New Track Bike!

A few weekends ago when I was off racing with the team, a man by the name of Patrick Kearney called my dad up out of the blue. He had a Bianchi track bike that he wished to donate to me so that I could use if for training purposes. He had been commuting on this track bike for the past eight years, but admitted he was just getting too old to keep using it.  He told my dad that he has been following my progress from the past year in the local newspaper where many of my results have been published, and wanted this track bike to go to a new home if it was the right size... 

Mr.Kearney lives in the neighboring town of Thetford VT. He is the uncle of Hannah Kearney, a fellow Norwich native, who won the gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver for moguls. He's probably the nicest man you will ever meet – he has a great sense of humor and knows his stuff when it comes to fixies. When I picked up the bike last Monday, he told me that he sees a similar drive in the way I am approaching my training and racing as he did in his niece Hannah when she was my age. How about that?! 

Here I am with Mr.Kearney and my new bike!
 He told me that any bike related photo must always be taken in front of the blue door of his house – it's a tradition. 

Anyways, I instantly fell in love with the bike, despite my fear of fixies. Mr.Kearney took me out on a spin on a nearby road so I could try the bike out. On this short ride, he told me about his experience with riding fixies, his singlespeed bike which he now uses to commute to work on, and the do's and don'ts of fixies.  He's an avid cyclist, who still commutes to work every day on his Surly Monk singlespeed! 

I am humbled to know that I have someone who was genuinely interested in what I've been doing, as well as someone who wishes to help me as I set out to gain more experience racing and learning the tricks and trades of the sport. Thanks, Mr.Kearney for your support!