Like many of us, Dave Ritchey started his biking adventures on a $99 K-mart mountain bike.  At that point he was living in Colorado and had a trail right behind his house that he would ride most weekday mornings.  He thought he was big stuff when he was riding 40-50 miles a week.  As we all know, a cheap bike will only last so long and the local bike shop finally told Dave they couldn’t repair it anymore and he needed to invest in a better bike.
   While living in Texas, Dave became a little more serious about his mountain bike riding. He bought a XC Gary Fisher Cake II full suspension and raced mountain bikes in the TMBRA series placing 1st in his age category in 2006.  He still enjoys mountain biking and his favorite place to mountain bike is at the Syllamo near Mtn. View, AR. Less than 2 years ago Dave began riding a road bike, a LeMond Tourmalet.  He rides 5-6 days a week during the peak season and 2-3 days a week during the off peak season.  He doesn’t like riding indoors as he gets bored to easily.  He really enjoys the weekly club rides and the long rides on Saturday.  His overall favorite ride was the Queen City Century.  He really enjoys riding with all his friends of which he has made a lot in the short time he has lived in Springfield. He’s also been fortunate enough to escape any major accidents.
   Dave is very competitive and is always challenging himself.  In fact, he used to have high blood pressure and weigh over 260 lbs.  He’s now lost more than 50 pounds and his blood pressure is under control. That proves that biking is not only enjoyable but a great way to manage our health. Dave is the new club president for 2008. He’s been very involved in the Springbike Club this past year volunteering his time for many of the club rides including putting together a group mountain bike ride at the Syllamo.  He even managed to plan perfect weather for that weekend and it’s rumored that a great time was had by all.

   If you haven’t met Dave, it’s probably because you haven’t been on a club ride this year.