A Cord of Three Strands...

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up....A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12.

You can judge alot about a person from the friends he has. Judging from his huge network of devoted friends, Scott Hodge is one incredible person. October 16th, Scott survived a terrible motorcycle accident, and since then he has been surrounded by family and friends lavishing him with love and support.

When you put as much into the cycling community as he has, you reap the benefits. Right now, Scott could use all the benefits he can get, and we are all on a mission to see that he gets them. PBC put out the call, and on Saturday, a boat load of mountain bikers gathered at Ft. Yargo in Winder to ride, chill, and most importantly show Scott and his family that we are here for them.

After riding the fun singletrack trails of Ft. Yargo, we all hung out at the pavillion while Anne, Trev, Mindy, and Rusty grilled burgers and hotdogs for the hungry athletes.

We all know the voracious appetite a cyclist has after tearing up the trails. Thanks to the generosity of many folks, there was plenty of food for everyone.

We all a great time out on the trails. The leaves are still changing and it makes such a beautiful canvas of color with the morning light streaming through the trees.

The hands down favorite part of the trail was the gully drop, and I had a hard time keeping my boyz focused on the rest of the ride. Around they went in circles doing the horseshoe drop over and over. Dropping in......

and flying up the other side.

"Whoohoo! Let's do it again!" Squealing like little kids on a playground they played in the drops lined with confetti of Fall colors.

If I had not cracked the whip, The Captain would still be there going up and down!

Enough! Come on boyz, lets enjoy the rest of the trail. And off we went on the fabulous zippy singletrack.

Everybody was there! Racey Tracey is now back on the bike after her accident! Yahoo! Peanut did 2 laps on her singlespeed...impressive!! Lots of beautiful mtn bike chics were present: Aimee, Kate, Robin, Mindy, Pebbles, Badge, Amy, Tina and Jenn to name a few. Some guys were there too; The Clogger, Mattycakes, Tweety, iride, Sammichkilla, Millhouse, Ony, Joel, Jan, rlaz, Flatfender, Pinkpuss, Tim, Chris, Carebear, Speedy, JungleBoy, Blair, Grog, Jake, regularjoe, Colin, Robb, MarkD, Jim, Phillip....the list goes on and on and on.

Some are fast riders, some are slow, and lots are in between. But the thing we all have in common is we love to ride our bikes and share in the camaraderie it brings. Nobody knows that better than Scott. He makes that passion possible for so many riders and racers through Addictive Cycles.

Today's focus was not the ride, it was about family. It didn't matter if you were a cyclist or not, all were welcome. Tequila Rose brought her mother visiting from Minnesota. It was an honor to meet her and also the wives and children of the great guys with which I ride every weekend.

Fresh, young faces on the scene, like Millhouse, and us old worn out has beens, we all need and thrive on the support of our friends in the cycling community.

That's why we are happy to donate to this worthy cause, and I hope all of you out there will be inspired to do so as well. No amount is too small. It's real easy to do through paypal on the Addictive website.

You may be thinking, "yea right, I don't even know this guy." Actually, technically, I've never met Scott. He doesn't know me from Adam's house cat. But he's a good friend of MY friends, and that's good enough for me. We live way on the other side of the Atlanta universe from Addictive, and our paths never cross, but we're still a part of his family. Therefore, we do what family does, we support each other through the good and the bad.

He's well known and highly respected in the mountain biking industry, as the news of his accident affected more than just those of us in Georgia. He's an integral part of the cycling community, so that means we're family. I watched Scott with his family, wife, Deb, and 2 girls, Sarah and Hannah. It was easy to see the love they have for each other. There's nothing stronger than the bond of love. Scott is a lucky guy.

When an accident strikes one of our own, it makes us all realize how precious life is. We come together not only in celebration of Scott's life and progress in healing, but to join forces. Life is fragile, and we need to handle it with care. Careful to share in our resources, give freely of our smiles and encouragement, and always be thankful for the moment you have.

Scott, you're going to be alright. A cord of 3 strands, well, more like 1,000+ in your case, will never break!