Catch-Up Time

               Ok, so where’d we leave off? Right; little island in the middle of the lower Pacific Ocean, riding bikes and loving life in Aotearoa. Last race I had up here was the skinny-tire event up in Clevedon, pretending I knew what I was doing… which I most decidedly did not. Well after that event, things continued as normal; work, train, enjoy small-town Ohakune. We’ll keep the bullet point thing going with a recap and catch-up-to-speed.

·        Did more race things in NZ.

·        Won a few

·        Came second in a few

·        Lost a few

·        Completely blew up in a few

·        Trained a lot

·        Ate a lot of food

·        Ate a lot of ice cream

·        It started to get cold…

·        Visa ran out, went back to Wisconsin

·        Til next time NZ. I’ll be back

Alright, so now we reach my time back in the good ol’ US of A, the home of Costco, and where the average population doesn’t know where New Zealand is. Semi-broke and without much more than the contents of a backpack to my name, it was back to living with grandparents again. Lazy days at the lake were soon cut short by the inevitability of getting back to work. Hurrah for six a.m. starts and a general feeling of exhaustion everyday.

I’m sure the whole lack of sleep thing wasn’t doing wonders for training, but nonetheless it was right back to summer, and racing in 100% humidity was in full swing. When living in Wisconsin, attending a few WORS events is mandatory, and it was real good to get back to the series which got me into this sport. Mixed results ensued, with me dancing around the podium steps and feeling the steady progression of 2019 season-part two. Somewhere around the middle of June I made the annual trek out to Montana, but this time it wasn’t to go back to university (phew), but for the four-day Missoula XC stage race.  (Full report on the stories from this trip to come… there are some gems which came out of this one. Stay tuned.)

 Don’t get me wrong… I absolutely love my grandparents as well as time at the lakehouse, but being twenty-three years old in a town where the majority of the population has their AARP card… well needless to say I was going a bit crazy within a few weeks. Feeling antsy and ready for a change of scenery, I restarted the US job hunt, scouring Indeed and LinkedIn for anything where my obscure major may be an advantage. After yet another bout of un-answered applications it was back to putting off real life for a bit. Got a job offer wrenching for a bike shop in Bellingham, and following a quick Google search of the world-class trails, beautiful scenery, and easy-access to the ocean it was an easy choice. Finishing out my time in the Midwest with a great visit, and one final WORS race weekend, it was time to pack everything up in the back of the VW Golf and head west. You know you’re doing something right when almost everything you own (including two bicycles, a longboard, and more peanut butter than one should rightfully have) can fit snugly into the back of a two-door hatchback.

Following a characteristically hectic departure, it was off to the open road. The plan was to take four days to make it to Bellingham, staying with friends along the way and eventually meeting my mom in Seattle for the final leg. The next part is pretty boring, filled with lots of podcasts, many albums, one runaway skid plate, countless snacks, and two lost water bottles. After thirty-ish hours of driving and two-thousand miles we pulled into Bellingham, a university-town with a northwest hippy vibe and a large population of flannel shirts. Well, this was home… even if I had nowhere to live, knew absolutely no one, and was still recovering from time-zone shock. I had a couple bikes, a whole new world to explore, and even some peanut butter left.

…To be continued…