Holding Down the Fort

With Ingrid in Sun Valley and Nick off in the Boundary Waters, I decided that rather than join my teammates in Idaho, it would be better to hold down the fort in Minnesota. In all honesty, I was pretty bummed to be confined to crutches for the first part of summer instead of bombing around the mountains of Sun Valley, but MN has been good to me this summer.

Hard to beat the Boundary Waters

I've been working for a local conservancy fighting invasive species (the highlight being driving my little cart to various worksites during the day)

Not a bad office for the summer

and eating absurd amounts of kale from our garden. I've also been mountain biking quite a bit on the new trails near my house (currently seeking riding buddies if anyone is looking to bring their bike out east this fall) and enjoying the top-notch rollerskiing in Afton. While I miss all my teammates loads, I've managed to find some ok training partners in the midwest too. 

Ripping around Afton with the hometown hero

I also got my mountain fix by heading out to Bozeman with a couple friends to adventure around and train with the juniors out there for a week.

How to avoid sunburn as a Minnesotan in the mountains

I'm super psyched to get back to Williamstown in another month and join up with the team! Finally, here is a picture of potentially the best pancake I've ever eaten in my life (not a claim I would make lightly)–10/10 would recommend the breakfast restaurant Jam! in Bozeman. 

Though unassuming, this pancake gave me a new standard with which to hold all other pancakes too.