My Continuing Travels

So I have been bad... I have made a promise to myself to start updating all of you on my travels. Since Beijing last August I have had the fortune of making it to Huatulco, Mexico; Gaishorn, Austria; Tongyeong and Busan, Korea; Madrid, Spain and now Kitzbuhel, Austria. Not to forget Washington DC, Des Moines, Iowa and least of all, Cleveland, Ohio:)

So I write from a McDonalds in Kitzbuhel, Austria at noon on a Saturday. It is raining outside and even snowing up on the mountain and it's... well... miserable. I arrived in Austria on July 8th for the Kitzbuhel World Championship Series Event. A very quite town indeed and famed for the downhill ski event called the Hannehkamn. My fellow skiers, you can't even imagine this downhill. Wicked steep. In the summer just a quite little mountain town at 800m (roughly 2400 ft) with some of the close surrounding peaks reaching 2000m. The flatlander athletes feel the altitute but I am invinsible:) Thanks COS. So, the athlets competed last weekend, men on Saturday and women on Sunday. Staff and most athlets headed out Monday back to the states but myself, the bike mechanic and two athletes stayed on for a little training until heading out for another event in Germany the 25th/26th. So I am here with Hayley Peirsol (name familiar- brother is world record holder in the 100 and 200 backstroke) and Jarrod Shoemaker (one of our 2008 Olympic team members). Training has been good although the weather at times uncooperative. My computer is about to die so more to come later...