During a Saturday ride in August, a young man from Devereux Cleo Wallace joined us, who, according to the staff, failed to finish every prior activity he had tried.  The staff relayed to us the typical scenario: the boy becomes easily frustrated, throws a fit (including colorful language), and quits.  Although the single-track offered plenty of difficult assents and rocky obstacles that could have ignited his short fuse, the boy pressed on all day, riding and having fun just like any other kid on a bike. The mountain bike outing captured his attention and soothed his soul like nothing had before.  After completing the circuit  of the challenging south Boulder trail, featuring inspired views of the Flat Irons, all his peers and staff on the ride expressed their amazement during the ride's closing circle up, acknowledging how incredibly cool it was for him to finally finish what he started and achieve success.

Coincidentally, on the ride the following Monday, similar circumstances occurred. Our friend and longtime partner at Jefferson Hills, Larry, took a chance, tacking on a trouble-making kid to the group who had never been allowed to go on an off-site outing. Again, the TFKD experience, a fun, physically challenging adventure in the great outdoors with our enthusiastic, supportive staff and caring, fun-loving ride volunteers, was just the recipe for this troubled youngster to cook up a day long feeling of stress-free, success. On the bike, he achieved a few hours of relief from his long-fought war with the world.

Click here to continue reading, "Tales from the Trail."