Dan recounts one of his most memorable experiences while working at RockShox:
“I had a fantastic opportunity to go to France for the first time in 1994 and support the Paris-Roubaix World Cup race for RockShox, who provided selected pros with suspension forks for the brutal, cobbled race. And all the pros wanted one because Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle had won the race the previous two years on a RockShox. I knew that the pro peloton was competitive, but I had no idea just how fleeting success could be until Eric Vanderaerden approached me in the hotel lobby. As a big fan of professional cycling, I knew immediately who he was. The strong Belgian rider had won the race in 1987, solo, and was now racing for a different team in a different era. This former winner pleaded with me for a RockShox fork. “Can I get a fork? I won this race once.” As if I didn’t know who he was! Even though he was at the end of his career, it was obvious to me that the pros were only as good as their last race. “
“We did give him the coveted fork, and he rewarded us by being in one of the first moves of the day and staying in a breakaway group for about 100kms in the middle of the race. Now that was cool.”