We met when Nick was at Clemson and Anna was at UGA - both racing bikes in the Collegiate Cycling circuit - the SECCC(CCCCCC?) (the South Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference). Anna's UGA teammates had made friends with Nick - the poor D1 schools overcame their football differences through their strong shared experiences of paying our way through collegiate cycling and sharing 6 people + bikes to a room at the local Knight's Inn...or Best Western if you were FANCY like Clemson...

Even after graduating college, and after Anna had stopped racing bikes, we continued to keep in contact by hanging out at bike races over the years. But, the Hapeville Criterium in May of 2019 marks the day of reconnection. After Nick finished racing bikes that day, we chatted on the back of Nick's car, while his teammates packed up. Upon advising Nick that going back up to Roswell to eat would mean eating about 2-3 hours later, Nick suggested that we go across the street for dinner.

Not too long after the Hapeville criterium, Nick was back in Anna's neck of the woods (sort of) for another bike race. We decided to meet up for breakfast in Gainesville, GA - 50mi away from Anna's house, and 30mi away from Nick's race. After breakfast, we walked around town. There was a moment on a train car with a sign that said "no climbing" (we climbed)...but Nick lamented to his friends, Chris & Becca, over Mexican a few days later about not making a move. Anna was off to Europe for 3 weeks...

After Nick spent the summer sliding into Anna's DM's on Instagram while she was in Europe, Nick sent Anna another message on Instagram in November to compliment her on her black tie attire (at Sarai's wedding). He invited her to his Friendsgiving in Greenville happening a week later. With encouragement from Anna's friends, Ted and Stefania, she decided to go. She was nervous to show up being that one chick who drove from Atlanta for dinner...but when Ted and Anna debriefed the next day outside of indoor practice, it was clear the Friendsgiving had gone well.

The story is not a traditional one. There were were no "fans in the stands" or cliff side photos but a boy and a girl taking a walk through a park after a "filling" meal...ok maybe its a little traditional. Part I - Henry (Anna's dad) and I were painting when there was a pause, and we shared a few brief words about my plan for my future with Anna. No emotions happened (they definitely happened) and we went back to our activity. Part II - I was driving to Athens Twilight (Anna's favorite bike race) when I made the call to Amelia (Anna's sister) to again share my plan for the future with her younger sister. It wasn't an interview but it felt like the stakes were high, and I didn't want to fail. Some of the questions were hard to answer but in the end Amelia's excitement combined with some of the best advice about relationships gave me a "GO" for the next steps. Part III - Driving from the SECCC mountain bike season opener in Auburn, AL (see how much collegiate cycling stuff is in this story?) to the final destination of our story; it was then that I realized what was about to happen. Today was the day I was going to ask my best friend to go on a lifelong journey with me. I arrived at the Hapeville criterium and the first thing I noticed was that Anna was dressed absolutely stunningly. Who told her? How did she know? Why is she so pretty? It had to be Henry. He must have ruined the surprise...(he didn't). I did the bike race and now the slow grind of waiting for the perfect moment was on. The plan was laid out but we just had to get to the finish. Anna, my teammates, and I all went to dinner together at the same restaurant that Anna and I had visited the last time we were at this event. It had to be the longest dinner ever with the ring burning a hole in my pocket. We get done with dinner and everyone is walking back to their cars when I ask Anna if we can "go for walk". Anna asked if something was "wrong?" Panic... "No, my tummy just hurts," I said, trying to stay cool. Anna then tries to get others to join us on our walk. I look at my teammate (Andy) and with a "wink" we communicate clearly what the next few moments would be about. The group disperses and Anna & I go on our walk. Part IV - Around a corner and a few hundred feet into their walk, I spot the finish line—a bench in the middle of a grassy park. "Can we sit on the bench over there?" I ask. With a raised eyebrow and a clearly tired/frustrated tone, Anna replies, "If you want to sit, we can go home. You asked for a walk". With some more smooth talking I convince her to detour to the bench. We could reach out and touch the finish line, but another protest of the grass "ruining shoes" would not stop me from picking her up and setting her on the bench. Who would have thought that a cricket sitting next to Anna would then try to foil the plan one more time. After a small shift in positioning away from the cricket, I was on one knee and trying to recite the words I wrote out on a piece of paper many times before that night. "This wasn't a tummy walk!" were the first words out of her mouth, among many others before she finally said, "YES!" I slipped the ring on her finger and the rest is history.

The Hapeville Criterium is now a historic day for our relationship...lots of good things happen for us at the Hapeville Criterium! On this fateful day, Nick raced a particularly good race, and afterward, we went to dinner with a few of his teammates as planned - we had to return to the same restaurant as 1.5 years prior, this time as boyfriend/girlfriend! After a very long dinner outing, we walked back toward the parking lot, and Nick asked me, “Can we take a quick walk?” The way he asked the question made it sound HEAVY...I was racking my brain as to what I might have done or said wrong... I responded with, “Why?? Do we need to have a *Conversation* or something?” Nick replied, “No, I just need to settle my stomach a little!” Though I was still unconvinced, the "tummy walk" is a thing that happens every so often on account of Nick eating too much cheese, or me eating too much dessert. After spending a few minutes making him wipe & rinse off his sweaty hands, and inviting his teammate to walk with us (he didn't), we set off for a “tummy walk.” After about 100ft, I asked, "Can we please go home? I'm SO tired!" "Just a short walk! Hot lap!" Nick replied. After another several hundred feet through a parking lot, toward where the start/finish was set up just hours ago, Nick spotted a bench. "Let's go sit on the bench," he said. At this point, I was annoyed, "You said walk! That is a sit! We are walking! If we want to sit, we can just go home!" Nick insisted, "But I want to sit, for my tummy!" I looked toward the bench, and commented, "I don't want to get my shoes dirty going through the grass. It looks muddy." Having about enough of me at this point, Nick swiftly picked me up and set me down on the bench, only to have me sit like a gremlin - barely sitting, feet off the ground. At that moment a cricket tried to get frisky with me by crawling up my shorts. I yelled, but Nick still repositioned me to sit like a human. As I was about to make another comment, I noticed that he was on one knee, and pulling something out of his pocket, and suddenly saw the most beautiful ring in the most beautiful ring box, as he started with the words, "Anna, I..." I interrupted him with a half-teary, half-bewildered, "This isn't a tummy walk!!" With tears in our eyes, and massive smiles on our faces, Nick continued saying something very beautiful about how I lit a spark in his life two years prior, and wanting to grow that flame forever. I, being absolutely inadept at handling emotions interrupted with, "This is cheesy Nick!" (I loved it.) He said the words, "Will you marry me?" and after way too many seconds of me NOT handling my emotions, and making several other non-romantic comments, I said, "YES!" A couple more minutes of extending my hand and jerking it back away several times ended with absolute fits of giggles as the most beautiful ring was placed on my finger. Immediately I said, "What time is it in Great Britain??" My sister, Amelia, and her wife Kelsey were there at that time, and I had to tell them immediately. Nick said, "Call her!" to which I replied, "No, but what time is it there?? I can't math!" Nick said, "She said to call her no matter what time it was." This comment sent me into another rollercoaster of hugs, giggles, and tears as I realized that he had discussed this with my sister. I FaceTimed them immediately, at 4am GB time - squeals, giggles, and tears were abundant. I proudly shared the news with the rest of our loved ones the following day, and this is where our story leaves off... Stay tuned on April 15, 2023 for the next installment of our story!