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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

CHARITY RIDE

I took last week off from blogging, but not from riding.

I was in Baltimore for a family emergency, and best thing in world for stuff like that is a couple of hours in the woods on the mountain bike. The riding at Patapsco State Park just outside of ‘Charm City’ is pretty good. Trees with fall colors. Muddy trails. Sharp flinty rocks, a cool autumn morning.

As it turned out I would have a riding partner. A few months back, I had donated a “ride” to a good cause to be auctioned off as a fundraiser. The highest bidder was from Washington, D.C. so it was easy to arrange to meet up in the parking lot.

Hillary had just turned pro as a downhiller, but on the phone I assured her that I could still show her a few things on a cross country ride that might be helpful. Skills are skills.

marla streb
Neo-Pro Hillary Elgert...

Heading out to Patapasco in my 800 dollar, ghetto sled, 1986 Ford Escort LX with my 3,000 dollar Blur stuffed into the hatch back was an escape from the kitchen table family discussions of the past week.

I became excited thinking about the best way to demonstrate cornering in mud. A baby head rock in the middle of the trail is all you need to teach someone how to speed jump. The difference between a two foot drop off and a ten foot drop off is merely relative, so learning on a small one is five times easier. I’ve won downhill races on a Blur, so on it I felt like I could give a decent clinic even if we were on pretty flat ground.

Opening the dented door of my Ford, I immediately recognized a familiar face. Over the phone I hadn’t made the connection. I’d actually ridden with Hillary before! And raced with her too at the US Open and a few NORBA’s.

I began to panic. She was pretty good. I’ve seen her race on some gnarly DH courses. There wasn’t much I would be able to show her here on these cross country trails on short travel bikes during a two hour ride. What could I teach her? How could I feel like she hadn’t overbid?

Pulling on our riding gear and setting up our bikes, Hillary quickly put me at ease. “I’m already a pro,” she explained. “My riding will improve with training and practice, so I really don’t want to pick your brains about braking or line selection. I want to pick your brains about sponsorship. I’ve already got a bike sponsor, but what I want is a Pro Ride, the full deal. Travel and a salary. You know, a Real Pro.”

Unfortunately, I can’t squeeze a two hour Sponsorship Seminar into a 500 word blog. But I hope the promising neo-pro feels like she got as much from our ride in the woods as I know I did. Good luck Hillary!



NOTE* And I apologize for missing the CORBA bike festival in L.A. last weekend. I’ll make it up to you guys, I promise!

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

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9:54 AM  
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1:00 PM  
gwadzilla said...

so....
how was the ride?
did you teach Hillary anything after all?

1:38 PM  
Trips for Kids Metro DC said...

Trips for Kids Metro DC thanks Marla for her extremely generous giving of the ride and gear she donated to us. We also thank Hillary for her $ and patience and working with us. We did rides with 500 dc area kids in 2005 so far and thankfully her and Marla took the ride in thier own hands and had what sounds like a great time.

1:44 PM  
running42k said...

Hope everything is good at home.

4:01 AM  
Rob said...

Hey Marla,
Sorry to hear what sounds like reasonably bad family news. Biking, schmiking, but after reading your book I feel like I "know" your family a little bit (an illusion, I'm sure, but still...)

Hope things are getting better.

12:55 PM  
Mike said...

comment spam...
you can configure blogger to force people to enter a confirmation string to prevent it...

best wishes to you - physical activity is a great stress buster - the tough part for me is when i feel most stressed/depressed it's harder for me to get out and do anything - have to force myself...

3:58 PM  

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