Collegiate Track Nationals: Getting There

As soon as I got through the security at the airport in Chattanooga, I got a voicemail and an email telling me my original flight had been cancelled/delayed 50 minutes. My original layover in Atlanta was only supposed to be 45 minutes. I called Delta and spoke with their rep. My scheduled flight from Atlanta to Denver at 7:15 was the last one for the night. He told me I could chance it, or wait and start again Wednesday morning. I decided to chance it. We ended up boarding in Chattanooga at 5:50, only 15 minutes later than the original departure time. But then we had to sit on the plane for 25 minutes before we finally took off around 6:25. The scheduled landing time was 7:08 in terminal D. My Denver flight was leaving terminal A at 7:15. We got to the gate in Atlanta at 6:55. I was off and running by 7:00. I haven't ran in a long time, and when you throw jeans and a big bag in each hand into the mix, it became fairly difficult. I was feeling the soreness in my anterior shins from that run for the next 3 days. My gate was at the very end of the A terminal too, but as I turned that corner, the door was still open and the attendant was still accepting passengers. I had made it! That was all I was asking for since I had found out about the initial delay. I was happy.

However, the good vibes started fading. My recent sinus issues continued to grow as the plane climbed higher. I was getting a very intense sinus headache and couldn't breath out of my nose: something that had started when I woke up Sunday morning. I landed in Denver with no relief. I proceeded to baggage claim to get my stuff. You know what happened next. My bag didn't make it. I knew it was a possibility so I wasn't too upset when I found out they would just deliver it to me the next day in Colorado Springs. I had packed all the things I needed to ride in either my carry-on or my bike box that had been shipped prior. I would just go without vitamins, underwear, shorts, and shirts for the first day. I was fine with that until the next morning when I was building my bike in the garage and I remembered that I mistakenly put my saddle in that checked bag. Crap! No riding for me until the airline got around to delivering my bag on Wednesday. I had wanted to get to open track when it first started at noon so I could hopefully have more space and avoid the crashes I've heard about on warm-up days. That wouldn't be happening. The scheduled delivery of my bag no later than 4:30 showed up around 7:15 Wednesday night. Thankfully, I had heard from a friend that I could borrow a saddle from the rental bikes at the track. So, I ended up getting my ride time in anyway even if the saddle height was way off.

As I was about to wrap it up on the track on Wednesday, I noticed Matt Baranoski had just started riding. I sped back up to ride along side him. (Baranoski is the two time reigning national champion in the elite and collegiate divisions for both the kilo time trial and the match sprint. He also won the keirin and team sprint national titles a few weeks ago.) We got to chat while we cruised for about 25 laps around the track. He even took me through a run of the 200 meter line on the track. Pretty cool time.

I had my numbers pinned to my new custom VOmax skinsuit and my gear bag packed and ready for racing to start the next morning. Flying 200 meter time trials were up first.

View of Pike's Peak from the backyard of where I was staying.