Tomorrow I start my trek to Australia for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. With a 4:30am wakeup, a wonderful TJ to drive me to the airport, a bike box that weighs 1.5 pounds over that 50lb allowance, no suitcase but a carry-on, and 2 textbooks tucked inside, I’m ready!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week. My last blog post feels like eons ago. Each year I love the transition from summer to fall as much as I enjoy transitioning from finals week to full-time bike racer. It brings some much needed structure to my life and Tucson during the Monsoons is one of the most beautiful places anywhere. It’s also at this time when I get to juggle starting five classes and preparing for the most important race of my season.

I’ll post a few pictures of the new place. It’s 550 square feet in one of Tucson finest neighborhoods. We only had a couple feet of counter space so TJ and I decided to build a kitchen cart to squeeze between the fridge and the hallway. Well, we discovered such a small construction project is harder than it sounds. It’s been fun battling the mosquitoes and heat out in the courtyard!

If you want the Subaru, make me an offer! Only 200,000+ miles, 2 hubcaps, and body damage all around!