When you are driving to school in your nice warm car while it is a blizzard, do you ever think, who are these crazy people on their bikes? In fact, these “crazy” people are hidden within AHS. These students bike to school everyday, rain or shine, snow or hail, and have been doing it for a couple years now.

“I like the fresh air in the morning and it helps me clear my mind,” AHS senior Scotty Houstma said.

Houtsma has been biking to school everyday for five years now, along with sophomore Kevin Callahan and his brother, senior Hunter Callahan, who have been doing it for nine years.

“I started riding to school because I didn’t like the bus when I was a kid. I keep doing it because I really like a bit of exercise before and after school,” senior Callahan said.

It is a way for these AHS students to help the earth one step at a time, but also to do something unique. As you would think, biking in Aspen during the winter poses many challenges and bikers need special snow tires because a lot of the paths they ride on are not plowed.

“I used to use special snow tires for the ice, but a few years ago I stopped. I just use normal tires all year round now,” senior Callahan said.

Not only are these kids biking to and from school everyday, but they are doing it with backpacks, and whatever else they decide to bring to school that day.

“I have to be careful about the amount of things I bring to school because a heavy backpack can really make that ride miserable,” Houtsma said.

Even on the most miserable days, people driving to school see them biking, and will offer them a ride, but they never accept because this is a feat that they must conquer.

“I see them biking as I drive to school everyday, and I can’t imagine what is going through their heads when I see them pushing their bikes up an icy hil,” AHS junior Sonya Padden said.

Although it is easy to believe that this isn’t just all fun and games, it is hard for those who don’t do this to understand how mentally and physically exhausting this is.

“Even though I love biking, and doing this for the earth, it can sometimes be very difficult, to the point where I want to give up. However, this is my last year of high school and I can easily say that I will miss doing this next year,” senior Callahan said.

I expect that wherever Callahan is next year, he will be getting around on two wheels rather than four.