Cycling World Loss
I just found out tonight that my friend Anthony Sloan passed away in his sleep a couple of nights ago. The preliminary indication is that it was due to an enlarged heart. If there was one trait I knew about Anthony, is that he was at least figuratively a man with a big heart. He wasn't old or unfit, so it's shocking to say the least.
Anthony and I first met in Durango, CO where were both visiting to ride some of the famed singletracks in the area back in 2001. We "knew" each other from Usenet's infamous alt.mountain-bike for a couple of years prior and had both decided the other was an interesting enough character to meet up and ride some trails with someday. The trail we chose to ride the day we met was the southern terminus of the Colorado Trail. We had a great day and a ton of fun, especially while hauling ass and laughing all of the way down the trail. After that meeting it was obvious to both of us that we had "it" figured out and would ride together again.
Anthony eventually moved from Austin, TX to the Colorado Front Range, so our paths crossed a little more often. Seb Orrell Jones and I took Anthony for a singlespeed drag up to the top of Searle Pass from Frisco, CO shortly after his move, utilizing paved bike path and singletracks to accomplish this. He was still working on his CO lungs, but wasn't far away from getting them considering it was his first whole high country season there. One of the last times I got to ride with Anthony was on the infamous Fruita Fat Tire Festival Death March in 2004. After that ride was all said and done, there was a bit of grumbling from some of the other participants. During the grumbling of others and unbeknownst to them, Anthony shot be a big grin and gave me a thumbs up to accompany it. I never told anyone about that (and doubt he did either) until writing it now because it was something that just had to be shared between ourselves. That's the kind of man Anthony was.
The last time I got to visit with Anthony was at the Fruita Fat Tire Festival in 2008. He was busy running the Yeti demo fleet because that's what he did. We had spoken about riding together again after the festival, but it never materialized. I knew I was missing out by not riding with him, but had thought at the time we would have many more chances in the future. Alas, it is not to be so.
Ride In Peace, Anthony.
Hermosa Creek Trail near Durango, CO 04/26/03
Colorado Trail near Searle Pass, CO 09/24/03
Anthony and I first met in Durango, CO where were both visiting to ride some of the famed singletracks in the area back in 2001. We "knew" each other from Usenet's infamous alt.mountain-bike for a couple of years prior and had both decided the other was an interesting enough character to meet up and ride some trails with someday. The trail we chose to ride the day we met was the southern terminus of the Colorado Trail. We had a great day and a ton of fun, especially while hauling ass and laughing all of the way down the trail. After that meeting it was obvious to both of us that we had "it" figured out and would ride together again.
Anthony eventually moved from Austin, TX to the Colorado Front Range, so our paths crossed a little more often. Seb Orrell Jones and I took Anthony for a singlespeed drag up to the top of Searle Pass from Frisco, CO shortly after his move, utilizing paved bike path and singletracks to accomplish this. He was still working on his CO lungs, but wasn't far away from getting them considering it was his first whole high country season there. One of the last times I got to ride with Anthony was on the infamous Fruita Fat Tire Festival Death March in 2004. After that ride was all said and done, there was a bit of grumbling from some of the other participants. During the grumbling of others and unbeknownst to them, Anthony shot be a big grin and gave me a thumbs up to accompany it. I never told anyone about that (and doubt he did either) until writing it now because it was something that just had to be shared between ourselves. That's the kind of man Anthony was.
The last time I got to visit with Anthony was at the Fruita Fat Tire Festival in 2008. He was busy running the Yeti demo fleet because that's what he did. We had spoken about riding together again after the festival, but it never materialized. I knew I was missing out by not riding with him, but had thought at the time we would have many more chances in the future. Alas, it is not to be so.
Ride In Peace, Anthony.
Hermosa Creek Trail near Durango, CO 04/26/03
Colorado Trail near Searle Pass, CO 09/24/03
posted by commutant at 00:59
1 Comments:
So sorry about your friend!so tragic.
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