It has been such a blast traveling around Europe. So many places I was able to see and countries I was able to visit. It was all made possible by my cousin Sarah and her husband Dave. So a huge thank you for hosting me for such an extended period of time! Also helping and providing me with cheap flights around Europe! Being able to use their house as a base while I travelled was very gracious! And not to mention I had such a blast playing with my little cousin Cole.

All in all I visited 10 countries in the span of 7 months. Meeting new people was some of the best parts of those travels. I was able to make some new friends along the way and hopefully our paths will cross again later on down the road. Seeing my family and friends in Ireland, the alps, Spain for running of the bulls, Italy, and Germany are some priceless memories I won’t ever forget. So thank you Mom, Dad, Brie, Grandma, Alex, Evan, Zach, and Stew for taking the time and making the trip to travel a part of the world with me!

I was ready to move on from Europe and explore a new place, one day I will be back and have some more unforgettable memories. With my bags all packed and the biggest bicycle box I’ve seen, where all I had to do was take off the pedals and derailleur and turn the handle bars, I was more than happy Evan was on the same flight to London. So began my 30 hours of travel time. Munich-London-LA-Auckland.

Watching the sunrise come up as I arrived into Auckland, was amazing and it felt so good to finally be at the destination. Unfortunately with the bad luck I’ve had with checked bags, my bicycle didn’t make it. There goes the plan to ride from the airport to my accommodation that night. I ended up finding out that it was never even put on the flight to Munich! It wasn’t until the following afternoon that my bike finally arrived and was delivered. With so little to do, I pulled it out of the box, aired up the tires and suspension and road it to the bicycle store to have my seatpost serviced. Since the bike is in the shop I am kind of stuck but luckily Christopher has been an excellent host letting me stay a couple days longer than expected. Thank you a ton! By the time I get my bike back, I will practically have had a brand new bike built in the past month. New fork, chain, and drivetrain in Az, new headset in Oslo, and now a rebuilt dropper post in NZ.

It has been a tough decision for me to make and also one that stings the pride a little but had to be done. My IT band is still bothering and starts hurting after about 20 miles of riding. The only way to help it get better is to rest. With that being said, for the next few weeks until Maesyn meets me I have decided to rent a car to get around instead of pedaling everywhere. It is a bummer but might be better as it will provide more time to ride trails and truthfully that is what I came here to do! By middle of November as I see Maesyn off the goal is to be all healthy again and back putting some good miles on as the tour then continues to the south island.

Well at $15 a day rental, it couldn’t be beat. Ill be riding the loaner road bike back to the airport to pick up my new wheels. Boy it’ll be nice to have the freedom of a car again. Later today my mountain bike should be all fixed and ready to go. That means tomorrow, first stop…Woodhill Mountain Bike Park!! Let the riding begin!!! Welcome to New Zealand!