Melanie Rathe
Quinn, Thank you so much for your kind words and awesome reminder of what is truly important. OBRA is an amazing community and we all need reminded now and then.
Good luck on your race season and keep us informed!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Quinn Keogh"
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 12:10:14 PM
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Thank You OBRA
Dear OBRA,
I hope everyone is recovering from their St Patrick’s day festivities. On this holiday I feel obliged to post a note of gratitude to OBRA. Exactly two years ago I had surgery for testicular cancer so for me St. Patty’s day has additional significance. The reason that I bring this up here is that my recovery from sickness involved many members of the OBRA family, and my experience is a great example of how wonderful OBRA is.
I have been racing in Oregon since I was 12. My first race was the kids race at the 1997 Mudslinger. I remember not only being thrilled to race, but also feeling like everyone was having a great time. I was already a bike geek at that age, so I felt like I was among my people. Folks were comparing Paul Kiss brakes, or Mrazek Frames, or Spin wheels, or rainbow anodized Kooka cranks. You know, 90’s stuff. It was awesome and I was hooked.
Fast forward 10 years I had grown into a road cyclist in his early 20’s. I loved the scene at races but also worried a bit about the narrow social lives of some OBRAns. I remember thinking, “Man, these people need to do something else at least one weekend per month.” But who am I to talk. And, what I have come to recognize is that people aren’t drawn to events again and again because they lack other social outlets (although there are surely such people), but because OBRA is a great community and one of the few organizations that serves its members well.
How great of a community? Well, when I got sick I was working for Dr. Seth Hosmer. He was my former team mate and was working to establish his practice. He was flexible and understanding of my needs as a sick person and as a racer. And when medical bills mounted and I needed somewhere inexpensive to live Mel and Jay Rathe opened their home to me. I had been teammates with their son Jacob and mama Mel wanted to help. And Erik Tonkin gave me flexible hours building bikes at Sellwood to keep my head above the mucky flood of bills. And when I was coming back and getting stronger Norrene Godfrey sent me to Seattle to ride in the Livestrong Challenge. Then she gave me a team to ride for last year and the opportunity to travel to NRC races. And now, I get to be a “pro” on team exergy. So it is, for me, an amazingly great community.
OBRA has fostered my growth from a 12 year old weakling to a state champion and neo-pro. Along the way I have gained a second family, a group that understands the drive that we all have to be impossibly fast while balancing the greater need to be good friends and neighbors. I’ll miss OBRA this year but I know it will be a great season. And remember to thank your race promoters, officials and volunteers, they are OBRAs heart and backbone. Good luck, may the best human win!
Sincerely,
-Quinn
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