What is the best thing about working at The Cycling House?

My favorite thing about working at TCH is the comradery I feel with both the staff and the guests. I love how I can start a trip with a group of strangers and how in just five days, the group can feel close to family. I think that is very special.

Do you have a favorite ride?

My favorite ride is a mountain bike ride out in Missoula in an area called Woods Gulch. It's always a little less crowded than some of the other surrounding trails. You're tucked back a ways and have a ton of different options of where to go and can piece together all sorts of fun loops.

What is the most memorable day you've ever had on the bike?

The most memorable day on the bike for me is also out of Missoula. I was 19 years old. It was late spring and my roommate and I wanted to ride Sheep Mountain for the first time. We didn't think much about it. We had some breakfast, packed a few snacks and were off. After climbing for a while, we started running into a few downed trees and those "few downed trees" became A LOT of downed trees to the point where we are now just hiking with our bikes for hours. As we get higher, the weather starts to change and soon it's as if we are back in winter, slogging around in snow. We lost the trail and wandered around for far too long, all the while it's getting dark and threatening to rain. Finally we saw a group of people and they helped us get back on course and we started flying down hill. That lasted for about 5 minutes before it started pouring rain. Somehow we made it home safely and shared a very quiet and tired dinner. And that is how this city boy learned that weather on the top of mountains can be very different from the weather in town.