He was shy at 7 years old, but mountain biking got him out of his shell.
Santa Clarita resident Spencer Rathkamp, now 30, is a professional mountain bike rider who’s passionate about mountain biking in the Santa Clarita Valley. According to John Ker, senior editor of the SCV-based Mountain Bike Action magazine, Rathkamp got over being a quiet kid when he got on a bike.
“He was really good,” Ker said during a telephone interview, “and I shot (pictures of) him numerous times. He got on the cover of the magazine numerous times.”
Ker added that Rathkamp would go on to ride in many biking events. He spoke of him competing in the Sea Otter Classic, a bicycling and outdoor sports festival and exposition that takes place in the spring in Monterey. According to Ker, Rathkamp rode in four different classes, including cross country and downhill.
According to Rathkamp, he grew up on two wheels. He was born and raised in the SCV. His dad was in the motocross industry and, as a result, he was drawn to riding bikes. He’d take part in building dirt jumps in nearby fields that he and others could ride.
In high school, Mountain Bike Action magazine saw Rathkamp at the jumps and took pictures of him for the publication.
Those at the magazine encouraged Rathkamp to try organized mountain bike racing. While a student at Hart High School, he said he discovered a local chapter of a new cycling league called NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association).
“They started a Santa Clarita Valley composite team,” he said. “They lent me a $600 Cannondale hardtail mountain bike, and I raced that and saw some quick success in cross country mountain biking.”
Rathkamp also interned at Mountain Bike Action magazine. There he began building connections, and he continued racing, getting better the more he did it.
Over the years, Rathkamp said he became “decently successful,” depending on how one determines success.
“I got in front of the right people,” he said. “I was super fortunate and super thankful for the opportunities. Still to this day, I’m sponsored by some pretty cool brands.”
Rathkamp applauded the city of Santa Clarita for an upcoming project to bring 15 miles of trails to 380 acres north of Copper Hill Drive in Saugus called the Haskell Canyon Bike Park Project. A city study in May gave a July-to-December timeline for completion. Rathkamp can’t wait to see it.
In a telephone interview for a previous story about the project, Nina Moskol, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition, expressed her excitement.
“We feel like it’s in a good location,” she said, “where people will have an opportunity to ride in the mountainous foothills and lots of other mountain bike-accessible areas.”
Rathkamp feels that the proposed park will offer more elevation and terrain than most local riding areas, which he hopes will cater to beginners and professionals alike. He hopes that it’ll become a place where bikers can progress, build their confidence and their skill level, and where bikers can really enjoy themselves. If it’s done right, the SCV could become a destination for mountain biking, he said.
According to both Rathkamp and Ker, mountain biking became extremely popular in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They told everybody to stay home,” said Ker, “and then people were allowed out of their houses to get some exercise, and the sales in mountain bikes just exploded.”
Of course, once people started going back to work, that trend started to taper off. However, according to Rathkamp, the mountain biking community in the SCV has become quite tightknit. He added that groups not only ride and talk about riding, but also they’ll come together for maintenance days to work on bike trail upkeep.
Rathkamp said he and others are trying to do more community events. He’ll even do local bike clinics to teach biking skills and safety tips.
“The bicycle,” he said, “has brought me a lot of opportunities to travel the world, race bicycles and meet a lot of incredible people.”
When he talks about biking, it’s clear how far he’s come from being the quiet 7-year-old he once was. Through it all, the bike that first gave him confidence has become the vehicle for a lifelong journey of connection, adventure and purpose.
