WHO WE ARE

Five friends with a passion for helping people experience the great outdoors (along with the Mayor)

How it began:

A few years ago, Mike left the corporate world. Supported by his wife Alex, he began a journey to better understand the business and lifestyles of mountain biking. It was clear that sport was not as diverse or as large as other sports and Mike wanted to understand why. The first phase was Edgar Bikes.  Mike  ormed a small bike shop focused on premium brands and service, devoted to riders with progression in mind. Custom bike builds, high end parts and wheels and a deep dive into bike technology, suspension setup, tuning and service. He obtained certifications in rebuilding suspension, service and tuning. Seeing the benefits  for riders across the spectrum of experience, he started to look more at the business of mountain bikes and something became very clear.

Mountain biking is stuck:  

With his experience in strategic planning, user experience design, and market disruption, Mike found a key insight:

• Mountain bikers represent a very small slice of outdoor recreation - but about 10x more people would try the sport if they could.
• This is a huge potential community of outdoor enthusiasts: 72 million people who want to try bikes but can't.

Alex and Mike began to look at the problem:  why is mountain biking so small when it is so transformative, beneficial, and fun? How do we get more people to try it? They gained the following insights:

The three barriers:

• Access to equipment - bikes are EXPENSIVE. most people believe they need to buy a bike right away. this usually means people tend towards lower cost bikes, which can compromise the experience and often are not suitable to the type of riding they want to do. it also means they need to transport the bike and store it. add a family and you have a pretty major set of gear to deal with.
  
  
• Perception of risk - People immediately have the thought of crashing or getting hurt. Mountain biking has been portrayed as an extreme sport. It can be...but for most it's a lot like hiking; easy to get starte, . and it offers an experience that no other sport can match...even on a nice gravel trail. Gravel biking offers the fun and speed of a road bike, but no cars!
  
  
• Where to go - If you aren’t a "mountain biker" or "gravel rider," you can quickly feel out of your element. We are here to help point you in the right direction and get you to a trail or location best suited to your experience level and type of ride you want to do. From easy gravel rails to trails to black diamond rated trails, we give you personal guidance on the best trails for you to find your next line.

WHAT DOES THE LINE MEAN?

When you ride you can take the easy line, the hard line, the technical line, the flow line, you can cross the line, draw a line or step over the line. We are devoted to helping people find THEIR line. It all begins with the love of bikes and what they do. Bikes are magical. They focus you, get you out of your head, challenge you, free you, bring you together, take you places and capture your imagination. We believe in bikes and what they represent. Add trails to bikes and you have a whole new world of exploration, self-discovery, challenge and success, pride and effort. We want to help the world experience that. Too many people think trail biking is out of reach, too extreme, too expensive, too much work, too hard.

The Line was created to build on the amazing work of organizations like Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance which has championed building some of the best trails in the world -- right here in the beautiful PNW.  Land access is only one part of the equation. Access to equipment, perception of risk and where those trails are, all stand in the way of opening the sport to everyone.  Mountain biking, gravel biking, and trail riding should be available to all.

FOUNDERS

Mike Kunz – CEO

Mike has a background in Graphic Design, marketing and strategic business planning. He is passionate about gear, bikes, and helping people experience the joy, challenge, growth and magic of mountain, gravel and trail bikes. He is a coach, suspension tech, hole digger, bike tech and the Lines head of mopping. He started Edgar Bikes to get into and know the bike industry and found a need for deep suspension knowledge. He was a coach for the Washington state student league for three years, holds multiple certifications for coaching and bike tech programs. Specializes in geeking out about suspension and helping people achieve the best ride possible. He participates in big races on occasion. The past year Mike has been working hard to remodel our new building from a very old 87-year history as a gas station and auto repair center.

• Expertise in strategic planning, graphic design, brand strategy, design thinking, and innovation.
• 30 years of mountain biking experience as a coach, shop owner, suspension specialist, and suspension software developer.
• Professional experience includes 5 years at Procter & Gamble, 1 year at Amazon, and 12 years at Microsoft.

Sheryl Tullis - CMO

• Outdoor enthusiast, former triathlete/adventure racer. Created Sweatworking events for women for active networking
• West Point graduate / Captain in U.S. Army Information Systems
• 5 years at Procter & Gamble, 9 years at Microsoft, 3 years in mobile tech, 9 years in technology firms
• Chief Marketing Officer / Board of Advisors for TA Group Holdings portfolio of companies; business & brand strategy, exec leadership

Stephen Murakami-COO

• 24 years of experience, designing and building community schools in the Puget Sound Area
• 15 years as an architect, 6 years as COO of Tacoma Public Schools, and now 3 years as an owner’s rep leading the design and construction process for local school districts.
• 30 years of mountain biking experience, shops, coaching and riding, current coach of the Lake Washington Composite Team (Redmond/Kirkland/Sammamish/Bellevue)

Alexandra Kunz – Finance Advisor and investor

• Acquisition Integration for Microsoft with focus on business strategy, financial management, and people leadership
• 23 years at Microsoft with finance roles partnering with Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Operations, IT, and Corporate Functions
• Avid Mountain biker and support crew for over 20 years

James Skinner – Retail and Rental Manager

• 16+ Years at REI. Bike rental, sales and customer interactions
• Passionate athlete and loves getting people out on two wheels to enjoy our mountains
• PNW native, avid mountain biker for over 16 years