Leo Rodgers

As so many of us seek ways to open up the bike world, Rodgers simply does it. After a 2007 motorcycle accident left him with one leg, pedaling became his salvation. “Cycling definitely changed my life, got me over my slump of being disabled,” he says. “It’s a drug for sure … you start nic-ing for a bike ride.”

Discovering he could replace a wheelchair with a fixed-gear bike, Rodgers started ripping around his native Tampa, leading a Wednesday-night ride that welcomed riders of all kinds. Then Brooks brought him to Emporia, Kansas’s Unbound Gravel (formerly Dirty Kanza), where he fell in love with gravel racing’s off-road action and positive vibes.

Now sponsored by Crust Bikes and Ron’s Bikes and living in Southern California, Rodgers is prepping for San Diego’s big gravel race, the original Belgian Waffle Ride, dreaming of running his own shop and hoping others can follow his take-life-as-it-comes lead. “My advice is to have fun first,” he says. “It’s just a bicycle, bro, it’s not a car. Just go out and ride, go see some stuff.”