Fourteen years is a long time to be away from the woods.
Last Friday, I found my way back, not on foot but in a three-wheeled, all-terrain Bowhead Reach built for people like me. The moment the trail narrowed and the trees closed in, I felt something shift. The smell of pine. The cool shade. The crunch of tires over rocks and roots. I was home again, in a place I thought I’d lost forever.
This all started a couple of years ago at Lime Rock, where I took part in Just Hands Foundation performance driving. Torsten Gross, a quadriplegic and avid race car driver, runs the foundation that helps others with paralysis feel the thrill of being behind the wheel. That day for me, and for all the others who’ve had the chance to race, was unforgettable, not just for the speed but for the people the foundation has brought together. One of them was Doug Henry, a three-time motocross champion whose career ended with a crash that left him paralyzed 18 years ago.
Not long after meeting at Lime Rock, Torsten and Doug started talking about a new challenge, creating a place where adaptive mountain bikers could test their skills on trails built with them in mind. Just a short drive away from Lime Rock, the idea took root outside Torrington, in northwest Connecticut, on a beautiful stretch of forest where winding tracks and wooded paths offer both thrills and quiet moments. Doug still rides there with the same grit that made him a champion, and it’s the kind of place that makes you forget, if only for a moment, everything but the ride.
And that’s where I came in and became their first participant.
Some people might call that being a guinea pig. I call it an honor. I invited two friends, Andy and Aaron, who live nearby. They were all in. When we arrived, Doug eased me in, first letting me get comfortable on a cut-grass loop in his yard, then introducing rocks, roots, dirt, and short hills. Once I got the hang of it, we moved to the smaller motocross track.
I learned to lean into sharp curves, bounced over jumps (nothing too airborne, thankfully), and tipped over a few times, always cushioned by the roll bar that kept me from going all the way over. After lunch, we got bolder. The big track. The deeper woods. Rocks and dips and stretches where the trees pressed in close. I even ducked under a closed gate and almost took my head off in the process because I still had my hand on the throttle. It is all part of the adventure.
Doug had friends there helping out, including “the two Steves,” who jumped on e-bikes to ride alongside us. Andy and Aaron borrowed a couple, and suddenly we were a small crew, weaving through the property and into the state forest.
That’s when it hit me: the joy of being in the woods again. Fourteen years is a long time. I have missed this more than I can explain. The smells, the sounds, the way light filters through leaves. I could hear the low hum of insects, the hollow thump of tires over roots, the whisper of wind in the branches above. Sunlight came in thin, gold ribbons through the canopy, breaking into flashes as we moved.
It is a sensory memory that lives deep in me, from years of hiking, biking, skiing, rock climbing. And here it was again, roaring back, not in a flash of nostalgia, but in the real-time, heart-thumping present.
I wished I could do this more often, but that thought was drowned out by the thrill of the day. This is what keeps me pushing limits, chasing whatever version of the life I loved I can still grab hold of. The soreness after was real, but so was the smile that stayed with me all weekend.
Before we packed up, I surfed over to the Bowhead website and looked at their lineup. The RX, with its pedals and e-assist, would not handle a motocross track, but it could get me back on trails. Maybe not the wild, twisting ones I rode that day, but enough to bring the woods within reach again. Something to consider in my back pocket.
If you have been away from something you love for too long, I hope you find your own way back. Mine just happened to be on three wheels, in the woods, with good friends, and a trail that felt like home.
Very cool!
LOVE this, Ron! So glad you were back in the woods. Looks like you had an amazing day. You are truly an inspiration!