2017 Off-Season Report Part 2
Last week we took you inside the off-season activities of a few of our athletes: from Lauren Hall’s road trip to Adrian Hegyvary’s win at Madison National’s to Daniel Eaton’s ascent of six of the Colorado fourteeeners our athletes are all over the place! This week we’re taking you around the globe with the adventures of the likes of Lachlan Norris and Janelle Cole.
Lauretta Hanson
Usually Lauretta likes to spend her off-season traveling, but this year because of school exams she had the opportunity to spend more with family in Australia. After years of racing right through the Australian summer – the winter and fall for those of us in the northern hemisphere – Hanson now takes a bit of time for herself and scales back her racing to give herself a bit of an off season. Mixing schoolwork with time off Lauretta said she, “has just been studying, mountain biking, and doing a little bit of hiking.”
Jonathan Clarke
House projects, road trips, and visiting with friends have occupied Clarke’s off-season this year. Jonny made the trek up to Ontario to visit former blue-train teammate Davide Frattini with a stop off in Detroit just to see the city. On his way back south Clarke stopped off in Pittsburgh to visit long-time team soigneur Nikki Detrick. Like most of the rest of the athletes Jonny took some time to spend with family and work on some house projects, finishing off his basement to have some extra space for visitors.
Janelle Cole
Also a student, Janelle has spent her fall working on an extra full load of classes at Brevard College. Putting in enough time this fall means that Cole will be able to graduate a semester early in May. Thankfully college at Brevard doesn’t mean just class-work it also includes collegiate bike racing. “The collegiate cycling atmpsphere is such a special, comfortable environment of like-minded people who are pursing academic and athletic achievement – I absolutely love participating,” said Janelle. While she doesn’t get a real off-season per-se Janelle says that, “I love riding my bike and staying active and fit – cycling definitely keeps me mentally and physically happy.”
What rituals does Janelle have for her fall? Good ones for us all to aspire toward: being outside more and eating a bagel or two.
Gavin Mannion
The off-season went by fast for Gavin this year. He wrapped up the season at the start of October in Austin, Texas where he took some time to enjoy great food, drink, and fellowship with friends. At some point everyone has to leave Austin, and for Gavin he had two weeks before he headed up to Boston to see his parents, and meet up with his girlfriend. From the northeast they grabbed a car, and hit the road starting the long trek back to Colorado. A stop off outside of Washington DC gave them a chance to see family and play tourists. Another stop in Illinois to pickup the newest member of the family, a French bulldog puppy, meant that the rest of Gavin’s off-season was spent learning to be a new puppy parent. To stay active in the midst of all this travel, family, and puppy time Gavin spent some time hitting local trail runs.
Is he excited to get back on the bike? “Looking forward to getting back into a bit more structured riding though. Definitely miss it a bit.”
Lachlan Norris
We are wrapping up our off-season report with a check in from Lachlan Norris, who has spent a good part of his time off the bike high in the mountains of Nepal. When we heard from Lachlan a few weeks ago he was in a little village called Tangnag, “it’s about five-days walk from the airstrip in Lukla, which is a 40-minute light plane or helicopter flight from Kathmandu.” He joined onto the trek after going over earlier in the month to hike to the Everest basecamp. He also spent time helping build a school in the remote village of Bupsa. Working with the Himalayan Trust and raising funds through friends, Norris helped by putting his carpentry skills to work.
“My time here has been a real eye opening experience in many ways, and I certainly have a lot of great memories to take home, along with some tough times too. But most of all it’s extremely refreshing to get away from the cycling sphere to which we are all dedicated to for most of the year.”
What could you possible look forward to after having such an incredible experience as Nepal and Everest? “I’m definitely looking forward to getting home, having a shower, and getting back to training for the 2018 season!”
Thanks to everyone who follows along with us throughout the year. We couldn’t do this without you, from our partners to fans, friends and family, staff and athletes – Thank you!
