From the Basketball Court to Singletrack

“How and why did you get into riding bikes? “

These are two questions we get often here at The Bike Medics, so I thought I would give a quick little personal story. Once upon a time, way back in college, I was playing pickup basketball in Charleston. This was a ritual. My roommates and I would dribble down to the courts and play a couple of games to cap the day near the Battery.

On an otherwise normal day in February, my life was changed in a matter of seconds. After getting a rebound, I landed on someone’s foot. I remember someone holding out a hand to help me up and at that point I knew this wasn’t any normal ankle injury. I’ll spare you the details, but I couldn’t put weight on it for six months. After this time, my doctor suggested biking as part of a physical therapy program. Then my brother visited one weekend and he gave me his old Mongoose Alta from college. This bike was from golden era of mountain biking during the 90s. That was the day everything changed.

​I remember riding to class and realizing I could cover a lot of ground. After a couple months of going to class and exploring Charleston, I went to Greensboro to visit my parents and decided to bring my bike with me. We grew up building trails near Bur-Mil Park and I wanted to see if any stood the test of time. I did some research and headed down to Owl’s Roost Trail. Five muddy miles later, I was a cyclist. It was as simple as that.

​That’s my story...what’s yours?