A Valley cycling club is helping people pedal through life's obstacles.
The Mountain Goat Cyclists. started last year with just five members. Today they're 900 members strong.
As you can imagine, some of the group rides are quite large. Jared Miller, who helps head up the group, remembers one where so many riders showed up to South Mountain, park rangers stopped the group thinking they needed permits. "When you show up to work as a park ranger and every single parking spot is taken, it's probably a bit shocking," said Miller.
It's not about your skill level with the Goats. It's more about the ride and challenging yourself on some pretty tough rides. "There's something truly beautiful about being at your worst and at your best so close to each other and celebrating that with people."
Miller knows about the challenges in life. He struggled with his weight for years. At one point he weighed 365-pounds. He picked up hiking, eventually ran the Chicago Marathon and now helps head up the Mountain Goat Cyclists. Life looks and is much different. "I took my mentality of what it took to lose the weight, that kind of belief in myself and started putting it into other people and myself again to see what we were actually capable of doing," said Miller.
And that's exactly what this group is about. It's far from a race. It's about helping each other through the journey called life.
