I got to know Quinn Brett through our mutual friend, Timmy O’Neill. The other week, we did a beautiful bike ride along Cabin Creek Road, south of Estes Park. From Cabin Creek, I hear you can see the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park like Longs Peak. And the wild flowers were popping. I loved the strong smells; sage, Aspen, and Pines – all rustling in the breeze.
Quinn has a super cool handcycle built by Jake O’Connor; Jake makes custom offroad handcycles from his shop, ReActive Adaptations out of Crested Butte. He specializes in building bikes that can handle rugged landscapes and individually customizes each one. Quinn’s handcycle has full suspension, and he even added an e-motor.
It’s not a controversy that legs are bigger and stronger than the arms, so I love the e-motor that enables Quinn to peddle at max capacity yet keep up with regular bikes. In truth, she was actually ahead of our tandem most of the day. With disability, sometimes ego gets in the way of having fun with friends, but not in Quinn’s case. I respect her for that choice.
Quinn is also a climber. She’s ascended hard rock faces around the country, as well as Patagonia, Greenland, and India. Quinn would always celebrate her climbs with a handstand at the top.
In 2017, Quinn had a climbing accident on El Capitan. It’s an understatement to talk about this as a transition. I can relate a bit; going blind at 14 years old was painful to say the least. However, I’m really proud of the life Quinn’s built since; she has great friends and supporters, and her spirit of adventure is still as vibrant as those beautiful mountain sights and smells.
