Mind = Blown

I live in an amazing place with amazing people that do amazing things. It's true, and it was so reinforced last night. I hosted a premiere of a highly-anticipated mountain bike film called From the Inside Out at a local dive club/bar. This was done for one reason: as a benefit to Evan to help pay for his recovery and all the costs associated with it. Smashing your brain isn't cheap; luckily neither is the local(ish) bike community.

Evan, taking it easy at the premiere. (c) Paris Gore

I didn't anticipate a monster crowd, but I figured we'd get 150 people, 200 if we killed it. As we prepared the raffle prizes and put on the final touches for the evening, I peeked outside. To my absolute shock the line stretched around the block to get in the door. There were tons of riders, of course, but more than that there were friends. Friends of mine, friends of Evan and friends of his friends that just wanted to support him. My phone was ringing nonstop as people asked to be escorted in so they didn't have to wait out in the cold. I had everything mapped out to the minute for how I wanted everything to go, but I sure didn't anticipate the throngs of people. We ended up with around 300.

Me, Ev, and our Peru hero, Dr. David Arndt from Portland.
Photo (c) Adrienne Schofhauser

At 8pm we opened the doors. The lines to buy raffle tickets quickly built with people deciding where to place their luck. The frame from Diamondback, wheels from Transition, Contour cameras, and Fox fork proved to be the hot ticket items, but there was so much stuff that people stood overwhelmed, not sure where to hedge their bets. I wrestled my way through the thickening crowd trying to get more change for Mr. Mike Goodall, my amazing doorman. Patrick was a perfect worker bee, hanging banners, setting up chairs, and helping toss swag out to the open arms in the crowd.

The line. (c) Paris Gore

As good as things were, they can't always be perfect. The club pretty much shit the bed on a few key points such as sound and playing the video in proper viewing format. It was unfortunate that the microphone solution couldn't be sorted out as I had a few things I really wanted to say that I couldn't. So, that's where this post comes in.

Thank you. Thank you to every single person who walked through those doors last night. Thank you for your presence, your hope, your high fives, your toasts. Thank you for smiling, laughing, cheering, hugging, and high fiving your way through the lines. Thank you for loving this sport as much as I do. Thank you for buying the shit out of those raffle tickets. Most of all, thank you for supporting your friend, Evan. I may have thrown the "event," but you guys made it a party. Thank you for coming from Canada, Port Angeles, Point Roberts, Bellingham, Portland and so on. I know there are premieres closer to your homes, but you guys put in the extra effort to come show your support. It freaking kills me how amazing you all are.

Thank you for not hating when the sound went out. Thank you for dealing with the shortened screen. Thank you for making those bar tenders the happiest guys on the hill last night. Thank you for telling me that it didn't matter that things were going wrong- that everyone was still having fun. After a while, I actually believed you. A few call outs are necessary: My brother for busting his ass all over the place; Julie Carroll for being the most stoked non-mountain biker you could ever have at a mountain bike party and for doing pretty much everything; Scott, George, and Jen for killing it in raffle sales and convincing people that a few more bucks was worth it; Paris and Adrienne for taking photos; Jon Kennedy for being the MC extraordinaire when I was too pissed off to deal with the guys running the club; my coworkers for showing awesome support for your coworker; my random friends who showed up because they knew how important this was to me; Frankie for helping corral that massive prize haul; Billy, Gully, Lars, Mandell for partying HARD - everyone. Thank you a million times over.

Billy and Ev - (c) Paris Gore

It's just been over a month since the accident and I honestly am blown away every day by the continuing support that is thrown Evan's way. I know that neither one of us would have recovered mentally as well if it weren't for all of you being there every single day, hugging it out, caring, and keeping us laughing. My friends are amazing. My community is amazing. Are you crying yet? Because I'm about to.

Ok. Mush fest over. You guys fucking rock. That's it, that's all.

PS- you can read a great post by Adrienne Schofhauser on the event here.