From bad to worse.

Well, my flight from LA to Washington DC was delayed, just to add insult to injury. But it all went ok. Once in DC we had trolley races at 3 in the morning to pass the time. That was actually kind of fun. It's rare to see an empty airport, and rarer that you can bom around on a trolley and not get yelled at.

Trolley Racing!!!

My Friend Greg actually turned up early, and so we had a coffee and eventually stole his car and start off on the 45min drive to Warrenton. By the time we got there there was just enough time for me to build my bike and head out on a 3.5 hour ride. I actually felt fairly good on the bike, which is quite a surprise seeing as I hadn't slept at all that night and had only slept 5 hours in the plane from Australia to LA (ie: 5 hours total in a 38 hour trip). Of course the rest of the day I was fighting like hell to stay awake so that I could get to bed a usual time for here and get over jetlag ASAP.

My first ride left from Greg's Stunning Log cabin

Breakfast lunch and dinner all wrapped in one Apple Fritter... the biggest fritter I have ever seen.

The first couple days here were fairly warm, and although I have been wrapped up warm on the rides, everyone else has been in shorts (idiots!). As I type this right now however, it is snowing outside. Needless to say I am once again reminded of how much I miss my training partners in Tahlia and Luke, and obviously the entire group from Mooloolaba... my mind can't even get around the whole concept of having a nice relaxing coffee in Mooloolaba overlooking the ocean and the beach after a very sweaty few hours on the bike anymore... the snow and iced that part of my brain up.
I saw this on my frist ride in the US: hmmm... need we say more?

My new plan for the future: rob a bank and head back over to AUS for a couple weeks! Of course that will have to be after I get everything sorted here. During the flight the airlines managed to crack my frame, crack my rear wheel etc etc. It's all ok though, they are taking care of it. But still.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Now that I am over here, it's time to thank a few people. Thanks to Des for lending me the TT-get-around-Aus bike. Wendy for the BarBQs, Shuttles for the entertainment, Jeff for... well.. thanks for Lydell Syndrome Jeff! Thanks to Luke for the long rides, thanks to Tahlia for the endless training and the stupidest ride ideas I have even seen, and thanks for getting me out there and extending my rides. And last but certainly not least: Thanks to Shep. There's not really much you can say about Shep... a simple "thank you" is far from enough. The guy put up with, and put up 2 people for 3 months, he pours a mean rum'n'coke and there's not no way for me to extend my gratitude enough. Thank you!

Tahls and Sim on yet another long ride (Luke took the pic)