Raise your glass to our April Bike Hero, Dave Moore!

BikeDenver would like you to meet our April Bike Hero, Dave Moore! Dave opened his super snazzy south-central Denver wine shop, Divino, (1240 S. Broadway) in 2003, and has been riding his bike to work from his home in Baker ever since. Dave humbly says his commute is only two miles each way, but BikeDenver is still impressed that he rides it six days a week all year long. “Being able to bike to and from work is an essential way to clear my mind,” he says. “The few days out of the year that I can’t ride due to events or massive snowfall I feel a little robbed.”

Dave marvels at how many bottles of wine saddle bags will hold (about a case!), and as you can probably tell from the picture above, Dave is accustomed to hauling more than just fine wine. His beloved canine companion, Olive, used to make the daily trip with him in her DoggyRide. She’d help him tend shop and socialize with the customers, and never once complained about the long hours or sometimes tough commute. Sadly, Olive fell ill and passed away earlier this year. Dave, along with many Divino regulars, is heartbroken, but graciously shares his happy memories of riding with his “baby girl”:

“We rode every day to work up until her last days,” Dave tells us. “There was something incredibly joyful about the ability to ride my bike with my pup right there behind me. She was such a sweetheart and a good sport. Ten below or pouring rain we would ramble across the broken sidewalks and side streets of South Broadway. We did flip and crash twice over the years but she would jump right back in the cart like nothing happened. We were a good team. Though sometimes, when I was especially tired and trudging against the wind, I would look back at her relaxing on her cushion and think that maybe I’m the chauffeur or even the stallion for her chariot.”

To us, Dave’s diligent bike commuting makes him noteworthy enough already, but when we learned he’s still riding to work every day despite the lonely reminder of his now too-light bike, we knew we’d found a true Bike Hero. Ride on, Dave. We’re all raising our glasses to you–and to Olive’s memory–tonight….

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Bike Hero of the Month Awards highlight different people each month, and help encourage other people to bike by telling the Hero’s personal story. The goal of the Bike Hero Awards Program is to showcase the diversity of citizen-cyclists and the people who support them in Denver.

BikeDenver’s Executive Director Piep van Heuven says: “We introduced the Bike Hero awards because we want to encourage a friendly environment for and public image of bicyclists in Denver. One of the ways we can do this is to showcase the different faces of and great stories about people in our community, like Dave, who ride bikes or help others get out there and ride. Through the Bike Hero awards, BikeDenver honors bicyclists of all ages and walks of life, from the first time bicyclist to the rain or shine bicyclist!  We all know people (our neighbors, co-workers, family members or community leaders) who inspire us to reach for the handlebars instead of the car keys. Take a moment to look around you and help BikeDenver recognize the people in our community who are making a difference for Denver, one ride at a time!”