Head-to-Head

After satisfactory finishes in the time trial, both teams headed to the start gate for the head-to-head competition. The men raced first and were able to beat Bulgaria to the finish line in the first heat. It was a close match, with Bulgaria attempting a nearly successful pass at the end of the race. In the second heat, it was the US against Germany. The Germans are a strong team, but we pulled out ahead early and they weren't able to make up any ground. The men's team then advanced to the quarter finals and came up against Japan, one of the very best teams in the world. We were confident at the start, but did not win lane choice and immediately had difficulties in matching the speed of the Japanese. We engaged them briefly for a battle above the first move, then attempted a risky pass on the right that didn't pay off. The Japanese won the heat and advanced to the semifinals. The men's team finished the day in fifth place. The women then headed up to the starting line for the first round of head-to-head. They were matched against a very strong Czech team. The women beat the Czechs off of the starting line and were looking strong down the first straight away. The Czechs, never a team to give up easily, attempted the dangerous pass on the right around the first obstacle and were successful. The US team was not able to pass the Czechs lower in the course and did not advance. They finished the day in ninth place. Tomorrow is the slalom, so tonight we rest and refocus.

Time Trial/Sprint

It is a windy day here in Zoetermeer. This morning was the Sprint Race (a.ka. Time Trial) The Women took 3rd place and gathered some points towards the overall title. The Men took 6th place which puts them in a fantastic position for the head to head this afternoon. Both teams will head back out to the course and the wind shortly fort he Head-to -Head Sprint.

Rest Day

Today we took a day off of the course. A group of us awoke, had some breakfast and headed into Amsterdam. Some of the Men’s s team headed to the beach near Den Haag. It is a little over an hour by train with one transfer to Amsterdam from Zoetermeer. The weather was nice and cool due to some clouds and rain, which was a nice change. We arrived at Amsterdam Centraal, the main train station and headed on foot to the Van Gogh Museum about 30 minutes away. It was an impressive museum with about 200 of his original pieces. It was a great way to learn about the artist, and the ten years he drawings and paintings. His paintings are even more beautiful in person. After the museum some headed back to the train station and some of us headed towards the Anne Frank house. We wound our way through the streets lining the canals to get there. Many of the buildings are leaning and tilted. The canals were lined with houseboats and most of them had large colorful gardens on their roofs. The line for the Anne Frank house was too long, as expected, but it was an honor to even walk by it and see the area. We made our way back to the train station and headed back to Zoetermeer. Tomorrow is Sprint practice!

Official Race Course Set

We completed our first two days of practice on the course set for recreational use. Incredibly, the only six people working in the Netherlands while the World Cup final game was being played happened to be the ones setting the official course for the WRC races. The course looks meaty and we are almost guaranteed to see some carnage. This is the first course set in the way it will be when rafting makes it to the Olympics, so we're excited to see what happens. We headed out for a night on the town last night in the Haag. There were orange shirts and beer everywhere you turned. The night went well until the Dutch lost in double overtime, then we made a bee-line for the train before the streets turned ugly. Today, we have a rest day before the official practice days start. Some of us will be heading down to the beach, and some to the museums of Amsterdam.

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.

Headed Out

The U.S. Teams are on their way to the Denver airport. It is a beautiful day here in Colorado. We are excited to be on our way to The Netherlands! We fly through Chicago and then on to Amsterdam. We will all hopefully have a nice 8 hour nap at some point.

Sent from my iPhone

Adventure Team Challenge Race

Last weekend, members of the Men's and Women's teams participated in an adventure race for disabled athletes called the Adventure Team Challenge Race. This is a two day race takes place in the mountains of Colorado. Participants compete in a rugged adventure race that consists of mountain biking, orienteering, running, rafting and climbing. Teams consist of five persons, two which must be disabled and one of them has to be wheelchair bound. Seven teams participated in the race this year. Competing in the race were members of numerous military branches, para-olympians, and athletes of all kinds.

We were lucky enough to assist in the rafting legs of the race which included navigating a braided channel into a lake, sailing across a pair of lakes in a raft using tarps and tent poles (not sure how many times that's been done before), and rafting down a class III+ section of whitewater on the Arkansas River. Check out the link below for more information:

Team Adventure Challenge Race

We all had a blast meeting and racing with such an incredible group of people. We hope we are invited back next year.