I am back from Nepal! Since I’ve been back from Nepal (I got back last week), I took off 4 days later on a work trip to Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and back! It’s been crazy!
Now that I have a few moments to sit still, I can reflect on the madness from the last 6 weeks. Except 6 weeks ago I was in Vancouver, Canada for work conference with the Canadian distributor! Where to start?
I left for Nepal at the end of February with a heart full of excitement to go back to one of my versions of nirvana. After 2 days, and stopovers in Los Angeles followed by Korea and Bangkok (Pad Thai for breakfast), I finally stepped off the plane in Kathmandu. It as my longest journey by myself.
I got on the van to Kathmandu Guesthouse (KGH) and everything was exactly as I had remembered. The streets were as busy and chaotic as ever with small buses, cars, tons of motorbikes, random cows, dogs, pedestrians, bikes, and the constant sound of honking horns pierced the air. It had felt like I never left.
It was nice to be welcomed back by the friendly KGH staff and upgraded to a nice room! Yuki arrived a few hours later. This year, I arrived earlier than last year to get used to the 13 hour time difference. As I walked around Thamel, it again felt so familiar with the wall to wall store fronts showing of their wares, bike rickshaws, and guys trying to sell you anything from Tiger Balm to marijuana.
Over the next few days, I got re-acquainted with my favorite Nepali racers I had met the year before. We met at 7 AM every morning to ride. Yak Attack racers started trickling in from various countries. Our breakfast group and morning rides got bigger and bigger. This was the first year that the Yak Attack sold out and I was excited to spend the next 2 weeks with a diverse and interesting group of fat tire adventure lovers.
On March 2, our group pedaled out of Kathmandu and onto the race course of Stage 1 beginning one of the greatest experiences of our lives.
Stage 1-4 coming next!
