In Memory

My Grandfather, E. Kalin Hill, passed away in the early hours of Friday September 5, 2008. He was a veteran of World War II and was 84 years old. He is one of my greatest heros for many reasons, and he was someone that our family will miss greatly. He is survived by my grandmother, and they were married for over 62 years.

Pappy was born the 8th of 19 children in the Hill family. He was drafted for service in WWII, and while in Europe he trained with and was accepted into the First Special Service Force - one of the most dangerous and capable group of soldiers that fought in WWII. They were the precursors of the Green Berets and have been memorialized in books and movies.

Pappy, as he was known to us, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this Spring and he knew that it would kill him. He was incredibly brave, and he told us that he was ready to go and had no regrets. He was able to move through the end of his life on his own terms at home. Last week I had a feeling that I had to get home soon, and on Wednesday I made a reservation to fly home on Thursday. I arrived at Grandma and Pappy's home at around 1am on Friday morning. Pappy had seemingly waited for me, though he hadn't talked with anyone since Tuesday, my mother and Grandma had told him that I was coming home to see him.

As I sat in the jet in early July I talked with Pappy, as I wasn't sure that I was going to get a chance to see him again. He told me not to worry about him, that he would be around when I got home. We had gone home to visit him at the end of May and I really didn't think that I would see him again. Fortunately he kept his word, and about 30-minutes after I arrived last week Pappy passed away. I only hope that Pappy didn't suffer waiting for me to arrive. My sisters and I all spoke at his funeral, and I was barely able to make it through my comments. Below are the words that I spoke to remember him:

My Grandfather - Emil Kalin Hill, or Pappy as he was affectionately known to us, was a hero of our country and a hero to our family. He came from a very big family – one of 19 Hill children. With a family that big, you’d have to do something pretty special to stand out and it’s evident that he did based on the loss that his brothers and sisters are enduring now and the amount of love that they had for him. He was a great man, and it is how he handled himself over his lifetime that made him so. Much of what made me and others around him love and respect Pappy so much came not from the stories that I’m going to talk about now, but because of the way he carried himself and how he led by example throughout the community. Much of what you’re going to hear was recounted to our family only a few months ago when Pappy found out he had cancer. He told us that he was ready to go and be with the Lord and that he had fought enough in his life. He was comfortable with everything that had happened in his life and had no regrets.

Some said that he was a lucky man, and I don’t think that I would disagree. I would also add, though, that Pappy would have agreed with the statement that the harder you work, the luckier you get – and Pappy did work hard. He was lucky enough to have married my Grandma over 62 years ago and he worked hard to support my mom and Grandma throughout his life as a husband and father. As a young man, his name came up in the draft for WWII and he served his country with pride. He was never one to shirk responsibility, and he served his country like many others of his generation – the Greatest Generation.
As a soldier, he didn’t stick with the standard stuff, though, and he volunteered for one of the most intense and dangerous military units that the world had ever seen. The First Special Service Force was a joint US and Canadian force that fought throughout the European theater, and its members were known to be rough, tough, proficient, fiercely loyal and dedicated soldiers. They were some of the first covert special operations troops in modern history and they have been portrayed in books and movies and were the forerunners of the Green Berets. This group had special weapons made for them, including the V42 fighting knife, which Pappy kept proudly as a reminder of his service.
Pappy never talked much about the war for a very long time…as war is not something that one wants to remember much – especially from the kinds of fighting that he was involved with. In 1984, on the 40th anniversary of WWII, he and Grandma went to visit places in Europe that he had fought during a WWII anniversary tour. They saw several countries that he had helped liberate including Italy and France. They were welcomed as the heroes they were, and many towns have monuments to the heroism that Pappy and others displayed in helping to defeat our collective enemies. The president of Italy and the Pope were among those who expressed their thanks to Pappy and the other men of the force who were there on that trip.
When we found out that Pappy had cancer this Spring, he finally told us a lot about his time in the service including some of his better memories of his time in the Service. He told us of the training that he endured and the difficult test that he had to pass in order to join the FSSF. I will always remember the poster that hangs in the basement – it is a picture of a Black Devil, as they were known.
On a lighter note, Pappy talked about getting some extra days off during combat…kind of by mistake. Though he’s always been a Christian, his name – Emil Kalin Hill has occasionally been confused as being a Jewish name. One of his commanding officers assumed that Pappy was Jewish, and so on the major Jewish holidays Pappy and one of his fellow soldiers who was actually Jewish would get the day off and when near a synagogue Pappy would drop off his buddy to do his praying while Pappy grabbed a beer at the local bar. He might have been a good soldier and someone who risked himself for others – but we wasn’t a dummy. The commanding officer never asked him if he was Jewish…and he wasn’t going to give up a day of R&R and a beer if he didn’t need to. I would say that this might be the first version of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”…that allowed Pappy a slightly easier passage through a tough time.
After the war, Pappy worked as a trainer for the US Army boxing team. He still has his order signed by General Weed detailing his position with the team. When he spoke of this time, his eye’s really twinkled.
After WWII officially ended, Pappy had to wait a little while to come home. Then finally in December of 1945 Pappy decided that he had waited long enough and it was time to come home. He survived the 11 day journey by boat back to the US – something that he thought he’d never do as he got so sick on the way over that he said he wouldn’t have minded if his boat ride to Europe was the last that he ever took – fortunately for all of us he was brave enough to sail home though it made him sick as a dog. Once back on US soil, he took trains, buses, and finally make his way back home late on Christmas eve to see my mom. He even managed to get a haircut before getting to the house to see mom and Grandma…as Pappy always liked to look nice, no matter the circumstances.
Pappy went to work after he got back to the US, and eventually ended up working for the paper mill like lots of folks here in Lock Haven. When Pappy got word that the mill was shutting down, he was offered a position with Penn DOT. The problem was that the position required a high school diploma or GED. Since he never got to graduate from high school because of work and the war, Pappy had to get his GED to get the job. He was one of the oldest people to earn his GED, and also had one of the highest scores on the test - providing again an example of stepping up to responsibility and doing what needed to get done. He worked for Penn DOT and retired when I was young. He and Grandma always took us grandkids up to their trailer near Cross Forks. For me, those weeks make up some of the best fun that I had as a kid: fishing, hiking, boating, swimming, and exploring the outdoor world. Pappy taught me a lot about fishing, hunting, and the outdoors around Cross Forks and Bush Dam. I never got a really good chance to say “thank you” for that Pappy – so I am now: Thank you!
Pappy’s Army company motto was – "The Worst is Yet to Come", but I’ve decided that I want to use something to pay tribute to him…and remember Pappy for all the good that he gave his family and friends. For me, the phrase that I’m going to use is “The Best is Yet to Come” and I know that for Pappy now and for all of us, this really in true. Pappy, we love you and will miss you. The Best is Yet to Come.

Back Home

The Olympic games of 2008 have come and gone...and I've finally arrived home. It's been an incredibly summer filled with great experiences, lessons, and friendships. Taylor had the best showing by an American in the individual pursuit since Steve Hegg won in 1984 with his 7th place. He beat several previous Olympic medalists and rode 2 out of 3 possible rides. He is already looking toward London in 2012, but is enjoying a break for now. Here are some final shots for Beijing. Enjoy!

Olympi-mania

Beijing is crazy right now - lots going on with the games. Inside the venues not all of the seats are taken, and outside the gated areas there are a lot of people who want to get inside...but don't have access because they don't have tickets to the events. It seems like a weired catch-22 situation that there are empty seats, but lots of people who want the tickets to those seats, but the tickets are all sold out. Not sure how that happens...but there it is.

I got to have dinner, kind of, with Taylor last night and that was fantastic. There was a dinner sponsored by Dow Chemical company that sponsors the USA Cycling Team, and Taylor and several other members of the US track cycling team were there. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sit at a table with Taylor, as he was encouraged to sit at one of the tables for folks from the company that be able to meet with them. It was good to have some time with him though, and we could see that all was well. The Olympics are challenging for many athletes and their coaches, because if you are not one of the national team coaches with Olympic credentials (and there are only a few of those per sport), then you don't have much access to the athletes or facilities where they are doing their final training sessions.

We last saw Taylor on Thursday when he left the bus headed for the Olympic Village. We've stayed in contact by email, texts, and some phone calls. I will be heading to the Olympic Village on a day-pass on Friday morning...which will be cool. Taylor applied for the passes for Davis, Connie, and I last Saturday...and we're just now getting access. Me on Friday and Davis on Saturday. Connie was supposed to go today, but it didn't work out for some reason. Lots of hoops to jump through, always.

I'd like to thank Hamilton Gregg, a friend of a friend, who set me up with a room to stay for the first few days in Beijing. I am now at the same hotel as the rest of the Phinney clan and their family and friends. Yesterday (Tuesday) we got to see some syncronized diving, where the Chinese pair swept up the gold. They were clearly head and shoulders above the rest. Then we had the dinner, and after dinner we had tickets to swimming prelims. Our driver was a mess and didn't go the right way so we had to walk extra far to get to the venue, and then walk even more to get through security screening. We got there just in time to the watch the men's 4 X 200 meter relay finish with the US team setting an Olympic record. Today, that team crushed the world record by about 5 seconds - that's massive! Phelps is still on track for his golden feat...which is crazy to think about.

Today was spent going to the White Pagoda near the Forbidden City and Tian'amen Square. There were some pretty incredible shrines in Beihai Park. Then we went to eat pizza at Hutong Pizza in HouHai...thanks for the recommendation Bruce! Then, I headed over to a spot to meet up with another coach for a little while near the beach volleyball venue, as someone from our group had tickets. I spent a little too much time talking, and by the time I headed to beach volleyball they had gone...and I didn't get the tickets before I left. Bummer...but now I've got it on TV and am able to get another post up and download the pics from my camera. Enjoy! It's less than 2 days until Taylor races...and all things are good. We're starting to get excited...as it's almost here. Enjoy the pics...

Let the Games Begin!

Last night I watched the opening ceremonies live on TV at a friend's place of my Beijing host for the first few days, Hamilton. The girlfriend of Hamilton's friend is Korean, and several of her relatives were there, Hamilton is also from the US as were two others, and then there was a girl from China there as well. We ate great Korean food, some of which was cooked right in front of us as we ate, and watched everything on TV. It was very impressive...though I couldn't understand of the Chinese broadcast, everyone did translate some of the story that was being told. The broadcast didn't end until just after midnight, so it made for a long day...but it was great to know that the Olympics had gotten off to a start without a hitch. I saw Taylor and Mike Friedman walk by on the TV broadcast - they both looked really excited, and Taylor looked really young...sometimes it's kind of easy to forget that he just turned 18 a few weeks ago.

Today, on Saturday morning, we got up and walked out to the Olympic cycling road race course that passed through downtown. We wanted to get out to the finishing circuits, but there was no simple public transportation to get there and it was nearly 60km away. We decided to watch the race go by a corner near the Lama Temple. We watched some of the oldest cheerleaders do a routine as we waited, and then finally saw the racers fly by. There were two riders about a minute ahead of the peloton, and we were only about 10K into the race. I didn't see Stevic, but I yelled out for him anyhow. He did finish today in 67th place...well done in a tough race Ivan!

After the road race went by, we went to lunch at a small restaurant located in a siheyon in a local hutong. It was food from an area in Southern of China and was fabulous. Then I got a text from Connie, who said she had some tickets for gymnastics and maybe swimming. We took a taxi to the Olympic area near the Bird's Nest, where the Opening Ceremonies were last night. It was incredibly huge - and we had to walk a bit to find the place to meet with her to get the tickets. We finally met up, and went straight into the National Indoor Stadium to see some gymnastics. It ended up being a rotation of the men's teams (China, Russia, Canada, France, Japan, and a mixed team). They were doing compulsory routines in all of the events used to seed the individual events and also the team competition. It was pretty impressive...and the cheers for the Chinese athletes was definitely the loudest.

Then we went straight to the Water Cube to watch some swimming. There were preliminaries for the men's 400 IM, women's 100 fly, men's 400 free, women's 400 IM, men's 100 breaststroke, and womens 4 X 100M relay. Michael Phelps set an Olympic record in the 400IM, and an athlete from Norway set a new Olympic record in the breakstroke. It was quite cool all in all. The facilities are remarkable...very impressive! Check out the photos below. Enjoy - I am!

Technial Difficulties

Yeah, yeah, I know that I haven't updated my blog in over a week..BUT my hard drive died not long after we left Paris, so I've been unconnected from the internet for the most part. Fortunately during that time Jane, Abby, and Renee were with me in Bordeaux and we got to see some cool places and spend some much needed time together. During that time, Taylor hit some excellent workouts and hit some PR times in training. Everything is going along very, very well with Taylor's prep for Beijing. The weather was pretty good most of the time, and we even got in a trip to the beach, which was nice. The traffic to get there was a little bit of a nightmare, but fortunately didn't delay the trip too long. We went to Arcachon, just south of Bordeaux. It was nice and hot that day, and my back got completely cooked. Taylor's friend, Gabe, also came along with the 4 of us...making for a fun trip. On Saturday we went to the old Mediaval town of St. Emillion (great wines come from there, by the way) and then had our final supper together until I return in August. On Sunday morning I took the girls to the Bordeaux train station as they started the long trek home (TGV train from Bordeaux to Paris; flight from Paris to Reykjavic, Iceland; change planes then fly to Minneapolis; stay overnight in hotel in MN; and then finally fly home to Denver, and then finally home - or in Jane's case right to work. Though it was a long trip home for them, they might it without too many hassles. I'm jealous of Jane now, as she's sleeping in our bed...while I'm on the road for another two weeks. I have to give lots of credit to Jane for taking care of Abby (and Renee) this whole time - thanks Love! For now, it's off to Beijing!

Vive Le Tour!

Howdy sports fans. Welcome to Paris, site of the finish of the Tour de France. On Saturday morning, I took a TGV (tres grande vitesse = very great speed) train from Bordeaux to Paris to meet Jane, Renee, and Abby at the airport in France. I got there around 12:15 and the girls arrived just at 1pm. They were a bit tired, as none of them had slept very well on the way. We got their luggage and then took various trains to downtown Paris, and then walked a few blocks to our hotel. The hotel rooms in Europe are usually small, and the Hotel Astor was no different. We all showered and then went to dinner with Taylor's friend Gabe Kennedy, who had also just arrived. Initially, we had planned on having Taylor come up to Paris, but our plans had changed along the way and he had an important workout to do on Saturday at the velodrom in Bordeaux, so he and Connie stayed there.

Sunday was the finish of the Tour on the Champs Elysees, and we had some breakfast and then relaxed a little before heading toward the finish area. We were lucky to have some media passes that gave us great access. I had to meet up with a couple of folks while we were there, and got all of the work done while enjoying the finish. We stood at the place de la Concorde for the first 3 laps (of 8), and then walked down to 100 meters before the finish - and just in front of the Versus TV truck. Yes, we saw Frankie Andreu, Bob Roll, Phil Ligget, and Paul Sherwin there. The finish was fast, and Geert Steegemans of the Quick Step team won. We watched as the riders returned toward the team trucks. Some looked happy, some thrashed, and others in between. It was overall a pretty amazing day. I had carried a GPS (a sweet Garmin 705, no less) throughout the day...and by nightfall after dinner we had walked just over 20-miles in total! Attached is a picture of Abby "driving" the Garmin-Chipotle team bus...she was pretty jazzed!

Out of Africa...and into France!

Ancient Medieval Ruins from 9th Century


Awesome Church


Another old church


Our home for the next week!

Greetings from a fantastic old castle outside of Bordeaux, France! We arrived late on Sunday night and have been enjoying the beautiful surroundings and great weather for the past 2 days. Taylor took the day off on Monday while Connie and I explored a bit. We rode to the medieval town of St. Emillion, clocking in about 85 kilometers on small, winding roads. It was a great change from the urban, and sometimes scary, surroundings in Cape Town. We also went to the Bordeaux velodrome today just for a look around...it is beautiful, and looks quite fast. The New Zealand team was there doing some Olympic preparation rides. Taylor already did his specific Olympic simulation in LA, so now we can just focus on appropriate and specific workouts to focus on Beijing. I'm excited to see my family this weekend, as the girls get in on Saturday. We'll stay in Paris a couple of days, and will be seeing the Tour de France finish on Sunday...should be awesome! Here are some shots from the place where we're staying and also from the ride. Many of the older buildings in these shots are from the 9th-12th century. Bon soir!

Time Trial Podium!

Yesterday Taylor completed likely his final junior cycling race in his relatively short junior racing career. He was the defending champion in the time trial, which he won last August in Mexico, but he wasn't necessarily the hands down favorite. First, he has been focussing on the individual pursuit as the Olympics are now less than 4 weeks away. Second, there is a very good Polish rider who has won every Junior nation's cup event that he has entered this year. The pressure was definitely on, but Taylor was focussed on riding his best. Last year, Taylor had some advantages in that the worlds TT race was held at altitude and didn't have extreme travel required. This year, he was racing at sea level and most of the European riders were in their own time zone.
Taylor was the last rider to start, with the number one on his back. We knew that the Polish rider who started just ahead of Taylor was the one to watch. Taylor rode extremely well, and in the early stages the two of them looked to be on even time...maybe a second or two separating them in the early miles. At the end of lap 1, Taylor was about 5 seconds behind. He was on a good pace, though, and if he could keep the pace on the second lap then he might be in the medals. The course was relentless with ups and downs and fairly strong winds to contend with. Taylor was able to use his "super-tuck" position only 3 times during the race. The super-tuck is used when he can no longer pedal any faster...which is more common in junior races, as they are all gear restricted to a 52 X 14 gear at the largest. On those downhill sections where the super-tuck was in use, Taylor was peaking out at 75km per hour - nearly 50 miles per hour!

In the second lap, one of the time splits showed a difference of about 11 seconds. Taylor said that when he passed the 4K to go sign he said "oh crap" to himself, as he knows how bad a 4K effort can feel...and he was going to go for it. Taylor rode well through the final hills and actually pulled back a couple of seconds to finish just 8 seconds behind the Polish rider at the finish. Unfortunately, there was a strong ride put up a German rider in an earlier wave and he ended up a little less than 3 seconds ahead of Taylor. The good news, though, was that Taylor had earned the Bronze medal....an excellent result that we're all very proud of! Today we have a day to relax and pack up, and then it's off to Bordeaux at 7am tomorrow! For now, au revoir to Cape Town, South Africa.

Waiting Game

Well sports fans, tomorrow is the next big day - the 2008 UCI Junior Time Trial world championship race. Since I last checked in, Taylor competed in the points race on the track and then we hung out for a couple of days preparing for the time trial. In the points race, Taylor crushed his qualifying heat...taking a lap on the field and winning at least one of the sprints. In the final, though, the outcome was a little different. Taylor was definitely a marked rider, and didn't have any friends on the track. The points race is very tactical, and several other riders took advantage of every opportunity. Fortunately, though, it was a safe race and was good training for the time trial for Taylor.





The rain and wind came back on Tuesday and we spent the day relaxing and then watched the movie "Blood Diamond". It's a really intense flick, and had a couple of scenes that took place in Cape Town, South Africa. After the movie I caught up on some work and ended up staying up until about 3am. At 4am, I woke up to the sound of screetching car tires and gun shots. Unfortunately a police officer was shot and killed while trying to apprehend a robber about a block away from our hotel. We have been careful here, and haven't strayed out at night - and this provided a blast of reality that confirmed that we have been doing the right thing. It's amazing to me to see both the incredible wealth and the incredible poverty all mixed next to one another here. There are shanty towns with thousands living in terrible conditions right across from a shop that sells Lamboughini's and Ferrari's.





Now, it is the night before the TT and we are relaxing. Taylor is looking to defend the world title that he earned last year - he will be the final rider leaving and will know what's going on. It's a rolling course with some challenging uphills, steep downhills (perfect for his supertuck), and likely some wind. Here's hoping for a good day! Stay tuned for the results tomorrow....

Ups and Downs

There are good days, like Saturday, and then there are other ones. As I'm checking through my emails getting ready for bed I got one that was hard to read. I began coaching Jamie Whitmore in November of 2006 and helped her through last season. She won the US Professsional XTERRA circuit, won the USA Championships and set a course record in early October, and then took 3rd at the XTERRA World Championships in late October last year. During the race she was suffering from some hamstring cramping on the bike. Unfortunately, the cramping was related to a tumor that was discovered several months later. Jamie is one of the strongest and most tenacious athletes that I've had the pleasure to work with, and my thoughts go out to her. You can read more at her website at: http://www.jamiewhitmore.com/ Please send your good thoughts to Jamie. All of this makes me realize how important it is to live every day to it's fullest - enjoy everything that you do, and take nothing for granted.

Golden Boy!

Yesterday Taylor earned the gold medal in the junior men's 3K individual pursuit at the 2008 UCI Jr. World Champs in Cape Town, South Africa. It had been a little tense, with everyone expecting Taylor to do what he did...but he dealt with the pressure well and came through in the clutch. He's a stud! On a cold track, he did a 3:20.2 in qualifying - putting up the best time by 2.5 seconds to an Australian rider. In the final, he rode his race...and in the end it put him nearly 4 seconds up at the finish...an excellent way to kick things off!

Another US rider, Colleen Hayduk of Pennsylvania, won bronze in the women's scratch race...the simplest track race to understand - a group of riders begin together and the first one across the line at the end of a predetermined number of laps wins. The US junior team is definitely off to a good start.

The downside of winning of an event means that you automatically need to go to doping control. So the first order of business is to start drinking lots of water after you finish. Then you get to do the awards presentation, and then go with the doping chaperone to the waiting room. There is an intricate series of steps that occur during the doping tests, but the basic idea is that you pee into a previously sealed bottle and then you pour your pee into two other identically numbered bottled that are analyzed for illegal stuff. The entire process can take an hour or even two, depending on the number of riders, hydration status, etc. Taylor was not only the fastest on the track last night, but he was also the fastest through the doping control process...the officials congratulated him on that!

We celebrated back at the hotel a little bit, and then got a good night of sleep. Today was a day to relax and enjoy the nicer weather. It got all the way up to about 65 degrees...the warmest day yet. They say that tomorrow could reach 70 - I'll believe it when I feel it! Taylor did have some media requests today, and was interviewed by South African channel SuperSport. The guys interviewing him is a former professional cyclist himself and a nice guy. Taylor and I rode with him after lunch for about 90-minutes. We rode much of the same route that we did on Thursday, but omitted the opening climb and instead rode around the waterfront which was good.

This evening, Taylor stayed in the hotel and relaxed while I went with the rest of the US riders to watch the races - no US racers had events tonight. While at the track we got the schedule for Monday which includes Taylor's points race. He'll be doing a qualifying round in the late afternoon...and then if all goes well the final round will be in the evening. Taylor has done some points races, but not on an international scale. We'll be hoping for a fast race to keep the pure sprinters at bay. Here's hoping for more good racing tomorrow! Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday Abby!

Happy Birthday Abby!

Today is my daughter Abby's 2nd birthday! It's very hard to be away, but we did get to celebrate her birthday on July 4th and also again on the 6th before I left. As I mentioned in an earlier post I got Abby a sweet new Specialized Hotwalk for her birthday.

A really lucky thing also happened on Friday July 4th. We took Abby to a fun kid's bike parade in downtown Boulder to celebrate the 4th and Abby's birthday. Jane's brother Michael came down from Evergreen to hang out with us, and without either Jane or I knowing about it he signed Abby up for a raffle to win a new bike. When the announcer called out the name "Abby", I thought...wow, some other lucky Abby just won a new bike. Instead, Michael ran up to the folks running the raffle and surprised us by asking us to go get Abby. Here are some shots with Abby and her other new bike - it probably will be a year until she's big enough for it, but thanks again to University Bikes! Abby's already got a nice fleet of bikes: Radio Flyer scooter, Specialized Hot Walk and Hot Rock, and a Giant Trike...almost as many bikes as dad's got.

Across the World

Greetings from South Africa! Today is Wednesday July 9, 2008 - 2:15 pm local time in Cape Town. I left Boulder on Monday afternoon, departing from DIA (special thanks to Marcus) a little late, then switching planes in Dulles, then onto Frankfurt where I met up with Taylor, and then finally on for the final 12-hour flight from Frankfurt to Cape Town. We're now in our hotel and are just killing some time and trying to stay awake to keep our body clocks on track.
This first picture above is from the airline lounge in Frankfurt...Taylor is trying to catch up a little bit on the internet. We saw the start of the Tour TT stage...but didn't find out the results until this morning at breakfast.

Unfortunately, my flight out of DIA was delayed nearly two hours and that made the connection in Dulles tight. So tight, in fact, that I literally ran from my arrival gate to the departure gate for the Frankfurt leg. We arrived at 9:50pm and my flight was supposed to depart at 9:54...fortunately the plane hadn't left and I got on board without issue. Unfortunately, though, my luggage didn't make it on board. We actually sat at the gate in Dulles for another 30-minutes before we left, so I thought that would have given them enough time to transfer the luggage - but I guess it didn't happen like that.

I arrived in Frankfurt about the same time as Taylor did, who was coming in from Venice. We had enough time to eat some german fare and then shower/change before the 12-hour flight from Frankfurt to Cape Town. We were styled out in an Airbus 340-600 which is a huge plane. The second picture above is me in the bed position of my seat - I got almost 6 hours of sleep on the way...pretty sweet!

We arrived into Cape Town at 5am and waited for our luggage. Taylor's stuff had made it (his road bike, a case with rollers, and his normal bag) but none of mine made it...which includes Taylor's TT and pursuit bikes, my bike, and my bag with clothes. Yeah - I get another day in the same clothes! Luckily I did have 3 outfits in my carry-on when I left on Monday.

It's cold and raining here in Cape Town. They've been having a lot of rain for several days, but they say it's going to break by the weekend...maybe even tomorrow. We stopped by the track to check things out...it's cold concrete, and many have said bumpy. Originally we were going to build up Taylor's track bike and let him ride a little just to get a feel for it, but instead we just looked around. Colleen Hayduk from PA who is on the US team was there with her dad, and the New Zealand team were the only folks at the track at 7:30am. After our the track scouting mission we went to breakfast and then stopped in a bike shop by the track.

The bike shop is owned by the Willamse family, who happens to be good friends of Allan Wolhuter a native South Africaner who is friends with the Phinney's and who works at Wheatridge Cyclery. It was cool to have a little connection here so far from home. Even more ironic was the fact that the Willamse family is heading to Las Vegas this afternoon for a vacation!

After Taylor had a picture taken with the bike staff (he definitely gets the start treatment in bike shops), we drove to our hotel - The Cape Milner Hotel. On the way, we saw some rainbows - I took them as a good premonition for the trip (pics below). With that...I'll sign off for the today. You can drop me a line with any questions at apexcoaching@comcast.net I'll try to answer as I get time.

Bon Voyage!

Three days until I ship out - and Taylor is currently in Italy with his family. Kelsey was already in Italy after a biathlon (XC skiing and shooting) camp in Lake Placid, NY and then on to sailing camp in England before flying into Italy. Connie, Taylor, and Davis departed Boulder yesterday afternoon for Italy and arrived today. They'll be spending a few days in Marostica, the town that they lived in for 3 years. They're attending a family friend's graduation party from university -the first member of his family to do so. It'll serve as a good time for Taylor to recover from a good block of training and to get used to the 8 hour time difference.

I leave on Monday morning, and am lucky to be able to spend a few extra days with my wife, and girls Abby and Renee. We will be celebrating Abby's 2nd birthday tomorrow morning...a few days early, since I'll be gone on her official birthday. Last year, Abby got her first bike on her first birthday...more of a scooter - a pretty sweet Radio Flyer four-wheeler, which she loves zooming around on inside the house. For this year, she's getting her first 2-wheeler...an awesome Specialized Hotwalk - check out the photo below. It's an awesome idea similar to the Like-a-bike where kids get to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels - there's no cranks or pedals, just leg power and balance. I hope Abby gets the hang of it before I leave...it not, she'll have some time to practice before Dad gets home in August.

Sweet Specialized Hot Walk - thanks University Bikes!

Lights, Camera, Not so Much Action

Boulder Center for Sports Medicine - Human Performance Lab, June 26, 2008
Taylor being interviewed and filmed by a local TV staion...with another journalist filming the interview....all while a documentary producer caught all of it on film (and I snapped this shot everyone).

Taylor Phinney press day was yesterday. From 2-6pm, there were photojournalists, writers, photographers all lined up to get a piece of young Mr. Phinney. Some of the interviews were simple, standard Q & A - while others were a big more interesting. Nicole Mudloff of PepperCom press agency out of New York and the capable staff at BCSM's front desk including clinic manager Mel Johnson kept everyone in line and pretty much on time. Mom and pop also got called into action for a few words on film (hey, they're both Olympic medalists) and I was even asked a few questions on camera. Read it now...you'll see it later - "like tissues in a furnace", which will make sense if you see the interview that I gave.

As usual, Taylor was himself - pretty much as cool as a cucumber. One of the funniest moments came when Taylor announced on camera that "he was going to become a man tomorrow"...which got the photojournalist smirking a little bit. What he was trying to say, is that today is Taylor's 18th birthday....and yes, now he is a man. I guess that means that him being a junior is still just a technicality. Unfortunately, he didn't become a man early enough to be able to compete in the Tour of PA Under 25 race that is going on right now...but next year we've got a good target set on that race!

My departure date has been pushed back a couple of days....which is nice. Originally, Taylor and I were going to leave Boulder on July 4...but instead, Taylor is going to Italy with his parents to meet Kelsay (Taylor's younger sister) to celebrate a family friend's graduation from college. I'm going to leave Boulder on Monday July 7, and meet Taylor in Frankfurt, Germany and then we'll fly to Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday July 8 arriving early on the morning of the 9th. Taylor will be racing the 3K individual pursuit on July 12 and then racing to defend his world championship in the individual time trial on July 18. Taylor's training has gone very well the past week, and it's almost go time!

Training, Mountains, and Preparations

My biggest ride of the year occurred yesterday with Taylor and Mike Freidman (of Garmin-Chipotle) here in Boulder, CO. We rolled out of Boulder and went straight up Lee Hill road, a solid climb. Taylor had some efforts to do during the ride and his first one was up Lee Hill. He fluidly rode away from Mike and I as he ascended the climb. You can view my effort during the ride at: GPS Data and Power Data We continued to climb to Ward, and then to Brainard Lake at over 3000 meters (10,000 feet). The mountains in the background of the photo are from the Indian Peaks wilderness area, and the road to this point only opened up just this week!

Needless to say, I was tired at the end. We stopped at the end of the ride to soak the legs in Boulder Creek...the cool water felt good! It's less than 2 weeks until Taylor and I depart, and we've got just a little bit more training to get into his legs before we go. Stay tuned for more updates.

Junior 3K World Record!

Last week's training sessions at the ADT Center in Los Angeles were capped by Taylor setting a new world record for juniors at 3000 meters. In March at the UCI Track World Championships, Taylor had ridden through 3K in 3:17.5 en route to his 8th place 4K ride of 4:22 but the UCI did not recognize the record. Based on Taylor's training efforts and the fact that he was going to be doing a simulation for Beijing on Sunday and Monday, we decided to have Taylor attempt an official junior world record. On Sunday, Taylor rode a 3:16.2 which is well under the standing record of 3:17.775. Monday, though, was the day set for the official record attempt - with a UCI commissaire there to weigh and measure his bike to make sure it was within regulations, as well as to have USADA there for Taylor to perform post-ride drug screening necessary to ratify any records. On Monday, Taylor rode two 3K efforts - the first one in 3:16.589 (breaking the world record) and then even more impressively posting a 3:16.9 ride less than 2 hours later! All of this bodes very well, and indicates that the training so far is going according to plan. We now have 2 weeks back in Boulder prior to our departure for Cape Town, South Africa.

LA Training Camp

Last week was a good week of training on the LA velodrome at the ADT Center. We used the time to try out different gears, warm-up routines, and different pacing strategies. Taylor hasn't been on a track since Manchester at the end of March but he sure hasn't lost anything. He looked smooth and fast, as usual. In training on Wednesday, he rode a 3K effort that basically equalled the current junior world record for that distance. He will be racing today (Sunday) and Monday in an Olympic simulation with 3 rides in two days...just like we hope to do in Beijing. The only difference is that in Beijing he'll be doing a full 4K effort each time instead of just 3K.
Taylor - Over the Top Oakleys....

The camp also featured several of the other US men's endurance team riders that are attempting to qualify for the Beijing games. There are two slots for four men - Mike Friedman, Brad Huff, Colby Pearce and Bobby Lea. They will be performing a 3K mass start test on both Sunday and Monday as part of their qualifiers. Keep tuned for more info and check out the videos at the bottom - including a video of Taylor's 3K ride on Wednesday. Three weeks until the Odyssey begins!

The Past, Present, and Future

Two years in May of 2006, my journey toward Beijing began as I talked with Taylor Phinney, and his Olympic medalist parents Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter, about coaching him in cycling. Taylor had already won a few local races and showed great promise. From that point on, I've been part of the team of folks that has helped Taylor grow into a world class athlete in an extremely short time. In August of 2007, Taylor won the UCI Junior Time Trial world championship title in Mexico. In October of 2007, Taylor won the Elite USA National Championships in the 4km Individual Pursuit in Los Angeles. From there, Taylor entered the UCI world cup track cycling events in Sydney in November (9th), Beijing in December (4th), LA in January (1st), and Copenhagen in February (9th). I then went to Manchester, England for the UCI Track World Championships with Taylor where he finished 9th in a personal record time and set a new "unoffical" junior world record time at 3km en route.

Above - Taylor and I in Manchester (I'm not a midget...but Taylor is a giant!)

Taylor has just returned to the US after a 2-week European junior racing circuit with the US Junior National cycling team based out of Belgium and had successful races at the Trofeo Karlsburg in Germany and at the Tour du Pays Vaud (TPV) in Switzerland - including an individual TT win at TPV and finsishing 7th overall. Next up is the USA Cycling Olympic team camp in Los Angeles next week and then the Tour of PA U25 race at the end of June.

On July 4, Taylor and I will leave for a 7-week odyssey that will involve a round the world trip to South Africa for the UCI Junior Track and Road Cycling world championships, then t0 Bordeaux, France for track specific training on the velodrome there, and then finally to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games. This blog will be a way to tell the story of the journey leading to China to my friends, relatives, co-workers, and others interested in this epic adventure. Enjoy!