A Warm Welcome to Seth

• Posted on 31 July 2023
• By Jerami Grassi
• Posted in Sponsorships
• 0

This is Seth’s story.

Seth is our Junior Bike Mechanic and Sales Assistant at only 16 years of age. A very witty, fun, and highly intelligent, active, street-smart, ambitious young man who found his ‘outlet’ on the bike! We are extremely happy to have him in our team and lucky to be part of his journey. His story clearly demonstrates what cycling can do to any mind, body, and soul and reassures us why we do what we do, and why we love it so much. It also shows that every choice we make matters.

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed many cases, like Seth’s, where cycling changed lives and always to the better. Some of us would not be here anymore, and certainly not where we are today without cycling/mountain biking. It literally turns your life around – in the best way possible.  As we all know and appreciate; many roads lead to Rome… so we are curious to see which way Seth will take to get to Rome.  

In the words of his parents:

Seth started his cycling career as a pudgy 3-year-old with ringlets, bashing into the walls and leaving a trail of carnage. He graduated to a BMX with some rear pegs to cart girls around the neighbourhood at the age of 8, but displayed a remarkable lack of coordination and stamina complaining constantly about his legs hurting despite frequent visits to the local pump track. 

He got his first “real” bike at age 10, a hardtail alloy that he used to go riding with mates at neighbouring properties. His 12^th birthday request was a trip to the Kyogle Mountain bike park with a mate and they bravely rode to the top for some downhill runs until they got rescued with some shuttles to the top by a generous local dad with a ute. It was only then that he got a taste for a bit of speed on a bike and started picking up some skills.

Fast forward to 2022 and Seth got busted for vaping at school and accessing adult content on the school computer systems by going around the security systems. After repeated warnings that he better pull his socks up and put the vape down, he got pulled out of school for homeschooling while he could figure out what to do with himself.

Getting a job at the local pub doing dishes meant he had to start cycling to town if he wanted to make some money and see his mates. As he began gaining endurance, he started doing more cycling with his friends. 

He and his friend signed up for the 30km Gravel and Granite race at Tenterfield in March 2023 and suddenly the old hardtail didn’t seem quite so great after all. He got a second job as a kitchen hand at a wedding venue and saved his dishwashing money to invest in a dual suspension bike and he started training for the race, the only thing we had ever seen him work hard at in his life after being so laid-back he was horizontal when it came to schoolwork or any sort of ambition.

He came first in his category at the race in Tenterfield and suddenly his whole world revolved around cycling. He signed up for the Sunshine Coast MTB festival for the 28km event and only just failed to take the podium and finally figured out why other cyclists were wearing lycra and knicks instead of an old motocross shirt and a pair of work shorts. 

After working long hours at the pub washing dishes and cooking pizzas, he got sick of that environment and decided to apply for a job at Murwillumbah Cycles. He printed out a CV and dropped it in to the shop and was so excited to get a trial shift with them and was thrilled to get offered a job.

Doing the long round trip of cycling to Murwillumbah and home again he really started building his condition and he signed up for his first serious race, the Noosa Enduro 60km. He has taken a consistent approach to his training and has been really excited to be mentored by Jeff and Rachel. 

Instead of living on pizza and soft drink he now scoffs tins of tuna and makes silverbeet smoothies, dreaming of his one true love – carbon fibre components. 

And lycra. 

He really loves lycra.