Airline industry staff often refer to flight
departure times as “wheels up” and arrival times as “wheels
down.” Sometimes the path travelled between “wheels up” and “wheels down”
can be bumpy, rife with unexpected challenges, unplanned detours, amazing beauty
and incredible experiences.
In September 2014, I resigned my position as
Assistant Director of Athletics at Clark College, essentially ending a 10-year
stint in college athletics. I’ll write
more about that later. Wheels down.
Prior to moving to Portland in 2004 to work for
the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, I was living and
working in Philadelphia helping promote some of the biggest cycling races in
the United States. This was my dream job, working in major event management for
a company that promoted professional cycling races.
For as long as I can remember, I have always had
a desire to make a positive impact on the world and one of the issues I have
always felt drawn to is childhood obesity. I was never certain how this part of
my desire would manifest itself in life. I had a brief glimpse when I
worked at the National Institute for Sport (NIFS) in Indianapolis and was a
counselor for their Youth Program hosting classes who came to NIFS on field
trips. In May 2014,
Facebook provided more light. I
saw a post from Nine13sports in Indiana who was doing some cool stuff with kids
and bikes.
Nine13 had been written up in the Indianapolis Business Journal detailing their business model and success impacting youth in
Indiana. I reached out to
Tom Hanley at Nine13sports who I knew from when he came out to Portland to race
in the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge. After
making a trip to Indiana in early October to shadow Tom and his crew in some
actual school settings, I decided I could do the same program in Portland. When I returned from Portland, the
wheels started to slowly turn toward getting the program up and running in
Portland.
Wheels up!
This blog will detail the ups and downs of this process while dealing with life as a stay at home dad, attempting to race competitively again and all that goes along with life in general.
Until next time, keep the wheels turning!
