The BEST graduation gift?

My daughter Courtney graduated from high school last week, with honors! Graduating with honors is a big deal because yours truly never made the honor roll, and neither did my dad. Courtney kicked off high school with a 2.9 freshman year GPA and picking dandelions at the tennis matches. A lightswitch went off the summer of sophomore year and she made the honor roll every semester, while playing varsity tennis, making it to state junior and senior year.

I am so proud of her that when it came time for a graduation gift I thought I would do something really special and give her ... a bike.

Kind of lame from someone who runs a bike company, but I decided to make Courtney a very special bike: a pink Madone with her favorite panda bear on the front of the bike and the back. Lots of pink and white accents. Trek's Project One guru Eric Maves did a great job with the detailing and Courtney absolutely loves it!

Jb.

Pedaling to Prosperity

This is a great article and worth a read. The key point: bicycling and walking make up 12% of mode share in the U.S and yet only receive 1.6% of transportation funding. Biking and walking help to reduce congestion, are environmentally friendly, and lead to more healthy people which in turn reduces medical costs... which happen to be the largest and fast growing expenditures in the U.S. budget. Another great day to be advocating for a Bicycle Friendly America.

Pedaling to Prosperity: Bicycling Saves U.S. Riders Billions a Year [Forbes]

The gift of cancer

I like to read a lot. Books, magazines, newspapers, whatever. Last week, my friend Mark McKinnon visited Waterloo and one night at dinner we were talking bikes and talking life. The next morning Mark sent me an article which he had written a few years ago. It is one of the BEST stories I've read about surviving cancer. Take a moment and read it.

The Gift of Cancer [Daily Beast]

Jb.

An Amazing Weekend at the Warrior 100k Ride

Last weekend I headed to Amarillo, Texas and rode in the Warrior 100 mountain bike event with 20 members of the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that provides wounded military veterans with unique resources to live healthy, happy lives after their service. We’ve worked with them in the past to help create adaptive bicycles for their organized rides.

The Warrior 100 was a life-changing experience. I heard the stories of the 20 servicemen and women; people who lost arms, legs, and much more fighting for our freedom. The stories of how they’ve put their lives back together were truly amazing. I enjoyed meeting all the Wounded Warriors, especially Melissa Stockwell. Melissa graduated from University of Colorado and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. In 2004 her unit was deployed to Iraq. On April 13, 2004 a roadside bomb hit her Humvee and Melissa suffered the loss of her leg above the knee.

Melissa told her story last Friday night and it is quite powerful. She has become a certified prosthetist, in which she fits other amputees with artificial limbs. She competed in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing in swimming, and is the current and two-time World Champion in her triathlon class. The next day I was lucky enough to ride a really challenging mountain bike course in Palo Duro Canyon State Park with Melissa, and she is a really impressive cyclist. Visualize Melissa riding a mountain bike 100k over 3 days with her one good leg, without being able to get out of the saddle. She got the deal done and always had a smile on her face. What a rock star. Melissa and her boyfriend will be visiting Trek this summer to go for a ride.

To read more about Melissa, check out her website at www.melissastockwell.com.

-Jb