By Ryan Cleek
In the last few years, I have been doing features on young riders in the sport of Young Rippers. JD Swanguen was the first rider I selected for this feature back in March 2006. JD was someone I knew from my years of racing alongside him at the Southern California series and on the national circuit. JD was my first Young Ripper after witnessing his talents firsthand.
After an amazing 2007, which included a silver medal at junior world championships downhill, I did a feature and photo shoot in San Diego, California with JD. This interview appears in the February 2008 issue and will soon be available on newsstands.
Today I had the opportunity to speak with JD and Jeff Steber from Intense Cycles. JD, Matti Lehikoinen and JD will join the factory MS Intense team in 2008. Jeff Steber, founder of Intense Cycles, stated that he wanted to work on getting a U.S. rider back in the World Cup series. Intense is a U.S.-built company, so I believe JD can grow into that rider. We are giving him the opportunity to concentrate on World Cup racing.
