Fall Whirlwinds. Travel Mania

This fall has been a bit busier than I planned! I’ve been constantly on the go since I got back from Mongolia. So let me fill you in!

I got back from Mongolia and was pretty sick and jet-lagged with the 15 hour time change! I spent a few days trying to get my health back to normal and be a human again. Just five days after landing back in North America, I hopped on a plane and headed to Interbike…and also started a second round of antibiotics. I ended up being sick for six weeks post Mongolia and am thankful to have my health back to 100 percent!!

As always, Interbike was a blast working at the Ergon booth. We released some new products for 2014 which you can find HERE. I also got to see friends and sponsors.

My Ninja socks at Defeet. Use code “looney4defeet” for a 20% discount if you want a pair!

After Interbike, I headed back to Colorado for a week and got caught up with friends. I had not been to Boulder since the flood. It was sad to see the damage in some areas while others appeared untouched. The real shock came when trying to drive or ride anywhere because roads were closed in a lot of places creating a maze! I ended up getting on the road bike a couple times and riding flat roads out and back because all canyon roads were washed away and all trails were closed or gone! I finally had a chance to celebrate my 30th birthday with all my friends at Fate Brewing.

I missed my best friend.

Matt came to Colorado for the weekend and the b-day celebration, and then we both hopped on a plane to LA for work. He went to a conference and I went to Ergon USA Headquarters. We spent four days there and embraced all the driving and craziness that is LA. We were both relieved to get back to BC to have a week of downtime. I finally got back on my mountain bike and rode singletrack almost every day, and finally unpacked my suitcase!!

The fall leaves were enchanting and I couldn’t get enough.

Then I got on another plane to Costa Rica! I’ll do a single post on that, but the gist of it is that there are going to be some really cool new races aside from La Ruta. The first is the Rincon de Vieja 100-Miler at the end of August. This was its first year. I didn’t make it, but Jeff went and said it was killer!! I hope to be competing in that one next year. We filmed a promo video with some Costa Rican riders up north almost on the Nicaragua border for another new race called the Ultimate 200km. 200km in one day in October! More on that soon, but here’s a couple photo teasers!

I flew back to BC and am here till tomorrow. I was invited by the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival to be their keynote speaker in Kelowna. When I found out I’d be speaking to 850 people, I got a bit nervous. I’ve done lots of public speaking with my race presentations and clinics, but to crowds of 50; 850 in a theater was another ballgame, but I really enjoyed it. I had 20 minutes and I talked about the coolest thing I’ve ever done -the Yak Attack. It was fun to feel nervous, but once I got talking, I had fun and didn’t want to stop. I was pleased with the flow of my presentation and the audience interactions. I hope to do more bigger speaking events in the future!

Here’s a little media piece on the event too: https://www.kelownacapnews.com/sports/227083561.html

I was glad to get some more riding in this weekend too. Being in BC has been helping me ride more “gnarly” terrain. Trails in BC are much steeper and technical than Colorado and the West Coast. It’s a fun journey, but it can also be very frustrating because I want to be able to ride everything RIGHT NOW…but, I am working up to the bigger stuff!