Gray Winter

Volume 4, Issue 1, February 1997

Time is a motherfucker, and the universe has a powerful way of connecting the dots. This column was written right upon finding out that Lance Armstrong had testicular cancer, several years before he fully evolved into one of the biggest assholes in the history of professional cycling, and right upon the heels of finding out that a journalist peer had been run over by a truck in London. That same issue also featured a brief note about the death of an up and coming Flagstaff racer named Jamie Fallon, who had been taken out by a car driven by an 18-year old named Diane Bruce. And this was the first issue of Volume 4, dated February but probably hitting the stands in January. So, almost exactly 29 years ago, mas o menos…

There’s a Gary Fisher ad inside the front cover, with a shirtless Dave Devlin modeling a Supercaliber. Later in the issue, there’s a small David Epperson shot of Mitchel Garvin ripping a trail in Astoria, Oregon. Those two men were deeply influential in my early bike racing life, bright pinpoints of friendship and suffering alike, educating me via sweating, dust-caked pedal strokes about culture, connection and competition.

I got a phone call yesterday from another of those influences in my life, who has diligently kept the flame of friendship alight for decades now. Robert Ives, who keeps shit real in ways that most of us would do well to try and emulate, called to break the news that Mitchell is no longer with us. Fuck. He was one of the really good ones.

At some point, I feel like I should get used to the hollow pain and the vertigo that loss induces. The longer we live, the more we lose. And in a way, I do get used to it. But, really, I don’t. To my friends dead and gone, I miss you all the time. To my friends still alive who I don’t see often enough, ever, I love you, and I miss you too.

David Epperson shot poached from Buzz of the Feb ‘97 issue. RIP Mitchell, you were an inspiration.