I met Don Leet just a few months ago. It is an amazing feeling when you meet someone who is willing to share their knowledge, wisdom, and life experience with you.
Every chance I have to spend time with him, I learn something; something about myself, about life, about taking chances, following your passions and working hard.
Don is an owner of Sunnyside Sports, a local bike and ski shop that prides itself on excellence and succeeds in this quest.
Don loves to ride bikes, especially cyclocross bikes. He hates to run, but does it because that is the only way to get over the barricades. He is determined to ride just about everything else.
Don loves his work, his shop, his employees, his bikes and his wife. Don is passionate about just about everything he does. He makes decisions based on his heart strings, his moral compass, and those people he cares about.
Don is real, honest, blunt, and doesn’t say things to make you feel good, unless they are true. He points out your faults and then helps you to correct them.
On the handle bars of his beautifully built Independent Fabrications cyclocross bike, he has written, under his clear handbar tape, “FUN, FAST, SAFE”.
Yesterday afternoon the Sunnyside Team had skills practice. A couple of barriers made of PVC pipe strategically placed around the perimeter of Hillside Park with four silly cyclists jumping over them must have been a sight for the neighborhood dog walkers. I need a lot of skills practice. My skills are weak and the only way to improve is to practice. Having Don there to critique our mounts, dismounts, carriers and over all riding is invaluable. In fact, I have to say Don is invaluable. Period.