blog
How I Got Here: Living with Post-Acute Infection Syndrome
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I got here. Not just dealing with dysautonomia—autonomic dysfunction—related to post-acute infection syndrome (PAIS or Long COVID), but the road that led me to this place. In April Amanda and I flew to New York City for a week of...
Navigating Breck Epic and Leadville Week 2026
It’s Breck Epic week. A year ago, I was training hard to take a big swing at this event that we love. I was deep into a bigger build than ever, with my training volume up from Leadville the year before. I planned to race for six days and co-host the Breck Epic’s...
Breaking The Silence: Long COVID and Fighting Forward
This was a hard one to write. I didn’t intend to go dark for this long, but I’ve been offline — in the fight of my life, learning to live in a very different body. We entered June with audacious summer plans, a calendar full of races, river trips, and adventures....
The Life and Legacy of Stephen Leach
Stephen Michael Leach was no ordinary man. He lived on the edge, he swung for the fences, and he always encouraged those he loved to “Go for it.” And go for it he did. Steve was a river, desert and gym rat, who loved to move and made a mean turkey soup. Horse packing...
Our Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race – 2024
This blog will be a little different, consisting of a smorgasbord of writings, posts and thoughts on Leadville. This isn’t meant to provide a lot of details for riders thinking about doing the race, but rather represents a journal about our Leadville experience. It’s...
A Letter to My Daughter
Sport, like life, is hard. Sport can be so beautiful, so empowering and so elevating. Sport can also be so gut wrenching, so heartbreaking and so cruel. Our ride home from State last night was pretty quiet. I didn’t say much (not easy for me), but just sat with Kamiah...
Deflated at The Dead Swede
First Getting to Sheridan The Dead Swede is one of my favorite races of the year each season. It always takes place the first Saturday in June, on the same day as Unbound—the biggest and baddest gravel race in the world, a race that traverses the gravel roads, worlds...
Threading the Needle
My fellow coaches and mentors in the endurance and cycling coaching world give me a hard time for my love of spreadsheets and journals. I love putting pen to paper in the form of a journal. When meeting online or sitting down in person with an athlete for a mental...
A Bill Walton Tribute Ride
I was so saddened to learn about Bill Walton’s passing on Monday. Walton is a beloved legend at our house. As a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Bill was an icon and hero. My dad introduced me to him when I was young, always saying that Bill was the best...
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WNbL, michael








