My dear supporters,
If you're not on social media, I wanted to share the following debrief and appreciation with you.
I have wanted to conquer the entire Pacific Coast since I started seriously riding my bike in college. At first, I thought it would make a fun month-long trip. As I got into racing ultra-endurance, I thought I could cut that to two weeks. Then, when I saw Tyler Pearce’s record of 9 days, 14 hours, I made it my mission to clear that bar. With my eyes set on that goal, I started training in December 2025, banking hundreds of hours and thousands of miles, meticulously planning my stops along the route to get me under 9 days total.
In the last couple weeks of my training cycle, Dirty Dan raised the bar even higher, crushing the route in 6 days, 15 hours. I chose to elevate my vision even higher, revamping my plan to push even longer and faster than I ever have in my life. I stayed ahead of Dan’s time through Washington and Oregon and we were neck and neck coming into Eureka. Roadside hallucinations had other plans for me as I was operating on less than 8 hours of sleep over the first three days. My power started dipped to ¾ of what I needed to turn the wheels fast enough to keep record pace. After a couple of delirious near accidents on the Northern California coast, I decided I needed to put in a solid rest period, effectively ending my bid for the FKT.
I felt like a new human, averaging 250 mi/day over the last stretch from Monterey to the border, smashing Tyler’s time by almost two whole days and surpassing the initial goal of 6 months of training. I don’t think there’s any way that I would have put in an effort like this if I hadn’t set my sights toward the stretch goal. Dan has had my back the whole time and I’m glad to know him now and share route knowledge and stories as we are among a small, but tight community of big-time sickos who enjoy doing things like this. Thanks, brother! I’ll be back to give it another shot and I know what it takes to reach that bar next time!
There are not enough words to express my love and appreciation for anyone who has supported this irrational project, materially, emotionally or otherwise. I had over 70 people kick in to my fundraiser and countless others reach out to pump me up, both during training and while out there giving it everything on the road. Again, this was an unsupported attempt on paper, but would not be possible without everyone’s help.
Special thanks to my local partners, Bicycle Way of Life, Rolf Prima, Eugene GEARs, Sy’s Pizza, and Cascade Health. I’m so grateful that you all believed in me to represent you in this sport that I love so much. Dreams are made possible for me and others in our Eugene area community through the service that my partners provide.
A shoutout to my endlessly patient family who gives daddy the time he needs to grind away every week. My sweetheart even got to accompany me to both borders, taking slightly more efficient transportation to each end of the country. Smart move, MJ. Thanks to Grandpa Steve for hosting us at the finish line and thanks to Nanay for taking care of the kiddos on both ends of this trip.
I hope in some way that I’ve inspired my friends and family to continue to elevate their own vision for themselves. There is always a little bit more you can squeeze out, even when it feels like you are at the limit of your capacity to put up with pain and discomfort. Find your hidden gear and ride that baby up the steepest hills in your life. Empty the tank until there is nothing left to lose. I love you all
