Meet Our Executive Director!
"My philosophy is to inspire every rider to achieve their goals and expand their potential, respecting their individual ability range. Equally important to me is fostering an environment where all riders relish the camaraderie and FUN of exploring the finest mountain biking trails in the Bay Area!"
Lukas T. Swidler, a seasoned mountain biker, coach, and overall athlete, graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from California Lutheran University in May 2020, with a focus on education, exercise science, and philosophy. With over 200 hours of classroom instruction in California public and charter schools, Lukas has shared his knowledge with grade school and middle school students, including teaching in physical education classes.
During his time at Prospect High School in Saratoga, CA, Lukas excelled as a Varsity basketball player for four years, participated in AAU traveling basketball teams for two years, and contributed to the Volleyball team for two years. Additionally, he showcased his athleticism on the Track & Field team, earning recognition in multiple events, including pole vaulting. Lukas received the honor of “Athlete of the Year” for two consecutive years at Prospect High School and furthered his sports career by playing two years of NCAA college basketball at Cal Lutheran.
Lukas’ Experience on Various Local and Regional Mountain Biking Trails
Lukas has ridden hundreds of rugged miles of mountain biking trails and terrain! He has explored and camped in all types of intermediate and advanced riding terrain locations throughout California, Colorado and Utah. His riding experience includes:
Northern California Mountain Biking Areas: Bay Area trails including the majority of the best trails in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties as well as the best trails in the East Bay and Marin County areas.
Other California Mountain Biking Areas: Humboldt, Clear Lake, Lake Tahoe, Stanislaus, La Grange, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino County, Thousand Oaks, and the Conejo Valley.
Colorado Mountain Biking Areas: Bayfield, Durango, Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek areas.
Utah Mountain Biking Areas: Moab
In addition to trail riding, Lukas raced and placed as a finalist for the MTBX Racing Team in cross county (XC) at the Exchequer Mountain Bike Extravaganza in La Grande, CA in April 2021 and April 2022.
About Coach Lukas And His Mountain Biking Expertise
Lukas has been teaching mountain biking to children and teens of all abilities for over five years. He worked as the Director of the Palo Alto location for Kids DoJo, a non-profit organization providing mountain biking camps for beginner to advanced level to riders throughout the Bay area and Santa Cruz. Prior this this Lukas worked as a Camp Counselor for Avid4Adventure for three years. During his later college years, he worked part time at Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, CA. Lukas has taught outdoor sports and mountain biking in beautiful outdoor settings to hundreds of children, from a variety of backgrounds and mixed skill sets. He has taught and supervised children of various ages in mountain biking, kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, outdoor education and enrichment programs, outdoor safety skills and camping basics.
Lukas is holds active certifications and is trained in CPR, First Aid and Wilderness Aid and has a California commercial driver’s license. MTBX is fully insured as a business and follows safety and risk management guidelines.
Lukas enjoys working with children from diversified backgrounds. He has traveled extensively and internationally to many countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica Israel, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam.
During his senior year of college in 2019, Lukas lived and experienced a semester abroad while he studied in Asia at Hong Kong Baptist University.
During his time abroad in Asia, Lukas participated as a live-in volunteer at the children’s orphanage at Rehoboth Sampaloc Ministries in the Philippines.
In addition to being the Director for MTBX and the Race Team Coach, Lukas enjoys other outdoor adventures including motorcycling, road biking, rock climbing, scuba diving, snow skiing, surfing and international travel. Lukas also plays basketball on a Santa Cruz men’s league – and loves ethnic and creative cooking.