This picture was taken at Teen Treks Leadership Training in 2018 and it captures what I believe to be the magic of our leader community.
Every year at leadership training, we take a mini bike trek to give leaders a comprehensive immersion into guiding bike tours. The trip always starts in Buffalo, and apart from last year when the border was closed, we ride into Canada to Grand Island and back to Buffalo. There’s something very special about tracing the same route year after year knowing over twenty years of leaders have travelled together over the Peace Bridge, onto the Friendship Trail and camped along Lake Erie.
It’s always the Lake Erie beach setting where the leaders start to really bond. Some go for a dive in the cold lake, newly thawed from a frozen winter, some start setting up tents while others begin cooking. It’s our first night of the trip where groups cook in teams and around the beach you can hear chatter and laughter while onions and bell peppers are being chopped and chicken sizzles over the campfire. We realize that while we all come from many different walks of life, we all share something in common that brought us together as bike leaders, that is a love for adventure.
There’s usually a bonfire after dinner from wood gathered around the beach and many express their gratitude for being away from the demands of everyday life and getting back to the basics of being outdoors and being present with people. Some years groups have been known to stay up late for stargaze parties, as the dark skies over Lake Erie do not disappoint.
I’ve been a part of Teen Treks for many years and to this day leadership training is one of the highlights of my year. Many leaders go on after a summer of leading trips to be close friends with one another, getting together for their own bike trips around the world. It truly is a special community, one I am grateful to be a part of.
If this sounds like the kind of summer job and adventurous community you would like to be a part of, let us know who you are by applying at https://teentreks.org/leadforteentreks/ for our Summer 2022 Trip Leader Position.
We hope you can experience the magic at this year’s leadership training!
-Katie Hennessey