I flew to Boulder in the fall of 2011 with two bikes, a backpack, and a duffle bag, seeking the hallowed training grounds and altitude that generations of pro cyclists had utilized. I didn’t know a single person when I got here, and had never visited Boulder, but as a nomadic bike racer, this sort of adventure was normal. Previously, I had lived in or spent time training in Tucson, Solvang, Park City, all throughout the Pacific Northwest, Belgium, and dozens of cities that the North American pro circuit travelled through. My sole focus was training and racing on my bike as hard as I could in order to make it onto a pro team. This had been my primary goal since I took up the sport of bike racing in 2006.
Eventually, I accomplished that goal and signed on with a Swedish team for the 2014 season. But like many amateur and tier three pro teams, it ended up being more talk than substance, and the team folded mid-season. I had just come off of my best year of racing the year before in 2013, and to have my dream pulled out from under me was a huge blow, as well as a reality check that nothing is certain in cycling and the goal of becoming pro wasn’t even that good of a goal to begin with since many of the amateur teams I had been on were better funded, more organized, and had better race programs than the tier-three pro team I ended up on in 2014.
I floundered for the rest of the 2014 season after coming back to the U.S., plagued with sickness and low spirits. That fall, Adelaide, who was my girlfriend at the time, was struck by a car while training and spent the next five days in a coma. Her face required 700 stitches, and every bone on the left side of it was shattered when she went through the driver’s side window.
Riding has never been the same for me, and the stress from the event sent my then undiagnosed autoimmune disorder into overdrive. I became a shadow of my former self throughout the 2015 bike racing season, and wondered if I would ever be strong again.
The travel that bike racing demanded had been a strain on my relationship with Adelaide, who I married at the beginning of 2015. Eventually, I decided that things had gotten so bad in life that I might as well call it quits, so I decided to become a triathlete.
Adelaide was a triathlete back then (and still is), and I had always thought of giving the sport a shot once my bike racing career was complete after winning stages in each Grand Tour. Although the curtain on bike racing career was drawn a decade earlier than planned, I signed up for my first triathlon in May of 2015.
I ended up winning the overall amateur division at Ironman 70.3 St. George a week after finishing a stage race in Arkansas, and took my pro license immediately. I did a few more bike races with my team that year and raced four 70.3s in the pro field, eventually realizing that I was not going to be as competitive as I initially thought.
Late that year in September, I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroid disorder, with a TSH of greater than 150. The extremely high numbers showed that I had been struggling with this disorder for a long time, and it helped explain the frequent ups and downs in fitness that I experienced in the past decade, my tendency to spend many months of the years sick, and the brain fog and sleep problems that I’d been dealing with in the last few years.
I was prescribed hypothyroid medication, which took about half a year to get me back to baseline—a baseline that I had probably not known since high school. While part of me wishes that I had continued bike racing after being properly medicated to see what I was capable of when healthy, I don’t actually regret my decision to stick with triathlon throughout that next year. After 10 years as a bike racer, I fully switched over to triathlon in 2016 and have been steadily making progress in all three disciplines of the sport. I’ve had the pleasure of standing on the podium half a dozen times in the last few years, though have yet to take the top step, which remains an obvious goal of mine.
The latest life-changing (sort of) event that took place was breaking my neck in 2019 a few days after Kona. What was supposed to be one last dip in the water before heading to the airport for home, ended up being a four month long period of recovery—the longest I’ve ever taken off the bike. Luckily, I didn’t suffer a spinal cord injury, and should make a full recovery. 2020 will be the year of the comeback. *Edited August 2020 (HA!)*
I live in Boulder, Colorado with my wife, Adelaide, and my dog, Maybellene.
KENNETT PETERSON 
Good and exciting writing, Kennett. I’m following you as you write and ride.
Grandma
I’m following you with great interest, Kennett!
Kennett:
Your skills are awesome, your persistence is beyond compare and your dreams are clearer than the NorthPole Star.
It’s been great to watch you visualize your dreams and doing something about it.
I am currently reading ‘What The Bleep Do We know;’ it’s abook that might make good sense to you at this stage.
Europe is the place I sharpened my teeth on when young, and all the things you learn there will fit into the puzzle as you continue riding and writing.
Each race you bike this summer will, perhaps, leave the proverbial ‘foreign object’ that, proberly nurtured will, one day be ‘the pearl in your oyser.’
Your poem, by the way is great.
Thanks for listening, young man.
:)Kurt
P.S. My youngest son, Ian, just visited Barcelona this summer and he siad it was a neat city for young people.
Thanks Kurt!
Hi, I see you are looking for temporary housing in April. Are you offering anything for rent? I have room attached to garage with its own bath and separate entrance. Bike bath right in front of house. Cable TV, full size bed, a inflatable air mattress. Shed to look up bikes. If interested you can email me. K.overcash@att.net
I like your poem, Kennett. Hoping to hear more from and about you.
You should update this!
I look up Kennettron5000 every day and am disappointed when there is nothing from you. I wonder if your Grandma Paula and I, are the only two people who read your every blog. I know your Dad doesn’t and I am not sure about your Mom. I have a hunch brother Galen does if he has time during his college studies and work. I do wonder if you think more about food then bicycle riding. I really enjoyed reading about your team mates. Love and good racing this season. Grandma Carol
I’ll get another one out shortly. I haven’t had a lot of ideas to write on except about training, and I assume most people don’t want to hear about that. Plus I spent so long on that last one trying to get the photos in there and the right size, and then my computer crashed and didn’t save it so I had to do a large part of it over so I got fed up with wordpress for a few days.
Praying for you now.
Hi Kennett. What a fantastic blog! This is such a refreshingly different perspective than most self-serving tri blogs. Your writing is witty and entertaining! You and Adelaide seem like such humble and fun people! I wish you both the best and hope her recovery is going well!
Hi Kennett – great blog!
Do you create content for other cycling based blogs?
Drop me an email :)
I’ve seen you post a few times on Facebook, and I for whatever reason have never made the click to check things out on your blog. I see your writing as solid and inspirational! I look forward to diving into more of your pieces. Your style reminds me a bit of Jon Krakauer. Keep it up guy!
Thanks for the compliment Alice. Krakauer is one of my favorites!
I am an amateur cyclists but hoping to compete in more endurance challenges and cyclocross races next year. I was just diagnosed with Hashimoto’s too. Which totally explains all the ups and downs I’ve experienced in training. I found your blog and I am very interested to see how a cyclists copes with this autoimmune disease. I’m going to try the autoimmune protocol diet and see if that helps.
Hi Rachel, sorry for the long delay in response. Just saw your comment now. I would experiment with diet and other things, but the medication is the most important part of the puzzle. So stay in close communication with your doctor over this next year and go in for tests frequently.
Thanks. I have been on medication for a few months now. My numbers are great and it is making a HUGE difference. I am able to recover so much better and fully now. My energy is up! I will have periodic retesting with my endocrinologist. I am currently training for the Dirty Kanza and hoping for a good year of cycling.
Awesome I’m happy to hear that! And good luck at Kanaza.