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| Yes, Maddie's hair is flying in the wind, but her smile captures the exuberance of the moment! (Forgive me?) |
Day 2: Thursday, October 15
Bike situation is beginning to look dire. I place a call to a helpful guy at American Airlines (not even Qantas!), who is able to actually track the route my luggage has taken to Oz (via LA, Brisbane, and then ADL). Unfortunately, it looks like the luggage only actually flew out from the US today, so Qantas has been lying to me.
Maddie's friend Hannah is kind enough to loan me her super sexy Specialied Crux (yes, a cross bike) to ride today. Luckily, she's around my size and the bike fits beautifully (she even uses my saddle!). Maddie and I go on a morning ride on the Western side of ADL along the beach path...
Activities:
Maddie's friend Hannah is kind enough to loan me her super sexy Specialied Crux (yes, a cross bike) to ride today. Luckily, she's around my size and the bike fits beautifully (she even uses my saddle!). Maddie and I go on a morning ride on the Western side of ADL along the beach path...
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| I want to steal this bike... |
Activities:
- Eat breakfast and plan to be at Hannah's around 10/10:30. She lives along coast of ADL near the Brighton neighborhood
- Hannah is a wonderful, warm person, and I'm not just saying that because she's helping me out! I borrow Maddie's kit (which fits a bit awkwardly on me) and her shoes (which weirdly fit quite snugly on me - her normal shoe size is larger! - we laughed at that), and am forced to wear my standard bra I arrived on plane in.
- Ride about 50k total, a 25k out-and-back along the most picturesque coast I've seen. Australian waters are deep blue and the beaches are bright and cheery. With Maddie's constant guidance I learn to bike on left side of road. I also learn that they wire their brakes opposite us over there, which makes for some fun on-the-fly brain exercises. Manage to open legs up a bit on a straightaway and feel enormously thankful for the opportunity.
- When I return to Hannah's I throw on my Tom's and head out for a run. Plan was tempo pace, but with the heat of the very hot day, plus the intense climbs completely surrounding Hannah's home, I feel like I'm crawling uphill both ways for just over 30 minutes. At least the legs are cranking out acid. I start to worry if I can handle the dry air of Oz during the race. I never thought I'd miss the humidity of Oklahoma...
- Maddie laughs at the mess I look when I return :P
- We head back down to Brighton to grab some fish and chips, and enjoy our lunch lazing on the sand of the beach and dipping our toes in the water
- Maddie recieves word from Qantas that my luggage has arrived in Adelaide! Unfortunately, it and my bike have been separated and my bike will be arriving later. They assure us they will drive the bags to us late when they are both in... whenever that is.
Official Race Events:
- After a shower, I throw on yet more of Maddie's clothing and we make our way back to the Intercontinental Hotel so that I can attend the TeamUSA group photo and then the Parade of Nations for all the duathletes. I finally get a chance to catch up with Kirsten and Jerianne and the rest of the USA athletes I know. I found out Kirsten's bike arrived broken (she's using the same case as me). The news makes me feel incredibly sad for her (a broken collarbone now this?) and a simultaneous case of mild panic about the state my bike will arrive in, if it does.
- Other TeamUSA athletes hear my story and come up with a backup plan to secure gear for me should my stuff not arrive by Saturday morning. I am extremely touched and eternally grateful to see such kindness from everyone. It's amazing to see how quickly all the USA athletes will band together for someone in need. There is a gentleman there who fixes carbon bikes for a living and apparently brought stuff with him to do a patch job. He offers to fix up Kirsten's bike in time for her to ride it on Sunday... We cross our fingers and hope for the best.
- The Parade of Nations doesn't have many spectators, which isn't too surprising, as I learned last night from the social that it seems most of Adelaide doesn't know there's a World Championship happening this weekend. Hopefully they'll figure it out when the streets are shut down all weekend ;)
- Food service for athletes at the Opening Ceremony and Pasta Party is worse than some airline food and served just the same. I am again given pasta with a few slivers of veg and they called it a day. Maddie attends with me and at least gets some protein in hers, although I really don't want chicken. At least there is food at home...
End-of-day:
- Back at home, watch Australian version of The Bachelorette with fam, and then an even weirder show where you watch people watching shows. It sounds completely bizarre, but was completely compelling and a total hoot. I would totally watch that show if it was on in the States. But I'd want their version - not our watered down stuff.
- Luggage finally arrives at 10:30 PM! Huzzah! Brought to us by a bogan (apparently, this is an Australian redneck), who didn't know what to make of my bike bag.
- Stayed up extra late to assemble my bike and make sure there were no damages (thankfully none, although my bike did find its way off the bottom skewer assembly just like Kirsten's - and hers arrived broken because of it). Prepped it for a morning ride tomorrow.
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