Tuesday, August 25, 2009

3rd Annual Bike-the-Bear Ride Hailed A Success

By: Nelson Palmer, Bike-the Bear Chairman

At 6am the music blaring for a camp alarm clock from Jason Eborn's Mustang. It was a great mix of scout and bike culture. The Bike-the-Bear day had begun!

We had over 400 riders. We had expected about 250. We ran out of T-Shirts and had to take orders. Some of the scouts ended up with large shirts. There were 100’s of stories worth telling from it. There were a lot of great volunteers, especially the Order of the Arrow chapter from the Old Juniper District, the Bridgerland Amatuer Radio Club, and others...

Kory Pitcher of Joyride Bikes in Logan was a great support on the course. He brought his wife and son who rode the course. Kory took his daughter in the truck and they drove around the lake and helped those in need. He handed out water and water bottles. He helped with some flat tires, minor adjustments and a few other things.

There was a family that had several young kids that rode around. The 5 and 8 year old kids rode around the lake. The father rode a dual type bike with one of the kids. The mother came in with a trailer and a 2 year old.

One young man rode the full 50 mile course on a hand driven bike; for the 3rd year in a row with his father! Others from his family also rode.

Another rider, a cancer survivor, her husband and others from their family rode the route. She had recently learned to ride a multispeed bike. Her bike was at least 40 years old, but in very good running condition.

One man visiting from New York saw a poster and decided to support the Scouts and walked into the lodge to signup. He rented a bike and rode around the lake for the ride. He was so excited when he finished that he spent almost an hour helping direct traffic at the end!

These area few of the many positive stories that have come out of this years Bike-the Bear ride.

There were mountain bikes, BMX bikes, new carbon fiber bikes, old steel bikes, super market bikes and professional bikes and more there. The people riding were from ages 5 to into their 70’s. Scouts and non-scout youth, Scouters and non-scouters, friends of friends, strong cyclists and first time riders all joined together. It was awesome!

What a great day and event!

Do not miss out on this unique opportunity in 2010. The Bike-the-Bear ride will be an official 100 year celebration activity as a part of the centennial celebration of the Boy Scouts of America in 2010. Details and other information will be available at http://www.trappertrails.org/. For questions related to Bike-the-Bear, contact Jason Eborn at 801-479-5460 or by emailing him at jeborn@bsamail.org

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