On Thursday, October 3rd, Alpenglow Sports is excited to welcome Alenka Vrecek as the first speaker in the Fall 2019 Tailgate Talk Series! Join us in the shop at 7pm to hear Vrecek’s talk, ‘One Bike, One Woman, One Desire’, which details Vrecek’s epic solo mountain bike journey as a fifty-five year old woman shortly after finishing treatment for advanced stage breast cancer.

Concurrent with the end of her cancer treatments, Vrecek’s husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, further turning her life upside down. In an effort to regain control of her life and destiny, Vrecek decided to bike from her home in the California Sierra all the way down to Mexico, to restore her faith in herself and humanity.

Following remote and mostly dirt roads through the Sierra and Baja Divide by herself for two months, Vrecek rode over 2,500 miles and climbed more than 150,000 vertical feet. She camped on the side of the road among snakes and scorpions, froze in the mountains blanketed by early snow, and even ran out of water in the remote mountains of Baja, where temperatures rose well over a hundred degrees.

With many twists and turns along the way, and even more nay-sayers telling her why she couldn’t complete her goal purely because of her age and gender, Vrecek had to dig deep for the courage to reach her goal. Despite the trials and tribulations, the amazing people and places she encountered along the way encouraged her to keep going.

Swing by the shop on Thursday, October 3rd to hear Vrecek’s inspirational tale of hope, love and perseverance! Doors open at 6:30 and the talk will begin at 7pm. The show is FREE, but beverages will be available for purchase, with all proceeds going to the 2019 Tailgate Talk beneficiary, Gateway Mountain Center.