CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Earlier in 2012 I met a young Australian expat at the LTFS race in Minneapolis. When I met Eddy Roche on the Forrest Gump like school bus, it was clear we had a lot in common given our ambition in the sport and general outlook on life. Eddy was very generous in offering me the opportunity to visit his family home in Thousand Oaks, California should the opportunity present itself later in the year, which fortunately enough it did.

I packed up my belongings and headed North to the more commonly known Roche Hotel situated at the foothills of the Malibu Canyon Range. Their beautiful residence is located inside the gates of the Lake Sherwood Country Club, home to many famous celebrities including Brendan, Ruth, Emily, Eddy and Elouise. There were some other notables in the area including Brittney Spears, Pete Sampras, Jamie Foxx and Wayne Gretzky. But they weren’t very chatty! Tiger Woods also plays golf at the local course with some of his mates each year in a USPGA tour event. You can probably guess how excited I was to stay there!

I spent three weeks training with Eddy as I prepared for the Noosa Triathlon. It was ideal to have a training partner again and we set out each day to exhaust each other around arguably the best training environment I have seen. We were close to several swimming squads, including the famous Tower 26 squad at Santa Monica Beach. It was a real treat to hit the Pacific before dawn and watch the sunrise as we enjoyed the postcard views of the Santa Monica Pier to the North and the iconic Venice Beach to the South. There are also countless cycling loops to indulge in with multiple routes over the hills and down into the valleys on the other side of the coast. Eddy was a sensational tour guide, as were several of his regular training buddies including 5 x World Champion Terenzo Bozzone. I would like to give a big thank you to the Roche’s who took me in as one of their own and taught me a lot about the world we live in during the ever so casual dinner table discussions! I look forward to catching up with them at the next opportunity and I’m sure the world will meet them as they all pursue their careers!

My preparation for the Noosa Triathlon had been ideal and I was thankful for the change to my monotonous training program of the past five months. I felt like my fitness was at a high level and I was excited to fly home to my family and friends after a long season on the road. I spent my remaining days in the USA with my brother Kris in Newport Beach, which was a perfect way to end the trip! Before arriving at the Virgin Australia departure gate on Halloween we dined at the Outback Steakhouse to ensure my transition back to the “Land Down Under” was as smooth as possible. Winston, Shavonna and Kris were all there to wave goodbye which put the stamp on my first solo adventure around the world. 

Mitch's Pictures: 

Thousand Oaks, CA

Westlake Athletics Track

Malibu Beach from the Canyons

Aunty Sal's Jelly Slice at the Roche's

Lake Sherwood run loop

Newport Beach on my last night