Our Story
BIG SKETCHY
Earn the Descent.
Big Sketchy didn’t start in a boardroom.
It started on a mountainside in Ecuador.
A few years ago, riding outside Cuenca, we spent the day chasing a local rider everyone simply called Soto. No first name. Just Soto.
All day long, in beautifully broken English, he’d glance back before some ridiculous feature and say something like:
“This next part is a little sketchy.”
What followed was never little.
It was steep, exposed, technical, carved into cliffs and stitched together with switchbacks that demanded commitment. Rock faces. Narrow lines. No room for hesitation.
By the end of the day, “little sketchy” had become the running joke — the understatement of the century.
That night over dinner, someone brought up an old smuggler’s trail — Camino del Rey — carved into a sheer mountainside. Barely handlebar-wide. Tight switchbacks stacked over open air.
Soto explained how to ride it.
“When you get to the corner… just little front wheelie… swing the back around.”
I laughed and said,
“That sounds a little sketchy.”
He paused. Then smiled. That quiet, knowing smile.
Gave a small giggle.
“No,” he said.
“That’s big sketchy.”
And that was it.
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What Big Sketchy Means
Big Sketchy isn’t reckless.
It’s the moment right before commitment.
It’s the steep line you trained for.
The exposed switchback you don’t walk.
The climb you suffer through because you know what’s waiting at the top.
It’s earned confidence.
It’s controlled danger.
It’s doing hard things on purpose.
We believe the descent should be earned.
The climb matters.
The heat matters.
The rock garden matters.
The blown legs matter.
You don’t get flow without effort.
You don’t get skill without exposure.
You don’t get the view without the work.
The descent isn’t given.
It’s earned.
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A Little Grit. A Little Laugh.
Let’s be honest though —
We willingly sign up for suffering.
We call it fun.
We text our friends afterward: “Worth it.”
We tell stories about near-misses over tacos and beer.
There’s humility in riding something over your comfort line.
There’s humor in the absurdity of it.
There’s growth in the attempt.
Big Sketchy lives right there —
between competence and chaos.
Between discipline and send.
Between “this is fine” and “this is insane.”
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Who It’s For
The rider who:
• Trains during the week.
• Climbs without complaining.
• Respects the line.
• Laughs when they case it.
• Hikes back up to try again.
Not loud.
Not flashy.
Just committed.
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Big Sketchy
Calm. Committed. Slightly Dangerous.
Earn the Descent.