Logan Einhorn- GoHawkeye Grant Recipient

Written by Logan Einhorn

At the beginning of this summer, I was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the GoHawkeye Foundation to buy a brand new full suspension mountain bike. The forecast for my entire summer changed as I read this news. This meant everything to me, and it still feels surreal even after all the places I have ridden. I have fallen madly in love with my bike, and the opportunities it has provided me. I picked out a beautiful blue carbon Specialized Stumpjumper. 

Once my bike arrived, the amazing guys over at Telluride Bootdoctors assembled it with love, sending me videos of the progress and updates as they built it. I was so excited and still couldn’t believe it. Once it was finished, my life started to change, slowly, ride after ride. 

At first, I started with local rides around Telluride, and started exploring our bike park. It was so flowy and fun. For the first time in a few years, I was able to get a full body work out including cardio, without hurting my injured ankle even more. Gasping for air had never felt so good. Feeling my heart pounding against my chest was like nirvana. The salty streams of sweat dripping down my face and body were something I looked forward to all day long. I could feel all the toxins and trauma leaving my mind and body. Going fast, using my whole body, and covering so much ground on my own was exhilarating and gave me such a high. This was freedom for me, and since I started mountain biking, the condition of my foot has actually improved, and I have noticed strength returning to some stubborn atrophied muscles in my calves. Any day that I ride my bike, the little stresses and struggles in life seem to melt away, and I am left with a clear blissful state of mind, and a stronger healthier body. 

Mountain biking is challenging, and it has been so great to set goals, and see myself develop into a stronger rider. As summer pushed onward, I started to travel around Colorado with my bike. I rode Phil’s World in Cortez for the first time, the RAT trails over in Ridgway, Boggy Draw in Dolores, Lupine in Crested Butte, Hartman Rocks in Gunnison, and the new amazing Remine trail that just opened locally. After conquering and exploring many of the trails where I live, I was eager to take it even further, and experience the meccas of mountain biking; Moab and Sedona were calling my name.

Riding in the desert was so different from the local rides, and so beautiful. By far, the trails in Moab and Sedona were the most humbling, rocky, composed of rim rock and sandstone features. What an incredible feeling, being miles out in the desert, surrounded by beautiful red rocks and succulents, a warm desert glow, and the trails there are so raw, almost unrecognizable without stone markers or painted rock. There is such intrinsic beauty and value to being out in the middle of nature, with no buildings or other people around, just a bike to ride over vast expanses of land that stretch until colliding with the horizon.

Connecting with nature is so important to my soul.

Logan Einhorn

Having a full-suspension bike of my own has made me a better person in every way. The exercise has worked wonders on my mental health, and miracles on my body. I have spent so much more time outside in the forests, deserts, and alpine; where my heart longs to be. Connecting with nature is so important to my soul. I have traveled more because of my bike, made new friends, and have an ever-growing passion for an activity that I will be able pursue for the rest of my life. I cannot thank the GoHawkeye Foundation enough for helping me get a bike, and changing my life in such an incredible way. Happy trails!