Not only do we help equestrians and dog owners, but anyone who needs some help. Recently David was separated from his father Gary on their first trip to Durham Forest. This despite good planning, and having a map on hand. Fortunately the DMBA was at the trailhead getting ready to go when Gary rolled back to the parking lot asking for some help. Gary recounts his story below:

You guys are a great bunch!!! I wanted to post a thank you to all the riders who helped me find my 10 year old son 3 weeks ago on a Wed night ride (Sept. 8th). David and I are completely new to mountain biking (we are both roadies that have discovered the absolute joy of riding dirt) and this was our first foray into Durham Forest. I came prepared with a compass, and a map-tacked map of the trails, after reading reports of how easy it was to get lost in the extensive trail network. We had a great 2 hour ride and were starting to head back to the parking lot when we decided to check out the dunes area at the north end of the Forest. I was going hard up a dune and stopped to rest behind an island of trees near the top of the dune. David was behind me but did not see me go on the other side of the trees and continued down a path that went off the dune thinking I had gone that direction. After waiting for him I retraced my path in the direction where I had last seen him but he was no where to be found. At this time it was about 6:20 and starting to get dark as it was an overcast night. Initially I started yelling out his name but quickly realized with the undulating terrain that this was futile. I can’t describe the feeling of helplessness I felt at that moment. I had spoken to David on our previous ride and mentioned that if we ever got split up that we were to meet at the last place that we had been together. He did not do this…

I decided that my best course of action was to head to the parking lot in the hopes that he would be able to find his way there. Of course when I arrived at the parking lot he was no where to be found. What I did find was a group of 20 or so riders that were just assembling for a group ride. When I asked them to help me locate my 10 year old son, there was no hesitation and they split into groups of 2’s and 3’s armed with cell phones and scattered into different directions to help me find David.

I can’t tell you how relieved I was to have this group of willing helpers to try to find Dave and about 15-20 minutes later one of the guys in the group located him cycling down a path. Dave was a little shaken up and we both learned a very valuable lesson that day. We are now sporting whistles on our Camelbaks but more importantly are much more aware of how easy it is to get separated out on the trails. David was only gone about 40 minutes but I can truthfully say that those were the longest 40 minutes of my life.

I can’t thank you guys and gals enough. I am not sure what I would have done if you had not been there to help and your willingness to spring to action at the expense of your group ride was truly impressive. Sorry to have messed up your ride that night!

I owe those of you there that night a debt of gratitude and thank the good Lord that he brought me a pack of 20 angels to help find David.

David and I will be joining your ranks next year and intend to sign up as members of the DMBA.

Many thanks!
Garry B.

A big thank to those DMBAers who helped reunite Gary and David.