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...
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