Place of Birth: Goettingen Germany
Team Soultown
Laber zine
4th place pro street @ 1994 Worlds, Koln, Germany.
King of Concrete
Toothpick fakie.
Interview: Ride BMX UK august september 1998.
Interview in the Frame Premiere video.
Markus pulls all his tricks when it matters. Two solid street oriented runs, using the obstacles all over the course, resulted in a second place finish and a whole lot of cash in the pocket of a stoked German.
Markus Left Dragonfly and joined the Mosh team.
Markus, Transworld BMX march 2004: I was still going to school when I got the call from Mosh. I had met Sam Arellano (Mosh Product Manager) and Mike Ardelean at the 2000 X Games and chatted with them for a little, but never would I have thought that they wanted me on the team. The offer was very good–in fact, too good to pass up. It was like a life-long dream of mine had come true. Here was the perfect opportunity to live in the U.S. and get paid to do what I did anyway: ride my bicycle.
The downfalls struck me pretty much right away, once I stepped off the airplane at LAX. I missed my girl, my family, and my usual environment. I figured those were sacrifices I had to make, but it turned out that I could not function right for months. The ramps felt weird, the bike was different, the air more polluted. I was not used to sitting in traffic when I wanted to go ride. I did not have to deal with security guards before, let alone magazine deadlines or flight delays. I started to stress out!
All I was back home was just another kid on a BMX, but now I was in the spotlight. Riding became more than just a pastime to me–it became a job. Autograph-signings, contests, and photo shoots became my daily routine. That's probably the biggest compromise I had to make; in my mind, it took away the innocence that riding once possessed for me. It really made my head spin!
Interview: Cream september october 2000.
Cover: Ride BMX UK #49
Interview: Ride BMX US december 2000
Props Road Fools Europe
Mosh UK road trip. Ride BMX UK december 2001.
Cover: Ride BMX US july 2002
Video Ride Momentum october 2002
Markus Wilke is a great pegless rider who takes sub box/back rail tricks to a new level.
