On a hot summer morning in the late-90’s Jed Schober pulled into the parking lot at Whitetail Ski Resort in south central Pennsylvania. The energy was electric, with hundreds of people preparing their bikes and zipping around to warm up. The music was cranking and the course ribbons zigzagging up the slopes were a forbidding sight to see. It was his first mountain bike race, and he nervously approached the registration table to sign up for the junior beginner category. After an intense hour of racing, Jed scored a place on the top step, and as he drove out of the parking lot that day was instantly hooked on the experience he had just encountered.
Later that summer Jed went on to enter a few more races, forging waist deep through the creek at Chiques Rock, and suffering in the sweltering heat of Michaux State Forest. As the season had ended, he linked up with some local groups and started training on the trails of Brickerville and Mount Gretna, while at the same time working as a mechanic in the nearby shops. He quickly progressed through the ranks, and by the end of the following season secured his first victory in the Open class at Iron Hill Park in Delaware.
The next season Jed was invited to join up with the Trek East Coast Factory team as part of their grassroots development program. He spent several years with the team, racing events such as 24 Hours of Canaan, as well as much of the NORBA National circuit in places like Mammoth, Deer Valley, and Mount Snow, where he achieved a podium place in the Expert class finals. During this period Jed also began racing on the road, earning an overall victory at the Tour de Toona as a Cat 4 and then progressing to a few successful finishes in the local P/1/2 fields. These years saw Jed regularly on the podium at local and regional MTB races, as well as travelling for events such as U23 Espoir Nationals and 12 Hours of Santos.
After Y2K Jed eventually connected with Bill of Gretna Bikes and began racing alongside of him as part of a small team, Bergwerk USA, supported by the innovative German bicycle rand. Around the same time, Jed also began to study engineering at Penn State and became heavily involved in the cycling program there. In addition to designing, fabricating, and patenting a unique flexing mountain bike frame, he also served as Race Director for the PSU Cycling fall MTB race. Putting his design through its paces, along with the help of Lupine Lights, he earned a podium place at 24 Hours of Seven Springs in the Solo category. And with intimate knowledge of the local Rothrock trails, he scored a top-5 in the cycling portion of Single Speed World Championships, against a stacked national level field.
Today, after starting a family and focusing on his work as a product development engineer, Jed has rediscovered his love for racing and cycling in general. He has more recently been competing in some Master’s XC and Gravel events and has even qualified for UCI Gravel Worlds in Australia. He continues to be grateful for all of the friends, mentors, and supporters he has met along the way and looks forward to many more miles on two wheels.