People Of 2024: Rob Evans

  In my travels and life during the year, I have been blessed to be supported, befriended, and on occasion visited by some pretty awesome folks. Sometimes I visited them. (Hopefully they were equally blessed!) I wanted to take some extra space to recognize and celebrate these people at the end of the year. I hope you gain some insight and appreciation for what these people mean to me this year and beyond. 

Rob Evans (R) and I at Mid-South in March of 2024

First of all, I know this one will come as somewhat of a shock to Rob because he is a regular reader here. (Don't spit out yer coffee, Rob!) 

Anyway, as I stated, Rob is a regular reader here, and I am super grateful for that. However; Rob has been a big supporter of rides I have put on in the past. He was, and is always, very welcoming to me wherever he runs across me. Like at Mid-South, above, Rob grabbed me for an image.  I think he shouted me out several more times, basically whenever he saw me, which was really nice of him.

Mass chaos at Mid-South's oasis. Rob Evans saved my bacon here!

In fact, had it not been for Rob, and the group he was with, Mid-South would have been a lot more miserable than it was. Not that Mid-South was miserable, just that it would have been without Rob's help. Since I had to throw everything for that trip together in a frenzy, I really did not do my due diligence in regard to researching the necessary tactics to complete the event's half distance. So, when I arrived at a mid-course oasis, I had no resupply waiting, or planned.

In steps Rob, who spied me in the throng of cyclists, waved me over, and offered me the opportunity to take from their spread of goodies. I'll tell ya what, those cookies hit the spot and likely saved the day for me. Had this been all Rob had done for me in 2024, it would have been enough to land him here on this list, but there was more. 

Rob taking a picture of the frying pan in Brandon, Iowa during the Victory Ride in June.

Another person who will be showing up in this series, Warren Weibe, set up a ride in June for me to enjoy called the Victory Ride. I did not know who might show up. I figured maybe a few local riders would enjoin in the festivities. I was correct to think this would be true, but what I did not count on was Rob showing up from Nebraska and him bringing his friends with him. This is a several hours long trip, by the way, just to show up for a group ride.

So, not only did I get to see Rob again, ride with him again, but I met some new folks in the process and gained new friends. This was unexpected and awesome. So, a bonus for me and a definite improvement on 2024 was being able to have Rob be a big part of my cycling life. Thank you, Rob!