Two of my best friends, Keith and Catherine Walberg, are moving to Seattle. Catherine starts a new job early next week and Keith is going to stay around Topeka for a little while clearing up loose ends. I’ve known these two for close to a quarter century. They started riding bikes with me in the very early 90’s. The first time I saw them at a MTB race, they were wearing hiking boots, riding with toe clips. Since then, we’ve done some pretty incredible things together.
A lot of you know Catherine from racing. She started touring in college, then got into road riding, switched over to MTB racing in the 90’s, took up cyclocross for the Nationals in Kansas City in 2000, now does it all still. Keith mainly rides on the road in the summer and does cross in the winter. He’s also been testing the waters of long (200 mile) gravel road races. Plus, he travels around with us and makes pretty great videos of some of the more major races around the Midwest.
I’m flying out to Seattle this morning with Catherine to help her get sent up. I packed her road bike, plus a Ritchey Breakaway cross bike that she is going to use to commute to work. (I need to get some fenders to put on it.) If anyone has a good suggestions on where they should end up living permanently in the Seattle area, feel free to comment. She is working pretty much right at the Pike Street Market and is looking for a stress free commute to work, along with good places to train.
We had a going away party last Saturday night at our house. Mainly of our friends, that have known them for just as long me, came. It was nice. I’m sure that they’ll be back here in Topeka pretty often, so it really isn’t goodbye. But, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be missed. They are part of the tribe.
Here is a slide show of few photos from the last few years.