By James Durand
I sat down this week to write my blurb. I had a couple of ideas in my head, but before I hit a key I noticed the date, 09/11.
I can’t believe 16 years have gone by so quickly. I found myself, like many of you I am sure, thinking about that morning, where I was at the time, and what my day entailed.
My friend Shane was in the air flying from New York to Seattle when chaos erupted. There is lots of travelling in the bike biz throughout September and I had many friends stuck all over the world as airplanes were grounded.
Me, on the other hand, I was on my way out the door that Tuesday morning. Not on my way to work, but to meet a handful of my best riding buddies. We had decided to skip out on work and squeeze in one more good day at the Whistler bike park before the season ended.
Few words were spoken on the drive to Whistler. We just stared at the mountains and listened to the radio, soaking in all the details.
As we arrived in Whistler we contemplated heading back home. We weren’t sure why, or what the point would be, but it felt like riding and having fun would be wrong on such a horrific day.
Then as a group we realized that life can change on a moment’s notice, death can come at any time and we need to seize every opportunity to enjoy life while we can.
We rode the park.
We hit jumps, flew off drops and squeezed in as much high speed descending as we could. Every run down the mountain forced me to concentrate on riding and helped me forget the horrifying events across the continent. Then at the bottom the lifty would give us more news, and each chair lift ride was silent as the shock set in again.
I can’t say I really remember much of the riding that day, but being there with my friends, proving we have some semblance of freedom, made me feel just a bit better.
It’s a horrible day in our history and I can’t imagine how those closely affected could ever recover. If that day taught me anything, it’s that time is short, and we need to use it wisely.
Seize the Day
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…