Monday August 13th 2007 - Travel Day
Our day started off very early in the morning. We had to be up by 3:00 am, to be picked up at 4:00 am to be at the airport for 4:45 am- and our flight didn't even leave until 7:45am (I totally could have slept another hour if we didn't have to be at the airport 3 hours early.)
Since we had to be up so early for our flight, and our evil coach that made us practice on Sunday night - Neither Tyler, Alex, or myself got a lot of sleep - I think we got about 20 - 40 minutes each that night.
The airport was really busy for it being so early in the morning - thank goodness we were there early since we ended up standing in two different lines before we got to the right one to check in. First we were in the United airlines lane, because I thought I saw a Houston flight being checked in… Then Tyler said we were flying by Continental so we had to switch lanes… then we find out that Tyler did not have his chocolate milk in the morning and was reading us the wrong date of departures (he was looking at the times when we go home) so then we transferred to the air Canada lane which was being operated by United. ( Too much confusion for 5:00 am).
We then had to get through customs. Alex and I got through just fine, But then we had to wait 20 minutes for Tyler - it turns out that there were people that were about to miss their flight they cut in front of him in of the line, and Tyler just kept getting further and further behind. Next was the security check. Alex got stopped and the guards went through his bag - Apparently he had an extra set of wheels in his bag and the bearing looked odd in the x-ray thing, whereas I went through without any problems later to discover I left 2 torques keys in my bag and they didn't even notice. (Makes me wonder the accuracy of our screening process).
Now the rest of the day was a waiting game - we waited in line for food, we waited about two hours for our flight, waited to board, waited to sit on the plane, waited to take off and then waited to land. However, for the first flight I think all four of us (Tyler, Alex, Chris, and Myself) fell asleep right away on the plane from lack of sleep the night before.
Once we got into Houston, we had to find our next flight, and luckily we had a lot of time to find it (over 5 hours) since we had to take a train to get from Terminal A to Terminal E (Which were on the opposite ends of the airport). And since we had to change terminals we also had to go through security again… and the guards took my bottle of water!!! Stupid restrictions - I bought it in Calgary after that security, but apparently that wasn't good enough and they took my water away in Houston.
We had lunch at the airport at a 50's style diner, where the food was 50% grease and fat and the other was something that looked like beef and fries. The airplane food wasn't any better - Processed meat with processed cheese, on a stale bun heated up in a microwave (or something) in a plastic bag. I think between the restaurant and the airplane we got our toxin and transfat quota for the next 3 months!!!!
Landing in Columbia was really neat - you could see all of the lights from the city, which showcases the hills of the land. Once we got off the plane we were met by our translator and a security guard who took us to the front of the customs line and guided us to the airport; I was very thankful to have them there as I couldn't understand Spanish and was very confused as to what they wanted us to do. At one point, some other guards needed to look at our Baggage claim tickets and checked them with our bags just to make sure we were taking our bags and not someone else's (it's a really good idea - but I was a little nervous with all the military people around us).
We also had our own transportation from the airport to the hotel which was really great since the roads are a little confusing, and following the traffic signals is apparently optional.
We managed to get to our hotel safe and sound at 12:00 am on the 14th. The Hotel is really nice, a really bright yellow on the outside, and really cottage on the inside with very big and clean rooms. By the time we got checked in, discussed our schedule with our translator Victor, unpacked and got settled into our rooms it was about 2:30/3:00 am before we got to bed
The first day of our trip was very long, but very exciting two. Hopefully the rest of the trip will be good.
August 14th 2007 - Day 1 in Cali
We woke up at 10:00 and had breakfast in the little dining area outside out room - whenever you wake up the hotel makes breakfast for you, there is no time schedule here, which was really nice for the first day.
We went to the little grocery store which is kiddy corner to our hotel, and bought water, yogurt, fruit etc. just a little bit to tide us over until we are at the track all day long.
Today was also the day were all of team Canada were together.
We had practice at 7:30pm that night - but we had to leave by 5:30 to do something before we got on the track. We all thought we would be getting our ID badges, but that didn't happen.
By the time it was our time to get on the track, the sky's opened up and started to rain. We had to wait until it stopped and for the workers to squeegee off the excess water so we can skate on the track.
Young Alex was the very first person on the track that night after the rain - and to follow through with his track initiation he fell on his third lap and left part of his body behind - some nice road rash on his right thigh (apparently he slipped in some water which made him fall)
The facility is still under construction but they plan on having it all done up Friday night. When we were there they were building the stage for the opening ceremonies, putting up more bleachers and constructing the inside of the building where all of the offices and I think washrooms will be.
The track itself is very beautiful; it is one of the best tracks I have been on (not that I've been on a lot) it is very smooth and very fast. The banking is apparently higher than in Korea, but is definitely less than in Colorado, and is also parabolic. The whole team did very well during the practice and most of them played in a pack of about 50-60 skaters from Italy, France, Elsalvador etc. for the warm up. After that everyone seemed to be working on sprints and wow can those Italians move. It was a little intimidating being on the track they same time they were practicing relays and 300m time trials.
Once our time slot was over we headed back to the hotel in Taxi cabs - we did not have our translator or bus there today - we get it from tomorrow on. Chris and Peters Cab apparently got into a fight with a motor bike, which was a little scary, but everyone is okay. We all bought food at the grocery store and made dinner at the hotel in the kitchen (I think it is really nice that they are letting us use their kitchen while we are here).
Tyler and I made Quesada's, and Alex and Chris made some sandwiches. The rest of the team seemed to make pastas and sautéed mushrooms and some real gourmet dinners.
I was really tired so I went to sleep shortly after diner.
August 15, 2007 - Day 2 in Cali
Another early morning, we had a track practice scheduled today at 7:00 am, so our bus was here at 6:30. We got to the track and were the only ones there!!! It was really nice to have the track to ourselves until it started to rain and then the track got pretty slick.
The US team showed up at the track about 40 minutes after we did, and only did a few laps and left since it was hard to do anything in the rain.
It was really nice to see our friends from the US team and I am really looking forward to spending some more time with them during worlds to catch up with everyone
After the track practice we went back to the hotel for breakfast and a siesta - I actually had 3 hour nap and then got up and went out for lunch.
Our Translator, Victor, took us around Cali, to find a restaurant for lunch - we walked about 20 minutes until we found one we liked - it served traditional Columbia food - some sort of soup with corn, chicken, and Bananas; a tomato fruit juice; Rice, chicken, beat and onion salad, some dried Banana stuff; and then Guava for dessert. The dinner was very delicious (Tyler only liked the chicken) and it only cost us 5800 pesos which is about $4 Canadian.
As we were leaving the restaurant the sky's decided to open up again!!! We had to wait for the rain to calm down and then walk back to the hotel. Tyler was holding up his pants the whole time to make sure they didn't get wet. (they did anyways). Walking around Cali is a very interesting experience. There are sidewalks, but the are very uneven and sometimes vanish into the hill or the road and you have to fight for your life on the road with the cars.
The cars, people, motor bikes and buses all seem to have the same motto - keep moving and do not stop (maybe that's why the Columbian team is so fast). Traffic lights seem to be optional, everyone seems to have the right of way at the same time - it really is a miracle that we have not been in an accident or have seen one. The City is really hilly and some of the older cars cannot make it up the big hills and have to coast down it and find another way around!!! Going to and from the track is really like a free amusement park ride - it's kind of fun
The practice in the evening was on the road - the group did a warm up and then some sprints, and the Girls and I practiced our Relay. The road course is very smooth with tight corners - it is a very fast course and will make for some interesting racing.
As we were done our road practice the US team started their Track practice. It was really fascinating to see them warm up and practice together. They look like a very strong team again this year! We got to see a few sprints from the Men, but nothing all out yet - I'm getting very excited to see the racing in a few days!!!
Cheers
August 17, 2007
Things are really starting to happen around the facility, people are coming and going trying to do the finishing touches on the track, press building, and athlete complexes. The vendors are setting up their booths, waiting on shipments that are stuck in customs. The number of athletes that are warming up on the track seem to increase daily (today there had to be about 90 skaters on the track at one time!!!) and the level of security has really stepped up. Our bus has a motor bike that holds up traffic and gets us to the tack without delay or troubles, lately it has been two or three bikes; the US team apparently had 15 motor bikes at one time! The action is really starting to happen even the locals are getting excited waving to the athletes in their cars, wanting to take our pictures and radio and TV stations wanting to interview us. I was interview yesterday and it was broadcast on 70 different radio stations!!! Can you believe that - 70 - we don't even have one in all of Canada that would be interested in Inline Speed Skating not matter what event was taking place (now hockey…. That's a different story!). Alex was interviewed today - in fact we were just finishing our warm up and the media guy pulled on his arm to get an interview - they really want to talk to any and all of the athletes. The other thing with their media that took me by surprise is that Speed skating was on the front page of their news paper the other day, Team Canada had a huge section in one last week, and as we were passing by a sports bar at the mall across the track there was a station that was dedication to covering the World Champs! Inline Speed skating on TV… another thing you will never see in Canada.
We went for lunch today at the same restaurant as the other day. Again I was shocked at the amount of food you got for only $4.00 Canadian. Today was Pea soup to start (that was a meal on it's own), chicken, rice, veggies, and a smushed up and fried banana thing (it is really good), we also had rice pudding for dessert and a drink that tasted like Iced tea. Amazing!
As we were walking home we saw this huge iguana by a pond, his tail had to be at least a foot and a half to two feet in length! It ending up getting scared and darted into the water and man can those things swim.. he was lightning fast! (Maybe Team Canada can skate as fast as that iguana can swim one day!!!)
We also ran into our first semi scary experience on our walk home today.
There were three thuggish looking guys walking down the street and apparently they were talking about our cameras and how they wanted to steel from us (that's what our translator said). We started to walk a little faster just in case they were going to follow us. Nothing happened but it was a little intimidating - our translator said that if we were not in such a big group, they would have stopped and tried to rob us. Other than that little incident, everything has been very safe, and we treated very well; I think it has to do with being a country here for the World Championships.
The Columbians really take this sport seriously - kinda like Canada and hockey and brazil with soccer!
The opening ceremonies are tonight, everyone is getting very excited I can't wait to see the crowds and feel the energy from the fans, athletes, coaches, officials etc.
Update later tonight… or tomorrow depending on how tired I am.
Cheers
Due to a technical malfunction, Leah's computer died, this blog will not be updated until she gets back.