Transition Rides With Team Semper Fi

In April, three of our employees, David, Andy and Myles, headed south to Grass Valley, California, to lend a hand in the Semper Fi & America's Fund advanced mountain bike camp.

“Hey, could you grab my leg off that table?” Pete Way exclaimed, pointing towards the tent where his dog, Rory, was laying.

Pete's leg was amputated from injuries sustained during a vehicle explosion in the Iraq war and is one of the many veterans we hung out with at Team Semper Fi’s advanced mountain bike camp. The three of us stuck around following The Dirty Sanchez Enduro (TDS), to assist the Semper Fi event. We provided shuttle drivers, ebikes and plenty of stoke to ensure the team members had the best possible time.

Semper Fi & America's Fund puts on programs for American war veterans as a means of recovery through sport. This was the 4th year the Sanchez family hosted the veterans, and we were lucky enough to join in supporting them.

Sure, we were there to set them up with demo bikes, but also hear the veterans stories and experience their paralleling threads of excitement on getting outside as a collective. We also had the opportunity to encourage them to ride terrain they may have not even blinked an eye at in their home environments. The attendees ranged from triple amputees to able bodied humans, but all shared common stories of war.

In supporting them we were giving back to folks that risked their life for our country and freedom, but the amount of inspiration that stemmed from the event was bigger for us than anything else.

Hanging out with these veterans, who had been to hell and back for our freedom gave us so much motivation in our own lives. Their burdens are things most of us can’t even comprehend. Having the opportunity to be there and witness them work through their personal hardships was something we all feel extremely grateful to have been a part of. We thought we were going there to help them, but after leaving that event and having time to reflect, we realized they helped us far more.