JJ Grissom: Woman Worth Meeting
Most athletes have heroes who inspire them to participate in sports as they’re starting out. Fort Worth Bike Sharing executive director Jennifer “JJ” Grissom was no different. OK, maybe she was a little different – the woman she admired came from the planet Eternia. “I wanted to be She-Ra so badly! She was the first assertive female figure I remember recognizing,” JJ told us via email. Luckily, she also had real-life role models. “My parents were the most inspiring figures. They were so good about teaching me to figure out how to do something. We weren't a particularly sports-focused household, but there was never anything we couldn't try.” That spirit of encouragement and experimentation eventually led JJ to find a sport that fit her. “I tried a few different sports in middle school and found out pretty quickly that hand/eye coordination wasn't a strength of mine. But I loved being active, so my mom signed me up for a summer swim team. I loved it almost immediately and continued swimming through high school.” JJ has gone on to participate extensively in endurance sports. One defining experience came when she overcame her own uncertainties to finish a Rim-To-Rim-To-Rim excursion across the hemisphere’s largest canyon. “It was overcoming that, like, ‘I'm going to die.’ I'm running into the pitch black dark of the Grand Canyon. I don't know if there's rattlesnakes, I don't know if I'm going to fall off the edge,” JJ remembered about running from one rim of the canyon to the other and back. “It was just so, like, ‘I did this,’ and my daughter was there. She was 17 at the time and it was kind of like a really cool bonding experience. Your whole life, you're supporting your kid, and she was really there to support me. So that was pretty amazing. I really think it was like finding whatever it was in myself that was like, ‘I'm terrified to do this, but I still want to do it.’” Her sporting endeavors have yielded benefits that go beyond staying fit. “The lessons you learn while training for and completing something like an Ironman or R2R2R are so plentiful, it's almost hard to describe it all,” she explained. “It's not only about the event day itself, though that is the best part, for sure. It's the patience that comes through training, the learning what is a priority and how much you can manage, and practicing staying calm when things don't go as expected. Those lessons absolutely transfer into my everyday life.” That everyday life includes athletic exploration. “I like to say I participate in adventure sports of all kinds. My current obsession is gravel riding and I rarely go more than a day between runs. I still love to open-water swim and I am always down for a good yoga class. I have a long list of other sports to try - rowing, surfing, kickboxing.” She’s also actively engaged in helping Fort Worthians participate in the sport of cycling. Using Bcycle’s equipment and app, residents and visitors alike can check out a bicycle from stations located across the city, ride them, and return the bike to any station with an open dock. They’re designed to be an easily-accessible, environment-friendly resource for recreation, exercise, and commuting. Since JJ started, she and her staff have increased the system size by some 60 percent. She hopes to help more people of all genders and backgrounds be able to pursue fitness and sports the way she has. “We see people - I see people personally when I'm out there on the trail - who use our bikes as part of their exercise routines. So maybe they ride from a station close to their house down to the trail, and then maybe do a workout on the trail or join a CrossFit group, and then they can ride back as part of their cooldown. So I love that.” Fort Worth Bike Sharing created a survey to gather information about how, why, and where residents and visitors might want to use the service…
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