Make-A-Wish - A Little Yeti Love

This came to me this morning and it brought tears of happiness!

Hey Seth!

We just gave A--- his bike!!

I still have Goosebumps.

Imagine a lanky young man- 15/16 years old. This past year has been a living nightmare with treatments and relapse of Leukemia. Now fast-forward and you see this kid standing in the middle of a pizza joint, surrounded by his friends, eyes covered. This awesome of all awesomes bike gets rolled out to him. He uncovers his eyes… his knees wobble, as tears form he quickly wipes them away and says; “ this is… this is… SO AWESOME!!! This is better than I could have ever imagined. This is mine ?? Really? This is AWESOME!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!” His friends are now oooing and awwwing over this “AWESOME” sculpture of metal and rubber. They are all buckin with who should get to ride it and how fast can ya go? A--- was so excited. Then he saw the shirt and hat! Immediately the hat went on his head covering the fuzz that is sporadically starting to return to his head. Then one of his buddies showed him the book.

This sent him over the top!!! You guys are so wonderful- as A--- would say AWESOME!!! You really made a difference in A---’s life. Although he is suppose to hold off from riding for a bit- his mom okay’s him to take the bike home an do a quick tour around the property… just to test it out. Make sure it works and all!! A---, his parents, sister, and friends think you all are “da bomb” and so do we!

Thank you so much for making A--- ’s wish come true!!!

I really appreciate you!

What an incredible organization. Make-A-Wish originally contacted one of our shops and was directed to talk to us. Make-A-Wish paid for the bike but we did what we could to make it far more affordable for them. When we put this together with Make-A-Wish, I grabbed a hat and shirt and placed it in with the shipment. One of our guys put together the bike for A---, something we don't normally do here at the factory. And finally, I passed around a Yeti catalog and everyone here signed it for A---, including a couple of the World Cup riders who were here visiting at the time. Everyone here at Yeti was involved on this one and this message made everyone here super happy.

I wonder if, being a parent, this strikes home in a different way now. I don't just see A--- in my mind but also a set of parents and friends who have worked so hard to support him in such a trying time. I also see a group of guys and gals at a factory, who toil so hard to help make a company successful. To us, each Yeti frame loses some of that special charm since we see them every day. We overlook the fact that each of these bikes represents a dream to someone.

This time, each of us was involved in helping that dream come true for a child who has had to shoulder a burden no one ever deserves. We got to help, to see it through and be a part of making his special wish come true. There could not be a better day.

Words on a white board

We have all done it: written on a white board (well, maybe not ALL of us). What we write there is often simply a place holder, sometimes a joke, a lesson, and sometimes an idea for the future. But everything we record there is expected to be ultimately erased.

At work, I keep a 3-month calendar on a white board so the sales crew can see where the demo fleet is at any given time. When a month comes to an end, I clean the calendar, slide it across the board behind the others and put on the dates of a far off month. It's worked well for us this summer as the demo program has grown almost exponentially.

Several months ago, Anthony and I stood at the wall and made notes on upcoming festivals, trips and plans for where he would be going. We made plans for the Yeti Tribe Gathering in Winter Park. I have a vivid memory of seeing him there as he wrote in the dates for the Gathering...and then he proceeded to underline it.

He often would "pencil" in his trips as he began his plans. And his writing was vastly different from my scrawl, one could always tell where he had started and I had left off.

July was the final month he had written in plans for. At work today, I began to make the switch for that whiteboard calendar to shift another month. I stood there with eraser in hand but I could not bring myself to wipe out what he had last written for us. I'm lucky no one passed by at that moment as I found tears in my eyes as I was torn between the demands of work and the memories of a lost friend.

I put away the eraser today. Unused. I sat at my desk for a good while in wonderment. It seems so sudden that someone can be pulled out our lives and no longer exist in our physical realm. I struggle, even now as I refuse to let his memory fade, how to erase those simple words he had written. I just doesn't feel right wiping away another memory.

I know tomorrow I'll have to look at my whiteboard again. I know that I will have to pick up that eraser and wipe away Anthony's words. And I know it will not be his memory I'm wiping away, only words written in dry ink with the expectation that they would ultimately be erased as we continue to make new plans for our ever changing future.

Grubby at the Olympics

I got to see Grubby (Jared Graves) on tv tonight. Late tonight. But it is good to see him advance through the quarter finals and I can't wait to find out how it goes tomorrow. Here is a guy who has spent many a night in this house...off at the Olmpics and killing it!

I should also mention that Jill Kitner, an ex-Yeti rider has advanced as well on the women's side. The times I have met her, she has always been very nice but not someone I have known on such a personal level as Grubby.

Best of luck to both tomorrow!

Ned

I decided to reinstitute the Nederland rides. In a previous job...a previous world...we used to leave our office at 12 on Fridays, drive to Ned, ride for many hours and finish up with a filling meal at Mountain Burger. Trust me, we tried a double and couldn't finish it...this is a very satisfying meal!

For the past three weeks, Phil and I have been leaving the office at 5:30 on Tuesday tothe Tuesdays, for the past three weeks, Phil and I have been driving the hour up to Nederland to ride the trails. We don't have a ton of time so we cram as much riding in as possible (generally 2 hours) before the sun goes down. We have talked about bringing lights and riding past dusk but as of yet, we have not found the need to throw halogens on our handlebars. It could be a motivation thing....

Why Nederland?

The riding there is pure fun. Rolling hills, nothing too taxing, good terrain and twisty trails that force you onto the last few knobs toward the edge of your tire. Your elevation gain over the front range contributes to a 10-15 degree decrease in air temperature and you are sheltered from the sun's intensity by a good deal of shade. You laugh, you grunt, you sweat and you grin. Everyone who has been introduced to Ned falls in love.

You start off on a trail that twists back on top of itself. You could be 50 yards ahead on the trail but you can reach out and give a buddy a high five. After an ever-so-brief climb, you hit a slow doubletrack climb that gives you a quick elevation gain. From there, you can bomb down a ripping singletrack that takes you past an old yellow bus. This trail feels almost tunnel-like...the vegetation hangs over that trail so close that you can't see into the woods. There is one straight shot where you can see ahead for about twenty or thirty yards but beyond that, you are riding on pure skill and reaction. To the other side of this doubletrack is a trail that looks almost like a mogul run. It is tight but if you have the skill, you can carve your turns from the top of each bump to the next. Great fun! From there, you can follow a double track out to a lollipop and there have been several other offshoots that we have been eyeing for future exploration. Our bushwhacking expedition last night took us down to a small pond with a little skiff. We rode out of the woods last night in the dark, quite satisfied with the evening ride.

There's more to explore, c'mon up, we are going again next Tuesday!

Just another day in the office

I saw a really cool thing yesterday afternoon.

We had a group of children and their parents, numbering around 40, take a tour of our factory at the end of the day. They are all on a cycling team which runs criterium practices on the road loop here in our business park. As they returned to the front office after touring the factory, Jared Graves happened to be hanging out working on his laptop.

The throng was introduced to Grubby (Yeti's nickname for Jared) and he began fielding questions from adults and children. This is nothing special or unusual (to us). Grubby is here at the factory every few months. He is a friend of ours and has stayed at my house for extended periods of time. He has been on the Yeti Factory Race team for several years and is always a contender for the podium in DH, 4X and Dual Slalom events. In August, he heads off to China to represent Austrailia during the inaugural Olympic BMX race.

Wait.

The Olympics.

Grubby, to us, is just another one of the guys. He rides faster than all of us but we laugh, kid around, talk trash and wrestle with him. We forget that he is one of the elite few who has the opportunity to compete at the highest level. In the eyes of this tour group, Grubby is a demigod.

I stood at the back of the group to listen and watch. When they finished and went on their way, I walked over to Grubby and thanked him for being so friendly and accessible. We talked about how even he forgets what being an Olympian means to so many people.

As I left our office, I was reflecting on how incredible it is to have an Olympian in our midst. And I overheard parents who were still outside our office effusively gushing over what an incredible experience they were just witness to. I was left with the thought that while it was just another day in the office for me, it was a day that may define the athletic aspirations for the children who had a chance to sit and talk with a young man who has Olympic gold within his reach.