Day 1..and 2

After all the training we are finally on our way to race. We left a beautiful sunny Vail this morning headed to DIA for our trip to the Netherlands. We flew through Chicago on our way to Amsterdam. The flight was uneventful and I believe most people slept. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 0900. We all made our way, large bags and paddle containers in tow to the train station under the Amsterdam airport for our travels to Zoetermeer. We need more double-decker trains in the States, and maybe even some more train travel. What a beautiful view traveling by train through the countryside of Holland. It is a beautiful sunny day here as well. The water, windmills and boats are a gorgeous site. In a strange way it reminds me of the Florida Keys with its canals and houses lining the waterways. The train took us right next to our hotel here in Zoetermeer.
This afternoon we got our gear together and went to the course. A taxi from our hotel costs about 15 Euro. That is about $21 or $22. Not Cheap at any rate. We spent the afternoon practicing on flat water and getting in and out of the boat for the Downriver race. There is a fee to get on the actual whitewater section, so we are going to do that Saturday and Sunday. It felt good to paddle after traveling for so long.
Due to the high cost of the taxi and the fact that they are not super accessible we walked back to our hotel. It is a nice walk probably about 3.5 – 4 miles through neighborhoods and through old Zoetermeer. We were shade hopping down each street, as the sunshine is strong and hot here. Personally, I am so impressed by the network of bike and walking trails here. They have on all the main streets the road, then on both sides a red path for bikes and on the outside of that is the grey sidewalk. It is such an awesome system. Everyone rides their bikes, and no one wears a helmet. They just cruise around everywhere they need to go.
We all showered and had our first nice cold Heineken at the hotel bar and then walked to dinner in Old Zoetermeer for some Italian. It was a long day of travel, paddling and walking and we were ready for a good nights sleep.