Doing Our Part

Very few people know the difference between not wanting to ride and not being able to ride. Recently I became aware of both. It has opened my eyes and focused my attention to something far greater than myself, and for that I am grateful!

Read on, you won't be disappointed!We have all had those days where we just don’t have the motivation to go out and attack that climb or ride that same old trail we always do. We kick back, grab a beer, turn on the TV and forget about it until tomorrow. Tomorrow comes. Sure enough, all you can think about is attacking that climb or shattering your best time from your same old trail. This is what it feels like to not want to ride.

Let's talk about the other side of this story: For those of you who have been riding for any length of time, you know how it feels to ride every chance you get. You look forward to the challenge, the dirt in your face, cleaning a new line, or just beating your buddies to the bottom. The love of riding gets in your blood. It’s all you can think about, and you adjust your lives to accommodate when and where you are able to ride. Why lie to yourselves or the people around you. When your wife or girlfriend says we need a vacation, your mind automatically screams WHISTLER!


Now that I have your attention, take everything I just mentioned and throw it away. Everything! Every memory, every bike, and every daydream of riding you have ever had. It sucks! Nobody wants to think about their lives without knowing the joy and exhilaration of shredding epic singletrack. For the past 4 months that’s how I have felt!

Late in September 2009, while riding the North Umpqua Trail in Oregon I went down on a loose corner and smashed my wrist on a rock. Snapped a bone clean in half and still had almost 2 miles left to get back to the car. After a few surgeries, a couple pins, and a permanent screw in my wrist I find myself on the couch, watching TV and dreaming about being able to ride again someday.

Lots of things go through your mind when you can’t work or do anything else that the doctor bans you from during the first month after a surgery. The normal stuff like why me? What could I have done different? How much is this going to cost me? You know what I’m talking about I’m sure. Well after the self pity wears off, I ask myself. "What would life be like if I had never been introduced to biking at all?" The things I wouldn’t have been able to see, the people I would have never been able to meet, and the places my bike would never have been able to take me.



Nobody likes to think about what their own lives would be like if there wasn’t a bike involved, including myself. Ask yourself a couple of honest questions. What would you be doing or dreaming about right now if nobody had ever introduced you to biking, and what can you do to prevent that from happening to any child who wants to join the club that all of us bikers are a part of? I have the answer for you. Don’t turn a blind eye and just let that happen. Do something!

If there was one important lesson I have learned from breaking my wrist it is this. We can make a difference! For one kid or one thousand kids. Everyone deserves to know the love and passion for biking that we all share.


www.ilovesingletrack.com
Ilovesingletrack.com is a not for profit, christian organization that I have started from scratch while sitting on my couch thinking of ways that I could do my part! To make certain that any kid who wants a bike should get one! We have already started with a few trail worthy used bikes from craigslist. A local bike shop donated their time and money to tune them up so we could give them to kids who showed a real interest for riding singletrack.

Ilovesingletrack wants our passion to spread out farther than our local community. Our desire is to have several bike shops across the country that are willing to donate their time to assemble and tune bikes that we have purchased and distribute them to deserving kids who they know locally that share the same desire for riding singletrack. With your help and support we can continue to grow our passion for seeing kids after an amazing group ride on their very own trail worthy mountain bike.

Do your part and visit www.ilovesingletrack.com. Check out our shirts and tell us what you think. Show your passion for biking and help get kids off the couch and on the right track…Singletrack!