Hi Friends,
For a father, although there is no difference in the amount of love that he has for a daughter or a son, there does exist something that makes the father-daughter relationship very special. I think the “special-ness” is a result of how difficult it is to cultivate that tight bond, one that seems so natural between a mother and her daughter.
Paige, About To Head Out For a Ride...
I can attest to this because of my experience with my daughter, Paige.
Like most little girls her age, Paige had always been closer with her mom, and did not really understand, or take much interest in, the sweat, dirt, and competitive vibes that so dominate my mountain bike world. However, all of that changed this past summer after Paige learned how to ride her bike and competed in her first race……
It was a beautiful summer morning, and Paige, then 5 years old, had accompanied me to a Racers and Chasers race in San Diego, California. I brought Paige’s bike–a customized baby pink bike she helped me build with spare parts– with us thinking she might want to practice riding around a little while I was getting ready for my race. My friend, Stephen (a former Canadian pro rider), and I had taught her how to ride her bike a few weeks prior. Like a true athlete with previously untapped potential, she learned quickly. After only two and a half hours in Balboa Park, she was riding her pink bike (without training wheels!) like a young Lea Davison.
Paige Asleep in the Truck after finding the Perfect Handle Bars for Her New Bike
Because her skills were so new, I didn’t expect Paige to want to race that day. However, as soon as we got to the event, I noticed Paige checking out all the bikes buzzing around the staging area. She must have felt that exciting, competitive intensity that vibrates the air at MTB races because then, out of the blue, Paige told me she wanted to race.
At the staging area for the kids race I asked her one last time, ‘Are you sure you want to race?’ Wearing her new helmet, gloves, and a huge smile she said without any hesitation at all, ‘Yes! I want to race, Dad!’
She lined up, the raced started and she was off — with a look of pure determination, she pedaled as hard and fast as she could. Paige seemed to have it all under control until she got to a grass section of the course. Paige was slowing down — I ran over to her and jogged beside her as she worked hard to keep her cadence up.
Paige's First Mountain Bike Race
I could see she was getting tired and just about to cry, I told her ‘Pedal baby, keep pedaling — you can do it!’ Right then, something came over her, I could see drive, passion and fire in her eyes… She stood up on her pedals and hammered to the finish line.
Although she didn’t win the race that day, she gave it her all and I couldn’t be more proud. Not only did she show great physical strength, but she also proved that she had great mental toughness, fortitude, and self-confidence, all of which are qualities that will help her achieve success in all aspects of life.
Since then, she’s raced a few more times. She’s had her ups and downs, from beating all the boys to having her chain fall off and not being able to finish the race, but she continues to love it. She loves riding and racing, and the best part is that she loves riding and racing with me.. 🙂
Which brings be to why I am writing this blog entry..
Over this past weekend, Paige was sitting next to me, coloring, and asked what I was doing on my computer. I told her that I was working on helping to send two little girls to Little Bellas mountain bike camp. I explained to her that not all kids have Dad’s or Mom’s (or former Canadian pro riders) that can teach them how to ride a mountain bike. I told her that I wanted to give other little girls the opportunity to experience all of the challenges and joys that mountain biking and racing have to offer so that they, too, will grow up to be strong, confident, and successful women.
When I explained further that I was working to raise the $500 necessary to make this happen, she said, ‘That’s a lot of money dad’. A couple minutes later she came back and sat next to me with her money jar and said, ‘Daddy, I want to help’. Maybe there was 6 dollars in there; mostly in change in odd currencies that I had brought her back from my travels…
Paige with Her Brother, Alex
My heart melted. What an angel she is.
I told her we can make a bigger difference if we spread the word, which is what I was doing on the computer.. Paige wrote the letter you see below to help out. Also, she is going to be passing out handmade fliers at our upcoming races.
So, keep an eye out for little girl at your next race with a big smile and a stack of handmade fliers — that’ll be Paige.
If you are reading this now, I hope you’ll agree, Paige has already made a difference. If you can, please help us carry out our mission to send two deserving, less fortunate girls to Little Bellas Mountain bike camp. I am passionate about Little Bellas mission because I know what a difference cycling can make in a kids (and Dad’s) life.
Paige and I are asking for your help to accomplish our goal of raising $500. Together, our financial contributions will have an incredibly positive impact on two girls lives.
A Message From Paige
Click the following link to make a donation (every dollar makes a difference).. http://littlebellas.com/Little_Bellas_FirstGear_Donation.html
“A daughter can outgrow your lap, but she can never outgrow your heart.”
Sincerely,
Richard
P.S. When you fill out the donation form, you can just put in “Richard L.” for the person your donation supports.
How the Little Bellas Stormed Sea Otter
From Lea Davison, Specialized rider and founder of Little Bellas:
Little Bellas
With the help and support from Specialized and the amazingly successful fundraising effort from First Gear, the Little Bellas Sea Otter camp was a huge success this year. Because of all of the generous donations, hard work from tireless fundraisers, and local Monterey school presentations that spread the word about our program, fifteen girls received scholarships to participate in our Sea Otter three day camp. Over the weekend, we had a total of thirty Little Bellas honing in their skills, having lunch with the pros, grabbing as much schwag as they could in our venue scavenger hunt, and, hopefully, catching the mountain bike bug for life.
Little Bellas co-founder and co-director Sabra Davison, directed the camp along with three of our tried and true mentors from our bustling Vermont program to help run the camp. Co-director Angela Irvine, Sarah Schreib and Mary Tracy were all on hand to pass on their mountain biking knowledge to the girls. We also had Mallory Burda from Specialized and Lisa Lieb, queen of xXerra racing, teach the girls over the course of the weekend. In our Friday camp, the Little Bellas watched the professional women duke it out for twenty minutes in the short track. Their enthusiastic cheering could be heard all over the course and the pro women very much appreciated the support. Then, after the race, about ten professional gravity and cross country women, visited the Little Bellas tent, autographed the Little Bellas’ jerseys, and played our new game ‘pop’ with the girls. The pros fielded Little Bellas questions such as ‘what’s your favorite icecream?’ to ‘have you ever crashed?’ It’s always a great moment when the Little Bellas have the opportunity to interact with their idols they see up on the podium, in magazines, or crossing the finish line.
Saturday and Sunday included more riding Sea Otter singletrack and playing some of our favorite games. There was also the venue scavenger hunt which brought the girls to the SRAM ladies lounge for some more interaction with the top female pros and free giveaways. We capped the weekend off with the kid’s race where our girls really tested their honed skills against competitors.
Little Bellas
The Little Bellas staff was really impressed with the Little Bellas’ attitudes and enthusiasm to learn. The older group took on the challenging Sea Otter demo loop and all of our girls tested their skills on the pump track. With rollers and bumps taller than most of the Little Bellas, this was no easy feat. On Saturday afternoon, First Gear hosted a party for all of the fundraisers giving them a chance to meet the young girls they worked so hard to provide scholarships for. Over three days of laughter, learning, improvement and more fun than should be allowed, we hope all of our new Little Bellas rode away with great memories and the desire to keep pedaling miles down the road.
A huge thank you goes out to all of our great sponsors. This camp wouldn’t be successful without your support. Thank you to Specialized for the all- encompassing support, from the First Gear fundraising effort to the sweet water bottles and venue set-up. We love flying the big red S. Thank you to Luna for fueling our girls with healthy snacks and to Sea Otter for welcoming us with open arms to such a great event. Thank you to Earth Studio and Tribute Sports Awards for donating such beautiful cycling jewelry that our Little Bellas were sporting so proudly all over the venue. East Coast Printers put the Little Bellas touch on the Specialized jerseys and our girls looked fantastic as usual. Nic Coury took all of the amazing Little Bellas photos. Thank you Nic for hanging with the Little Bellas over the weekend. Also, thank you to G Form for the support.
Great news!! Yesterday Paige and I reached our goal to raise enough money to send two girls to Little Bellas Mountain Bike camp. THANK YOU to everyone that helped make this happen! You have really helped make a difference in my life, my daughters life and lives of those two lucky and very deserving little girls..
As of this morning, we are $68 away from being able to send two deserving girls to mountain bike camp.. Can you help push us over the top?? 🙂
Little Bellas Mountain Bike Camp
Click here to make your donation today.. http://littlebellas.com/Little_Bellas_FirstGear_Donation.html
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU
Richard & Paige
Hello All!
I wanted to post a few answers to questions that folks have made regarding the work Paige and I are doing to help send two little girls to Little Bellas Mountain Bike Camp..
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A note from Simon Dunne at Specialized [March 9, 2011]
As the camp is in Monterey at the Sea Otter event this year, it’s our intention is to pick enthusiastic girls from Monterey public schools during our school presentations leading up to Sea Otter. We will attempt to pick girls whose families wouldn’t have the means to pay for them (based on school location), but we will not ask parents to report income, so our first priority will be enthusiasm.
The camp experience will include food, drink and a bike/helmet to use, as well as all the costs of running the program and instruction. We will encourage parents to bring their child, but will provide a pick up and drop off service if required. The children will stay at their homes and come back down the following morning.
Hope that answers the questions.
Simon
Specialized | Simon.Dunne@specialized.com
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IMPORTANT UPDATE: All donations made between today and Friday (March 10, 2011) are being matched by a generous sponsor. So, your donations today and tomorrow will make double the difference! Here’s the link to make your donation today.. http://littlebellas.com/Little_Bellas_FirstGear_Donation.html
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Richard & Paige
Little Bellas at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival (second stop on thier national tour)
I am very fortunate that throughout the ups and downs of my life the one constant I’ve always had has been a bike.
I have so many amazing, life-changing memories of cycling, from running away from home on my banana seat equipped Schwinn (several times), jumping over my little sister on my BMX bike, winning my first mountain bike race, and most recently, to completing a 2,200+ km, self supported cycle tour in northern Europe (fall 2010). These experiences have helped shape me into the person I am today and have given me the mental and physical tools to overcome life’s challenges.
It has been a dream of mine to use my knowledge and experiences to help and inspire kids to achieve their potential and successfully navigate through life’s sometimes difficult trails. Today I found an organization, Little Belles, a mountain bike mentoring program that allows me to do just that.
I have pledged to raise $500 to send two deserving girls to the two-day Little Bellas mountain bike camp.
Little Bellas Practicing the Bike Limbo!
I am asking for your help to meet this goal. Together, our financial contributions can have an incredibly positive impact on two girls lives. Can you help out?
Please click the following link to make a donation (every dollar makes a difference).. http://littlebellas.com/Little_Bellas_FirstGear_Donation.html
Thank you!
Richard
P.S. When you fill out the donation form, you can just put in “Richard L.” for the person your donation supports.
LITTLE BELLAS | Donate Here
FIRST GEAR | Specialized
SEA OTTER CLASSIC
Help Me Make A Difference For Two Deserving Kids! 