A young D.C. cyclist who crashed after being struck from behind was not going to let that and a busted bike stop him from finishing his first mountain bike race.
“I felt like the easiest way was for me to carry it to the finish line,” said PerryEllis Spriggs, 16, a sophomore at Dunbar High School in Northwest.
The wreck happened at the bottom of a hill 2 miles into a 3-mile course. Mountain bikes aren’t light.
“It was actually pretty heavy. Bikes are very heavy,” Ellis said, describing how one tire was bent “like a taco.”
The last leg of the race toward the finish line was uphill.
“It was pretty hard, but I got through it … I just wanted to finish my race to have fun,” Spriggs said.
Spriggs got into cycling after joining the Prime Ability program a couple of years ago.
“I think that he just really wanted to prove something, not only for our team, but he wanted to prove something to his teammates — that if you do break down, if something does happen, never give up,” said Alex Clark, a physical education teacher at Dunbar High School and founder of Prime Ability.
“That message (of never give up) is profound and now even more profound in our program, because of his actions that day,” Clark said.
Prime Ability, a youth character development program, is a nonprofit community organization that partners with a number of D.C. Public Schools; a few students from Prince George’s County in Maryland also participate.
“We use sports as the tool to build our students in many different ways, whether it be emotionally, physically, mentally,” Clark said.
It started during the pandemic as a way to keep kids active and off the streets. What began with casual bike rides and hanging out, now occasionally includes competitive mountain bike racing.
“And now we have our mechanical program, where we’re teaching kids how to build and fix bikes and get them into jobs,” Clark said.
The group continues looking for different ways to expand to get more students involved.
“It’s kind of an overarching program that is still in the works; we’re still looking to grow. Small acts like what PerryEllis has shown, is just showing us a little bit about how our kids are developing, just throughout their experience in our program,” Clark said.
Passersby who saw Spriggs and Clark talking with WTOP made friendly comments.
“You’re a superstar, huh?” one lady asked. “Yeah, he is a superstar. He’s got potential.”
Now the veteran of several media interviews, Spriggs said, “I didn’t really think it was going to escalate into this big of a — How should I say fun fest?”
Dunbar Athletic Director Daniel McDowell joked that Spriggs is now the “big man on campus.”
“I need an autograph, man,” McDowell said with a laugh. “Signed with a jersey.”
In the future, Spriggs said he wants to play for the National Football League after playing college football. He said he works “every day to achieve a goal.”
His mother is a great source of inspiration and drive to him.
“My mom. I’m trying to buy her a house when I get older,” Spriggs said.
The bike Spriggs wrecked during the race was donated by Trek bikes, one of the group’s biggest sponsors, Clark said.
“They help us countless different ways for us to continue building our program,” Clark said.
People interested in having youngsters join Prime Ability can visit the Prime Ability website.
“More kids on bikes, less kids on the street,” Clark said. “Our motto is, ‘Stay Prime.’ If you’re that kid, if you’re looking to expand yourself, you’re looking to develop yourself, you’re looking to step outside the box; we believe Prime Ability is the program for you.”
