Age: 27
Home Town: Frenchtown, New Jersey
Occupation: I cook at the Main Street Cafe, this little 30-seat restaurant that serves eclectic food—a lot of French, a lot of sauces. I’d say it’s towards the high end. I also work at the bike shop right next door. I’m a mechanic, salesperson, pretty much anything.
The Bikes: I have a mountain bike with 24-inch wheels and a road bike with 650c wheels, both custom titanium Sevens. They’re currently working on a titanium modified trials bike for me.
The Situation: I have cartilage-hair hypoplasia, which means I don’t have as much cartilage or ligament tissue as an average person. Also, my bone structure isn’t as strong. It’s not too major. I couldn’t play contact sports in high school and I probably shouldn’t ride trials, but that’s about it. The disease also affects growth, so I’m 4-foot-8 and weigh 103 pounds. As a result, the bikes I tried were all too heavy and too big. Anything that was close to my size was a kid’s bike—they’re usually less expensive and aren’t high quality. I tried a 12-inch frame with 26-inch wheels, but I didn’t have any standover. I tried a bike with 24-inch wheels, but it was a tank, and had no suspension. There’s not much out there in my size that’s high quality, so I went to Seven.
The Right Bike: I’m now able to take it as far as I want to. Now the bike isn’t holding me back, it’s all up to me. The bike allows me to try stuff I would not have tried before.
The New Life: Before, I wasn’t a hard-core cyclist. I just used a bike to get around. When I got the right bike, I became obsessed with riding—any kind of riding, as often as possible. It’s also affected my jobs. Before I was working just to pay bills. Now I work so I can spend more time riding. I feel more physically fit now, more at ease—it’s brought my stress level down.