Biking: Nate’s Fun Muddah reflects the late valley resident's joyful spirit

From The Conway Daily Sun

Voices cracked. Tears were shed. Smiles stretched wide, and laughter punctuated the alpine landscape.

Family, friends and colleagues of Nate Waterhouse turned out last Sunday at the Fields of Attitash to ride the trails close to the heart of the man known for his impact in the valley’s bike and ski worlds.

Nate’s Fun Muddah, the first stop in a trio of Summer Race Series events (summerraceseries.com) presented by White Mountains New England Mountain Bike Association, was a tribute to Waterhouse, with proceeds going to the Bartlett Recreation Department where he coached and mountain biked with children through the Bartlett Bike Club.

Organizer says Nate’s Fun Muddah will be an annual event.

Waterhouse was a driving force behind the design of mountain bike trails at Attitash when it offered lift-served downhill mountain biking during its summer operations. He was also instrumental in the development of the trails across U.S. Route 302 by the Saco River. He ran the resort’s bike shop and in winter and spring was a ski instructor eventually overseeing the Attitash and Wildcat Mountain Ski and Snowboard Schools. He died, at age 50, in May.

On hand at last Sunday's event were members of Nate’s family. His wife, Shannon; mother, Janie; sister, Melissa; daughter, Lily; son, Topher Eaton; mother-in-law, Eileen Jeffrey, and Shannon’s stepmom, Linda Leavitt, were there, with Jeffrey and Lily pedaling the trails.

“My brother was a very special person and made biking fun for a lot of people,” said Melissa.

In interviews, there were fond memories of Nate.

Event emcee Corey Madden worked with him for some 28 years.

Madden recalled Nate as a great mountain biker who curated a lot of the resort’s trails and introduced many people into the sport, including those who had lost their way. Nate got them going in the right direction. Madden credits Nate with getting him into mountain biking.

“He got me to make it a passion, similar to skiing,” he said.

The event was in a place familiar to Nate. The competitive time trial element featured a circuit of largely twisting single track along the Saco. There was also a dedicated marked loop fun course. Fun seekers could also pedal the race course if they yielded to competitors.

“These trails were like his home turf,” said Shannon. “He was so proud of them and riding with the kids.”

The event came together fairly quickly.

“With Nate's sudden passing, some of his co-workers and friends asked for advice about putting a race together in Nate's name,” said WMNEMBA president Jeremiah Beach. The group already had a race scheduled for the approximate time and place so they just turned it into Nate's Fun Muddah.

Participants could also play cornhole and a rim toss, and use bike-handling skill elements. They also received an event T-shirt featuring a graphic of Nate’s face and printed in a heart, the words "Stay weird."

Tina Dwan also worked alongside Nate. He first hired her to work part-time in the bike shop and then in administration for several years. She said working across the desk from him was hilarious because he was such a funny guy. Dwan remembers him as a co-worker to go to when you were having a bad day because he would make a joke that would change your day.

“You would crack up laughing, and all your problems would go away,” she said.

She said she gave up corporate America to work with Nate because she knew it would be a fun job.

Nate also made it a point to get children into mountain biking.

“He loved riding with the kids,” said his mother.

WMNEMBA's Beach said the Summer Race Series’ mission has always been to promote youth and family cycling as well as donate proceeds to local charities, so this event lines up perfectly with that.

After Nate’s passing, a GoFundMe page was set up to remember Nate and help support his family at www.gofundme.com/f/remembering-nate-support-his-family.

On a professional note, Nate was always generous with his time, fielding questions for various stories of mine over the years, whether they be in person or in emails. He could be deadpan serious one moment, and then when off the record, make a dry remark to light up the room.

Nate’s spirit now lives on in the woods along the river. If you stop and listen hard enough, you can hear the wind through the trees, the rushing water and that infectious laughter sneaking up behind you.