Cycles of Life | A Family Bikepacking Trip with Olympian Erin Huck

There was a time where I was the winningest North American athlete. If I could have like listed out my dream of things that I wanted to accomplish, I've been able to cross most of those off. It started with, you know, I want to go to a World Cup and eventually cross that off. I want to go to a World Championships, cross that off. I want to go to Pan American Championships, cross that off, win a national championship. And I've actually been able to win six elite national championships and ultimately go to the Olympics. But bikes are about so much more than racing. Life has changed. Looking good. I'm just so blurry because I'm so fast. Yeah, I know. Look at all those bikes. That was when mommy went on family adventures. Oh, look at that. That's where we're going today. We're going to ride Vail Pass. We are getting ready to go on an adventure, a mountain bike ride into one of the 10 mountain huts in Colorado. And we've got my parents here and Brennan, and we're going to do a big family adventure. I would say my dad played a big role in bikes, but also me getting into racing. Got her into mountain biking with me up there at Winter Park. We did a couple of competitions. She did really well. She started at the beginner level. She won everything there. Started at the sport level. She won everything there. Then she went to the expert level. I started winning everything there. And then she decided, well, maybe I can go pro. Whenever Aaron goes out and race, the last thing I say to her, go out and have fun. My name is Andrew Clements. I did change it. Took Aaron's last name. And I know how proud of the name Aaron is. We met like three different ways all at the same time, but majority of the building of the relationship was via bike, whether that be traveling or racing or training. At first, when we had Brennan, we were just like, yeah, of course we'll keep we'll keep racing and we'll see, maybe we'll start international racing again. And we'll just bring him with us. I had spent so much time, and most athletes do, like with the mindset that I'm an athlete, I'm competing, this is my focus, and it just becomes part of your mentality and your identity. And I went through that first phase of motherhood kind of still with that mentality. There was a gravel race, felt like I could be competitive. And there was going to be a strider race as well. It's like, oh fun, Brennan can do the strider race and we'll all enjoy this racing experience together. So I do the gravel race. I'm standing up on the podium. Andrew is with Brennan getting ready for the strider race. And I'm looking over there and I see everybody lining up and Andrew just shakes his head, jump off the podium, go over there and Andrew's like, he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to race. It kind of just like made me realize that bikes to Brennan have been all about racing. And that was kind of an aha moment. And I mean, it sounds silly, but I think like a life changing moment because we realized bikes are about so much more than racing. The hut trip was was Aaron's idea. Yeah. Strategy is chaos. I pitched it to Andrew first and he was like, yeah, that sounds cool. And then I pitched it just casually to my dad. He's like, yep, absolutely. I'm in. No hesitation. Aaron sent me about two months ago this madness plan that how would you like to go on an adventure up to a hut trip? Have to ride our bikes up there. We have to go to a cabin up there in the woods and just ride. What do you think of that? I said, that's a great idea. And then I pitched it to my mom. She's like, yeah, I'll do it. I'm up for that. That just sounds like fun. Most of our vacations, summer and spring break were planned around riding bikes. So we had a little pop-up camper, had the bikes on a rack up on top of the car and we pulled the camper and go to different destinations and ride bikes. Are we going on an adventure? Today? Yeah. Yay! Do you like adventures? Yeah. You like adventures too? What kind of adventures do you like? I like adventures. You like adventures? Yeah. Me too. Yeah. Getting everything up here on bikes was going to be tricky. So there was a lot of packing, repacking and changing plans, but it was fun. And then Brennan's like, are you ready for an adventure? He's like, oh yeah. As long as there's snacks. Brennan, all you have to do is get in the car and then we can have one of those biscuits. Mommy asked you, did you already put your cars in the car? I don't know if we're going to make it. Oh, everybody's screaming. Neighborhood kids here. Oh my gosh. Okay. She understands that it would just be another 30 seconds, but it's like this crazy retaliation. We can have a snack as soon as we start rolling. Okay. What is it? It's a yummy bread that I showed you. They make cars with really good noise insulation. Cancels out road noise and screaming toddlers. We had our bikes and we got some e-bikes for Aaron's parents. And so we had a device to couple Brennan's bike to ours. So one of us took Brennan, one of us took the gear and just a tow behind toolie chariot trailer. Rode about three and a half, four miles, give or take up a, up a dirt road to a hut, um, just off of Vail Pass. Had to trudge through a little bit of snow, but it was certainly, certainly passable. It's pretty special that he's three years old and doing this hut trip with his grandma and grandpa. He doesn't know that that's a big deal. Maybe when he's 10 or 11 or 12, he'll look back and see that it's a big deal. And we had a nice dinner and next morning made pancakes, which is like our ritual breakfast. And then we set out on to explore. Both my parents did great on their bikes and it was so, just like, pinched me. Is this really happening when we're just all riding our mountain bikes? It looks just like some of the pictures that my parents showed me when I was little of these bike adventures on these dirt roads. And like, where did, where was that? Like, I don't remember. It doesn't matter, but it was beautiful. We went and explored a single track trail while my parents went and explored a hiking trail. Family time on the bikes, going to a new place. I mean, Brennan had never been to a hut. You know, Erin's parents, especially her dad was just so into that idea. You know, he really wanted to be able to do that and to have the family together. And like I said, I mean, Erin got into bikes because of him. Well, it means a lot because we're, um, my husband and I are getting older and things are a little harder, but, um, it is like revisiting sweet memories. And, uh, you hope that you can keep on doing this. I don't know how many more trips we can have like this. So, um, just do it while we can. So my dad has Parkinson's. My dad still is very enthusiastic about life, always has to have a plan, always has some goal for the day. Exercise is critically important for him, loves to plan adventures, very stubborn, um, very caring. He absolutely loves his family, which is really special, special to see. He is so determined to, to push through this disease and experience as much time as he can with his, his family, because he just loves them so much. I'm hoping to get much better. Everybody says, you know, you don't improve. I think I can improve. Just got to stay with it. Not really a terminal disease. You just have to stay positive. There are a lot of Parkinson's people who are helped with riding bikes. It's a big deal for us now. I mean, it was lucky that we already liked riding bikes because he got diagnosed and we were like, Oh, we really need to ride bikes. You know, it wasn't accidental that I planned that trip when I did, because we knew that like Parkinson's is, is a degenerative disease. You, you get progressively worse. We did that at the earliest we possibly could in the season when, yes, we're risking that the road would be blocked by snow. But we also knew that if we waited, my dad might not be able to come. So it was like, let's do this while we can. Moments in life are fleeting. So I think just, you know, having that, that experience on the bike, sharing bike rides with, with my dad, it was so special. I don't think my dad can ride a bike anymore. So I think that was one of his last big adventures. Bikes will always be a part of our life. I mean, seeing Brennan's enjoyment on the bike, you know, it, it really helps me kind of set aside any expectations or frustrations I might have with myself and just enjoy it through his eyes. Ready? Put it right here. Is that a good spot? Whoa, mommy's roasting hers. What am I doing? What's important to me? How do I want to live my life? That intention. Do it while you can. I think that that's something that my dad has always looked by and I'm trying to live by that too. It's like, do it while you can with the ones that you love. Think of your first s'more. Good. Why do you think they call them s'mores? Because I like s'mores. Cause you want s'more s'mores.