Jason McCollom is a history professor at Missouri State University in West Plains. In the middle of the Spring 2020 semester, the pandemic hit.
"Everything's closed, there's nothing to do," he said. "One great thing, though, you know, I live in West Plains in the Ozarks. Tons of outdoor stuff to do. There's no excuse to sit here bored, you know, even if there is a pandemic."
The 40-year-old was out in the garage one day and happened to catch sight of an old bike he had all but forgotten about. Not knowing what this would lead to, McCollom took that bike into the West Plains Bike Shop where the owner, Mike Hullinger, fixed it up. McCollom went home and attached a baby carrier to the bike for his young daughter.
"And I started biking my daughter down to the park, you know, every morning before it got real hot in the summer, summer of 2020, and just found that it was so fun," he said. "First of all, it was great to spend time with my daughter doing something like that, and, man, it was such a good workout."
McCollom needed something for his bike, so he went back to see Hullinger at the bike shop. They got to talking, and the shop owner invited him to go mountain biking.
"You know, in the Ozark National Forest here there's tons of trails, and I'd never thought of mountain biking, I'd never done it, and I said, 'well, I don't have a mountain bike.' (He said) 'I'll let you borrow one,'" he said. "One morning we went out there, and, man, it kicked my butt. It was so hard. And I'm a pretty fit guy, and I was like, 'this was so difficult, but it was awesome,' and I met all these other bikers like Mike Hullinger and some other guys, and I remember immediately that I Facebook messaged Mike and some of the guys I met and I'm like, 'when are we going again? You know, I want to do this again. I don't want to get my butt kicked anymore. I want to fly down these trails like you guys are doing.'"
Hullinger replied that they didn’t have any immediate plans to hit the mountain bike trails, but he said he and some guys were going riding on gravel roads in the area. They would be riding a distance of about 12 miles, and he invited McCollom to go along.
"And 12 miles sounded like a long way at that point, and we rode on these gravel roads in the evening in the summer, and it was just great," he said.
Biking on rural roads, according to McCollom, gives you a chance to slow down and take everything in. The solitude appealed to him. He had found a new passion. He often goes out alone, but he also goes on rides with his new friends.
"And it's just a time for me to clear my head and be alone or I can go out with all these awesome guys that I've met and just have a great time chatting and kind of cruising around the county," he said. "And, so, from the summer up until now, I'm just hooked."
Since July, he’s ridden at least 600 miles. He said riding is great for his physical and mental health and is easier on his knees than running, which he also likes to do. And he’s updated his equipment. Hullinger helped McCollom purchase a gravel bike. He rides on weekends and maybe a couple of times during the week. He kept riding even during the winter.
"I got me some winter gear, and, as long as it was above 32 degrees, you know, we were out there," he said. "And you're working so hard, you get warm very quick."
Bicycling, he said, teaches riders about their bodies. They have to learn to pace themselves so they have enough energy to make it to the end of the ride.
Mike Hullinger, the owner of West Plains Bike Shop, said anyone who wants to take up cycling should have a good, functioning bike for the surface they wish to ride on and a helmet. And he suggested asking the experts before you begin.
"Your local bike shop is a great place to start because those people are going to be in the know of what kind of bicycling is around," he said, "so, if you have local trails, they're going to know. If...you have a question about your bike, they're going to know, so going and putting yourself around the people that, you know, have been in it for awhile is always a good choice.
For McCollom, cycling isn't all about how far he's ridden or what goal he's hit. When the weather’s nice, he sometimes takes his daughter along on bicycle rides. His wife is supportive of this new hobby, which has become a passion for McCollom.
"I look back, and, what, it's been six, seven, eight months, and it's all I want to do," he said.
He’s even become fascinated with professional cycling. He’s become an avid reader about the Tour de France and other races and what cyclists do to prepare.
"It's just a fascinating culture, and those athletes--they are world-class athletes, and, you know, I think we're all interested in people pushing themselves to the limit and, you know, endurance cyclists riding around the world or these professional cyclists--it's just very interesting to me," he said. "So, the physical benefits, the mental benefits and sort of the broader culture and history of cycling has really engrossed me big time."
His daughter might take up the hobby someday, too, although it’s way too early to tell. She snuggled up to her dad recently when he was watching a cycling race on his phone.
"I said, 'you like doing this?' She said, 'yeah, this is fun. I like bike races,' and, so, that was a nice little moment," he said.
He's not as good at mountain biking yet as his new friends, McCollom said, but he's closer to flying down the trails. And while he enjoys mountain biking, he's realized his greatest love is gravel biking.
McCollom said this newfound hobby is here to stay. The only regret, according to McCollom, is that he didn’t discover it sooner.
