Nothing to Declare

Day: 316
Denver, Colorado USA to Krakow, Poland
Time: Too long
Distance: Too far

We left Denver yesterday at 10:30 am. Leslie’s family put together the going away caravan and shuttled us out to the airport. DIA was a breeze except for the liquids I forgot I had in my bag. The TSA people were nice and just took a look at them and let me on through security. You would think I had never done that before. We got to the ticket counter early and the United clerk was kind enough to bump us up to economy plus for free all the way to Munich. I always can use an extra couple of inches for my legs. We switched planes in Washington DC and flew through the night to Munich. I couldn’t sleep so I caught up on my movies. We landed in Munich 7:30 am local time and tracked down a little breakfast and coffee. Those thoughtful Germans had free coffee stations all over the place to help us get a little more caffeinated. After a three hour layover we boarded our last leg to Krakow. The flight was a little rough and the landing was a two hopper. It didn’t seem that windy, but if I were flying it I would have crashed and burned so I can’t complain. After landing and waiting for our luggage I learned my first Polish phrase: Moj bagaz zostal zagubiony. It translates to ‘my luggage has been lost’. Yes, for the first time on our trip we became detached from our luggage. The office for lost baggage had a very helpful lady working who took our information and promptly figured out where our luggage was. Our bags zigged when we zagged in Washington DC. They are supposed to be on a flight to Frankfurt and then on to Krakow tonight. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We did luck out and arrived in Krakow with a change of clothes, a desire for a little adventure and just in time to catch a professional bicycle race in the town square. We hung out there most of the evening watching a crit around the cobbles. We caught three wrecks in the corner we were in. One guy took a little while to get up and get moving. The others bounced up and headed back to the vans. I can’t imagine sliding across cobbles at 30 kph feels too good. I think I would have bailed as well.
We are looking forward to seeing our bikes and bags soon. Hopefully the airlines share our feelings.
CK

Loops

Day: 229
Ft. Collins to Ft. Collins
Time: 1:35

We did a figure 8 of sorts this morning on our singlespeeds. The trail was packed with runners and walkers, but we were some of the only cyclists enjoying the crisp spring morning. We tackled a hill during our ride that provides us with challenges galore on our geared bikes. Riding it on our singlespeeds proved to be even more challenging having to grind up an over the rocks and roots while having your lungs hanging out. We finished up the ride by 10:30 and made it back in time to run down Denver to sell Leslie’s road bike. There was a little sadness as she let go of her baby, but she did find solace in the fact that the bike went to ‘bike’ people. They commute by bike and only have one car between them. They were fun to talk to and the deal was quickly closed. We jumped back in the car and returned to Ft. Collins to catch the main event of the day.
Ft. Collins started a criterium or ‘crit’ for short that goes down on Sunday nights. Tonight was the first night, and the competitors and crowd were a buzz with excitement. The event is being used as a fundraiser to help fund a velodrome in the Ft. Collins area. Currently the only velodrome in Colorado is located at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The first heats were straight up sprints around the oval at CSU. The races lasted from 1 lap for the 7-12 year old open division to 10 laps for the 18+ licensed road racer division. The second heats took on more of a track racing feel with a Danish format implemented to help riders enter the ‘pain cave’ a little faster. The winner of each lap got to drop out of the race and was awarded a prize. This gave the first 3 laps a lot of clout as the racers went all out to get the prize. What was the prize you ask? It was a can of Coke and a sandwich from a local deli. It is amazing how little motivation it takes people to get after it like that. I could do another musical blog by printing the lyrics to ‘Pretty, Pretty Pain Cave’ by Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World fame, but I won’t. The race series attempts to parallel another track race called 6 day races. The local series lasts 6 Sundays, but the track 6 day races take place on 6 consecutive days. Check out this Wikipedia link to give the race details; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-day_racing. It used to be 1 man per team and that guy would try and get as many laps in as possible in 6 days. Due to it being outlawed in several states from racers dying of exhaustion it now incorporates 2 man team who take turns racing throughout each day. They are still held in Europe and I think they hold the occasional one in the eastern US. All in all it was a fun day riding bikes, selling bikes, meeting bike people and watching bike racing.
CK