colorado

ben and rory dropped me off at the airport in seattle last night with a cheery, "don't f*** up." while this may seem a bit harsh, we've taken to telling each other this because, well, it sufficiently describes the situation. we're all capable. we just have to not mess up.

i arrived safely in denver around 9p last night. jack arrived about the same time as me and after picking up our rental suv, we booked it to fred's house in boulder. tom, jack and i spent the morning running (driving) errands and getting groceries before heading out to leadville.

below is a picture of our home for the weekend. it is the quintessential cabin in the woods. its great.we just got back from packet pickup and the carbo loading dinner. the quick summary is: lots of people and lots of food. we saw donna and dave there. apparently jack (murray) and joseph had already been by to get their packets when we got there (15 minutes after they opened the doors)--they're speed demons already!

now we're back at the house figuring out drop bags and being disturbed by how many gels we'll be consuming this weekend. luigi and his girlfriend are supposed to get here in the next hour or so. i think cyndy and fred both get here tomorrow, and after we pick up brad, todd, michael and dan tomorrow morning, i think the whole austin team with which i have been training will all be here with all their crew.

on a tangential note, one of the things burned into my head from the bike ride last summer is how it smelled in canada. i can't tell you why i remember this so distinctly because i don't really know. i do know, however that i associate that smell with happiness and freedom and, well, joy. it smells like canada up here in the mountains. i love it. i can't stop smiling. i'm just hoping i'm still that way 60 or 70 miles into the race this weekend!