Nebraska and Colorado Springs

Thursday, July 28

Ran a bunch of errands this morning. Tried to get a replacement Thule bag, with no luck. I have decided to just strap a huge 35 gallon Rubbermaid container to my roof…we will see how this works out! At least it is water proof…but certainly not as well secured as the bag was…may have a good story about it flying off the roof at some point! Got my oil changed, etc. I am about to head out mountain biking with a guy I met at the XTERRA Midwest Championships…some sweet single track trails just outside of Colorado Springs. Been SO busy, sorry haven’t had time to post more pics…not sure when I will have the time to do it. I am off tomorrow, whitewater rafting the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas River, and then to Crested Butte to crash in a hostel and then pre-ride the race course for my Sunday race. Not sure when I will have access to internet again…may be a while!

Wednesday, July 27

Long day of driving for me. Luckily I had picked up a book CD at a Cracker Barrel. It was supposed to be a 9+ hour drive to Colorado Springs, so I decided that there would be NO stopping unless I was refilling. 4 hours in it was time to refuel, took advantage of this break to make myself some PB&J sandwiches on my rear bumper (which got me several strange looks at the gas station). Hit the road again, with the cruise control set at 80 mph the whole time (speed limit 75…gotta love it)! Before I knew it, I saw the beautiful Rockies emerging in the background. This was quite a beautiful site…and a beautiful day…wow! Since I was a little early, I had some free time…and was able to get a massage scheduled at a local massage school. It sure felt good b/c my legs were still tight from the Milwaukee race (and back from driving). Dropped by a little local coffee shop…where I had an interesting experience. This guy (with a soft, high pitched voice) sat down on the couch next to the one I was on...and tried to engage in conversation with me (which wasn't possible b/c I was focused on updating my blog). It seemed kinda weird, and I didn't know what to do...but then they left...but his friend came back in and said "My friend thinks you're cute." At this point, I have no idea what to do, and I am sure I have a pretty funny look on my face. He then says "Oh, you are straight?" I was like "YES" (I mean, isn't that the norm these days?!?!). Welcome to Colorado Springs! Met up with Martha and Adam, where they showed me to my own private little house/cabin…pretty sweet set-up they have here!

Tuesday, July 26

I woke up and decided it would be a nice day to go to work. I headed over to the Sports Center with Jason and taught a few hours of soccer to 10-12 years olds at camp…pretty fun! After camp I hit the gym at the complex, then went out for a bike ride (rode a few time trials around a 4 mile lake). Jason was still working, so I decided to lift again…different muscle groups. I have to take advantage of this gym b/c I don’t get one often on my trip! We were trying to decide what to do for the night when Becky’s friend Kelly called and convinced us to go up to Dave & Busters (it was new to Omaha, so they were all excited about it). Personally, I was still trying to convince everyone to head to a cornfield with some beer and party like Nebraskans do! No luck. Dave and Busters was fun. BUT, the real fun started when we were on the way home and started talking about Becky’s 1970 Trans Am. Got her to show it to me…the convinced her to start it up…next thing you know we were riding around Omaha like some real rednecks. Picture this: Black Trans Am with gold eagle on the hood, windows down (couldn’t convince her to take off the T-tops), country music blasting from the speakers, and corn fields flying by. I truly felt like I was in the Midwest…and it was great!

Monday, July 25

Grabbed a quick breakfast in Madison and headed west to Nebraska. Long day of driving…little late getting on the road b/c I was very tired from the race yesterday. I got into Omaha (I am now half way across the country…OH BABY!) around 6:30pm and met up with Jason at the Sports Center (soccer complex where he works). We kicked the soccer ball around for a while…as he evaluated a new soccer coach in the program. I miss soccer, fun sport! We then met up with his girlfriend Becky and went out to a cool brewery right down the street where his brother worked. They had great beer on tap, and good pizzas. Hung out with the crew all night…good times.