Yesterday was to be a joyous day. Celebrating my 33rd birthday, home with Jill and Cooper, parents in town and things looked good. But then the news broke on MTBR.com and I just couldn't get it out of my mind.
I'd met Anthony and ridden with him some, but I didn't know him well or as well as I wanted to. I felt a real connection with him, as did most people who met him. A guy who loved to ride bikes, always traveling with Grendel his faithful black lab companion. Perhaps it was our shared love of black labs, singletrack, photography and riding bikes (specifically Yetis) that made this news so hard for me to take. Truth be told a lot of the reason I ended up on a team turquoise Yeti 575 is that Anthony always made that bike and color look so mystical in his photos. When I moved to Colorado, I spent hours and hours combing his website plotting my next trail I would ride.
His photography, stories and travel are legendary. When I would see an AnthonyS post in the Passion forum on MTBR.com, I'd stop whatever I was doing to read it and be amazed at how he could tell a story with pictures and words.
I wish I had more chances to ride with Anthony, but when I'm out in the high country of CO I'll be sure to give a nod to Anthony.
Browse through his website, the pictures are magical and I'd bet that you emerge at least a little changed by it all.
4 comments:
I knew him back in 1987 and he was always one of those people you naturally liked, trusted, and so smart! So gentle. He will be missed.
Anthony was a mountain biker's mountain biker and a good friend to anyone who considered him as such.
Anthony was my neighbor here in Austin, Texas. Great guy. We were crushed when we heard the news. I hope wherever he is now has some great biking trails.
Well said Joel.. I met Anthony over the internet years ago on the Xterra owners club site and we always talked Xterra's mountain biking and Colorado.. I moved out to Colorado in 1998 and here was this guy that always talked about Colorado and traveled here a bit from Austin, TX. He moved here and I finally met him in person when he was at Wheatridge Cyclery.. He was a great guy and so passionate about mountain biking and Colorado... He moved on to Yeti Cycles in Golden and I was lucky enough to have ridden with him a couple of time out in Grand Junction and Fruita..
Anthony was a good guy and he will be missed..
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