So after a two and a half year tour in Morgantown, West-By-God-Virginia, it has come time for me to head on, for good, I'm not sure, but at least for a while. It has certainly been an interesting journey. I met hundreds of people during my time here from all over the country, and even from different places all over the world. Odd it seems that I had to come to West Virginia to meet people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Columbia, Argentina, Spain, Norway, South Africa, and England, yes quite odd indeed...and awesome.
I came to get a Master's in Engineering, but I really gained so much more on top of that. Of course, outside of school, my main influence was with the cycling and outdoor scene of Morgantown. There is such a solid community of cyclists and outdoor folks there, it made someone like myself feel very at home, and there was lots of adventure to be had.
I've had the pleasure of riding bikes with some super fast, and super awesome people, I made some great friends and learned a lot about riding on Thursday nights with Team Rowman, held on for dear life on the occasional Wednesday, suffered the cold on winter MonClub mtb rides and I raced and partied with the decade-long conference champion WVU cycling team.
I did some paddling, plenty of climbing, partying....yeah, and lots of snowboarding in the winters. I met an awesome girl who has showed me so much about the outdoors, life, love, travel, and of course...eating right! I've traveled, to Maine, Massachusetts, Georgia, PA, Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina, every corner of West Virginia, oh...and Ireland. I was a member of the Morgantown Municipal Bicycle Board, I broke my hand, I lost a camera, I broke a bike frame, I lived in three different apartments, learned how to properly build and work on bikes, found out about Canaan Valley, Toured the Cannondale plant in PA, climbed at the New River Gorge, raced the WVMBA series, upgraded to Expert, and learned how much fun trail building is.
I went to WVU football games, played paintball for Bachelor parties, spent quality times with old friends at the Lawson Hanger. I went to weddings, fry parties, night-time bike rides, Christmas night-time bike rides, election parties, backpacked Dolly Sods, managed to get in plenty of quality experiences with my brother, and always kept in touch and connected with my family.
Oh...and I worked hard, did well, and finished up a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering!
So, thank you so much to everyone who made my stay here so wonderful. Its amazing to think of how many great friends I made during my time here.Thanks again, keep in touch, and I'll see you soon!
