Dave Wiens

A Colorado native, Dave Wiens has called Gunnison, Colorado home for more than twenty years. He lives there with his wife, Susan DeMattei, also a former professional mountain biker and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist, and their three sons, Cooper, Ben and Sam.

Dave has been well known in the world of professional mountain bike racing since the late 1980’s. Paralleling this competitive career has been continual involvement with trails, including advocacy, design and construction, in both volunteer and professional capacities. Dave is the founding director of the non-profit Gunnison Trails and he is currently designing trail systems for private developments in New Mexico and on the Pacific Coast near Puerta Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

A second generation mountain biking pioneer, Dave raced professionally for nearly 20 years, visiting numerous countries on four continents. Officially retiring from the pro circuit in 2004, Dave still enjoys competing but prefers racing only occasionally and closer to home. In August of 2008, he won his sixth consecutive Leadville 100 title in an exciting race with pre-comeback seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong. Other career highlights include two World Cup wins, two US National Championship titles and numerous major victories on the professional mountain bike racing circuit. Dave also competed briefly in the sport of adventure racing, winning the World Championships in 2006 and the Teva Games in 2005, both with adventure racing powerhouse Team Nike.

Having been involved in trail advocacy, as well as design and construction, for more than 20 years, Dave has applied this experience to work in both the public and private sectors. In 2006, he founded the non-profit Gunnison Trails and recently began accepting trail design projects for private developments. Gunnison Trails is active on the public lands in the Gunnison, Colorado area, assisting land management agencies, maintaining existing trails, educating trail users, and proposing and building new trails and trail systems, including the ambitious Gunnison to Crested Butte trail. High-quality trails have never been more popular and this popularity has extended from public lands to private holdings, as well.

With the recent shift in consumer preference from golf courses to outdoor fitness amenities, the demand for trails and trail networks has never been stronger. Always an advocate of trail based recreation and fitness, Dave has been designing natural surface trails for private developments. He offers a wide range of trail design, consulting and construction services.