I’ve been riding bikes since I was something like five. We rode everywhere: to the pool, friends houses, summer jobs . . . so that makes me a commuter first.
In college, I started riding to lose weight. I really wanted to be a Syracuse Cheerleader and they said I was too heavy to fly up in the air. I made the squad, but clapping in unison wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. The upshot is I got hooked on going out for a ride. Soon, I wanted to go places and see things. Touring was the next logical step. The summer between my junior and senior year, I rode across the United States with Bike-Aid, a fundraiser for the Overseas Development Network.
That trip sealed the deal. My life and work had to include cycling.
In 1992, I got a gig as an unpaid intern for health & fitness publisher Rodale, Inc. which led to a paying gig as a publicist for Bicycling, Mountain Bike and Runner’s World Magazines. In 1993 I helped launch Heart & Soul magazine, America’s first health publication for African Americans.
Mountain Bike magazine’s legendary Captain Dondo took me on my first mountain bike ride—the day his daughter Emily was born. I learned a lot from the Captain. For one, I learned mountain biking married my passions: being outside, with good people and riding bikes. I found a great pack of humans who felt the same and we dared each other to race. In the fall of 1994, I won my first Beginner Class race wearing a look of grit, determination and a T-Shirt that read “No Pain, No Gain.” Good stuff!
I entered everything from trials to crits to stage races the next few years before finding the track.
Had a ‘career ending’ crash in 1999. Got back on the bike. Crashed without health insurance in 2003. Got back on the bike. And her I am, still learning, still hungry, hopefully getting smarter and (God-willing) faster when it counts.
