Dara and Troy, The Epic Parents

If you think you know a couple who you consider to be hard core parents think again, allow me to redefine your notions of hardcore bike parents. For those of you who don’t know who Dara Marks Marino is let give you a little back ground. A few years ago Dara was one of the best cross country races on the NORBA circuit, ranked top five in the nation for a while. She also killed it on the road bike as well, finishing in the top five multiple times in the womens pro bike field at the Tour of the Gila, one of the hardest stage races in the country.Troy Marino is know as the Epic Rider, if its long and gnarly Troy will be there, doesn’t matter how hard or how long it takes to finish Troy sees it through. When I’m riding my MTB, Troy is still hiking the back side of the peeks looking for one more turn in the powder, but then you’ll see him on his MTB the next day.I once watched these two race a duo at a 12 hr race in Cortez where they switched off watching Mckenna, their baby girl, every other lap. I remember Troy telling me stories of him talking Mckenna hiking up snow bowl to ski tracks before the resort opened when she was just a few months old.

So ya like I said, nothing mediocre here. Troy and Dara sent us some pics and a story about Mckenna’s first ride up Waterline Road in her Burley D-lite Bike Child Trailer. She was about 7-8 weeks old and she made it up to 9,800 ft awarding her the nick name “The Lung”.Now we should state that these two are a rare couple. Their physical abilities are tremendous compared to the average parent. Just consider the genes that went into Mckenna. So unless your have comparable mental and physical prowess like Dara and Troy, you might want to wait until your child is a little older before you try and get epic with them.

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