Faster Entry

My list when filling out a form for faster passport entry.

Late Night, With Fireplace

Working late into the night at the BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Team camp in Greenville, S.C., was a bit easier thanks to the lobby fireplace.

Dining With The Princesses

Scrambled eggs and toast were on the breakfast menu.
A rare weekday of dining twice with the princesses – breakfast with Julia, Olivia and Veronica at the house and later, dinner with everyone (plus Aunt Bridget and Uncle Jon) at Hollywood Diner.

Good times...

The girls – especially Julia (right) loved the good start.

Check out Veronica's clown sundae.

Veronica thought her coat and hat made a cute "person."

Julia got in on her own share of the clown sundae action.

Veronica put her mark on the freshly-fallen snow.

Cyclocross Nationals: The First Day

We took our officials crew picture before we left the hotel.
Verona, Wis. – Another quick entry, as the long days of officiating simply clash with my ability to get client work done.

So, in no particular order, here are the highlights (and lowlights) of the opening day of the USA Cycling national cyclocross championships:

- I broke the bell (the clapper flew off in mid-ring), which required an in-race fix-it job (photo at right.

- The venue is a park somewhere near our hotel. I'm not sure how far it is because (like all officiating crews do) we stopped for coffee on the way there.

- Parking is $5 or $15 for the duration of the event. No admission is charged. Team space is $200.

- It was cold in the morning when we first arrived, but warmed up nicely. But shortly after chief referee Carla Geyer shed one of her layers, the sun went behind the clouds, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.

- The pizza parlor we drove to in Madison was nice. It made up for the lunch of a single bean burrito (with nothing to drink because the burrito was $6 - the entire value of our meal voucher).

- Simply sitting or standing outside for eight hours sure takes its toll. I felt like I had been through a 10-round prize fight when we got back to the hotel.

- There were tons of Post Grape-Nuts cereal boxes at the team hotel. And they were giving it out (with milk) in the food tent as part of the sponsorship deal. I wonder how long it'll be before we grow tired of hearing about it. It's really a natural sponsorship, as is UnitedHealthcare (though we're waiting to hear the extent of involvement on that one).

This photo was shot before we lifted the plastic windshield
on the judges tent. The lap counter and bell were my responsibility.

Ice had to chipped off the finishing straight.

Readying the finish line truss – which shows off the new
major sponsors of USA Cycling (unveiled this week).

Photo for Julia. That's ice melt in the portalet reservoir.

Distributing radios was our first task once on-site.

Tom Schuler (left), my former boss at Team Type 1, is the
event director. It's always great to work with him. I have him
to thank for introducing me to the BMC Racing Team.

Dave Fowkes and Carla Geyer at the rider staging.

And here's what staging looks like moments before the start.

This guy, in the last race of the day, and to run his bike
the last kilometer or so after something on it broke.

A look at my paltry scoring sheet for the women's singlespeed.

Pizza for dinner. This wasn't mine. (I had pepperoni.)

So This Is Madison

Here's the view from my hotel window. Not exactly Denia.
I'm on the road again. This time for the USA Cycling national cyclocross championships. I don't know that I've been to Madison, Wis., before. But I am sure I will get to know it because I'm spending nearly a week here. Temperatures are expected to be cold, but not too cold (30s and 40s) and there's no snow in the forecast.

Hopefully I can keep the entries coming daily, as I did when I was officiating cyclocross nationals in 2009 in Bend, Ore. (See my gallery and report from that year here.)

The YD Christmas-turned-New Year's letter is going out today.

I threw the airport shuttle guy for a loop when my flight showed
up an hour early at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison.

Epic System Corp's Intergalatic Headquarters are in Madison.
Amazing campus and buildings. Read up on them here.

Yes, my room has a doorbell. (Insert your own joke
about it being the "room for handicapped.")

I'm not sure why my bags were tagged "priority" but I'll take it.

Here's the room I'll be sharing for six days. Good wifi (and free).

This is a big change. No black in my closet.

My roommate, Rich Weiss, showed me his scoring system.
He got his official's license in 1975. I was eight.

Each guest at the hotel gets these
directional sheets when they check in.

We had our first officials meeting tonight in the lobby.
That's chief referee Carla Geyer on the left.

The late Reggie White's jersey hangs in the sports bar
across the street from my hotel.

Heading Home

The Valencia airport has that "Up In The Air"
movie poster feel to it.
So I really botched it when it came to blogging nightly at the BMC Racing Team training camp. Blame the lack of photo possibilities. Or at least the lack of "fresh" photos – because food was still an option. Here's a smattering of pics from my final 24 hours in Denia.

Check out this stair-less escalator in the airport.

At the Madrid Airport, these signs tell you how much
of a walk you still have to go to get to your terminal/gates.

This cake looked delicious. I didn't have a piece, though.

Pizza and spaghetti for my last meal. Yum.

Soigneur Freddy Viaene took a photo for Danilo Wyss.

Check out the artistic trimming on these bushes.

Surprise From Olivia

Playing Catch-Up

Now this is food heaven. Friday night's dinner.
I'm a bit perturbed with Blogger and its new interface. It's old one was nothing to shout out. But enough about the issues that erased 10 minutes' worth of writing.

Today's entry focuses on food. I was able to enjoy a cheeseburger and fries Friday night after having my heart set on skipping that meal. Fortunately, I took a trip through the restaurant and discovered a veritable American meal right before my eyes. Yum.


Of the pictures above and below, can you tell
which two plates are mine from lunch Sunday?


Of course, the fingernails in one of the photos – and the shrimp – are a dead giveaway that that photo isn't one of my plates. Surprisingly, there was no rice for the taking for the first time since I arrived. (And believe me, I looked.) You'll see from the small photo at right that the offerings for dessert are pretty vast. Sundays are brunch days here at the hotel, complete with live music. It's a nice atmosphere. And it's only 30 Euro. (I guess that's a good deal if you like the food). Two more food pics and then I'll close the book on that topic (for now).

This was my dinner (and lunch) Saturday.

This was the birthday cake for Mathias Frank Friday.
A few odds and ends:

- Note to self: I need a new computer. My MacBook is about on its last legs. This one is from 2007. It's a workhorse, but yikes, it is sloooow.

- I made another trip to the Valencia airport this morning. I'm beginning to get used to that drive. And I got a few FourSquare check-ins in as well.

- The weather here is sunnier than yesterday, but not quite as warm. It's 63. Wednesday looks the best – with a high near 70.

- I watched a bit of the Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer ("football") game last night. Real Madrid scored 25 seconds into the match on the way to a 3-1 win. They love their soccer over here, as you might know. Like really, really love it. Like more than cycling. And that's a bit disappointing. But times change.

- Marcus Burghardt mentioned Princess Olivia in a tweet (shown below), which was really nice. I hope she likes it when she reviews her timeline.