Filling the gap- part 2

So, after a week of unpacking and re packing and organising ( combined with only an 11 hour training week to help me unload + freshen) Saturday 16th July rolled around and I was heading off to the USA and warmer climes. Travel was relatively un stressful despite EVERY single flight was delayed in some shape or form. Thus, landed in San Fransisco 90 minutes later than anticipated which turned out to be a bonus as there was NO queue to get through US immigration ( previous visits to SF have always included a wait of an hour or more to clear immigration as lots of international flights seem to arrive at the same time) so I cleared there pretty quickly and thanks to being a koru member, my bike and bag appeared almost immediately so off I trundled to the domestic terminal to check in for flight to Denver. *** I refuse to fly Air New Zealand's Star alliance partner, United airlines as have had several encounters with their ground staff who seem to decide on the spot, according to mood, how much to extort for bike carriage and excess weight.****

So had chosen to flyfrontier airlines who I must commend - $20 for each of my bags; with the very pleasant check in lad overlooking the fact my bike was 3lb over the 50lb limit! This flight was delayed however, so had to spend 3 hours sifting around. Thank god for free wireless!

Fresno. Its a dog's life

Finally arrived in Denver at 8pm, entertained by all the forked lightening I could see out the window:))
Andy, who's home I would be living in for the next 16 days ( thanks to the help of Boulder tri club who put me in touch with their members ) kindly picked me up from the airport and we drove home to Broomfield, which is about 20 km SE of Boulder but still in Boulder county.

The Tobemeister

The family (wife Erin who is from NZ, Cameron 12, Emily 11 and Makenna 9 plus Fresno(dog) + Toby ( cat)) were most hospitable and I had a thoroughly enjoyable and stress free stay and can't thank them enough for their generosity,

So, 10 days to acclimitise to the heat and the altitude before EC women's camp  began and time to get some solid work done away from the constraints of winter, work, earthquakes etc.

Found my way around and thanks to Andy, had a free 2 week pass to 24 hour fitness who had a 3 lane lap pool that was always quiet  and preferable to the local rec centre where the lane swimming was limited and the water was waaaaay too warm for decent swim workouts! Followed coach's orders and stayed "low" ( well, 5430 feet ) so rode a loop that took me round Louisville then up past Boulder reservoir and along the road towards Lyons then turning off through some rolling farmlands and back to Broomfield. I was delighted to find an excellent coffee shop in a small place called Niwot, along that road.

Anyway, before I digress into tedious descriptions of daily workouts/coffee stops. I will sign off from this post.... next exciting installment shall be a report of the camp.



Mmmm latte, pumpkin bread +almond butter.Food of champions