BACKPACKING

Two days ago I went backpacking for three days in the dolomiti, it was one of the best trips of my life. vibrant colors with the blooming wildflowers and beautiful pictures the whole way, however those pictures are stuck on my camera until I get home.

the first day there was a lot of climbing and a very heavy pack because I had not eaten any of the food. it was a long day but the most beautiful. I took over 200 pictures that day alone, after about 6 hours of hiking tho I was tired and just wanted to get to the bivaco where I was spending the night. bivacos are little backpacker hut's. I still had about an hours hike too it tho, so i put the camera away and made my way. the bivaco was very nice it had a table candles fireplace and a few other amenities, i shared it with 4 other hikers that night.

Day 2 was a very hard day, I did not realize how dramatic the country around here is, and i climbed all day, or so it seemed. the plan was to get to refugio BOZ and have lunch then go on to bivaco feltre. well during lunch i got a bit of thunder and lightning and dicided that the trail to bivaco feltre was too dangerous after these events, and spent the night at refugio BOZ

Day 3 was a long downhill hike, and i found out that there was a bivaco only 20min hike from BOZ that i could have stayed at and not paid, but thats ok. I had lunch after a late start from BOZ and then continued down. i dropped over 5,000 feet in elevation and ended up at my end point Vai Canzoi. it was a great backpacking trip and good to get out of the house for a while. will not soo forget this one.

6 Days, I have 6 Days before I come home, I am ready to be home. this year has been very fun and i have had some great experiences and i hope to have more in the future, but next year i will be staying in the US to race. I will return to Europe to race, but not for a while. It has been the biggest adventure of my life and i will not forget this one either!

Family & Bella Vista

Since I have arrived in Feltre I have been very busy, this is why I have not written on the blog for a while, I have been busy living what feels like a dream. Since I have been on "vacation" there has been very few days when I have not ridden a bike, and now I have started running to try and slim down more before next season and to try to keep off all the food I have been eating. Feltre is one of the most beautiful places on Earth I keep having to pinch myself every morning to make sure I'm still not sleeping, the most amazing views have come from the tours on Mt. bikes. My uncles are all very into riding Mt. bikes and they have taken me to some very cool places, there has defiantly been no shortage of adventure in the trip. It takes a little getting used to, for the times that they eat here tho. In the morning it is a little breakfast, then lunch is usually very big and then dinner is a little smaller than lunch sometimes but very big as well.

Palio de Feltre, a big festival that takes place every year, the festival is all about the birth of Feltre and

how things where done back in the time of the city's creation. As the times have changed tho everyone uses it as an excuse to party for 4-5 days, its really diverse however in the us if this happened after dark it would only be kids out partying. Here everyone from old women and young kids are out until 1-2 in the morning, and there are festivities and the whole nine yards. on the last day there is a parade and a horse race, then the Palio is over until the next year. I did not think much of it when my aunt asked me if I wanted to be in the parade and I thought for sure I would be no one important, as the costume I got was not that elaborate. then I learned that I was representing one of the leaders of Feltre, that was kinda cool. after the parade there where a few events and then the horse race. The whole thing was all very cool and makes me want to come back for the Palio all the time, maybe i can come back in the next few years to enjoy it all over again.