Earning my Ride!

Last year I finally found the dirt trails here in the DC area. Before that I had been riding a lot on the W&OD which is a great trail system but it is all paved. Then I found MORE and world was right again! I found great people to ride with, an incredible system of dirt trails, and a great way to give back to the community. MORE is one of the largest trail advocate organizations in the Mid-Atlantic area. Doing trail maintenence has been fun, rewarding, and great way to find new trails. Last year I worked on the following trails: Fairfax County Cross County Trail, VA Shaeffer Farms, MD Wakefield, VA Rosaryville, VA Hoyles Mill Connector, MD Fountainhead, VA During the Hoyles Mill Connector work day the Trail Liason used a phrase I had emailed him for the day's mantra. In my email I wrote: "I'm looking forward to earning my ride." The thought was that by working on the trails I was earning my right to ride them. Throughout the day, there would be shouts of "Earn My Ride" from the various volunteers. The group picture found everyone shouting "Earn My Ride" instead of cheese. I had no idea that it would take on such a life of its own. Now, several months later, it is alive and well in a new form. During my last Utah trip, MORE had its annual winter party. They had lots of schwag that was raffled off with the big prize of the night being a new bike donated by City Bikes. Only people who had volunteered at least 4 days of trail maintenence were included in the big prize raffle. And as you may have guessed by now... I WON THE BIKE And then there were Three!