What Were Your Favorite Five Minutes?

So I ran into my third grade teacher the other day while I was out grabbing a bite to eat. We got chatting about all my adventures over the summer and she asked me a question that I had to think quite a bit about. What were your favorite five minutes of the summer? Hmm… I got to thinking and, well, I honestly couldn’t remember a single five minutes that stuck out during the whole summer. It seemed like I was always looking forward so much to the next thing coming up and the adventure that was in the future, that I forgot to keep my eyes focused on the present.

When I raced the Missoula Pro XCT my head was already in Europe, when I was in Europe I was already consumed by nationals, and at Nationals the name of the game was Vermont and Mont Saint Ann. It seemed that as I became more and more upset with the way my racing was going, and I looked deeper and deeper for an answer, I found comfort in the hope that everything would get back to normal “next time”. That I would figure it all out “next time”. It made for a very on the move way of thinking.

Now, looking forward to new stories and experiences is almost never a bad thing, that is until you look so far to the future that you forget to look around at where you are at the moment and smell the flowers. That’s just the attitude I tried to bring into my final race of the season, the Mont Saint Ann World Cup.

My escape of always looking to the next race and next weekend finally ran out in Quebec. There was nothing more to see on the horizon, there was just this one last race in this one last place and there was nothing more to hide behind. This realization finally caused me to stop and look at where I was at. I was racing my bike for the United States National Team in a World Cup. I didn’t know where this sport would take me and how far I could get, I had had some soaring highs this season along with plenty of crushing lows, but for now, right now, I was so satisfied with what was happening in this moment.

In the end I guess my favorite five minutes could have been condensed to my favorite five seconds or even expanded to my favorite five days. During that time I had accomplished a goal and was soaking in the feeling that comes with it. A feeling, I suppose, that makes it all worth it. That gives you the strength to get out the door every day and make it better than the day before. 

 

 Now, I have pictures of our awesome trip to Quebec!                  

 

It turns out that when you put five seventeen year olds in a condo, great meals can be made. This was our Burrito Night!  

The river where we went to ice our legs... I still have goose bumps. 

It turns out that over the whole world, nothing beats a little Helena single track.

Livin' the Dream

The bags are packed for yet another adventure with the BMC Mountain Bike Development team, and this trip should be one of the best yet! After a short, but sweet stay at home for the last week I'm off again to the land of blueberries, maple syrup, and of course mountain bike racing- Vermont.  Over the past five weeks I've traveled to Europe, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania and have raced every weekend from the first week of June till the last week of July. I know, I know... That's the dream. I'm literally living the dream from when I first thought of making it in the mountain bike world. I'm traveling the world, racing the best bikes (BMC), seeing the most beautiful places, and racing the highest level of competition in the sport, but after so long I begin to miss the land where I learned to appreciate the very sport that has taken me so far away. Montana. To be specific Helena, Montana. And now, after more experiences than most get in a life time, I was ready to settle down and just relax at home for a while...  Well, that was fun for about a day or so, but with the flights still in my legs I was back to the grind stone, doing a little fine polishing for the last push of the season. Several long rides and interval sessions later I'm here, my bags packed and my excitement for these last few races at a all time high. First comes the last team event of the season, the Catamount Classic in Vermont. The course looks epic and so does the competition planning on being there. It should be a great race with hopefully a stop at the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory... We'll see!  Next will be possibly the biggest race of my career so far, the Mont St. Ann World Cup. I can't begin to describe how much it means to me to be selected for this national team event, and I think the key word for my first world cup will be learn, learn, learn... That and stoked, stoked, stoked. So yes, it was a while away from home, away from my parents, my dog, my trails, but soon, sooner that I'd like to think, school's going to be back in session, trails will get snowed in, and I'll be remembering this time fondly. I'll be remembering living the dream and never wanting to wake up. Thanks for reading and as always, thank you to all the people that have helped me get here.