Our passion of bikes

I count myself as one seriously lucky guy. Not only did I get to marry my best friend, who happens to be both beautiful and intelligent. I also married the best riding partner I've ever had. Mountain biking is a large part of who we are as a couple. Going back to the beginning of our relationship, it's always been at the core. I remember trying to impress Philly by talking up all the trail riding I had done over the years. Little did I know how foolish I was at that point. I was a decent BMX racer, but really knew almost nothing about mountain biking in Colorado. She was nice enough to introduce me to a new trail for our first ride together, a little trail called Dakota Ridge. Now up to this point in my life, I thought I had a concept of what mountain biking was. I was very wrong indeed. Dakota Ridge for those who are not from Colorado is a highly technical, rocky, rough and steep trail in parts. Perfect for putting inexperienced loud mouth mountain bikers in their place. After the first climb I thought I could be in trouble. During the ride Philly was nice enough to put up with my whining and complaining. Over the course of the ride I broke a pedal, cracked my helmet and received various scrapes, bumps and bruises. I was in love. I really had no idea what mountain biking was, nor did I really know who this amazing woman was who had just put me in my place. I was humbled to say the least. Luckily I was a far better mechanic than I was a rider, so she put up with me. Over time our relationship grew stronger and so did my riding abilities. I became her bike mechanic, we shared the same personal trainer, she even introduced me to sushi.

 Over the years I've become a better rider, due in large part to following Philly down some crazy terrain. Over the years we have ridden countless trails and even numerous miles on the road. Two things have always been the same, our passion for bikes and our passion for each other. The future is very bright for us and our riding, especially now that we have kids. We have the unique and special opportunity to share our joint passion with two of the most amazing kids. Logan is currently 3 years old and is already an amazing little rider. He rips around on his balance bike as though its second nature. Which in reality, I guess it might be. He has been on his balance bike since before he could sit on the seat. Being the gadget guy I am I took off the seat and zip tied a piece of pipe insulation to the top tube so he had something to sit on. In the early days we had to help him out a lot. We still have to help him a little bit, but it's mainly due to what he wants to ride. You see, Logan is not bound by the normal ideas of what is and is not rideable. He just sees possibilities everywhere. For example, we were at a park near our house he had ridden almost 2 miles to. There was your typical playground equipment with a slide and stairs, etc. Logan wanted to go up the stairs with his bike, so Philly and I looked at each other, shrugged and I helped him up the stairs. Logan's next step was to try and ride down the slide, why not right, he has no limits or fear at this point. So I got in position behind him and while he rode I slid down on my feet while holding him upright. He hasn't stopped exploring on his bike yet.

 So here I sit typing away while we are on vacation in Grand Junction Colorado. We have been riding everyday since we got here including Logan. The boy amazes me every time we go out. He has ridden half way up a trail called kestle run, ridden a trail called kids meal, pump tracks, dirt jumps (just over them, not really jumping yet) and anywhere else he can think of. Our passion of bikes is something very hard to describe, but hopefully it comes across a little bit here. The fact that we can share it with the next generation of riders is just that much sweeter.
Remember to keep the bike rubber side down.
Cheers for now!
Aaron

 Logan Heading up "Kestle Run"

Nyah checking out the old Yeti

 Editorial note: I wrote this while we were on vacation in Grand Junction in May, I had lost the post for a while and finally had a chance to finish editing it.