Gigathlon Logistics

Gigtathlon Logistics

I am sitting here on the plane going to Chicago, I normally get the direct flight out of Dallas but in this case I was hoping to join Charlie for the trip to Frankfurt so that he could be my “bag man” and driver….just kidding.  I was sitting here and thinking about all the planning that goes into this Ultra racing and it is really over whelming when I think about it.  Just in case you think I am goofing off before the race I will let you know roughly the schedule. 

Saturday-Sunday –This is when I am flying but when I get into Frankfurt I really will not get much rest.  I will have my two bikes along with my equipment to take to the hotel.  When I check into the hotel I will then start putting my bikes together and making sure they work.  I also will need to do some sort of workout to loosen my legs up, take a shower and then get to bed.

Monday- This is the day that I get the RV.  I will try to sleep in a little -shower and go pick the RV up.  I am sure that they will give me some sort of tour to see how things work.  I then will go back to the hotel and rack my bikes on the back and start organizing some of the stuff that I am taking out of the bike boxes.  All that peanut butter and stuff will be put up.  This is another travel day.  I have a 4.5 hour drive to Dirk’s and so that means it might take me 6 hours.  I usually make some wrong turns.  Once I get to Dirks I will need to do another small workout to loosen up.

Wednesday-Friday-  I am not sure what Dirk has lined up but these days will be busy.  I need to make sure all my bikes are working right so this means a little mountain biking, Dirk also has someone that is going to show me how to skate,  chiropractor adjustments, massages, grocery shopping, labeling the RV, getting the camping equipment together, and some swimming.  Before I know it each day will be gone.  Peter Kotland my coach comes in on Friday so most of the work will be done before he gets there.  He is pretty slick in getting out on some of the yucky stuff.  He is great and taking care of me in the race and will work twice as hard as the average person.

Saturday-  This is the day that I drive to the start of the race and pick up my packet to listen to a German meeting…hehehehe  This will be a big day for me.  I will get to see everyone.  I have some little gifts for all my Swiss friends.  This will also be the day that we rush around before the race.  I am not sure if I will have things the way peter wants them so he will need to be educated on where I put everything.  Keep in mind the crew takes care of my transitions and dressing me.

Sunday-  RACE!!!!  Yikes…this will be the day I can see if I got what it takes.

After the Race—This is going to be really crazy.  I think I will go by Dany and Sarahs to get my bike boxes.  From there we will need to haul butt to Dirks and get some things packed.  I hope he has a laundry machine so I can wash my stuff.  I then will try to pack most of it in boxes and ship them to a friend in Holland so that I do not have to bring them back on my next trip.  I will most likely pack things really organized so that I do not have to worry about it before the next race. I also will be shipping two bikes to Amsterdamn, one to California, and one will come home with me.  The left over nutrition will go to Holland.  The RV will need to be cleaned and so will I. Dirk will help with most of this but he will need to get back to work. I will be taking care of cleaning myself up…hehehehe.  After we do all this I will have a travel day back to Frankfurt to turn the RV in.  I then get a good nights sleep and will fly out the next morning.  I arrive back home on the July 18th.  I know that going to Switzerland for 18 days sounds like a lot but for the most part it will be a lot of running around unlike the last time I came when all I got to do was play at camp.   Well I take that back…camp was really hard and I could have used a nap and a massage.

Right now I am at my hotel.  The guy that picked me up from the airport was great and all my stuff fit in my car.  His name is Deiter and he is 65 but I swear he did not look over 50.  He was real nice in picking me up and bringing me to the hotel.  I could not fit all my stuff on one cart so I was having trouble just in customs.  I had a guy from Lubbock named Stirling push one cart and then I bumped into a pro Desiree Flicker.  She was one her way to win Ironman Austria.  Another person that I was on the plane with was a young man that is moving to Lubbock.  I just so happen to know his brother-in-law Andy Wilson.  Either it is a really small world or I have a really big mouth to know all these people in the Frankfurt airport…yikes. 

After I got checked into the hotel I did not start unpacking my bikes liked planned. I saw the nice comfortable bed and laid down in it to take a nap.  It was so nice to just relax for a while.  I am now up and have unpacked my bikes.  I have yet to figure out how to put a back wheel on a mountain bike on but I will try again later.  I also do not have a tool that I need to put the handle bars on but I am certain I can take care of that tomorrow.  The most important part is the bikes are ok and so is the peanut butter.  I am in a restaurant in the lobby now eating and catching up before I go to bed.  The bar is full of people but I do not think that I will be hanging out in those until after the race.  I think the rest of the evening will just be playing on the computer and getting back to some old friends on the email.  I would like to get a workout in but I also do not like to exercise this late in the evening.  My dinner was good it was some kind of fried pork and French fries.  I was really happy to see that they had American tomato ketchup for my fries.  Who knows what the dinner cost but it is nice to be chilling out.

Thanks for reading