TPM Episode 450: Damon Iwanaga, Pro Mountain Biker
The Powell Movement
Mike Powell
4.9 • 860 Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2025
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Damon Iwanaga was born to race flat track motorcycles, just like his dad. Eventually, he graduated to moto and his life path was set, he was going to turn pro and dominate the world of Supercross. That dream doesn't work out for many people and Damon eventually found himself in community college figuring out life. But a move to Tahoe and a pivot to mountain bikes sent Damon's life on a new trail. On the podcast we talk growing up with Tyler Bereman, moto, mtb, events, the cannabis connection and much more.
Damon Iwanaga Show Notes:
4:00: Dreadlocks, pro moto dad, winning races as a kid, breaking his back at 13, breaking his collarbone and back in May at the Cam Zink event, moto sponsors, and not being cocky
22:00: Liquid Force, Feel the Pull and get 15% off your LF Purchase by using the code Powell15 at checkout
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23:00: The end of moto, college, snowboarding, working in Tahoe, ceramics, Mikey Sylvestri, ripping crappy women's bikes, seeing the path on a bike, and it all happened so fast
40:30: Elan Skis: Over 75 years of innovation that makes you better.
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42:30: His first pro race, finding freeride, money, Fest events, and the E Bike fiasco
65:00: Inappropriate Questions
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have a seat on your porcelain throne. |
| 0:02.3 | It's time to talk some shit on the Powell Movement. |
| 0:13.5 | Welcome to the Powell Movement. |
| 0:16.8 | I'm your host, Mike Powell, |
| 0:18.5 | and while I want to get my intros back to what they used to be, |
| 0:21.7 | I don't even remember what that was. |
| 0:23.9 | For three years, I've been dealing with so much heavy shit, and I thought by now I'd be |
| 0:28.8 | able to get a little back to normal, but grief is a crazy thing. |
| 0:32.8 | It's like one minute I'm planning on going into the office to sell stickers at diecut stickers.com, |
| 0:38.3 | and then on my way out the door, I'll get a call from someone requesting a death certificate |
| 0:42.6 | or some bullshit like that for some loose end that I needed to tie up for Ange. |
| 0:47.2 | And then I'll start crying, and boom, I don't go into work. |
| 0:50.4 | I mean, I haven't been to the office since March, and I really need to start going. |
| 0:54.8 | But I also need to prioritize me a little bit, and if staying home makes me feel better, so be it. |
| 1:00.4 | I'm still working, and I need you to buy stickers for me. |
| 1:03.9 | And to do that, you can email me at mike.powel at diecut stickers.com. |
| 1:08.1 | I really appreciate that. |
| 1:09.8 | I will say, the hardest part about all of this, |
| 1:12.4 | outside of losing my partner, my best friend, my lover, you know, my everything, is the loneliness. |
| 1:18.3 | Now that it's back to school, my house is so quiet. And I find myself talking to Anne's all the time. |
| 1:24.0 | But since she's dead, she doesn't say anything back to me. Oh, my life is just so sad, |
| 1:29.1 | and I'm still crying for hours each day. And who knows how long that's going to last? |
... |
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