I'm so excited to introduce to you Turn Loose Ambassador Will Scheel! TL Ambassadors are folks who are out there doing what they love and inspiring other to do the same.
Immediately when you start talking to Will, it's clear that he loves bikes. He's so passionate about riding it's infectious, and you quickly learn he is a badass with an unbelievably impressive ride log. For starters, he completed the world's longest mountain bike race, the Tour Divide, on a cross bike! Now, he's working on a new goal...
Turning Loose: Will's Heat Maps
With a love for long rides, Will's has started the project of connecting everywhere he's every ridden by bike. When he started showing me the heat maps created by his rides, I was blown away. He has already logged 30,000+(!) miles, and continues putting in long hours in the saddle connecting his rides.
"What started out as mild curiosity about what was around the corner quickly turned into a mild obsession that has taken me to some really cool places. When driving to various cycling destinations the roads are often beautiful and I've thought I'd like to ride to that place for the experience and just to prove that I can do it. So I did and continue to do so." - Will
This is the perfect Turn Loose project- ambitious, inspired by passion, and resulting in epic adventures and experiences. We can't wait to keep following Will's journey and I'm so grateful to have him on board with Turn Loose! Stay tuned for updates from this intrepid bike explorer as he continues to #TurnLoose and follow his dreams from the seat of his bicycle.
Meet Will
"Hello, I'm Will Scheel and I like to ride bikes. All sorts of bikes. Skinny tire bikes, medium tire bikes, even fat tire bikes, I'll ride them. Born in '91 my first bike was a Mongoose BMX bike that left the neighborhood black with sweet skid marks... until my parents made me pay for the tires. My neighbor got a bike with gears so naturally, I had to have one too. My first mountain bike was a Trek 3700. I learned to mountain bike on the Dry Creek Trails in Modesto. My 3700 was stolen at some point and replaced with a Trek Y-26 and I rode that bike into the ground.
Eventually I got my first road bike in high school because my best friend had one and I couldn't bare to let him be faster than me. Sophomore year I dropped out of the cross country team due to growing pains and started the Cycling Club at my high school. It was all downhill from there... actually mostly XC and road.
I didn't seriously get into cycling until college when I met some friends that would help me push my boundaries and see what is really possible on a bike. After a few years at community college I transferred to Sacramento State and quickly became president of the cycling team. I learned that I like really long rides and riding in new places. Out of my cycling friends I was the guy that wanted to do the biggest rides, the longest days, and the most climbing. Mountain, CX or Road, it didn't matter. That's when I saw the Ride the Divide movie and I knew what the next step was. If I was going to be that endurance guy, I had to do the longest mountain bike race in the world. Simple as that. I was drinking with my buddy one night talking about the Tour Divide and he said it was mostly fire roads and I wasn't a man unless I did it on a CX bike. So I did. It was by far the most difficult thing I've ever done but it was worth it and I'd do it again. It was so simple but so hard and I miss it. I'm addicted now. My current goal is to connect everywhere I've ever ridden by bike. I've weaved a web across California and my thirst for new paces to ride makes it grow. The places you'll go and the people you'll meet on a bike are fantastic. Spend your life on experiences and exploring the beauty of nature, not things."