a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gZCfqrWPI/AAAAAAAAAPA/NjDU3vNwMEc/s1600-h/stadium+3.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gZCfqrWPI/AAAAAAAAAPA/NjDU3vNwMEc/s320/stadium+3.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429116881446066418″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”view of stadiumbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gY7U7yt4I/AAAAAAAAAO4/Tqrvd2mM-kc/s1600-h/stadium+2.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gY7U7yt4I/AAAAAAAAAO4/Tqrvd2mM-kc/s320/stadium+2.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429116758305978242″ //adiv style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYyCk0kOI/AAAAAAAAAOw/qRGG2KPgJYE/s1600-h/sprint+practice.jpg”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYyCk0kOI/AAAAAAAAAOw/qRGG2KPgJYE/s320/sprint+practice.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429116598758969570″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Today is our fourth day in Germany and we have the day off so I figured it would be the best time to write an update. The internet here is pretty slow as more and more people arrive in the hotel and start sucking up the limited supply of service- so uploading photos could take several hours. I hear rumors that some of the boys upstairs are downloading movies…. which seems to be slowing down everyone. The last couple of nights I have sat underneath the internet box out in our hall while I talk to my mom on skype to avoid the 5 second delay in our talking. br //divdivbr //divdivThe last four days in Germany have brought many new things. I am finally starting to get on the sleeping schedule. I still seem to wake up pretty early- but when you try to be in bed by 9:30 that is still quality sleep. I am rooming with Kate Fitzgerald from APU, and she is quite the sleeper. This is her first trip to Europe so it is fun to watch her figure out the whole jetleg and all the changes a foreign country brings. She seems to be pretty damn experienced in my opinion! The most amazing part is she is able to take naps in the middle of the day and still sleep a full 9-10 hours every night!br //divdivbr //divdivThe last two days we have been driving up to the racing courses, which are about 25k away. The courses are really great. They are truly grinders. I would say there is maybe 200 yards of flat section on the entire course- and that is coming into the stadium. It sure does keep you on your toes though. There are 2, 3 and 3.75 km loops. All the courses open up with a big uphill and follow with continuous climbing and sharp downhill cornering. There is one point on the course that you actually feel like an alpine racer as you come ripping down some hill and it takes a sharp left at the same time you are trying to suck in the air that you receive from a little hump in the trail. Even though I have skied it about 15 times since I have been here it catches me by surprise every time. The sprint course is also really great. It has lots of hills and will benefit the strongest skier out there. Both courses the skiers with the motors are going to be dominating! Tomorrow we are planning on skiing the sprint courses hard together so we can see if there are any slingshot corners or technical areas that we should plan ahead for. /divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gWnmwwCgI/AAAAAAAAAOA/1eBpZLyw2d0/s1600-h/big+hill.jpg”img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gWnmwwCgI/AAAAAAAAAOA/1eBpZLyw2d0/s320/big+hill.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429114220470864386″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”One of the many huge climbs on the coursebr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”br //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gW2A1Q3kI/AAAAAAAAAOI/xBCaKGUUo0c/s1600-h/getting+skis+waxed.jpg”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gW2A1Q3kI/AAAAAAAAAOI/xBCaKGUUo0c/s320/getting+skis+waxed.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429114467987283522″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Getting a nice wax job from Randy Gibbs- Team USA wax techbr //divdivbr //divdivThe food here has been really great! Of all the four previous world junior trips I have been on- this is by far the best! All the meals are buffet style so we can actually pick what we want!/divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gXRT1XLFI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/jAE8T06bJaM/s1600-h/good+food.jpg”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gXRT1XLFI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/jAE8T06bJaM/s320/good+food.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429114936944438354″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Fruit options near the end of the buffetbr //divdivbr //divdivWe have been taking some trips into town during the daytime between workouts. The hotel we are staying at is just some pull-off on the side of the highway. There is actually a town name- but the only thing here is our hotel and a little gift shop that we have taken over and turned into our waxroom facilities. To avoid cabin fever we try to keep ourselves occupied during the day various ways. The first day we took a trip into the host town of Hinterzarten. Yesterday we ventured a few more kilometers down the road to a town called Titisee. Both towns are fairly small but all of them have not failed on a) a bakery b) a grocery store and c) a bank. That is enough to keep you entertained for a couple of hours. Today we are going to go on a longer trip and take the train into the larger city of Freiburg. My guess is there will be more options for shopping and more entertainment. /divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gXpP99ezI/AAAAAAAAAOY/Rgi7OxSspE0/s1600-h/hotel.jpg”img src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gXpP99ezI/AAAAAAAAAOY/Rgi7OxSspE0/s320/hotel.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429115348223621938″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Our wonderful Accommodations- Best Westernbr //divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYfqCS-cI/AAAAAAAAAOo/eXp8wbiWi7k/s1600-h/sadie+and+erik.JPG”img src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYfqCS-cI/AAAAAAAAAOo/eXp8wbiWi7k/s320/sadie+and+erik.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429116282934065602″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //adiv style=”text-align: center;”Erik and I soaking up some sun after a ski up at the venuebr //divdivbr //divdivAll of the last athletes arrived last night- so now we are a full team. Everyone is really excited and getting more and more pumped as we get closer to the races. We have some serious potential for some great results this year! The first races start on the 25th. Erik races the sprint on the 25th, the pursuit on the 29th and hopefully the relay on the 31st. I will be racing the sprint on the 26th, and the pursuit on the 30th. Unfortunately there is no relay for the u23’s. /divdivbr //divdiv- Thanks to Sverre Caldwell for many of these pictures. Click to enlarge the photos./divdivbr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYyCk0kOI/AAAAAAAAAOw/qRGG2KPgJYE/s1600-h/sprint+practice.jpg”br //a/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”Pursuit Exchange Practice- out of the pit first :)br //divdivbr //divdiva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYFEsapFI/AAAAAAAAAOg/DES8dkzGQ4s/s1600-h/pursuit+exchange.jpg”img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l4L_01UOs1s/S1gYFEsapFI/AAAAAAAAAOg/DES8dkzGQ4s/s320/pursuit+exchange.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429115826233582674″ style=”display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; ” //a/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2910103639238326543-8257094135614295595?l=methowolympicdevelopment.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
