Inspiration

You never know when and where inspiration will strike. That's especially the case when I travel for Adventure Cycling to meet members, donors, advocates, and public officials.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Colorado, where we held three member gatherings (with 250 attendees, thank you!), visited the tasty, bike-friendly New Belgium Brewery, strategized with Bicycle Colorado (one of America's best statewide bike advocacy groups), met with Bikes Belong (the bike industry's very active trade group, which provides grant support for our work to create a U.S. Bicycle Route System [USBRS]), and toured a research facility for SRAM (which also generously supports the USBRS).

I met many great people, but true inspiration came unexpectedly when I joined the ever-energetic Al Brody (a leader of Bike Colorado Springs) and Randy Neufeld from the SRAM Cycling Fund on a cold morning in the shadow of Pikes Peak. We met up with Dan Schwieder, who works for the City of Colorado Springs on an adaptive cycling program -- enabling physically or mentally challenged people to use a variety of trikes, hand cycles, and other muscle-powered vehicles for fitness, fun, and self-discovery.

It was incredible. Despite the cold weather, more than a dozen folks showed, saddled up, and took off on an hour-long riverside ride. Really no different than your average bicycle tour or day trip -- but after trying those hand cranks for a few minutes and sharing some pretty big smiles, it felt really different -- and inspiring. I was especially impressed by the spirited Alyssa Helms (pictured above getting a little assistance from Dan), who couldn't wait to ride.

In the middle of the hectic holiday season, it was a gleaming reminder of the power of the bike to take you where you want to go.

photo by Jim Sayer

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Jim Sayer is the executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.