From 500 Miles Away, Spoke Keeps Showing Up

There is something strange about watching your own community from 500 miles away. I’m still in Utah, about halfway through this stretch of work, riding bikes through places that most people put on vacation lists and somehow calling it my job. I’ll be back in Summit County in about two weeks for a few days before heading back out again, this time for several weeks of tours in Mississippi. I’ve been holding two feelings at once lately.

I really miss home.

I miss the Saturday morning gathering.
I miss seeing familiar bikes roll up.
I miss the conversations before the ride, the inevitable standing around afterward, and those moments when somebody new arrives not quite knowing where to stand until somebody says hello.

I miss all of you.

At the exact same time, I keep catching myself looking around Utah thinking:

How lucky am I?
I get to ride bikes for a living.
I get to introduce people to beautiful places.
I get to watch someone climb something they weren’t sure they could climb, see something they’ve never seen before, or simply experience a place differently because they were on two wheels instead of behind a windshield.

That is a pretty incredible way to make a living. So I’m grateful to be here, and I’m homesick. Apparently both things can be true.

The View From Here

What has surprised me most while I’ve been gone is not that I miss Spoke. I knew I would. It’s watching what Spoke is doing without me.

Saturday still comes.
People still show up.
Someone helps gather everyone.
Someone explains the route.
Someone checks on the person at the back.

People who didn’t know each other a few months ago are now texting each other to go ride.
The mountain bike chat has started buzzing more.

People are looking for partners.
Groups are forming.

Rides are starting to happen because somebody simply puts a message out there and asks:
“Anybody want to ride?”

That might sound small.
It isn’t.

The goal was never to create a calendar full of Patrick’s bike rides.
The goal was to create a community where people had an easier way to find each other.
Every time somebody else says, “I’m riding tomorrow, anyone want to come?” we get a little closer to that.

To Everyone Showing Up on Saturdays: Thank You

I especially want to recognize everyone who has continued showing up for the Saturday Social rides while I’ve been away. Watching those rides happen from afar has genuinely meant a lot to me, because there’s a difference between attending a community and taking some ownership of it.

Every time you welcome someone new, help explain what’s happening, wait at an intersection, check that everyone made the turn, help gather the group or simply show up because you know other people are counting on there being people there, that is leadership.

You do not need a title.
You do not need permission.
You do not need to be the fastest rider.
You just have to care about the person next to you.

That is the kind of leadership Spoke needs, and seeing it emerge while I’m hundreds of miles away might be one of the most encouraging things I’ve watched happen all season.

Denver Is Coming to See the Leaves

We also got a little extra visibility this weekend.

Campus Cycles in Denver featured Spoke in its newsletter about coming to Summit County to ride during leaf-peeping season. That means over the next couple of Saturdays, there’s a decent chance we’ll see a few people coming up from the Front Range who have never ridden with us before.

Which gives all of us an opportunity. When somebody rolls up and looks a little unsure of where to go, introduce yourself.

Ask their name.
Explain how the ride works.
Tell them what regrouping looks like.
Make sure they know nobody is expected to already know everybody.

For someone who already has ten friends standing around the pavilion, those things seem insignificant.
For someone who drove an hour and a half into the mountains by themselves to ride with a group of strangers, they can mean everything.

We talk a lot about being welcoming.
These next few weekends are an opportunity to practice it.

The Mountain Bike Side Is Waking Up

There has also been more energy around mountain biking lately.

More chatter.
More people asking when others are riding.
More groups starting to come together.

Keep doing exactly that.
Spoke does not need to officially organize every single ride for a Spoke ride to happen.

Post where you’re going.
Give people a sense of the pace and difficulty.

See who answers.

Maybe three people show up.
Maybe ten do.

Either way, you found each other, and that counts.

Community Is Bigger Than Bikes

Then there was one update this week that had absolutely nothing to do with bicycles.

David Cudd welcomed a new baby!

He shared the news with everyone in the community chat, and I found myself smiling at my phone from Utah, because that is another little marker of what this has become. We started by asking people if they wanted to ride bikes together. Now we get to celebrate pieces of each other’s lives.

New jobs.
Big races.
Hard days.
First centuries.
Podiums.
Trips.
Babies.
All of it.

Bikes brought us into the room.
Community is everything that happens after that.

Congratulations to David and his family.

Keep Going

I’ll still be away for another couple of weeks.

I’ll get a few days back in Summit County before heading out again to Mississippi. So for a little while longer, I’ll continue experiencing Spoke mostly through photographs, messages and little glimpses from hundreds of miles away.

Please keep sending them.

Send me the group photo.
Send me the ridiculous mid-ride selfie.
Send me the view from the trail.
Send me the person who showed up for the first time.

Those pictures help me tell this story while I’m gone. More importantly, keep showing up for each other.

Ask someone to ride.
Answer when someone else asks.
Introduce yourself to the person standing alone.
Help gather the group.
Wait at the turn.
Be the reason somebody comes back next week.

I miss being there.
I’m incredibly grateful for where I am.
From 500 miles away, I’m getting to watch something really special happen:

Spoke keeps going.

Not because I’m there.
Because you are.

Ride bikes.
Make friends.

~ Patrick