I grew up in Western PA in a small town named Somerset just outside of Pittsburgh. I gained interest in cycling through the Livestrong movement and volunteering at Cycling Nationals at Seven Springs Ski Resort, which I later found out that TCH owner, Owen Gue, was also coincidentally racing (he may have been the guy that I dropped the H20 bottle during the feed zone, whoops). So for my 16th birthday, my dad bought me my first road bike, a 2004 Lemond Big Sky S.

My real passion back then was running and swimming and I took my running to college where I was a student-athlete at Messiah College. During this time I loved road biking but XC and Track training took priority. However, the handful of rides I took during the offseason, left me wanting to get serious about triathlon and cycling post-college.

I moved to Missoula summer of 2010 to attend grad school in exercise physiology at U of Montana. The program and Missoula was a perfect fit! I studied the limits of human performance: exercising in extreme heat, cold, and altitude. I found it fascinating.

During grad school, my running took a back seat form a chronic college running injury. My Lemond Big Sky S and newly acquired Kona Big Unit Hard Tail Mtb rekindled my love for riding and I quickly realized the Missoula trails had a lot to offer. Then I learned about cyclocross, which was steeplechase running, mountain biking, and road cycling all combined. CX is now a favorite.

After grad school, I fell upon a race-timing job, timing endurance events all over the PNW and partnered up as an owner. Race timing left some time in the winter to take a break from the finish line and timing chips, and share my passion cycling with the TCH guests guiding trips. I always look forward to guests’ stories and hearing their cycling goals during their week escape while riding and eating good food!

Now, I’m happy to be working for Cycling House full-time helping with marketing & sales in the office. I’m also excited that I will still be able to join our guests on trips as a Trip Leader and share some adventures in Tucson, California, and Italy.