riding style that allows them to find the flow of the trail and almost feel one with the trail. Riders leave the first coaching session seeing the trails through a very different lens, one of fluidity and fun.

What me makes proud about the brand is the amount of repeat customers and people leaving with a smile on their face after the mountain bike lesson. Bikes have given me everything I have in life and to get to see other people as passionate about the sport as me makes forget about the challenges that come and go in business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I spend most of my time in the Boulder area so I am going to speak on that area! Food spots would be Sherpa’s, T|aco, and Duschanbe Tea House for a more proper date night. Drinks at the Rayback Collective or Avanti for the hip spot, The Attic for the dive bar, and the St. Julien for a spot without college kids.

As far as the real Boulder experience, take the trip up to Gold Hill and visit the General Store on Main St. Great food, great drinks, and small town dancing/music. The mix of the buildings from the 1800’s and a flourishing community makes it hard to have a bad time up there – it makes you forget about life for a minute when you’re up there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I feel like if you dive into anyones story, there is always a laundry list of great humans helping along the way – I will do my best to keep this one relatively short.

Most action sports athletes have parents that dedicate a good chunk of their life to the sport, there’s not too many ways around that so obviously the first people that come to mind are my parents. Thanks for putting up with me as a teen mom and dad!

The next would be Shawnee McGovern who saw me as a chunky 12 year old kid with a lot of potential and was my real first sponsorship in the bike world. He founded a non profit junior development team (Orbit Racing) and now owns a great bike shop in Wheat Ridge called Rhythm Cycles. A lot of the places and people Shawnee introduced me to made me into the racer I am today – couldn’t of made it without here without him when I was junior ranks.

The last person that has to get a shout is my ex girlfriend Kelwyn. She quit her job and jumped confidently into a rustic 1993 Ford Econoline van to help me chase my dreams – going to every race we could afford in North America over the course of 3ish years. We lived pretty much full time out of the van in a high stress environment where I needed to produce results to afford to keep traveling – it was quite taxing on our relationship. Even though we aren’t together, we are still great friends and owe a lot to her for the unconditional support during those years.

Website: www.monikermethod.bike

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnneer/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?app=desktop&sp=mAEA&search_query=cafe+americano