The Mountain Bike King

IMBA Trail News
Volume 14, Number 4
Fall 2001

Though outdistanced by four-person squads such as Little Bo Peep and the Barking Spiders and Where's My Ducati?, Team 2Com-Clydesdales competed nine full laps in the 24 Hours of Allamuchy, New Jersey, on the last weekend of August. This was good for sixth place in the two-rider division - a solid accomplishment on a hostile, difficult circuit for a couple of weekend warriors.

One of the members of 2Com-Clydesdales was 44-year-old Dean Eberling of Cranford, New Jersey. A securities analyst for the New York firm Keefe, Bruyette & Wood, Eberling was honored last summer by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top three stock pickers in a city filled with tens of thousands of them.

On September 11, Dean was working in his 58th floor office in Two World Trade Center when the first of two terrorist planes hit. After a quick evacuation, Dean and his co-workers were given permission to return to work - only to get stuck in an elevator when the second plane hit. Eberling helped two women squeeze out a crack to safety. A few minutes later, as firefighters tried to cut the elevator door open with a chainsaw, the building collapsed.

Eberling was a loyal IMBA member since 1995. He was one of the first in our ranks to respond when we created a new $1,000 membership category, IMBA's Singletrack Society. He renewed his commitment year after year. He was active on the local front, too, as a supporter of the Jersey Off-Road Bicycle Association. He was a passionate rider and racer - he also competed in the NORBA race at Mount Snow last summer - and a well-known prankster.

Eberling is survived by his wife of 20 years, Amy, and two daughters, ages 13 and 10.

"He was the mountain bike king," said Amy.

I can say with sadness but near certainty that Eberling was not the only avid mountain biker lost on September 11. The financial offices of the World Trade Center were filled with hard-working, ambitious professionals who relished cycling and skiing and the beauty of the woods as ways to balance their high-stress, fast-paced vocations. As time passes, we may hear other stories.

I didn't know Dean personally, but I've been thinking about him on recent rides. On a perfect Saturday afternoon - or a soggy one - there's one place he'd want to be: on his bike. Those of us who can still make this choice should feel very lucky.

- Tim Blumenthal