We stopped at the next pull-out so John could get Tinker Juarez’s attention. It turns out that John has known this mountain bike legend for about 40 years. Tinker rode right past us, but then John called out his name, and Tinker immediately pumped his brakes and came back around with a big smile to greet us. So there we were, over 25 miles deep into the mountains, on a hot spring day, and without hesitation, John asked to grab a few pictures of his long-time friend and his bike.

We got a great shot of Tinker with his custom-painted Cannondale F-Si, but we all wanted to see Tinker on some dirt. Luckily, Tinker was just about to dip off the pavement onto a trail, so we drove alongside Tinker while John kept snapping images out the window.

Once we all got to the start of the trail, I asked, “Tinker, can I pick up your bike?” While lifting it,…

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