Big Black Forest of Germany

Erik and I have just arrived in Germany today- bags and everything. Lucky!! Saturday morning we both started the sprint supertour race on our home course before we took off for the drive over the mountains to Seattle. I was really pleased with the result- first american, second overall to a canadian who posted a time one second in front of me. I felt strong and smooth, which was a great note to leave the country on for these next important and exciting races! Erik has been recovering from a sickness all week, so he wasn't feeling as good as usual but he posted a solid 15th place finish. As hard as it was we decided it was smartest to skip the heats and get a start on the drive to Seattle. It is never a great idea to have a really hard effort the day before a long travel to Europe mostly because those are the ultimate conditions for picking up sicknesses. Looks like the supertour went well though and Koos and Valaas, hometown heroes, ripped it up!

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. All the flights and connections were smooth and surprisingly drama less all the way to Switzerland. The flight from Atlanta to Zurich was pretty empty so I was lucky enough to spread out over two seats for the long haul. 

After arriving in Zurich we drove the two hours to our hotel which happens to be this pull off on the side of the highway. I have yet to go exploring around the area but it seems there are just a couple of hotels that make up the town here. We are staying in a euro Best Western, which is fairly fancy. A lot nicer than you would find in an american Best Western. It looks like the Czech and Polish teams will be staying here with us- so a competitive exciting atmosphere all around!

Hopefully tonight I will be able to sleep through what is daytime at home, beat the jet leg as soon as possible. Tomorrow we will head out to the venue for some training and then hopefully some exploring around the area. I will try to remember to bring my camera and take pictures. 

A view of the jumps from the town of Hinterzarten- host town for World Juniors