Trans-Atlantic Flights

Landing in Madrid – much warmer than Omaha.

Taking a trip "across the pond" is almost becoming an annual occurrence for me.

In 2008, I flew to London to work the Tour of Britain with Rock Racing. In 2009, it was the Tour of Ireland with Team Type 1. I didn't fly to Europe during the 2010 season, but I did make it to Canada for a pair of ProTour (now ProTeam) races. But here it is, still 2010, and I'm flying to Europe for an off-season training camp.

I was a bit rushed just getting out of Omaha, as I had coached an 11 a.m. basketball game at St. Peter and Paul that didn't have me home until around 12:45 p.m. and at the airport about a half-hour later. That meant not a lot of sitting around time before my flight boarded. But I did have enough time to notice the Auburn University women's volleyball team was on my flight. One of the players behind me (who is from Bulgaria) heard that my final destination was Spain and said she was jealous. She ended up sitting behind me and stretched her legs all over the empty seat next to me (pictured). The nice thing on that flight – and the the one across the Atlantic – was that no one was sitting next to me.

The flight from Omaha to Atlanta was a fast one. It seemed no where near the two hour and 14 minutes it was listed for – but that was just fine. On our approach, I looked out my window and saw the blimp over the stadium that was hosting the SEC championship game.

Once on board my Delta Airlines flight, I quickly figured out there would be no private TV (like I enjoyed on the flight back from Europe in 2009) and no wifi (free or otherwise). So getting a store check on the Nebraska-Oklahoma game) Big 12 Championships match-up was going to be difficult. But it was just a matter of asking the flight attendance, who actually asked me first what the score was of the SEC Championships game. When I told him I had to board late in the second quarter, he said he thought he could find out that socre – and the Husker score.

Sure enough, about the time they were turning on the cabin lights in preparation for landing, the flight attendant handed me a strip of paper with a bunch of scores typed out. Kind of like a ticker tape. On it was the Nebraska score: Oklahoma 20, Nebraska 17 in the fourth quarter. and that's what I had to live with for the next hour until I could log onto my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The tarmac personnel in Omaha were bundled.
Warmer temperatures in Spain awaited.

I had a seat right over the win on the 767.

If you could read this, you would see it is scores
from college football games during my flight.

The in-flight meal. Chicken was the main dish.

My boarding pass. Little did I know
that Iberia Airlines would be lose my bag for 24 hours.