This should really start on Wednesday, when I was due to leave Illinois for Vancouver on an 8pm flight out of Chicago. I was about 2.5-3hrs Southeast of Chicago in a little town called Peoria, and had hoped to get out of there sometime between noon and 15:00 so that I could duck into Lickton's and possibly Rich Ducar's new store on the way to the airport. Unfortunately I ended up getting really busy and didn't leave until 16:45. They're doing some major construction work in Peoria, so my usual conduit out of town was clogged and going nowhere. Time for some "exploratory driving" - but who has time for that? Well, thanks in equal part to Lady Luck and Hertz Neverlost, I found an alternate way to the freeway and only lost around 15-20min.
I was also behind the wheel of a brand new (<430mi when I got it) Volvo XC70. The allowed me to drive at ~120mph until I hit the Chicago suburbs, and I pulled into the Hertz lot at 18:45 (including a fuel stop) - not bad! Major props to the Neverlost system, and a big "You Suck!" to the Chicago airport signage - without my trusty GPS I'd never have made my flight.
Waited another 15 for the shuttle to the terminal, checked in, and was confronted with a HUGE lineup to get through airport security. I had about 50min before my flight was due to leave, so although I wasn't paniced I was a little concerned. Got through security okay, and hit my gate 10min before my flight was due to leave. Only the flight prior still hadn't left yet. With a little time to spare, I ran across the terminal to grab some food and came back to wait another hour before we finally boarded. Yay.
Another half hour or so was spent sitting at the gate while they fixed the autopilot system, and we were off just under 2 hours late. I got home at midnight (PST), caught up on some work email, nand hit the hay by 02:00.
Up at 07:00 to pack and get my shit together so I could be in Seattle (about a 3hr drive) to fly out at 14:35. The trip down was uneventful until I landed in Phoenix, and they temporarily lost my bike case. Turns out they threw it on the regular carousel, so after having an agent look for it and some calling around, I was sent back to my original carousel (where I picked up my luggage) to pick up my bike box. Hopped into a cab, gave the driver the address, and we were off.
Only he was brand new - not only to town, but also to Phoenix. He also refused to call dispatch for directions. I called DesertDude for directions, and we were back in action. Only he STILL didn't have a clue where he was going - but instead of calling dispatch or looking at a map, he called a buddy of his and they muddled around forever as he took wrong turn after wrong turn until I took over and made him drive where I demaned. He then proceeded to slow down to about 25mph so he could look at road signs. He wouldn't speed up, even when we were in between huge blocks and the only thing on either side was grass. Whatever - I finally got here.
I arrived just in time for dinner, where Paulo decided that I don't eat enough. WTF?! "I don't care - Khai has to eat at least two more tortillas" and he wandered off. Okay... so this is force-feeding camp. This is worse than the time I went to that anorexia camp... ;)
After dinner my new Yaqui arrived, and the guys had almost as much fun unpacking and building it as I did. It's truly a work of art. I know, I know... pics to follow.
Someone's alarm was going off at 05:20 this morning, and we were all up at 06:00 or so to eat and get ready to swim. These guys are serious - out of bed and straight to the table to consume massive quantities of food. Paulo came by, asked what I ate, and I sheepishly held up a banana. Not good enough. No excuses, either - 2 bowls of cereal. Flashback to bulimia camp.... ;)
DesertDude somehow managed to find us a beautiful 50m outdoor pool, asn SAC dutifully stood on deck barking orders to us. Apparently he's "not at all happy with my kick", so I spent the majority of the session doing kick sets, and working on a strong kick during my swim sets. I need bilateral work, too. No big surprise there.
Back from the pool, we settled down to eat again in the hour before the ride. I managed two slices of toast w/ PB&J, and Paulo seemed happy enough with that.
Some of the guys went off on a 3hr race pace ride, while I did an easy 2hr ride with Paulo and a couple of the girls. DAMN do I ever love my new bike!
Back home and eating again... (there's a trend here) and I'm now in the "wireless cafe" taking care of some email and posting, naturally.
More to follow...
<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
I was also behind the wheel of a brand new (<430mi when I got it) Volvo XC70. The allowed me to drive at ~120mph until I hit the Chicago suburbs, and I pulled into the Hertz lot at 18:45 (including a fuel stop) - not bad! Major props to the Neverlost system, and a big "You Suck!" to the Chicago airport signage - without my trusty GPS I'd never have made my flight.
Waited another 15 for the shuttle to the terminal, checked in, and was confronted with a HUGE lineup to get through airport security. I had about 50min before my flight was due to leave, so although I wasn't paniced I was a little concerned. Got through security okay, and hit my gate 10min before my flight was due to leave. Only the flight prior still hadn't left yet. With a little time to spare, I ran across the terminal to grab some food and came back to wait another hour before we finally boarded. Yay.
Another half hour or so was spent sitting at the gate while they fixed the autopilot system, and we were off just under 2 hours late. I got home at midnight (PST), caught up on some work email, nand hit the hay by 02:00.
Up at 07:00 to pack and get my shit together so I could be in Seattle (about a 3hr drive) to fly out at 14:35. The trip down was uneventful until I landed in Phoenix, and they temporarily lost my bike case. Turns out they threw it on the regular carousel, so after having an agent look for it and some calling around, I was sent back to my original carousel (where I picked up my luggage) to pick up my bike box. Hopped into a cab, gave the driver the address, and we were off.
Only he was brand new - not only to town, but also to Phoenix. He also refused to call dispatch for directions. I called DesertDude for directions, and we were back in action. Only he STILL didn't have a clue where he was going - but instead of calling dispatch or looking at a map, he called a buddy of his and they muddled around forever as he took wrong turn after wrong turn until I took over and made him drive where I demaned. He then proceeded to slow down to about 25mph so he could look at road signs. He wouldn't speed up, even when we were in between huge blocks and the only thing on either side was grass. Whatever - I finally got here.
I arrived just in time for dinner, where Paulo decided that I don't eat enough. WTF?! "I don't care - Khai has to eat at least two more tortillas" and he wandered off. Okay... so this is force-feeding camp. This is worse than the time I went to that anorexia camp... ;)
After dinner my new Yaqui arrived, and the guys had almost as much fun unpacking and building it as I did. It's truly a work of art. I know, I know... pics to follow.
Someone's alarm was going off at 05:20 this morning, and we were all up at 06:00 or so to eat and get ready to swim. These guys are serious - out of bed and straight to the table to consume massive quantities of food. Paulo came by, asked what I ate, and I sheepishly held up a banana. Not good enough. No excuses, either - 2 bowls of cereal. Flashback to bulimia camp.... ;)
DesertDude somehow managed to find us a beautiful 50m outdoor pool, asn SAC dutifully stood on deck barking orders to us. Apparently he's "not at all happy with my kick", so I spent the majority of the session doing kick sets, and working on a strong kick during my swim sets. I need bilateral work, too. No big surprise there.
Back from the pool, we settled down to eat again in the hour before the ride. I managed two slices of toast w/ PB&J, and Paulo seemed happy enough with that.
Some of the guys went off on a 3hr race pace ride, while I did an easy 2hr ride with Paulo and a couple of the girls. DAMN do I ever love my new bike!
Back home and eating again... (there's a trend here) and I'm now in the "wireless cafe" taking care of some email and posting, naturally.
More to follow...
<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
