Downtown at last for 5 hours

Goodbye Manchester, for now...

One last quick update before getting on the plane home, Dan Schuller ran the last race of all the MN team, a 40 lap fun race for anyone over 50. None of the rest of was there to watch is is sad because Dan had a great race. They had a dual pace line pace lap, announced all the riders names and made a real show. The race was fast as usual, Dan having to start at the back but he made his way to the front and then set a torid pace like we see him do in Blaine up until about the last lap when three sprinters came over him in 3. They were taken up track though by a slower rider that Dan got underneath. Going through 4 however another 3 or 4 sprinters came around him again. He wasn't sure but thought he ended up somewhere in 4th to 6th place over all. I finally got to see downtown Manchester having dinner with my friends in a pub at the center of the towns shopping and entertainment section. Wow, quite a different look than what I've seen all week. Time to grab some food and off to the airport in the shuttle. Minnesota, here I come.

The infield which becomes a court with the small riding court left for us to group before races

Saturday mid day

The closing day of the competition is always a sad time, lots of hard work and hopes are now almost completely behind us. There is only one race left for Dan Schuller, an over 50 mass start race happening late today. Dan and his wife may be the only ones left. Casper is gone for a few days, the Stewarts are packed and making plans to leave. I am back at the hotel planning to meet up with Andy and Kathy for dinner, I finally get into Manchester city center after spending all my time at or very near either the hotel or the velodrome. Yesterday both Stewart and Schuller were involved in flying 200's attempting to qualify for the matched sprint tournaments. I don't have all the details but they got into some of the rep rounds in the morning but didn't make into the later evening rounds. I think we all need to learn how to do a proper 200 on this track as all our times were slower than we expected. Sorry to say I didn't watch any of it because I was still trying to rest up for a Scratch race scheduled for Friday night. I got to the track in time to eat lunch with the group, they left and I stayed to prepare. As I've learned with all these week long events, it's food and recovery that make a giant difference in performance as the week goes on. Having said that, my Thursday night sleep was crap, all night not knowing if I was awake or sleeping. I got up for breakfast, back to the room for more recovery but not enough. My warm up was good, timed right, my thoughts of using a bigger gear put behind me with the help of Chris Ferris, my coach and confidant all week long. (by the way, I wouldn't be able to do all these great comps and be as competitive as I am without his help and friendship) We rolled around the warm up ring and then line up at the exit to get instructions. Our 40 lap race is now a 20 lap race, ok now, out you go. Planning again to stay protected and safe mid pack until the end, the pace gets hot about 2 laps in and stayed that way until the end. I tried to stay in the draft as best I could Trying to find the guys I knew were experienced. I find one guy who generally is well placed and get on his wheel but he seems to be drifting off the pace, pass or stay? I decide to pass him with about 8 to go, probably dragged him back to the pack only to have him come over me with about 3 or so to go. I hung on getting 15th out of 18. I guess I only have one good enduro effort in me per week. Andy and Kathy were back in the stands so I went up and sat with them for a while, eventually Verbs and Mike Smith showed. We all sat and watched a while and then I needed to get back to the hotel, recover for Sat. Morning Team Sprint. Friday nights sleep was better but not ideal. The people above me must have been packing to leave early so there was lots of luggage being dropped around, eventually things got quite but by then I was awake. Off to breakfast, Mark and Laurie were already there, back to the room and grab my Zipp bag, shuttle is here, off to the track. The team sprint is an over 135 age category so that means 3 guys aged 45 each can race against us. Our total age is a bit higher, 166!!! There will be some screaming fast teams doing this. Mark and I had a really fun pace line warm session. My goal today is to get the most enjoyment possible from this experience, ride for fun and the sheer amazement that I am even really here doing this, what a astounding opportunity. Schuller shows, so we all got some warm up time in. Off to bike check for the last time. The officials spy Dans 2 cogs on his back wheel and tell him one has to come off, quick, back to the get ready tent and pull a gear off and we are ready. 4 ladies teams up first and then we are second in the men's line. I am in the gate doing the first lap, Stewart second and Schuller to bring it home. I got a good start, out of the saddle using my enduro, smaller gear to stay ahead of the others, in the saddle entering 3 and then roll off for Mark and Dan to finish it off. :56.?? final time. Alright, we are in second, oh yeah only two teams are done. The three of us watch as the times keep getting faster and faster. This is a qualifier for a later top 4 final and the last I saw, 1st place was in the :48 second range with first laps in the low 19's. Mine was a 22.7 something. Some of the 2 and 3 laps in the 14's. By the end of 18 teams we are 17th ahead of the Russians. O yeah, I forgot, they did not start. It was great fun to do, thanks guys for going along with my crazy idea. Now the really sad part, pulling the bike part and packing it back into the box for tomorrow's plan ride home. The shuttle picks me up at the hotel at 8 A.M. Mark is doing the same. A hour or two later and I am not ready to leave but all packed and looking for a cab.The reception staff call and arrange one for me. They are running slow today because there is a big soccer game happening in the stadium right across the street from the velo.

PJW Racing Team Sprint

Friday report

The week must be coming to an end soon, Dan Casper packed up his bike yesterday afternoon at the track and this morning was off to the airport for his trip back. The rest of us are still here with Mark Stewart set to be a sprinter today. I've lost track of what else Dan Schuller is doing, maybe sprints today as well. I know the three of us are scheduled to do a Team Sprint tomorrow with qualifiers and finals. It is an over 135 age category so I suspect there will be some very fast teams. It should be a fun event for us, we have only done 2 training efforts at Blaine with all three of us together. We have been watching the British National team practice their team sprints so I am sure that will make the difference and make us lots faster. I have the room Dan and I shared to my self which seems a bit lonely, we had a great time rooming together for another race week. (first was at T-Town last July) Last night was my 40 lap points race. I finally have the warm up timing set with 2 races out of 5 to go. On the rollers by 4:20, in the first warm up line by 5:40, on the track at 5:05 for a few laps, back off for a gear change to race gear and back in line. Back on the track by about 5:40 for some hard laps and pace line work and then whistled off at 10 to for the races to start at 6. Then the big wait, second to last race of the night, thinking it would go off about 9 but instead off closer to 10! Rollers on and off all night to stay active and warm. There is a warm up ring that is part of the basket ball court that covers the entire infield reserved for riders to gather and ride slow just prior to each race. That allows the officials to locate everyone and make sure we are off together. (all the rest of the court is covered with carpet and metal dividers to allow "tent" areas for the riders) The entire NSC crowd was there for my race as supporters, which was great to see. Included were Verbs and Mike Smith up from London as well as my friends Andy and Kathy Shell from Mpls. Thanks to everyone for all the great cheering. Three victory ceremonies to roll around and then grouped, given instructions to roll out on to the back straight, do a lap and a half before the gun to start. No rail starts at Manchester. My plan was to stay close to the front and in drafts behind riders I thought may be fast. The pace was quick but not all the fast until about lap 33 and then it t ramped up, finding the first group I started to sprint on the back and as we came around on the bell, I got 4th for 1 point, alright ease off and recover some and re group. I rolled back, down into the lane and then moved up in the pack again picking my way through for a good position. The speed picked up and I found myself near the front again and sprinted to the line 4th again, one more point. This time recovery was a lot harder, rolling to the back and trying to claw back to the group. What I didn't see was 4 off the front using the slower pack pace to eventually get a lap on the field. The next sprint was not for me, just recovering and trying to stay nearer the front. The laps counting down, I tried to sprint again on the last bell lap, not for points but just for the best finishing position I could eke out coming across the line 12th on the last sprint. (average speed of 43.431 taking just 13:48.9 time) It's taken until late this morning to find the results on the web site, I finished 11th with 2 points. Looking back at more results, I have failed to mention Dan Schuller's 10th place finish in his 2K Pursuit, 2:32:516 at 47.208K per hour average, congrats Dan! Scratch race for me tonight, just not quite so late, hopefully 7 to 8 P.M.

Thursday, late morning

The two Dans and Mark are off to the track for some qualifiers for their scratch races. I am relaxing after a late breakfast, I have a late night points race, second to last race of the night. The schedule is set so there are later starts but with the break for the British National team mid afternoon, it means we race later into the night. Last night started with Mark racing a re run of the morning qualifier that was stopped due to a crash that Mark missed by milli meters, someone even rubbing his front wheel as they went down. The race was right before the after noon break and was running late so it became the first race of the evening schedule. Mark made it into the final so he, Dan C. and I had races in the evening. Dan C. had a very fast points race which he rode well, attacking with some uncooperative mates that only wanted to sit on and let him do all the work. He eventually took third place in the last sprint which got him 11th out of 24, very respectable. Marks race was equally fast with attacks happening right away stringing the field out for most of the race with very few easy laps to regroup. Mark stayed with the main pack until the end happy to finish. I finally got a proper warm up in, just barely. Rollers first prior to the 5 PM open session start, get in line a bit late so I was the second group let on the track, roller off, change gears and then back in line. Another adjustment to how they sort out the big field, 1st two groups get 15 minutes, after that, one rider off equals one rider on to keep the max numbers on the track right. I got on with about 5 minutes to spare before we were whistled off. 500 TT for me, good start out of the gate on the back straight, out of the saddle until the start of turn 1 and then gut it out to the finish with a 40.654, one tenth slower than my best last summer in Blaine. In was hoping to break 40 seconds but I guess that will have to wait until next summer. Bike checks were needed before the race, weight, saddle check for level and this time 3 to 1 check of my Scatto bars, which passed thankfully, they are the only bars I have with me. Immediately after the race, they grabbed my bike again to re check it. Not sure why, at the time I was third but I knew that would not last as the winner came in with a 36.840!!! Packed up late and all 5 of us crammed into Dan's Fiat 500 for the ride back to the hotel. Dan and I starving, ordered carry out fro a pizza place, enough food to feed four, dinner and to bed. More races tonight, mine is second to last, 40 lap points, scratch races hopefully for the others based on the qualifiers this morning.

500 TT Start

500TT

Wednesday, mid day report

Danny, what time is it? Crap missed breakfast again! Tuesday night had Dan C doing a standing start 750 meter event and Mark Stewart and Dan Schuller each doing a standing start 500 meter event. All three were later in the evening so there was a lot of waiting around from warm up time that started at 5 until the race events. Rollers and trainers to stay warmed up is all there is for any one. There is no extra time in the schedule for on track warm ups. The officials must have had some complaints or realized some racers were not getting warm up time prior to the start of the evening due to the large number of competitors. They only allow a maximum of 30 on the track at a time so there has been a line up of riders waiting while one or two come off. Now they call everyone off after about 10 minutes and put another group back on immediately. You can get back in line right after you come off if you want and as many times as you like. This was the first race for Mark, second for Dan S. Both are in the same age group which is huge. Dan C wasn't so sure about the 750 meter distance. All three had good rides but mid field results with our world champ getting 16th with Schuller edging out Stewart by less than a second leaving them in 27th and 30th place over all. Our Aussie friend Nick collected 26th place just faster than DS. I got a chance to do some easy rollers for about 30 minutes before all the races started. The UCI has been doing bike checks on and off before race starts. They seem to be focused on the pursuiters especially, making sure the saddles are precisely level as well as making sure forearms are level to the ground if there are aero bars on the bike. They won't let you race if either are wrong. Bike weights are also checked. No one is even looking at helmets this year. The sprinter bikes had to go in the jig to measure seat position, bar drop, etc, all the basics including weight. Dan C is at the rack doing a qualifier race for his points final, I am relaxing at the hotel again, legs up just about ready for lunch. Tonight is my 500 event. My plan is to take the shuttle to the track this afternoon, early enough to watch some of the British team again and be ready for a proper warm up and then wait around for a long time before my event which is closer to the Ned of the evening. That is my schedule for the rest of the week as week, pints race Thursday night, scratch on Friday night and then a fun race for Stewart, Schuller and me, a 135+ team sprint mid day Saturday. I've lost track of when Schuller and Stewart do their events, tough to keep track of all the races and times. There is a good schedule in the program, very helpful but you need to check at the track the day of your event to make sure of the details, especially during the timed events so you are ready a few riders ahead of your scheduled time. It's been fun to see all the NSC related discussion about next summer's challenge races for the Champ. Casper is getting a big smile out of the plans and thinks it would be great fun but says he gets to pick the team make ups if there are team challenges. I haven't heard what Schuller and Stewart have said about their grudge matches yet. The weather here is still cloudy, rainy and cooler, maybe this is the norm for this time of year here.

Tuesday, mid day

There is a drop in excitement after Dan's success last night. We all went up to the concession stand/ bar in the velodrome last night after the medal ceremony and got some food and a beer or two to celebrate with Dan and another friend we have met, Nick, from Melbourne, who got bronze in a 2k effort. We got back to the room late and stayed up later than we should enjoying the excitement. Sleeping in late today, late breakfast and then just relax for me, no races at all for me today. Dan C has a 750, Dan Schuller and Mark Stewart have 500's later this evening. I have a 500 later tomorrow evening so my job is to relax, do some rollers later today and probably watch the races tonight. DS and MS have really big fields so that should be interesting. The weather is still cooler, mid 40's, wet, gray and not too interesting. The NSC crew is scattered around town and velodrome enjoying what time off they can. More race reports later from the velodrome as it happens.

Podium Time

Dan and the bike

Dan Casper takes GOLD

Yes, you heard me, Casper comes from behind on the last two laps and captures the gold medal by .4 seconds. NSC has a World Champ!

Monday night live at NCC

It's ten to 7 on Monday night and the races are back on. We started at 10:30 this morning, had to take a break at 2 to 5 for the British national team to train and then they gave us the track back for racing to start at 6. I had sprint rounds this morning, Dan Casper and Dan Schuller had pursuit times. Warm ups were a challenge. Rollers like usual for me and then ready to hit the track for a fast warm up kilo. I had the time al planned out so I would be ready for the 10:30 start. As I walked to the track entry I see a line up of riders waiting to get on. They would only allow 30 riders on so we had to wait until someone would come off. Running out of time for waiting I went back and changed to race wheels and gear so I could get in line and do a modified warm up procedure which really did not go so good. Learning all the time, be prepared for a different kind of warm up procedure. I was out first of our NSC group with qualifying 200's and did not produce a very good time, slower than Portugal last year and slower than Blaine this summer, 13.359, crap. It felt good and the line was good but it was just slow. Most of the others were 12's with the fastest at 12.08 I think. It did qualify me for the sprint rounds at 11th out of 12 qualifiers. Next up for me was a 3 up sprint with last years world champ from America, Mark Rodamaker and my old friend (not really) a French guy who beat me last year at worlds in my first round. I drew position 1 and lead the two of them keeping the pace high and getting faster, coming in to turn 3 right before the bell I had both high ready to jump, Frenchy behind Rodamaker who I thought would keep him at by but no, Frenchy jumps in 3 again like last year and as I took Rodamaker up track Frenchy got under so we had to chase him down, me taking third. Next round was 4 up with Frenchy, an Aussie and an Italian. I draw 4 this time and Mark Stewart does a great job again of getting me started. I am high, controlling all three trying to be able to take the banking to my advantage going into turn 3 and get behind Frenchy and let him drag me home but the Aussie would not let me in so eventually I dragged the Italian to the line and got 4th. Done for the day. Perspective, 4 more races to do and I am at a great place enjoying what's happening so I need to plan to take some revenge later this week. Next time up, Wednesday evening for a 500TT. Dan Casper on the other hand is going fast, 3k pursuit, qualified 1st with a 3:33.5. He is back tonight for the finals and is on the rollers right now getting ready for a later start. Dan Schuller did great in his 2k considering he just got here yesterday and is rested but probably not quite acclimated to the time yet. He did a PR at 2:32.? Mark Stewart has a day off and as I look around he and Laurie are in the stands right above us on the back straight watching. I am sure I will get tired of it by weeks end but watching the British team train during the break was amazing. Super fast motor paced efforts, great looking team pursuit efforts and lots of flying 100's and 150's. There will be more to report, hopefully good stuff about Dan later. This is your BBC blogger signing off.

Sunday afternoon

Another day closing down, it's 4:30 and we are back from the track again, relaxing some but also preparing for the start of the Worlds tomorrow. I guess technically today is the start. The UCI has taken over the facility with registration, all the officials and the set up. The scheduled track sessions were run by the local officials under the UCI banner. There were multiple 2 hour training sessions that had to be pre arranged and paid for. All the riders seem plenty casual yet but are a bit more serious than the last day or so. The numbers are growing. Dan and Caroline are in, Dan got at least a few laps in before going to the hotel to sleep. He was still thinking it was 3 A.M. after just getting off the plane and coming to the cycling center. Tomorrow is sprint day for me and Dan Casper is scheduled for pursuits. My plan is to qualify in the morning, 2nd event of the schedule, and make to the later rounds that happen after 6 in the evening. We have to take a break every day for the British National team to have their normal grainy session, interesting. The evening sessions all start at 6 P.M. Today was activation day for me, roller warm ups and then some not quite full on efforts to get used to race gear and race lines, which are getting better. It's been fun to recognize and strike up conversations with other cyclists I've met from the last 2 years of Worlds. The weather here is soft, meaning rain and mid 40's or so temps, glad to have a roof over our heads. The rest of tonight's plan is rest, dinner and to sleep early for me. Dan needs to go back to the track and work on adjusting his saddle position. The word is the UCI will be strict about all the bikes having a level saddle and his is not quite there. The measurement jig will be set up soon so he can measure the bike make sure it's right before the comp starts tomorrow. The race is almost on.

Chris Boardman's hour record

The infield of course

Reg Harris, ask Bob Williams

Saturday, I know

It's Saturday evening, back in the hotel room after a full day of casual rest and eating and then some great time on the track from 3 to 5 P.M. Mark Stewart is in, the rest of the NSC pack will be here tomorrow. Dan and I went to the track for afternoon sessions, his was a pursuiter session for 2 hours right before my sprinters session of 2 hours. Dan keeps saying how fast the track is and I believe him, no wind of course, the temp is good inside with an outside temp of about 45 degrees with light rain. I rode over with Dan in the Fiat for his session so I had plenty of time to change, wander around the Cycling Center and then spend some easy time on the rollers warming up before the session. These are sessions we had to book with the velodrome prior to getting here, they are 20 pounds per 2 hour session. Makes riding at NSC seem cheap doesn't it? We get a wrist band after signing in for each session and then onto the track. There are some staff trainers there to help with what ever kind of training we ask for. They did send the derny out for a pace line warm up for about 30 laps at the blue line. I caught on to that as it came by and stayed in until 5 to go, today's plan is to go easy with serious activation tomorrow. Next came derny paced flying 100 to 250's. I got into the second one right behind the derny and did a flying 100, wow, it is fast as I tried but failed to stay down in the lane through turns 3 and 4. Next, a little conversation with the derny driver asking about lines. Out on the track again for some slower laps following the line he described with lots of laps below the apron on the warm up band. Eventually another derny 100, this time a bit better staying in the lane. I will have some work to do tomorrow. One last effort, gate practice, half a lap, definitely not at full speed just to get a feel for the gate. The coach guaranteed we will be using gates to start when the races call for them. Off the track, grab a sandwich at the cafeteria, pack up, go to the store for some stuff and then back to the hotel for dinner with Mark and our new best friend, Nick, from Melbourne. Everybody is plenty friendly and I think excited to get on with the games which start on Monday. Another early to bed night with an earlier get up time tomorrow to get to registration and then be prepared for some hard work to prepare for the sprint qualifications and rounds on Monday.

Lower infield before all the excitement begins

Friday, I think

Dan and I finally got to bed about 9:30 or so, watching a movie. The next thing I hear is Dan breathing like he is asleep, guess what, he is. OK time for lights out. We both woke up a few times during the night but felt good. The next thing I hear is Dan saying, You still sleeping!! Well yes, it's 9:30 and our first track season starts at 10. Out of bed, grab my track bag, which luckily I packed the night before, some food that I bought the night before and off we go. Good thing the track is close and Dan has all the quick back ways figured out. Dan got us a rental car for the week, a brand new Fiat 500, bright red, barely room for 1 bike and and all our gear. The track session is just getting started as we get there and Is 2 hours long so not a problem. Up on the track with about 30 others, riding faster than I need to at first just getting used to the surface, which is great, smooth and easy to ride. There are lots of advertising signs painted on the surface but it seems like the surface is aggressive, not slippery so that is good. The next two hours is filled with a variety of efforts starting with pace lines at the blue line and involving some kinds of accelerations in the lane. I fit in with some of them but rolled off the back each time to just roll around and find lines. Dan got some pursuit efforts in and felt good about them. 2 hours went by fast and before we know it the British team, at let least 7 of them, are on the track doing warm up laps. We found a spot to set up for the week in the main part of the infield, hopefully we saved enough room and it will stay saved for when Mark and Dan show up. Time for food again, the cafeteria is open at the center, in we go. No credit cards, no American cash accepted, that's ok, just pay us tomorrow. Very cool, lunch time, relax and then back to the hotel. More training time set up for tomorrow, Saturday, 2 hours of sprint related training. Should be fun, time to learn what the Brits say about sprinting.

Here at last

I got into Manchester about 10 this morning after a basically uneventful flight, nothing wrong with that. Over night flight and losing a bunch of hours in the process. Needless to say, not much quality sleep. Off the plane and wait in the customs line for about half an hour. Finding my luggage was easy though, the bike box made it through ok, the top was on backwards, easy to swap so I could pull it and actually get it to track behind me. (the top came off in Minnesota right in front of me when I dropped it off) I wandered around a bit before I found the shuttle driver who was waiting for 1 other rider, Fran from Perth, before we were off to the cycling center in morning rush hour traffic. The cycling center is huge, with a newly built indoor BMX track as part of the whole complex. I'll get some pictures soon. We put our bike stuff in the Press Room, back and under the track. As I was walking down the hall, I see rooms for Doctors, physiology, and psychiatry, which reminds me about Chris Hoy's book when he talks about the British cycling team being reluctant to talk to a shrink about competitive cycling. Back in the van and off to the Holiday Inn Central, about a 10 minute drive away. Check in and find the room, the first thing that came to my mind when I opened the door was the word "cozy". Wait until Dan Casper, my room mate for the week, sees this. It's a good thing the bikes will be staying at the cycling center most of the time. No mini bar either, so there goes my idea about using it as a fridge for the week. We are on the first floor so it's easy to get to, seems like a plus for now. I am hungry after the long night and a small airplane meal. Off to the restaurant, crap in-between meals, but there are cold sandwiches available so a sandwich and a Latte and I am set. Walking directions to the center, out the hotel gate and turn left, go to the bottom and turn right, go to the bottom and turn left, go to the beverages sign and turn right, etc. No road names at all, eventually the directions say .7 miles, that's just the last leg and it is starting to rain, 45 degrees, blowing like crazy and now rain. Pick up the pace and eventually there is the center, whew. I think that is the first and last time I walk, good thing Dan rented a cheap car. Time to put the bike together, one of the staff gives me the code to get back into the press room, which I have to myself for bike assembly. I need a few small parts, like new seat clamp screws, one stripped out as I tightened it. Lucky, Evans Bike shop is attached to the cycling center and came to the rescue. I finished up and luckily find the shuttle drivers who are heading back to the hotel, the regular shuttle service really isn't going yet but they help me out. Time for a little nap, Dan will be in soon and then dinner, hungry again. Blog time, maybe off to the store for some food and then early to bed. 1st training is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, at 10, structured training of some sort. Here we go, both Dan and I are registered for it.

At the airport, MSP

At the airport, relaxing before I take off, it's finally starting to feel like a vacation. Manchester should be interesting, from their web site and all the rules posted, It seems like a very busy place. The problem is finding time to get some open track time in before we actually race. Thanks to Chris, I got to the right web page and found training times but they are restrictive at best. 2 hour slots divided into pursuit, sprint, endurance and other beginner and experienced classes. Oh, and they all cost money per session. (20 pounds per session) I got a 2 hour slot on Saturday, sprint training, who knows how and what that will be. I also have some time scheduled on Sunday. Maybe I can get some time tomorrow night too but that will be after traveling all night so just some easy laps To see what the track feels like. It's all an adventure though so I just need to stay flexible and take advantage of this chance to go and have some fun. It will be great to have Casper, Stewart and Schuller along for the ride too.

Bags mostly packed, training done, some clothes in a carry on bag, and soon to be off to the airport.
Not without some drama, as I viewed my emails this morning, I find one from a friend, in fact multiple friends telling me my twitter account is hacked and what the hell are these messages you are sending me, I can't open them!!
On to the computer to update, alert and change settings as much as I can to stop the network craziness.
Now, time to pick some clothes for the next 10 days. Unfortunately, all the room I have left is in my carry on bag, looks like I'm wearing the same clothes every day for 10 days. Both my checked boxes/bags are packed to the weight limits. At least I think they are based on trying to weigh them while standing on a bath room scale. Ever tried holding a 70 pound bike box and trying to read the weight scale at the same time? Should have been a picture.
Oh well, back to packing and then to see what fun the airlines have in store for me during check in.