Help out Bo Bikes Bama

Last December, my rock star assistant, Cindy, walked into my office and said Bo Jackson was on the phone.

“Really,” I replied. The legendary Bo Jackson from my youth, who starred in the “Bo Knows” Nike commercials, and who was the Rock Star football player and baseball player? “Put him on the line.”

Bo wanted to talk about starting a bike ride in Alabama for the tornado victims from last year. I listened and said that sounds interesting; we like to use the bike company to help people. Bo replies, “Great. How about if I come up and we can meet.” Sure enough, a week later Bo Jackson drives up to Trek in his pickup truck and we talk about Bo Bikes ‘Bama.

Well, Tuesday the dream became a reality. I arrived in Birmingham Monday night and rode the first day’s route from Henagar to Lake Guntersville State Park.

My top ten observations from Tuesday’s ride:

10.  Alabama is a really great place to ride your bike.  Kind of like Wisconsin, but warm!

9.  Scottie Pippen, the 6 time World Champion Chicago Bull forward, is a great guy and a great basketball player, but didn't know a lot about riding a bike. Pat “Sully” Sullivan (Director of Trek Component Group) and I took care of that and rode with Scottie for the first twenty miles going through shifting with STI, clipping in and clipping out. We even got into drafting with a 20 mph headwind in the afternoon. In the end, a great athlete is still a great athlete.

8.  Rebecca Falls, who lead the Logistics team for Trek Travel, is a Rock Star!!! Ride was awesome and the logistics were better.

7.  It was cold at the start. Glad Sully was with me. He brought extra arm warmers and leg warmers and I used them both.

6.  The tornadoes that ripped through Alabama were the real deal. Over 400 tornadoes in three days. The damage was incredible.

5.  A lot of people lost their lives in Alabama; Over 300. When you read the paper, it seems like a horrible statistic. When you meet an 8 year old kid named Bryce, who lost his Mom and his Dad along with two siblings, it is no longer a statistic.

4.  The Alabama State Troopers rock. The ride support by all the law enforcement was impressive.  

3.  Picabo Street is the best climber I have ever seen. Her husband’s pickup truck riding next to her did not hurt the effort.

2.  I met a guy today riding a 1977 Trek. Really??? Yep. Original bike, original paint, still riding strong. A little rust, but a very happy Trek customer!!

1.  Bo Jackson is an amazing person, leading a ride to help heal the wounds left by the tornadoes that wreaked havoc in Alabama a year ago.

This is a good cause and worthy of a donation. Check out Bo Bikes Bama and help out the effort.

Jb.