by Sara Kinnamon Fritsch
For the past two weeks since his untimely passing, I've tried to sort out what to say about my dear friend Rob Coppolillo.
I've read so many posts by so many others and it's amazing to see how similar we all are in terms of our relationship with him. Everyone's story goes something like this: "I met Rob, I loved his energy, we were friends for life from the moment we met, he always made me feel special and important to him, he made me laugh, he inspired me to have a good time and enjoy adventures". My version of the same story is that I met Rob in the summer of 2000, on a train in France. He convinced me to reroute my itinerary to join him and Jonathan Coln for a few days to catch the Mount Ventoux stage of Le Tour de France. Rob had some cush job writing for bike.com and we tagged along for the adventure (and his awesome expense account). I connected with him again a week or so later, in Paris, to catch the finish and to join as his lucky plus one to Lance Armstrong's victory party (which was full of celebs and fancy food). Post party, Rob and Jonathan convinced me to stay out all night long and into the next morning - something I had never done before and have not done since.
Over the years Rob always made time to check in with me and my family. He visited us in Boston, Amsterdam, Portland, and Government Camp. While in Amsterdam he told me that he and Rebecca dreamed of moving to Europe with their boys, a dream I am so happy they made happen! Of course they made it happen, that is how Rob lived his life - he made his dreams real.
He and Oli became fast friends - connecting over all things mountains, biking, and skiing.
My heart breaks for Rebecca Yarmuth and her boys.
It is an honor to be one of the many people around the world that was impacted positively by knowing Rob, we are all better for it. How lucky are we that his legacy lives on through his beautiful family, his smart, witty & prolific writing, and the memories & laughs that we all cherish.
I really hate that he is gone. I am really happy that I knew him. RIP my friend.
