Some assembly required.
The magic of root beer floats and other unexpected lessons in putting the pieces together.
Mantra: Some Assembly Required
The last weekend of World Cup XCO racing for 2025 was fueled by root beer floats.
It all began the day after Lake Placid when my coach and I headed out for a ride. As I’m known to do, I underplayed the distance and elevation and focused my sales pitch on the fun part.
A few hours later, low on food and nearing the top of Whiteface Mountain, spirits were wavering. But I had an idea.
“Have you ever tried root beer?” I asked, remembering the A&W we’d passed at the base of the climb.
Plan made. We descended among the beautiful autumn leaves and sat in the sun with our all American root beer floats giddy like kids.
It was a simple joy - one that turned an ordinary training ride into something memorable.
And it turns out, they have A&W in Canada too. So naturally, introducing my foreign friends to root beer floats became a theme of the week.
After course practice, my friend Candice Lill and I rode into town to meet my coach Barry and mechanic Eric in town for some pre race motivation. We spun giddily downhill, dreaming of soft serve and fizzy sweetness.
But when we arrived, we were sorely disappointed. In addition to a rather unfriendly woman behind the counter, there was no root beer and no working ice cream machine. Maybe this was not meant to be.
Just as I was about to give up, I spotted a few bottled root beers on a nearby shelf. Okay. New plan.
We grabbed the bottles and set off in search of ice cream. A quick search yielded promising results and we found ourselves at a dairy bar, soft serve being swirled into large plastic cups.
We assembled our floats and sat outside in the sun, giddy not only from our treats, but from the impromptu adventure we had taken to reach our unimportant, but somehow deeply satisfying goal.
As I reflect on this season, and on my last World Cup weekend for a while, I’m reminded that there’s never just one way of putting things together. Life gives us the pieces: opportunities, challenges, moments of inspiration. But it’s up to us to assemble them into something meaningful, something that brings joy, growth, and connection.
We are the ones who get to decide the story - the challenge that sets us up for the comeback, the failure that led to success. It’s like a little dance with the universe, where sometimes we lead and sometimes we follow.
So the next time it feels like things aren’t coming together - when the root beer float store is out of both the root beer and the float - look for the chance to tell a new story.
The pieces are there…
Some assembly required.
Message: when in doubt, listen to Mary Oliver…
Musing: there is always a next chapter…
Are there parts in your life that don’t seem to fit yet… but might become part of a bigger story?
Sometimes life have all you need spread in several places...just need to have the strenght and will to find them....knowing that the result will be something great for you.....sweet.....tasty...full of joy...like that RB and the ice cream.....here in my country...we do it but with another very popular soda brand...we call it "Black Cow"....and one of this at the end of a ride...is just great......Congrats on your great season....hoping next one will be even greater....