Arrival In Spain

The view from my corner room on the sixth floor of the NH Hotel in Bilbao, Spain.

Sunny skies and warm weather greeted me upon my arrival in Spain today. I'm hearing it won't stay like this for long. But for one day, it was pretty nice.

Dominik Nerz had this waiting for me. Very thoughtful.

I landed in Bilbao and immediately got to work catching up on the Tour of Flanders. Fewer than 70 kilometers remained. And fewer than 40 by the time I made it to my hotel. The BMC Racing Team bus was nearly full of riders and staff watching the race (in Flemish), so I opted to use Tether to stream it on my laptop in my room.

Things went fairly smoothly on the race report front. I wish the hotel Internet was better, but the hotel itself is awesome – save for not having a workout facility – and we will be here several nights.

The rest of my day was meeting with the riders, setting up some interviews for later this week, arranging to get a helmet so I can ride the BMC urbanchallenge UC01 (my helmet is on the other bus), and meeting as a staff to go over the game plan for Monday's opening stage.

On to the photos of my (super nice and well-lit) room:

Elegant pattern on the shower door thingy.

"Living room" area of my room. Very nice and airy, especially with the window open.

Not shown on the right: a foot washer with a cover.

This part of the bathroom is open in the hallway.

Check out the TV built into the wall directly across from the bed.

Mini-bar photo. Not very well stocked in comparison to some I have seen.

Best feature of the closet? The little lights. Very cool. The right side has a safe.

My room overlooks the BMC Racing Team vehicle compound.

Another view looking out from my room.

Nice bed. Let's hope it is soft.

Lots of color-coordinated amenities. But no slippers.

Arrival In Paris

The no-frills Air France lounge in Terminal G at Charles de Gaulle airport.

An Easter Sunday arrival in Paris meant a bit of downtime and, thankfully, there was an international lounge for my laptop and phone batteries to enjoy.

It really does say "Hop" on the side of the jet. How fitting on Easter.

How Is Your Bracket Doing?

None of us had Wichita State in the Final Four.

So, we are two games away from knowing which teams are headed to Atlanta for the Final Four.

Veronica, who has won our "March Madness" contest in two of the past four years, will not be winning for a third time. Olivia, Lauren and "Zahn" also have their championship pics out of the tournament. Julia and I are pinning our hopes on Louisville, while Emily has gone with Duke.

Here is how things shook out through Saturday's games:

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Back To Europe

Sunny skies (with a few clouds) for departure from Eppley Airfield.

"Working lunch" at Chili's.

So it's time to head back to Europe. Just one more trip after this one, so I hope the rain that is forecast for the entire week of Vuelta al País Vasco does not materialize. It's going to only make a hard race that much harder.


Just getting out of Omaha was a bit tricky. My Delta boarding pass for the third leg of my trip (Paris to Bilbao, Spain) printed three times for me. When the reservation agent tried to get the first two legs to print herself, it was the same: more boarding passes for the third leg. Eventually, she had eight of them (plus the three I printed). Twenty five minutes and four phone calls later, she finally got the missing boarding passes to print out. But she couldn't explain why I didn't get an upgrade on my first leg. Fortunately, the agent at the gate just told me to "sit in 3A" and voila, I was in first class.

Fluffy bed of clouds over Minneapolis.

There is still snow on the ground in Minneapolis. Ick.

Here is that boarding pass that kept printing out. I learned 1A is a good seat.

Finally, A Ride Outside

My view (looking north) along the trail in Council Bluffs.

Before Thursday, the last time I had ridden my BMC outside was Feb. 9. In other words, a long time ago. So getting outside to ride in 50-degree weather was quite a treat yesterday. And then, again today, in 60-degree temperatures.

It was a nice feeling, riding around and not having to haul about 25 extra pounds. And all that riding on the trainer this winter has gotten me in pretty good shape. In fact, on today's ride, I came across a bunch of teens who were riding casually along. There were about five or six in front, with another girl trailing about 50 meters behind them – and struggling.

I rode up on her and asked if she was with them. She said, "yes." I told her it was awful they left her behind and told her to stop pedaling. I grabbed her seat and started pushing her toward them. A few of them looked back and saw her coming as I pushed her straight through their group and into the lead. I'm guessing she felt like a million bucks and the star of the show. It was all quite fun.

Fun With Sidewalk Chalk

The girls left this nice message on Bridget and Jon's driveway.

This was an easy way to keep track of the score of the game.

A bit harder to read in the sun glare, but still nice.

Fun With Shari

Emily's friend, Shari (center), joined us for an afternoon at Aksarben Cinema.

And later, she and Emily helped Olivia drive the van out of the driveway.

My Youngest 'Tweeter'

I really love Veronica's Twitter avatar. She's such a cutie.

Birthday Party Sleepover

This was quite a haul. Veronica shows off what she got at a friend's birthday party.

Snow In Time Lapse, By Julia

Julia decided to do a time lapse of the weekend snowfall. Here's the first shot.

It was starting to get dark...

Then we had a problem with the reflection from indoors.

Totally dark now.

I shot this one for Julia. That's Olivia doing the shoveling in her pajamas.

Here is why Julia didn't shoot that last photo.

And here's the finished product of Olivia's shoveling – and the snowfall.

Fun At Runza

Check out Julia's "suspended sugar" packet magic trick.

It was just the four of us. Lauren and Emily were at the movies.

Five Races In One Day

This is how I monitor multiple races. Today, only two of the five were televised.

Fun With (A) Photo Booth

This is what happens close to midnight at Aksarben Cinema.

March Madness Is Back!

Bridget helped Veronica fill out her bracket. Julia seems to think hers is all correct.

Emily looks frazzled. She really wasn't.

It's that time of year again. Our annual tradition of filling out brackets for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It's an annual rite of spring that has brought about many surprises over the years.

It all started back in 2008. On March 20, 2008, to be precise. Veronica, as a two-year-old, took home top honors that year. Bracket time in 2009 was equally as fun, as I could barely get the defending champion's attention. 

And here's an entry from 2010. I don't seem to know who won that year, but judging by the Final Four picks, I had three teams still in the hunt.

So this time around, there was plenty of discussion and Olivia even filled out two brackets (the other one under the name "Zahn"). So we'll see how things work out in the end. So you can follow along, here are the summary picks for everyone. (Jon and Bridget also filled out brackets but I didn't know if they wanted their picks shared on here.)

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Julia didn't like me peeking at her picks.

Olivia was doing some research of her own.

Emily's Birthday Weekend ... In Minnesota

This was lunch at Taco Bell before heading back to Omaha.

Emily's 16th birthday was celebrated in style this weekend when we took a surprise trip to Mankato, Minn., to take in (what turned out to be) a pair of UNO hockey playoff games.

The trip turned out to be quite a blast, especially since UNO beat the "other" Mavericks on Saturday night, which made us decide to stay for the decisive game on Sunday night. Unfortunately, UNO couldn't pull out another win.

Here's one gallery of photos on Facebook. And here is another. And here are a few photos to share on this page:

We had terrific seats and a spectacular view from three rows up.

This is what the bathroom looked like after just a few hours.

We surprised Emily with a Maverick (or BMC Racing Team) themed cake.

Happy 16th Birthday Emily!

It would be easy to type out the memories I have of the day Emily was born. But it would take hours, if not days, to put into print all the memorable moments and events leading up to that day in March, back in 1997.

Somewhere – in print – is a play-by-play of nearly the entire 24 hours before she was born and the hours after. But the company that hosted the original YD Cafe blog suddenly went under, deep-sixing the files before I could archive them. What a shame.

Regardless, there are some photos here and there that I possess. Emily's baby photo (right) is one. I always thought she was a cute baby, but most certainly she is more adorable now. So rather than type out a bunch of prose here, let's just get straight to a few pictures that show her through the years. Unfortunately, the photos I have in hand only date back to when she was nine. But there are plenty on this blog, and my other one, which will help her revisit many moments from the past.

Notice the photo of Uncle Jon on her bedroom mirror.

Checking out her new braces.

This one is interesting, if only for her sisters pictured with her.
From left: Emily, Lauren, Julia and Olivia.

This one is from Christmas 2004, I believe.