Hi Bethel,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the support you guys have given me not only through this Olympics but also throughout my whole cycling career. Many of you have been instrumental in my early years supporting me and encouraging me solely because cycling was something I was passionate about. I did not yet have any race results to go on or any real reason to think that cycling was something I could make a career of. Without your early support, I do not think I would have made it to Tokyo.

Tokyo was a crazy whirlwind and I am still processing the experience. So much happened so quickly and it is hard to explain to others what that experience was like. There is one thing I am fully certain of though, and that is that the best part of my Olympic experience was getting notes from so many people—some of whom I know well and some of whom I have barely met. Knowing I had all of you behind me (no matter how I did in my race) and knowing so many of you watched my event means so much to me and that is what actually makes the experience special.

I know that these days I can rarely make it to Bethel and most of the time I am thousands of miles away but you guys continue to follow my racing and check in on me and I am so incredibly grateful. This is what the Bethel community is all about. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the cheers and I look forward to being able to see you all in the off season!

Leah