A continuation of a story, a new chapter...

 How did I get here, and where is here?

I'm getting a van today, but it turns out Colorado Mountains are hard in the winter.  I am so close and yet obstacles of snow, ice, interstate closures, etc befall me.

But I am here in this moment, so here I will dwell.

How did I get here was the other question.

It started in 2016 when a friend was diagnosed with Glioblastoma brain cancer.  It was a very tough year.  In April 2017, as his cognitive decline began to accelerate, he wanted a final dinner with his friends while he really still remembered everyone.  He wanted us to all know each other to remember him after he was gone.  We talked about doing a mountain bike ride to remember him.

So I started mountain biking in Pocahontas State Park.  It only took a few minutes into the first ride for a lot of things to click.  I felt like a 7 year old kid again, in the woods, on my bike.  I thought, why am I not doing this everyday.  So I started.

I rapidly went through a bunch of bikes as I progressed.  I sort of obsessed over youtube channels.

I saw a video of a woman who bought a van and was traveling the country riding her bike.  She was also a Ninja Mountain Bike Skills Coach.  That also was a defining moment of inspiration.  A path I hadn't seen before was revealed.  I could do that too.

For my 50th birthday I took a 2 day Ninja skills in Sedona, AZ.  My first time to the red rocks and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to concentrate on the clinic.

The Clinic was magic for me.  I learned so much in those 2 days.  It totally transformed my mountain biking.  That was 2018.

In 2019, I had unprecedented travel around the world, literally.  I rented bikes everywhere I went and I had the tools to deal with every trail I came to.

2020 brought more tragedy.  A global pandemic.  My stepson died from an accidental overdose.  My marriage was clearly falling apart.

In April 2021, I went on a one week trip to Knoxville with some Richmond mountain bikers I knew of but didn't know.  I had such a good time.  I really wanted to travel more for mountain biking.

Right after that trip, and after months of counseling, my wife and I decided to end our marriage.   

I spent the entire month of June 2021 in Brevard, NC.  :-)  some of the best mountain biking anywhere and really fell in love with the community.

Market pressures made moving there immediately a problem...but maybe one day.

So, I really started focusing on my biking and work, sprinkled with some odd dating stuff here and there.

In the fall of 2021, Ninja Mountain Bike Skills reached out to me about becoming a coach.  I also broke my shoulder in a MTB accident at the end of October 2021.

So I spent the first part of winter recuperating and looking up first aid classes and coaching certification groups.  

In April 2022 I flew to sedona, az to do my first coaching clinic.  Loved it.  In July 2022 I did the Ninja skills coach retreat where we go over teaching all of the Ninja Curriculum.  In August and September I did my first assists with Ninja.  :-)  One in Harrisonburg, VA, the other at Rays Town Lake, PA.  Both were amazing.  

In October 2022 I found out I had a hernia, went to London to see 3 soccer matches, and then spent 7 days in Iceland. Busy month.

In November 2022 I had surgery for my hernia.  Recovery was to be 6 weeks.  3 weeks in I flew to Las Vegas, met a girl with a van, gave her a machete, and then spent several days camping in Death Valley in her van.  That sort of sealed the deal with the van.  Loved being in it and loved being mobile to go places and do things.  Dave and Matt Vans (dmvans.com) was running a year end sale on their 2022 vans existing inventory.  So I got one.  :-)

And as I write this I am in Colorado, having spent the night in Aches National Park in Utah, waiting on a minor repair to the van...and looking up where I am going next!  :-)