How
did our Regional Stars
Do at NCS #1
Big Bear?
We all know the level of
competition at the nationals and have the utmost respect for the pros
that compete in these events. I'm always asking the question "How
did so and so do at Big Bear?" So I thought our visitors might
be curious too. Here is a collection of interviews from world-class,
national and regional stars!
INTERVIEWS
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Bill Bowen - Fair Hill Race '99
THE MAN WHO MADE
FAIR HILL
Elkton, Md
Bill
Bowen
Founder of the Delaware Trail Spinners
by Jeff Milligan
Bill
Bowen has been confused for a bull and for a mysterious lawn mower man,
but he's certainly never been confused for a couch potato. At 64, Bowen,
the founder of the Delaware Trail Spinners and an active mountain biker
and trail designer, is busier than most 24 year olds and he's showing
no signs of slowing down.
Even
during the sometimes wicked weather this past winter, Bowen didn't settle
under a warm blanket with a mug of cocoa and watch old black and white
movies. None of that for Bill Bowen. He went kayak sledding instead.
That's right, climb inside of a kayak and let fly down an icy slope
with just an inch of plastic between your tail bone and the frozen winter
earth. A dangerous endeavor, indeed.
And
one of Bowen's companions on the trip, a mere whippersnapper in comparison,
54-year old Ken Robinson can attest to the danger. Robinson broke his
back during the "invigorating" trip. He was hobbled with a
cracked vertebrae. Robinson's body is still intact, however. Also intact
is Robinson's enduring admiration for Bowen.
"Bill's a bull," Robinson said
of Bowen. "He's not the tallest guy, but he's one of the strongest
guys I've ever met. He's got those Popeye forearms. Probably from riding
motorcycles through the woods and dodging trees at 40 miles per hour."
Perhaps Bowen's vise-like grip and powerful
frame were partially formed during his 12 years as a Delaware enduro
motorcycle racer, but his dedication to fitness has been a lifelong
endeavor. "Staying in shape has always been easy for me,"
he said. "I've always been active." From the tumbling team
in junior high school to enduro racing, hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking
and, of course, mountain biking, Bowen has been on the move no doubt
since the days when he was swaddled in diapers.
And during those early years, his hard-working
father had a strong influence on Bowen. Bowen explained that his father
wasn't an athlete or as much of an outdoorsman as himself but he always
kept busy.
"My
father was active in other ways." Bowen said. "He was active
all the time. It was like he had to do something."
What
he did, Bowen said, was odd jobs. And a young Bowen was often recruited,
like it or not, to help out. This early exposure to hard work and physical
activity must have played a crucial role in shaping Bowen's character
-- his determination and motivation, particularly.
Bowen
also went on to become a hard worker. He dedicated 38 years of his life
to Bell Atlantic (formerly Diamond State Telephone). After
spending so many years at one place, you might think retirement would
be a difficult thing to accept. Maybe Bowen would long for the companionship
of his former coworkers -- for a cup of coffee and a laugh or two. Maybe
he'd even think about going back to work. Just part time to keep busy.
But this
is Bill Bowen -- not the type to sit around and feel sorry for himself.
Not the type to look back wistfiilly.
" I
didn't miss it a bit," Bowen said of his days with Diamond State.
"I liked my job, but I certainly didn't miss it." Perhaps
Bowen just didn't have time to miss it. He was too busy with other things,
like founding the Delaware Trail Spinners.
Bowen, with
typical modesty, underplayed his role in creating the mountain biking
club. Instead he deflected attention to the club itself and to the other
cofounder, Jim McGroerty. McGroerty has since moved on to other things,
but Bowen is a permanent fixture, the living symbol of the Trail Spinners.
Bob Cox,
current treasurer of the Trail Spinners, hesitated when explaining how
the club was founded. After a pause, he omitted McGroerty's name. "Bill
really founded the club," he said. "It was really his idea."
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And what was that idea? What are the
Trail Spinners all about? Alan Turns,
current President of the Spinners summed it up succinctly. "[We
want] to continue to find areas to ride and to encourage new riders."
And in both
areas, Bowen has been a driving force. Whether trudging through the
woods and blazing a trail or riding alongside and quietly urging new
riders to work hard on a difficult part of the trail, Bowen has been
there. Cox
tells the story of the first time he met Bowen: Cox and his son Ken
were out riding at Fair Hill, where the Trail Spinners have been instrumental
in establishing over 70 miles of trails. While they were out enjoying
the spring weather and the exercise, they discovered these strange,
unfinished trails.
"We kept seeing signs of these new
trails that had been freshly mowed." Cox said. "Some of them
didn't go anywhere or just ended abruptly. My son and I laughed, "There
must be a lawn mower man out here somewhere."
Indeed there was. One who Cox said puts
in "tremendous time and effort at Fair Hill clearing and cutting
trails."
One evening a few days later, Cox was
out walking his dog with his wife when some riders approached and struck
up a conversation. Bill Bowen was among the riders and he invited Cox
to a Trail Spinners meeting. Of course, he accepted.
In another part of the park on another
day, Ken Robinson also received an invitation from Bowen. What Bowen
didn't realize at the time was that Robinson had some mountain biking
connections and had compiled a fairly extensive list of local mountain
bikers' names and addresses.
The loosely connected webwork of riders
was called the DelVal Mountain Bike Association. The Association not
only loved to ride on trails but also organized volunteer work parties
to do the not-so-glamorous trail maintenance.
This caring principle of Robinson's Association
matched well with Bowen's conception for his growing idea. And the synergy
and assimilation that resulted from the meeting of Robinson and Bowen
has led not only to a great friendship but to a very successfiil nonprofit
agency in the Trail Spinners.
As a
non-profit organization, any money they raise is funneled into trail
maintenance and charitable donations. Their main source of revenue is
the race at Fair Hill. And of the upwards of 500 riders who ride in
the race, Bowen expects all to have their tongues awagging at the finish
line or he'll be disappointed.
"If
we put on a race and the tongues aren't hanging out at the end, then
I haven't done a good job." says Bowen.
One rider ecspecially
appreciates the work Bowen has done designing trails, Pete Brakhage,
former President of the Trail Spinners.
"[Bowen's]
trails are challenging enough that you want to come back and try again,
but they're not so challenging that you feel defeated," Brakhage
said. And in that way, perhaps Bowens' trail designs reflect his character.
Perhaps his trails are monuments to his life philosophy.
You should
lead your life in such a way that people want to emulate you, the dirt
packed paths seem to say. You can become a role model and others will
challenge themselves to be like you, suggests a winding uphill climb.
And yet it's not your goal to show anyone up; you re not interested
in gaining glory from others' demise, says the delicately bruised dusk
as you prepare to put your bike away for the day.
Perhaps that's Bill Bowen's
greatest gift. He seems to want a world where everyone is trying to become
better, a world where people won't mope around and complain and watch
television and drink too much beer.
And maybe Bowen
won't say this directly. Maybe he won't preach it from a pulpit or write
it in a book, but just look at his life. It seems to force us to ask ourselves
a question: How much better can we become? Afterall, we've got to die
sometime.
But in the meantime,
you could always join the Trail Spinners or at least hop on your bike
and get out in the world. Let your heart fill with blood and your lungs
with air and always ride hard.
Pete Brakhage,
captures the spirit of the mountain biker with philosophical insight.
"[Bikers] need to have the connection with nature," he said.
"And if you can accomplish this and get fit, that's a bonus. To me
[riding] is a form of self-expression. I compare it to playing a musical
instrument. You don't have to be very good to get pleasure from doing
it." And thanks to Bill Bowen many people have had the opportunity
to metaphorically make a little music. And if you listen very carefully,
maybe you can hear it.
The chorus would
come from Bowen's answering machine message: "We're out enjoying
life," it says. "We're out enjoying life."
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