Feature
Crossing the Finish Line
Robert (age 15) Riding has
helped me strive to change my
behavior so I can participate. It’s
made me healthier and more fit.
I’m a lot more active. God says
don’t give up. I feel like He’s
with me on these rides. I ride
to let off steam and to get away
from my thoughts and reflect on
my actions.
What do you do with a house full of
eight teenage boys who need to burn
off energy? In 2008, Teaching Parent Jim
Stuckey was faced with this dilemma, but
his prayers were soon answered. Boys and
Girls Country received a large donation
of bicycles from two local sporting goods
stores. Not all the bikes were in working
condition. Jim took the time to sort
through them all and, based on parts from
the various bikes, he was able to build 10
like-new mountain bikes for his boys to
ride.
Jim took the boys to trails not too far from
campus. The boys learned so fast, he soon
decided to look at other places more
challenging. He found Bluff Creek in
Warda, which is nearly 80 miles from
Hockley. The boys loved it! It was 11
miles of extreme mountain biking trails.
Over the next year, they traveled around
checking out other trails. Along the way,
they met a young man named Mike Stram.
He was a ride master with the Houston
mountain bike group called GHORBA or
Greater Houston Off-Road Biking
Association. Mike introduced them to
mountain bike racing in Texas and eventually Jim’s kids joined GHORBA and
raced GHORBA’s short track series that same year. “It was so amazing to see
the kids enter a race and finish
for the first time on their own,”
says Jim. “All eight of my boys
raced. It was a madhouse
getting all the bikes ready and
getting to the race.”
Deven (age 15) Riding has
made me more able to accept
challenges. It’s made me more
aware of my actions and given
me better self-control. I’m
more willing to help others. I’m
learning not to give up. You are
capable of more things than you
know and you should try new
things to find out.
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Boys and Girls Country News | Spring 2015
One Christmas, Jim’s cottage
birthday sponsor purchased
eight new racing bikes from Sun
and Ski Sports, who gave them
a significant price reduction on
each bike. Now that the cottage
had some serious equipment to
compete on, they decided to