Steve-@clark.wa.gov
This is a very sad story. Oh how it illustrate that Drug
addiction/alcoholism know no boundries.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Jacobs [mailto:bjac-@emerita.com]
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 3:22 PM
To: 'ob-@topica.com'
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Greg Ariens 10/13/67 - 10/02
For those of you who did not meet Greg Ariens, he was an OBRA member and
enthusiastic cyclist in general, racing MTB, road and cross.
Greg's body was found dead yesterday of an apparent overdose.
I met Greg at his first Mountain Bike race which was the old series at Ski
Bowl in 1998. He asked me if a helmet was required to race. He ended up
wearing a helmet, but rode the race shirtless, much to the displeasure of
Petr!
That summer we ended up carpooling to many MTB races and it was during these
car rides that I learned about Greg's struggle with Heroin and Cocaine
addiction. He was coming out of a 10 year on again/off again addiction
struggle in which he went from owning a home to living under a bridge
(literally). All this from a guy with a college degree in engineering.
In the spring of 2000, I saw Greg at the Coast Hills Classic. On a team,
racing Expert, a part time job at River City, starting graduate school. It
seemed as though he had left his past behind and was moving forward.
It wasn't until the fall of 2001 that I connected with Greg again. In the
time we had not ridden together he had fallen in and out of using Heroin. A
failed relationship, missed expectations with riding, a really bad cycling
accident, and the uncertainty of his future all probably cast doubt in his
mind and contributed to his inability to stay sober.
Beginning with the Crosscrusade of 2001, Greg was anxious to race again and
mainly to have fun. Sobriety seemed to bring focus to his life. Finishing a
Graduate degree in Engineering, being competitive in MTB and Road races,
thoughts of a future. We rode through the winter with talk of the coming MTB
season.
I convinced Greg to ride Sport category so that we could ride together and
focus on the fun. This worked for awhile until Greg's strong results got him
bumped to Expert!
Late in August, things took a turn for the worse. Just shy of a year in
sobriety, Greg rekindled his relationship with heroin. For reasons I don't
understand, heroin was king and there was little anyone could do until Greg
was ready to seek help.
I kept reminding him of our pact to ride 'cross together this season. He had
already ordered a new fork through River City so I knew somewhere inside him
he wanted to ride.
The help came in late September early October when Greg got some help
through a clinic. It was around October 7th when I got the call from Greg
that he would ride the Pier Park race, which was on his birthday. Greg and
his friend Jennifer showed up at the house and the three of us rode out to
N. Portland on that beautiful fall day. Little did I know that it would be
our last ride together.
Even though he didn't finish the race, sighting his low fitness level as the
cause, It was great to be with him one more time.
Bob Jacobs
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