Sunday, January 2, 2011

On the road again, and again.....

The Tour kicked off 3 days ago and we are already at the 2nd venue, and will be back on the road tomorrow afternoon. Great racing so far. Especially for the Canadians. Two in the top four! The weather has been heavy low cloud for the three days and snowing, both in Oberhof and now in Oberstdorf. We have been promised sunshine for tomorrow's 10km (womens) and 20km (mens) pursuit race.

We have our fingers crossed for Callum (the lone Aussie skier - and the first to ever compete in the Tour), as the race will be held in just a 2.5km course. The men will ski it 8 times, on their way to 20km. If Callum falls more than 6 minutes off the leaders before the 17.5km mark (lap 7) he will be pulled from the race and our Tour is over. It would be a shame as he is putting out a solid performance each day.

I woke up with a sore throat two days ago, which as good timing as Kikkan and I are now in different hotels. We were in the same one in Oberhof, but now in Oberstdorf we only see each other at the race venue. It will give me time to make sure I am healthy. Getting sick is the kiss of death in the Tour and the biggest risk for the athletes contending for the overall. Kikkan is skiing very strong in her first ever Tour. She sits 19th now after 3 events with a strong classic sprint performance. Can't wait for her in the skate sprint in a few days!

I have not been able to hold a steady internet signal so no pictures from the past few days, but I will update with them as soon as I can. Not much sun though so the photo opportunities have been rare.

Germany has been great so far. The people have been very nice and the venues are incredible. Although the race crowds have not been that large. As a nation they are Biathlon crazy, and their Nordic team is not that strong this year. Here in Oberstdorf we are staying in the basement of the Hotel Garni Kammpledorf. It is 30Euro per night instead of the 90 Euro we would be paying for regular World Cup fare. I feel like we are cave people but the rooms down there are perfect for us, and we have the basement to ourselves.

More updates and photo's too come. I hope the grammar wasn't too bad as I wanted to get this sent off before I lose my signal again. Hope everyone had a great New Years! I was in bed by 11:15 pm.

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