Words by Nick Harris
Photos by Jordan Drew/Alpine Media
If you knew me before my injury, you know my love for action sports. I grew up riding motorcycles and spent the majority of my childhood riding anything on two wheels and doing my best to find a way to get those wheels as high off the ground as I could. Almost daily, you could find me riding my bike with a shovel placed across my handlebars on my way to carve out my next jump.
All of that was put on hold in 2014 when I sustained my spinal cord injury. After such an injury I was no longer able to participate in these activities, however, my love for the sport never changed. I’ve been dreaming of ways to someday obtain an adaptive bike and be able to hit the trails again.
All of that became possible thanks to High Fives Foundation & Sky Tavern. Thanks to these two amazing organizations I was able to not only ride a bike again but try and get those wheels off the ground again! The amount of freedom I felt being able to rip on a bike again is truly indescribable. I no longer felt any limitations of my disability and it was just man and bike like it should be.
The adaptive trail was a perfect mix of accessibility and challenging terrain that made for a much-needed adrenaline rush. I was able to push myself as hard as I chose and I was no longer restrained to what a wheelchair would allow. It was up to me, how fast and how hard I wanted to ride. Absolute freedom!!
I’ve been riding the high from my time at Sky Tavern ever since. I cannot wait to come back!
