Silly Billies Return to Roam

After an epic 24 hour journey on the train from Olomouc via Vienna we arrived in Bourg St Maurice for the start of the Mountain X Race the following day. We had packaged our bikes up like blue ukelailes in order to get them on board the ICE, Inter Continental Express. Dan, Josiah and Cassidy picked us up from the station and we ate out with the other Nike team at a pizzeria. There was mist swirling about the rocky peaks as it had recently rained. We drove up the windy road after dinner to our accomodation at Les Arcs, a very famous French skifield. In the morning it was all go to get organised for the first event of the race - a 10km trail run starting at 6pm. After many hours spent gear checking and rushing around buying forgotten gear and food race time arrived. The pack took off insanely fast up the hill and it was immediatlz obvious that this field was filled with some amazing runners. Look at this guys moustache!!!! Before long the first runners were hooning back along the cobbled...

The day for the Middle Distance Qualification and Final had come around and we had an early start to get Neil to the check in (he was the first runner). The Qualification and Final were held in the same area on a rolling hillside in the drizzle which persisted most of the day. Neil charged into the finish first giving it everything. The finish shoot was grueling as we could see runners for at least 2 minutes before they crossed the line so they had to run hard for all the cheering! Ross came in next having had a great run and qualified in 15th spot...the first Kiwi to qualify for all 3 finals at a WOC. Chris flew into the finish running very strongly, but we knew he had made some mistakes because his time was too sow to qualify. Ross, Maja and Jim shot off to the quarantine zone while we persuaded Neil and Chris to drown their orienteering woes with a blast around the spectator course. The course was a middle distance with dense forest and some tricky rock sections which made for a fun...

A good crowd for the sprint final in Olomouc... orienteering until a little bit of pressure perhaps? Late at night we arrived to the hustle and bustle of Prague. We caught a taxi to our rather shabby youth hostel with our tonnes of gear and slept until 1pm the next day! That afternoon we wandered the streets of Prague and ate pasta in the old town for dinner...a pleasant afternoon but not really taking to the 'clubbing scene' which draws Europeans to Prague we headed off to Olomouc (pronounced Olomoutz) the following day. Olomouc is the base for this year's World Orienteering Champs (WOC). We cycled across town with huge packs strapped to our backs and arrived gratefully at the University Campus where all WOC teams stay. To our delight we were directed down a muddy little track through a wheat field to a massive mall containing 'Globus' which was soon to become the Kiwi's favorite destination due to its huge and well stocked supermarket and its multitude of chea...

Before our arrival in Prague and journey to Olomouc in the Czech Republic I posted some pictures of our final days in Big Sky. Chris out on our ride through some awesome single track in the mountains. Lone Peak that Chris climbed on the first day of the race is in the background. Plus note my very nice bike. Our own spa pool at the resort in Big Sky...and the colours even changed. (Sara you are not to see this picture... Aaron's accommodation included no such luxuries.) This was THE best bed, with an enormous amount of pillows. Chris tries out my new sleeping bag, isn't he cute (-:

Hello! Hopefully you have checked out the PQ website and seen that Nike won! I am sitting in Denver airport writing this blog. Here is an account of the race more from my (support crew) perspective, because you can read a lot of puff about the team on the website....but you won't read about encounters with bears and flipping inflatable duckies on that! We arrived in Big Sky with Michael Tobin after a long drive up from Boise. There was snow on the hills, and Lone Mountain which stands at the head of the valley looked spectacular. The next two days were spent busying ourselves getting organized: Chris and the rest of the team sorted gear endlessly as well as attended the odd TV interview; I drove around to 1 billion supermarkets with Emily K buying tonnes of food. Race morning came and we were ready with our rented RV and truck alongside. The other guys supporting the race were Chris (a Big Sky local) and Dawes (a friend of the Klosers). The racers set off with a bang up Lone Peak a...