One L-O-N-G steep hill is no match for two really determined pedalers who work together to overcome the challenge. Captain Diana Hanks relies on her “Turbocharger “ Dennis Bilodeau to help pedal to the top on a Vermont dirt road. (Tim Jones photo)
Let me introduce you to “The Turbocharger.”
His real name is Dennis Bilodeau, he’s in his mid 50’s, lives in central Vermont.
The Turbocharger and another avid Verrmont cyclist named Diana Hanks have formed a team and are training together to ride a tandem mountain bike over 50 miles of rough Vermont trails next September in the annual “Vermont 50” (www.vermont50.com) mountain bike race scheduled for September 27, 2009. This is one of the great “citizen” events in all of New England, and benefits a very good cause, Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports (www.vermontadaptive.org).
Last year, The Turbocharger entered the same race with another partner. They hadn’t done any real training or conditioning together and managed to finish only 30 miles of the 50-mile race.
“Only.”
My sweetheart Marilyn and I ride a tandem mountain bike together all spring, summer and fall, and, frankly, 30 miles of road riding in a day is about all we can handle. Fifty miles of single track, which is MUCH more difficult, especially on a tandem, is unimaginable
This year, Diana and The Turbocharger are seriously training for the race. So when they invited Marilyn and I on their third training ride together, we couldn’t resist seeing if we could keep up.
It was early April, and the single tracks were still far too muddy for mountain biking. So we met at Ascutney State Park in Vermont to ride a loop of mostly dirt roads. Diana and The Turbocharger figured a ride of about 12 miles would be good. Marilyn and I breathed a sigh of relief when we realized there were a couple of bailout options to shorten the trek.
The ride didn’t look that bad on the map. Sure there was one very long, sometimes steep hill. OK, so we’d deal with that when we came to it.
On a cloudy, cool afternoon, we geared up and launched with a little main road riding up a slight incline. A number of cars slowed to watch two bright red tandem bikes whizzing along together.
Then our route turned to plunge down to the brook where the dirt road riding started. And there began “The Hill,” which went up, got steeper, went up, more and got steeper still.
That’s where The Turbocharger earned his nickname. Marilyn and I pedaled as hard as we could. Then we got off and walked the bike up sections that were too steep to ride. Diana and The Turbocharge never hesitated. When the going got steep, they simply shifted into the lowest gear and pedaled up the hill. We could keep up with them on the flats and on downhills, but not up hills when “The Turbocharger” kicked in.
Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that “The Turbocharger” was completely blinded in an auto accident when he was seven years old? Though he wrestled and ran track in high school, he hadn’t done anything Active Outdoors until he hooked up with Vermont Adaptive a couple of years ago. 
And Diana began volunteering for that organization in part to celebrate her recovery from cancer. So she and a Turbocharged Stoker are a good match for each other. Together, they make one great team.
What is it that’s keeping you from getting outdoors and doing something active this summer? Maybe it’s not that much of a problem after all. Maybe you can get out and do something today. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out and enjoy!
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Tim Jones, Founder and Executive Editor, started skiing at age 4 and hasn't stopped since. In the summer, he hikes, mountain bikes, paddles and fly fishes. In addition to his work at EasternSlopes.com, Tim also writes a pair of syndicated weekly newspaper columns, Active Outdoors and Eastern Slopes, and is Managing Editor of The Angling Report. He lives with his sweetheart Marilyn in New Hampshire with 25 ski hills within easy day-trip distance. 
