One of my best friends, my mentor, president of the Slender Fungus, local legend, gravel grinder...Ari, has moved to Syracuse, NY. I am extremely saddened to have him leave. I will miss him greatly and his presence in the area. I am very happy to have him get a great job at a great shop, move to an exciting area, and help his family grow together.
I will miss our rides together, just the two of us, where we would talk about anything and everything. This was one of the few people where I could open up and tell absolutely anything to and know he wouldn't judge me but have my back and give me the best advice he could, a true friend.
I will miss his presence in the midwest with the Slender Fungus, the brutal training rides that we would go on (the fruit loop, bonk fest, wolfy 100, etc.), or just the short rides where we would laugh at anything and everything.
The one in the yellow is a theif! I look forward to meeting Giggles and Ari again in Iowa after they train hard this winter in the hills of NY.
Ari taught me how to build wheels correctly and gave me guidance on a lot of my mechanical abilities even though we overlapped at NCC for a short time. He introduced me to gravel road racing and for that I will be forever thankful, it is a true passion now. I know the move was for the better...and I sound like a whiny teenage girl here, but I will miss my training partner, my mentor, and my friend. Good luck to Ari and the rest of the fam out in New York, train hard, enjoy life, see you in Iowa my freind!
- JB
Well said. Things won't be the same without him around, but we will absolutely be planning a trip to NY sometime.
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