Li & Erik!

 The duties of the volunteer assistant coach are varied and nebulous. One thing was clear, though. When word got out that Seawolves Li Djurestål and Erik Cruz planned to get married in Catalunya this past week, attendance at the event was clearly a job for the volunteer assistant coach! Especially as we're in the thick of it in Alaska, with fall dryland training going on and the annual Ski Swap this weekend, the other coaches couldn't get away to be in Barcelona for the weekend. Nobody needed to twist my arm to get me onto a plane to Catalunya. Trading out Anchorage's rainy gray weather for the Mediterranean sun seemed all right by me. 

Li & Erik

Erik & Li

I've never been cycling in Spain before. But it seems like wherever else I've gone in Europe and raved about the good riding in France or Italy or Germany, the locals always say, "No, you really need to go to Spain; that's really where the best drivers and the best riding is!"  So I finally got my chance to spend a couple of weeks riding in Catalunya. Girona was everything I'd heard it was, and more.

Just outside Girona. Great roads. Little traffic. Unhurried drivers.

Costa Brava.

Loads of well-paved farm roads near Olot.

Every hill and knoll in Catalunya has its castle. This is Madremanya.

There are plenty of good climbs.

There's good riding on Montserrat.

One of the very best things about being associated with the Seawolves is the chance to get to know and become friends with so many interesting and wonderful people who come through this program. Given the chance to be in Catalunya to hang out with this group for a few days, there was no way I was gonna miss it! Thank you, Li and Erik, for treating us to a week together that we'll never forget!

Seawolf skiers at Li and Erik's wedding in Catalunya: Me, Dom Unterberger, Nicole Mah, Charley Field, Alix Wells, Li Djurestål, Erik Cruz, Georgia Burgess, Chloe Margue, Austin Huneck, Didrik Nielssen, Mike Soetaert, and friend of the team Ryan Toney.

Here's wishing the best to the newlyweds, Li and Erik, and their happy future together!