Elliot And TC RIDES
by Kristen and Gabe Talaga (Elliot’s mom and dad)
Summer 2014 was the summer of the bike for our little Elliot and there is no turning back. By bike was his main mode of transportation including to and from day care pretty much every day. Elliot was also a regular at the NORTE! weekly TC RIDES. And by regular we mean perfect attendance, the little dude made it to every single Wednesday community bike ride for 20 weeks!
We didn’t always make it together, but at least one of us did to bring Elliot along for the 8km stretch of chit chatty, ring your bell fun with neighbors and friends exploring the neighborhoods and trails of TC.
For Elliot to experience his community in this supportive and encouraging group ride is special and important. He is more than comfortable riding on the bike whether cozied in his trailer for the winter commutes or out front on his iBert taking in the sights and sounds and feeling the breeze and kiss of the sunshine.
Watching his face light up as we cruise down the streets and see him give a friendly wave and smile to his fellow bikers is what it’s all about. He’s taking it in and seems to be loving every minute. A great reminder for us all.
We have always been passionate about riding bikes but NORTE! and its community of riders has inspired us to bike even more but also inspired us to be better neighbors in this awesome place we call home. We’re pumped to have our son start out with NORTE! at such a young age and are excited to watch him grow and gain the confidence and endurance like so many of his fellow, gritty NORTE! riders.
Go Orange!
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A NORTE! Story is a blog series highlighting N!YC riders/volunteers/supporters in our first year of inspiring Traverse City youth through bicycles. If you like Elliot’s story and want to support more of the same, please consider donating to our end-of-year KIDS ON BIKES + YOU campaign. Levels and awards can be found HERE.
Gracias.
And let’s ride bikes together soon.
El Grupo Norte 