My Summer

It seems counter-intuitive to write an article in a blog that is supposed to be about triathlons an article that fails to mention the words swim, bike, or run. Therefore I guess by prefacing this post as such I will not let anyone down. That being said, if you are hoping to read about my training or racing for the past couple of months you are going to be sadly disappointed. I must admit that it was not of my own planning that I would spend a summer in the training Mecca of the world, only 45 miles from the likes of professional cycling Team Garmin-Cervelo, and let my bike collect cob-webs in the garage. Even more surprising is that I can assuredly say that this was, hands down, the best summer of my life.

Last September was the beginning of my senior year at the College of William and Mary. After returning to Williamsburg having won my age group, and placing 10^th overall in the Duathlon World Championship, life couldn’t have been better. The members of the cycling team back at school, my best friends, wouldn’t let me forget about my victory. Unfortunately this meant that no longer could I send out a group ride on the list serve and expect heavy attendance. Only those who were feeling strong and up for a pain fest would join (usually just JOA). The year went by and I began applying to graduate schools. I didn’t have any serious racing planned till 2011 so the first semester went by and with it many great memories as I grew closer to the team.

Before I knew it the first semester had passed by and it was time for winter training camp at el presidente Adam Harris’s house. Although transfer and constant pain in my ass on group rides, Evan Fulton couldn’t make it, graduate student Brian Callam joined us in the hills of Bridgewater for some spinning of the legs. Camp was great as usual, we rode a lot, we ate a lot, and we rode a lot more. Notables were a 100 mile day with Joa, and a Reddish Knob descent with Collegiate Road Race National Champion (10’) Cory Scott with a blanket of snow pouring down in front of us. Both of us shaking and pumping our breaks as we made it down the treacherous 10 mile descent in the pouring snow. Good times.

As training camp came to an end I felt pretty decent about my chances racing my first season as a Collegiate A. Unfortunately the season had some other plans for me. First race of the season, NC State, rear derailleur cable snaps, DNF. Next race, our home road race, dropped 6 of 7 laps in after a bone-headed solo attempt to bridge a gap to a break. The next day at our crit, I end up in the ER with a concussion and some bad road rash after wiping out around a corner while the race finishes. The rest of the season could only get better and fortunately I was able to post some mediocre finishes. At least they were able to get me to Collegiate Nationals in Madison at the end of the season. Unfortunately I did manage to find myself rubber up twice more, both in the Conference crit at Tech next to my good friend Jacob Aber, as well as in the crit at Collegiate Nationals (With a 13 hour drive back I was not about to take a DNF in this race and I did, crossing the line in the 30s in this race at least).

Although not a “bad” season per se, my final bike racing season in the W&M colors was not what I would have liked it to be. Towards the end of my senior year, my best friend, Kyle Grimsley, a graduate student studying fluvial geomorphology (note my use of big words) at Colorado State University, sent me an email mentioning the possibility of me coming out to Colorado to be his field assistant. At the time it seemed somewhat of a far-fetched dream and fairly unlikely. What an opportunity it would be to live in Fort Collins for a summer. This was the summer after I had graduated with my undergraduate degree, and the perfect time for far-fetched dreams. After a good deal of work and persuading on his end to let an Exercise Science major from another school be his field assistant the details had been worked out and my dream was going to become a reality.

After less than 2 weeks in Northern Virginia after leaving Williamsburg, and about all the traffic we could handle, Kyle and I left the craziness of the suburbs of D.C. for Fort Collins Colorado. Arriving in Fort Collins I immediately noticed one thing in particular. It is dry there. For the first two weeks of the summer I felt as though I spent a good portion of my day either drinking water or applying lotion. Eventually my body adapted to the new climate and my skin turned a darker color then it has ever been in my life #skincancerhereicome. Unfortunately the knee problem I had been having since May at Collegiate Nationals had not disappeared on the drive out. This would be a reoccurring theme throughout the summer and is the reason for the lack of training/racing in this triathlete’s paradise.

The day after arriving to our summer home at Cuerto Lane Kyle and I ventured over to the geology department at the school to meet with his advisor, steam monitoring extraordinaire Sara Rathburn. We were informed by Sara that the snowfall this winter was “just unbelievable” and therefore we would have to delay our research some because any trips into the mountains that week would be futile. For the next week and a half Kyle and I lived the good life, exploring Fort Collins and taking advantage of what it had to offer (this included an adventure to the New Belgium Brewery where they give you enough free samples to thoroughly intoxicate yourself, as well as multiple trips to Edora park where we learned the wonders of Frisbee golf, a reoccurring theme in our summer.)

After nearly two weeks Sara decided that it was time to begin the work. We ventured up into what would quickly become our home, to monitor the streams flowing into the Colorado River. What we found was a 4.5 mile hike that would take us nearly 3.5 hours to complete. The amount of snow on the trail boggled my east coast mind. It was June and here I was with snow coming up to my waist. Nonsense. Unfortunately due to the massive amount of snow melt the streams were flowing at quite the rate, making it too dangerous to get much of the data we would have liked to. That did not stop us from trying however. Most impressive was the determination of Kyle’s advisor as she would let nothing stop us from continuing onward. The bridge is covered up? No worries, well just walk across the bridge of snow. Most amusing was when she post-holed going back across it. Most fortunate was that she didn’t fall into the freezing cold water. Most hungry were Kyle and I as we discussed for the better part of 2 hours what we were going to get for dinner (Krazy Karls pizza) and what kind of beer we would drink with it (Odell’s 90 shilling).

As the temperatures grew warmer the snow in the park melted and Kyle and I began making our trips more and more frequently into the park. The 3.5 hour slog we did with Sara turned into a much shorter 1.5 hour brisk hike. We were fortunate enough to be joined by many a guest this summer. We found that bringing people along would keep the moral high and the trips more interesting. The first of which was Kyle’s girlfriend Amanda, and an exchange student named Johnny hailing from the UK. Amusingly enough this trip was near peak flow for the season which made crossing the bridges quite the amusing ordeal. Fortunately no one was swept away to the Grand Canyon by the raging river and after the trip the crew made the journey to Café Mexicale for massive burritos smothered with Creamy Habanero sauce (a local favorite).

Other guest trips were made with William and Mary cycling team member Ryan Burbey, my girlfriend Briana, and Pennsylvania running hotshot Matty Grey. All of these guests were “simply delightful” to bring along. But for real, we had a blast with them and I think they enjoyed themselves quite a bit too, even if Kyle put them to work (which was fine with me, because it meant less stuff that I had to do!).

Highlights of these trips was the massive rain storm on the trip with Burbey as we futilely tried to wedge the tree scar from a tree in a debris flow a good 3 miles from the trailhead. This was of course followed by a drive to Grand Lake to obtain some necessary camping supplies, followed by the consumption of these supplies in the car while playing setback in the car at the campsite as the rain came down. Unfortunately the rain and the wind had their way with us that night and Burbey and I woke up (if we ever went to sleep) in a very wet and tired state. Fortunately this would be the last night of camping and the next day was nice and dried us out!

The weather was fortunately far better for Bri’s visit and besides a mild fairly short rainstorm on the first day we had blue skies. That night we went back to the campsite and enjoyed copious amounts of Smores, which can be seen all over Kyles face in pictures, followed by some leg elevation on the side of my car. After dropping Bri off at the airport I waited around for a while for our next visitor Matt Grey. Matt was undoubtedly the least expected visitor of the summer. As a way to express our thanks Kyle and I made sure to show him a good time.

After getting into Colorado late Monday night we woke him up at 5am the next day for a 3 day trip into the mountains. The first 2 of these days we spent surveying in the scars to determine the magnitude of the debris flows for Kyles research and the next day we would spend hiking to a destination of our choice. After long days in the mountains we spent the nights eating and wiling out in similar fashion to our elken brethren who were frequently found romping around our campsite and making videos using Kyle’s sweet camera/video device. The third day we decided to hike up to Sky Pond as Kyle recommended. It was well worth our time. The view at the top was incredible. After climbing up a waterfall or two and scampering across boulders and up and over rocks we made it to our planned destination. It wouldn’t be fair to neglect to mention the frustration felt by Kyle and I with the godly aerobic strength of Matt. Kyle and I chased him through the trails, breathing hard trying to keep him in sight for the majority of the trip. It was to our great delight that climbing up rocks was not of his strength. Try as he might, Kyle and I were able to teach Matt a thing or two about rock climbing and arm strength. (We love you Matt) It was to Matt’s great dismay that Kyle and I decided to try to climb out of the cirque that Sky Pond was situated in. It also ended up being one of the greatest decisions of any of our lives. After over an hour of climbing and scampering up rocks this feat of extreme bad assery was complete. The view that lay in front of us cannot be described. Taking a picture of such a thing feels like a crime because it cannot possibly do such a thing justice.

Matt’s visit was the last visit Kyle and I would have this summer and a week after he left I myself would depart the Fort for the east coast before venturing south to Winston-Salem to begin my time in grad school at Wake Forest. Originally I had intended to publish this on my blog but what I had originally intended to be a long blog entry has turned into more of a story. Unfortunately looking back on what I have written I am saddened to see a great number of things that I have left out. In no apparent order I will list these things because I feel that excluding them from this sage would not do it justice. Among them are, Rootbeer milk and Noosa from the wonderful folks at Morning Fresh Dairy, Rockies Games, Margaritas at the Rio, Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled on Trail Ridge, Icing injuries in the river in the mountains, Intramural Soccer at the Edge, my roommates Lauren, Dave, Kevin, and Lauren’s dog Arlo, and Settlers of Catan. I apologize for the nonsensical nature of this list, most of which is completely illogical to the average person. Instead look at it as a way for me to reflect back personally and remember the things and events of the summer of 2011. This summer was the experience of a lifetime and I am forever grateful to all the people who helped make it so.