Create West Virginia

Laird Knight was named West Virginia Tourism Person of the Year in 2001, and was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 28 years of doing business in West Virginia, mountain bike race pioneer Laird Knight has been exhilarated, frustrated and humiliated but through it all has managed to keep the rubber side down.

Ever visited a Pentecostal church in southern West Virginia? You may be in for a surprise.

It's a dazzling August Sunday morning, too early yet to be hot. The sun has already begun to burnish the mountains' hundred different shades of green with a hint of gold. I catch a startling glimpse of clear blue sky every now and then as my husband and I wind along a narrow two-lane road in Logan County, following a creek through a maze of steep ridges.

Drama of immense proportions may be unfolding this very moment inside Jack Smith’s head.  

Jack’s head, or more accurately his mind, is where randy electrons cruise at breakneck speeds, languid protons wait for a hookup, and molecule matchmakers such as himself calculate the perfect setup for a climax. The plot thickens. But not so fast…there’s this tremendous energy barrier…Jack turns the heat up, the molecules go crazy…and BAM!  They come together with tremendous force, they reach their peak, and the next thing you know, they’re bound.  You get a new polymer, and maybe an extra little sibling.