December Update

It’s December! Where did the fall semester go?! I finished up school for the semester last week and I am enjoying a bit of down time over the Christmas break. Last week I traveled to Ontario to spend some time with Haley and take in middle Canadian Christmas. I have also been training steadily; crushing key workouts on the bike and in the gym and lots of base K out on the road.

This year I had my best exam season yet, and by that I mean I was able to train through them all and not have to miss any training, or sleep for that matter. That being said I have not seen the marks yet, but I think they will be decent. I would not have been able to do that in first year; when I was new at the university exam thing I would not be able to ride my bike throughout the exam period. Studying for exams went hand in hand with late nights, excessive caffeine and poor sleep (note: caffeine is still used, albeit not excessively). By my 5th year, I have managed to gather the skills to write good exams, manage study time and fit training and sleep in there.

It is pretty crazy that I only have one semester to go to finish up my degree in Mechanical Engineering. The program has gotten better and better each year, with more interesting classes and material. Next semester I am finally going to get to take a course in composites; more or less why I took the other 41 courses before it. I know, super stereotypical, a cyclist interested in carbon fiber; it is going to be rad!

In other news, I have re-signed with Norco Factory Team for my 3rd year (I raced for Norco for 2 years before that; putting my time in before I got called up to the Factory Team). This is very exciting news! I am excited to continue to develop as an athlete and I am very fortunate that Norco Bicycles and the Factory Team sponsors Sram, Kenda, and Stan’s No Tubes allow me to do that. Check out the team website HERE. I am also exited to spend the race season with such an amazing group of people that make up the Norco Factory Team, they are my second family. I have not finalized my schedule yet, but I expect it will be similar to previous years and I hope to fit one or two new races in there I have not yet done before.

Here are some photos and video since my last post. Enjoy! I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and that everyone gets to spend time doing something that they love with people that they love. Cheers.