02/13/2022
Absolutely gutted to hear about the passing of a great human today. He was a huge part of the Pedal Power family, here is our story (it is a long one, but he deserves it).
Back in early 2015 I had just had Joshua and decided to switch up my cycling camp location to South Carolina. It was a new area to me and I was trying to figure out logistics. One day, out of the blue, I get a phone call. "Hi, my name is Dean McCall. I found your camp on the USA cycling site, I live a couple hours away, I would like to come down and volunteer, I am a certified mechanic". I had no idea who this guy was, but he sounded ok, and I needed some help. I told him to come on down. It was a bit of a leap, as we were all going to live in the same house. He said he didn't need much, just a mattress to sleep on.
I show up at the house in SC and there is Mr. Dean. Just a perfect southern gentleman. Calm, sweet, helpful, just a great human. He scooped up my 3 month old son and just had the biggest smile on his face. And so our story began.
Every year (until the pandemic) we met down in South Carolina and he helped with camp. He drove behind us for hours and hours while we rode our bicycles making sure our group was safe and taken care of. He held my son and smiled and smiled for the two years that I brought him to camp. He woke up every morning and his job was to cut up all of the fruit for our morning breakfast. He LOVED milk and I bought gallons and gallons just for him. When ever asking him to do anything or letting him know how things needed to go, he looked up and calmly said "understood". Every year when camp ended we gave each other a long hug, wishing we didn't live so far away.
When COVID hit, I had to cancel camp. I called Mr. Dean and we were both really sad we wouldn't see each other that year. He asked how Master J. (Joshua) was and we talked about trying to get together. Last year I had my camp up in Vermont. He wanted to come really badly, but it was just so far, still dealing with COVID, and his schedule had an overlapping conflict. I talked to him a month ago and we was going to check to see if he could make this year's cycling camp in Vermont happen and I would fly him up....
I have met so many wonderful people through cycling and Mr. Dean was one of those people. I was really looking forward to catching up with him and having him get to see the kids. He sent them beautiful hand made wooden trains, a REAL encyclopedia, and so many other thoughtful gifts over the years. I am really going to miss seeing his joyful smile and his signature greeting "HELLO MS. SARA".
Rest in peace Dean McCalll You will be missed and never forgotten β€