What a summer!

      Wow! It has been one crazy summer so far!!! It all started out with some pretty tragic events that went down two days after the Sea Otter Classic.  Cameron got hit by a car and broke his femur the day after my mom got her shoulder surgery.  Not the best way to start out the summer, but I stayed on track. Training rides were lonely and I was super paranoid while riding on the road. I was really happy when I found someone to ride with. Of course I had Evan to ride with me, but it seemed like every chance he got, he was at another friends house somewhere far away.

     After what seemed like the longest month of my life, it was finally time to pack the bags and head to Germany for two weeks to race for USA Cycling at the Offenburg World-Cup and a Swiss Cup in Switzerland. This was my first time ever leaving the US, so I was pretty nervous. I had never even raced a World Cup before so this was all very exciting.  The farm we were staying at was really calm and peaceful or at least until we showed up. There were six guys and six girls from all over the US. The guys stayed at the farm and the girls were across the way at a hotel, but we all spent most of the time at the farm playing foose ball, ping pong, jumping on the trampoline, working on bikes, and just chillin.

   The races were really short, fast, punchy climbs with gnarly down hills and a lot of other Jr's! The first race was the World Cup where I started in the back of 125 Jr's. The whole race, I battled between 80 and 90th place worrying about not getting lapped or pulled.  The second race,  was in Switzerland and was a bit smaller.  60 Jr's started, with me at the back again.  This time, I was able to make my way up to 32nd place by the end. What I love about this style of racing is that you have to fight for every position.  I am very glad I traveled to Germany now I know what to expect for next year.

     As soon as I got home from Germany I met Brendon Davids from South Africa, who was here training and racing  in the US for two months. Brendon spent two weeks with me in Big Bear and man, we had a blast. While he was here, I showed him what the Big Bear Life is all about. We also spent most of the time on my trampoline messing around, learning new tricks and how to face plant the ground really hard! Brendon took some gnarly spills on a couple of rides but he bounced back pretty quick. After the two weeks was up we were off to Wisconsin for the Subaru Cup Pro XCT.

   Now I get four days of rejuvenation before my Mom and I leave for another World Cup in Windham New York.  After that, we fly straight to Nationals in Sun Valley Idaho.  Well that's it for now, more on my upcoming trip soon!