Via: Times Community Newspapers

The ride with the girl from Maryland stuck in the mind of Springfield’s Pat Childres.

He recalled she was painfully afraid to ride down hills. So he decided to take it slow on his mountain bike that day and talk her down. However, she calmed her own nerves by fondly describing to Childres her father in Iraq. At the bottom of the hill, the other kids cheered as she slowly coasted into them.

“I had tears in my eyes. And I’m not embarrassed to say that,” he said.

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Pat Childres and his wife have a non profit organization called Trips for Kids that takes inner-city youth out for half-day mountain bike trips. It is great to see biking used in such a positive way. These kids are taught biking skills as well as to be confident in themselves, etc.