A Letter From The Executive Director

Opportunity - It’s why I am able to write this letter today, why you are receiving it and why kids are able to participate in a First Push Syndicate program.

As a kid in the early 80’s with ADD and no real guidance, all I wanted to do was ride my BMX bike or skateboard with the ultimate dream of racing bikes. Unfortunately, southern Maine wasn’t exactly a hot-bed of opportunity for alternative sports.  School was a destination of my daily bike ride and a place to see friends as opposed to learning and growing. It took a firm shake and being handed books by a 6th grade teacher to start me down a more solid path. He was so cool it made me want to be a teacher.

By Jr High my focus had switched to more traditional sports like football and wrestling but I would get on a bike any chance I could get. A local road cycling race  went by my house every summer and year after year I would wait by the side of the road and jump in with riders that looked about my age,  just to see how long I could hang. It wasn’t until I started college that I would have the money to buy a bicycle at an actual bike shop instead of a department store and start seeking out races. 

What started as toeing the line at a local MTB race turned into a five year journey of absorbing training related information, college, work and entering every type of race I could find. By the time I graduated from U Maine in 1995 I had sponsorship from bike manufacturers as well as local and national brands. Entering the teaching profession was put on hold as I pursued obtaining a professional MTB racing license. I was determined to stay in Maine but training solo was beyond difficult. 

It was during a day long XC ski that the idea of creating an opportunity to get kids riding was born. I talked to my local shop sponsor and asked if we could use the trail system on their property, they became instant stakeholders. We made a flyer that looked more like it was for a punk show than a youth bike ride and got it hung in three local middle schools. Day one turned out to be one of those cold April days when the rain puddles get a skim coat of ice on them. I expected a half dozen kids but more than 30 showed up! I had no real plan other than taking them on trails and showing them the trails. At the end of that first day they asked if we were doing it again the next week. To be honest that was never in the cards, but next week turned into two times a week for nearly a decade. After the second meet up they wanted to learn how to race so they were sent home to figure out some team name options. By the end of April we were Team Grimace with a logo one of the boys created and jerseys were being made. I spent every minute I wasn’t training on making plans to teach them how to race and train but also found myself getting vested in them personally, touching base on school, girls and home.

We grew together, providing Team Grimace athletes with an opportunity I always truly needed, even more than I wanted. It gave me the opportunity at a life that was never imagined by a kid that grew up on free lunch and hand-me-downs. The craziest moment was at a local race I was using to prepare for a World Cup event. A locally based road pro showed up and we duked it out for nearly two hours, even though he nipped me at the line we spent the next couple hours hanging out while my team raced. As the kids from Team Grimace rolled over he started talking to them about racing and where they were from. He got a big smile on his face, looked at his brother and said “remember that race we used to do in Maine and that crazy kid would jump in with us every year!” That was the moment I knew, opportunity didn’t need to be timed, it just needed to BE. Over the years Team Grimace had more than 100 riders, countless local, state, regional and national titles and an Olympian. During a recent conversation on a group ride after doing trail work at an elementary school in Dedham, Maine, we realized that every national MTB champion from Maine since the 90’s had ties to Team Grimace. 

By the time the 90’s were winding down I had my pro license but was barely scraping by and was starting to feel the effects of a life of constant stressors. My mental health was taking a beating and my body decided to make me stop with arrhythmias and panic attacks. I buckled down and decided to really focus on the team and go back to school for an M.B.A. It was then that the biggest opportunity of my life came forward, an office manager of a consulting firm found me and asked if I could meet with a family that wanted to give back and build a skateboard park. It has been 22 years and counting since that life changing meeting.

Things have come full circle after more than 20 years working on Rye Airfield and I am back where I was just after graduating from U Maine, putting kids on bikes. This time it’s different though, the world has embraced mountain biking, schools are more open to change up traditional P.E. and kids are hungry for it. PLUS we still have Get On Board roaring along, it’s the program that truly opened eyes and doors.

BUT to be totally honest I’m still a twelve year old that loves riding bikes and can finally skateboard in the gymnasium.

Learn-Lead-Live,

Beau Lambert, B.S.E., M.B.A.

Executive Director

First Push Syndicate