Episode 166- Going Big and dealing with Setback with Serena Ronchi
Swiss pilot Serena Ronchi started flying in 2018. By chasing it maybe harder than anyone I’ve ever heard of, this past season Serena won the female XContest and flew OVER 10,000 kilometers in a single season! She quit her job as a teacher and went on an 8 month sabbatical to fly and spent over 3 months in the Sertão of Brazil. Serena takes us back to her time in Brazil learning about flying in a lot of wind, towing, figuring out the flats and having it all come together. Serena takes us through her journey to become a pilot, the addiction that set in, her dreams and hopes with flying and then the accident that brought it all to a sudden halt and the extraordinary and difficult road she’s undertaken to recover. When your dreams collide with reality the mind can be friend or foe, and attitude is everything. Come along for this wild and at times heartbreaking and yet inspiring ride. Topics we discuss on the show:* Flying the Sertao. For 3 months!* Flying in the wind, dealing with the stress* The Swiss League* The XContest win* SIV and Acro training* Figuring out the flats and overcoming stress* Assessing the risks* Goals post-accident* The accident- how it went down* Learning to walk* Flying again* Looking back at the accident- what caused it, what can we learn?* What Serena will change going forward* Getting confident again?* Advice to others who have had accidents- advice for the victim, advice for our communityMentioned in this show: Russ Ogden, Cross Country Magazine, Chrigel Maurer, XContest, Swiss League, AirDesign, Dominique Rohner