TY B.

I want to feel like what I’m doing helps others. The future I want would be medical school. But for now, here I feel like I’m helping people.

There was a lady at a triathlon race and her bike wasn’t working well and I tuned it up before the race. After the race she came up to me and said, "You work magic, don’t you?" I didn’t know what she was talking about and she reminded me "You worked on my bike. It was amazing." And she told me she was going to bring me peaches. And she did! She brought me a huge box of peaches and thanked me and it made me feel like my work has meaning.

Bikes are important to people. In many ways, what I’m doing is of value to people. You know, riding bikes has changed my life, too.

STONEY M.

Well when I first saw that mountain bike in the store, I thought “That is a great idea for Utah.” So I bought that bike--it was one of the first ones here in Utah Valley. There were no trails other than horse or deer trails up the canyons. There were times I was riding in grass this high. I smile now because I see these trails and I think, “I did this when it was just all grass! Now there’s a trail and someone’s named it."

RYDER P.

I did attic insulation, bought and sold my own things, then I had a little neighborhood bike shop that I would run. Kids would bring their bikes and I would fix their flats or bike problems. And you would charge them? Well, I would charge their parents.

I’ve enjoyed both winning and losing because I get to be on a bike. That’s where it’s different than a lot of other sports. The NICA Mountain Bike League is about getting kids on bikes. That’s their motto--get more people on bikes. And everyone cheers for each other, no matter if you get first or last. We’re all there for one reason--to ride a bike.

WYATT M.

I had never ridden a mountain bike before. I moved here a few years ago and that’s when I joined the high school team. My friend told me I should go get a bike, I thought, “That sounds fun!” and so I did! But I’m a quick learner and got 4th last year overall so I think I did pretty well.

Someday, I want to be a helicopter pilot for the army. My passion for that feels the same as mountain biking. It’s exciting, you see a lot of variety, and there’s definitely a thrill in it. Just find something you’re passionate about and stick with it. If you’re not passionate about it, you won’t want to do it.

CHRIS E.

I’ve always owned and ridden bikes. I got into road biking in 7th grade. My mom has a disease called Multiple Sclerosis. Every year we do what’s called the MS Ride. A 100-mile ride up in Logan. Around the time she found out she had it we found out about the MS Ride. My dad told me, ‘We gotta do this!’ and I was like, ‘Okay.’ So I bought a cheap bike offline and just started going from there. It was a 100 mile ride and haven’t stopped since. I do like mountain bikes because you can have fun and shred down a trail. But road bikes you can get away from people for hours. You can just go.

HADLEY P.

Hadley: I started riding not this May, but last May. I rode a bike when I was little but I’d never owned a bike. This year, I got first in every race this year. That’s the state champ title.

Misha (mom): I didn’t know anything about this sport. We were out at that first race and all I knew was that she told us she wanted to do this and we’re like, "Sure you can ride mountain bikes." I felt like crying all during that whole race. She had been middle of the pack all that first year. Good, solid, middle of the pack rider, giving it her all.

Hadley: But I wanted to make the podium. That’s just what I wanted to do. I went to a meeting where the coach said if you want to get good, you have to ride every day. So I told myself, “Okay, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Misha: She just does what she needs to do. If the coach says stay hydrated, she’s bringing her big water bottle to school. She is diligent and consistent and she keeps improving because she’ll do the hard stuff. I think part of it is a product of her being deaf. Everything that she has done, everything that comes so easy to most of us, is hard work for her. She had to learn how to make a sound and to learn how to say a word, and learn how to hear people. All day long she is focused and working hard. She has already learned that work ethic. But this is the one place she doesn’t have to do that. She doesn’t have to work on listening to people. She just throws on her helmet and goes. She’s in her own world and there she is happy.

Hadley: I used to be stressed that someone was trying to get by me and I wasn’t hearing them. I was looking over my shoulder a lot and and we finally realized it wasn’t safe and it was slowing me down. So we put this sign on my bike that says “Deaf Cyclist.” But then I just decided, you know, I just wasn’t going to let people pass me anymore. I was just going to ride faster. And here, now I got first in every race. I am state champ.

CHRIS M.

I started racing bikes when I was twelve years old. All throughout my teenage years I loved bikes and always wanted to work in the bike industry. That was why I decided to become an engineer--so that I could design bikes.

For a long time, I just loved racing. I loved going to places on my bike. I love the freedom of going places under your own power. I think that’s so fulfilling. Now that I have a family and kids, I don’t race anymore. It’s just an escape that really clears my mind. Whether I’m stressed or feeling worn down mentally, I can go ride and come back and feel so much better. I definitely ride a lot less now, but I still love bikes. In the summer, a lot of my rides are taking my kids to the park. Mostly I put them in the trailer and go ride. Now I just want to make more bikes and get more people on bikes and hopefully make a living.

NORM N.

I’m a paramedic, firefighter, and I fly in a helicopter as a medic. I have 3 three kids and a lovely wife.

I like the outdoors. I like feeling connected to the outdoors. Mountain biking does that for me. It tends to wipe the grime of life off--it takes the edge off. Whether you do what I do or work in an office, everybody needs something to get out and just be you. I think it’s important in life to find something you really enjoy--whether it’s mountain biking or fly fishing or crocheting or whatever--something you can detach from the world and have fun and enjoy. Mountain biking is that for me. It’s a good workout but for the most part it’s just a lot of fun. It’s a lot of fun.

CHELSEA O.

I teach 7th and 8th graders who have learning, emotional, or behavioral disorders, who are reading anywhere from 1st to 6th grade reading levels. I love it. It’s exhausting, but I absolutely love it. I teach full time every day. Oh and I’m also in grad school, too.

My life is crazy. I train when I get home from work or class. I’m not a morning person. I try really hard sometimes to be a morning person and train in the morning but I’m just so slow. I have to do it at night. Which means sometimes I don’t go out and do social things. But i love training so much it’s worth it to me. My long stuff is Friday and Saturday. Like biking for 4 hours on the indoor trainer. Most Saturdays are 3.5 to 4 hours.

My very first triathlon ever was the Boise Half Ironman. After my crash, I was so scared to go into aero position that I think I went into aero maybe for a total of 5 minutes during the whole race. 56 miles. I was too afraid after my crash. Despite being in an upright position almost the entire time, I got 2nd place in my age group. I was pretty excited and realized I could do actually this! I was pretty excited.

I’ve done 3 others since, and I always make the podium. My PR right now is 4 hours 54 minutes. The goal this year is to qualify for the world champion race. To qualify I have to get first in my age group in one of my next few races. I am 23 so my age group is 20-24. I can usually do that at local races and smaller things, but I think I can do it.

People forget I’m doing well because I put in all this time. With my students I’m always trying to teach them that you can be good at anything, whatever you want to be good at, but you’ve got to put in the work. You have to train and you have to put in the work and be dedicated. Yeah, there are days when I come home from work and class and I do not want to work out. I do not want to get on the bike and pedal for two hours. It’s the very last thing I want to do. But knowing that I have this goal I’m working towards, even if it’s so far in the future, you just get on that bike and start pedaling.

DAVID AND YUNE JA

Yune Ja (mother): David has Prader Wili Syndrome. The part of the brain that registers you are full doesn’t work, your brain doesn’t tell you to stop eating. You think you are starving all the time. They will search trash cans for food, steal for food, hoard food, and they won’t stop eating. Most people with this syndrome are heavily overweight. So we have to exercise all the time. We do swim classes in the morning and ride bikes and we walk and walk and walk.

We tried and tried to teach him how to ride a bicycle when he was young and when he was a teen and we weren’t successful. We tried and failed many times. Our neighbors used to ride bikes outside and he would put his nose on the window and just look out. He was afraid to go out.

And then two years ago, Wasatch Adaptive Sports got a hold of me and said, "We can teach him." I said, “Are you sure? He’s big and heavy.” They said, "Yeah." They just practically dedicated all day. It took two weeks but he was finally able to learn how to ride a two wheeled bicycle - a Fezzari [Note: Fezzari is proud to sponsor Wasatch Adaptive Sports with a fleet of Fezzari bicycles for help in the work they do]. We’d tried and tried for so many years and finally 27 years later he’s riding this bike. 27 years of struggle is over. Sometimes just the little things can boost your self esteem and confidence. You just can’t underestimate those things