Cycling Bonds

This is a photo of the very first time Justin Leopold and I raced together, riding should to shoulder in 2012. It was the first of many races we would line up together at. It came down to a sprint finish and I finished just ahead of him, it might be the last time I did.

Since then we have an endless number of miles together on the road. Sometimes we were racing, sometimes we were just riding. From our regular weekly hammerfests, to the two of us out on a quiet midnight ride out into the countryside, we had some memorable, and treasured times. I am lucky that I was able to know him the past 6 years.

Cycling is unique; the bonds you form with people while cycling are unique. With all the distractions out there today, even when we are with our friends and family, someone is usually more interested in the phone in their hand than the company they are with.

There are few things in life these days that give us the time and focus to really get to know the people in our lives. When riding with our friends for hours at a time, with nothing to take our attention away from the company we are with, we have hundreds of miles and hours upon hours to get to know one another. It allows us to connect in a way that we, as a society, really don’t connect anymore. We are not connected to our cycling friends through sound bites, posts, pictures, and memes; we are connected through shared suffering, shared experiences, deep conversations, and truly getting to know those we ride with.

The cycling family’s ties run deep. When we suffer a loss, especially one as senseless as this, the loss is felt equally deep. There is always a hole left in the peloton, it is a gap that can’t be closed.

I have spent more miles than I can count trying to close down gaps to Justin’s wheel. Now, Justin has once again attacked the pack and ridden away from us, creating a gap that we can’t close, not anytime soon hopefully anyway.

May the sun always be in your face, and the wind at your back my friend. Ride on Justin, ride on.