Chicago Airport Map

http://www.chicagotraveler.com/images/ohare-airport-terminal-map.jpg

Too soon we will find ourselves here. In a couple of days I will post information that we need to know for getting to Germany on Saturday. Our United flight to Munich should be departing from Terminal 1 (blue on the map). To see a bigger picture, click on the photo itself, or the link below it.

A website for our photos

Today I am raising the curtain on what I think will be a welcome addition to our online presence, a place where you can see photos that we take on the road. We now have a "group" on Flickr called usalugeteam; the page is located here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/usalugeteam/pool/

The idea had been bouncing around in my head for a long time (a year?), and I finally took the steps this week to set it up. I had considered making my own webpage from scratch for this purpose, but the online services have so many features that I could never emulate. So I dropped my idea, and went with one of the online providers.

Already I have uploaded over 100 photos from Russia and Latvia to start things off. These were mostly given to me by Aaron and Curtis (thanks!). I had the misfortune of dropping my camera on the floor of the bus as we were driving to Moscow, thereby rendering it inoperative for the rest of the trip.

I am a novice with Flickr, but I think it should work nicely for us. Here are some of the features I would like to point out:

• Content is shown in a "pool," with the most-recently uploaded stuff on top.

• To see pictures from a specific place (Sigulda, Paramonovo, Moscow, etc) you should select the relevant "tag". All photos in the group will have at least one tag, and maybe several.

• Much of the content (mine, anyway) has been geocoded. That means that you can see on a map where the picture was taken. To do so: 1) click on any "thumbnail" picture to see the enlarged image. 2) On the right side of the page, under "Additional Information," you can see a link called "map". Click on it and... presto!

• You don't have to join Flickr to see our pics, and even if you do join, their basic service is free. If you want to become a member of our group, click on "Join this Group" at the top of our page. It is free, but you will have to get a Yahoo! ID (also free).

• I will be encouraging our athletes to become members, so that they can upload photos to the group page.

As we learn together the features and limitations of this site, feel free to ask questions or give pointers on our discussion board.

OK, have at it !!

A Christmas Story

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through our posse,
Not a luge coach was working, not even Ron Rossi.
The luge sleds were heading to Frankfurt with care,
In hopes that Pete Motta would pick them up there.

The athletes were nestled all snug in their beds,
As visions of mind runs snaked through their heads.
And Pete with his eggnog and I with my beer
Had just parted ways for a few days of cheer.

When out on our blog there arose such a chatter,
I sprang to my Mac to see what was the matter.
Away to the website I flew like a flash,
Glancing not at my e-mail, not even the trash.

The discussion board comments were all flashing “NEW.”
“What does it mean?”, I thought, and then wondered, “Who?”
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a message from “Northman;” Well, what have we here?

I started to read, and it hit me quite quick,
That one of our blog readers must be St. Nick!
“More rapid than eagles your sliders they fly,
I’m not good with names, but I’ll give it a try:

“Now, Lea! now, Taylor! now, Summer and Tony!
On, Isaac! on, Billy! on, Andrew and Robby!
I know of two more, whose moms post here a lot:
On Aaron! on, Jake! And on Curtis! (your doc).”

While reading his words I could barely think straight,
My only thought was: our most famous to-date!!
So up to the keyboard my fingers they flew,
With a reply of “Hello, Sir” and “So, how are you?”

And then, in a twinkling, St. Nick shot right back
“I’ve got news for you all: free runs on my track!”
As I picked up my glass and poured a fresh lager,
The jolly old man then spelled out his offer:

“My track’s at the Pole; Mrs. Claus runs the timing.
The track crew are elves who make fun of my rhyming.
For a truck there’s my sleigh, unused most of the year.
Just set your sleds out, and I’ll bring you all here.”

So out of the blue! So against expectations!
Was this just for us, or all FIL nations?
“For you, my dear friends, who have gone to such pains;
Why just getting home took a train and four planes!

"I’ve been reading your blog, and I know from Moscow
That not everyone has been served enough chow.
When I told Mrs. Claus, she said ‘Send them to me!’
At our house for dinner, there’s enough food times three!

"My workshop stands ready to replace broken bridges.
We have fiber and resin and new steels for your edges.
A completely new pod with fresh paint, at no cost.
And six runs a day on my track, free of frost.”

I could not find words, so amazed was I feeling.
My brain was a shambles, split asunder and reeling.
Could this really be happ’ning? 'Twas too good to be true!
I’d better call Pete, to share the news with him too.

I arose from my laptop, feeling clammy and cold.
Asleep here I’d fallen, for hours now untold.
But I heard a voice calling, 'ere I ran out of puns,
“Happy Christmas to all, may you all have clean runs!!”

New York Flight Cancellations--Current Status

Thanks to the snowstorm on the East Coast it's been an eventful morning for us (overnight for you). We have been at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport for over five hours already. The fears I expressed in the last post came to pass--our flight to NY has been delayed because the aircraft that we will travel on was not here (it was coming from NYC, so I'm sure you can understand the reason for the delay). The good news is that the aircraft just pulled up to the gate less than 5 minutes ago. So we will be getting to JFK this evening. Estimated arrival time at JFK is now 8:35PM. We will be on Aeroflot flight number SU 315 from Moscow.

The bad news is that all flights on which our athletes were supposed to leave JFK on Sunday evening have been cancelled. This affects Lea, Anthony, Taylor and Robby. Parents of those athletes, please try make rebookings for them today while we are enroute to New York. This is the best way of getting them home as soon as possible.

I have already booked an additional room at the Holiday Inn Express Laguardia Airport for tonight, so nobody whose flight has been cancelled will have to stay at the airport overnight. So, if you are able to rebook flights for tomorrow, the preferred airport of departure is now La Guardia Airport. I was already planning to bring Jake and Isaac there on Monday morning, so if Robby and the Salt Lake bunch could fly from there as well that would be ideal.

Into the Unknown

It is 6:10AM in Riga (11:10PM in New York). We are going to leave our hotel in 30 minutes. Although the Aeroflot website indicates that our flight from Moscow to NYC is still scheduled for an ontime 14:20 departure, it also shows that the incoming flight from New York is not expected to arrive in Moscow until after 4PM. And, of course, that is the aircraft that we are supposed to board in Moscow. So I do not know what will happen, but am not expecting anything good. And with all the cancelled flights in the US today, who knows if flights out of New York will be running smoothly.

I will be coordinating things with USLA staff (Amy and Mary Ann) once I get on the ground in New York. If any flights are rebooked while we are underway, please leave a voicemail on the relevant athlete's cell phone or call USLA staff. I'll be doing what I can to make sure everyone is taken care of once we arrive on US soil.

Coming Home!

I never thought three weeks could feel soooooooo long! After tomorrow's Womens' races the team will be in full swing to get moving again, and here is the game plan...

We will pack our boxes immediately after the race. They are being transported overland to Frankfurt, Germany, where they will await our return in January. As soon as the boxes are out of our hands we will travel to Riga, Latvia's gleaming capital city, for dinner and a new hotel. In order to be closer to the airport, we will spend tomorrow night at the Reval Hotel Elizabete. (tel 011 371 6778 5555).

On Sunday morning we begin our long journey home. Here is our flight info:

Aeroflot 160, dep. Riga 08:40, arr. Moscow 11:15
Aeroflot 315, dep. Moscow 14:20, arrive JFK (Terminal 1) 17:00

At this point the team will disperse, each headed their own way home for the holidays.

Pete and Aaron will drive a rental car up to Lake Placid, arriving sometime about midnight if all goes well.

Lea, Taylor and Anthony are flying directly to Salt Lake. Their flight (Delta 1733) is scheduled to leave JFK at 19:05, arriving SLC at 22:57.

Robby: Delta 6569 departs JFK at 20:40, arriving at Pittsburgh at 22:57.

Curtis: Delta 6447 departs JFK at 19:30, arriving at Milwaukee at 21:33.

Andrew, Summer and Billy are being met by parents at JFK Sunday night.

That leaves Jake, Isaac and myself. We will be staying overnight at the LaGuardia Airport Holiday Inn Express (tel 718 699 0994).

Jake is due to arrive in Grand Rapids at 1:25PM on Monday, on Continental flight 8727 from Cleveland.

Isaac should arrive at Marquette at 12:16PM on Monday, on Northwest flight 3195.

If all goes well, I will be the last one out of Dodge. My flight is scheduled to depart LaGuardia airport at 10:05AM on Monday, and I will arrive in Des Moines at 4:13PM.

That's how it appears on paper. But I understand that some bad weather is coming through this weekend, so who knows what will really happen. If some athletes are forced to miss their flight on Sunday night, I will be there to make sure they are taken care of until the next day, when they can (hopefully) get moving again.

If you're not sick of this blog, check it occasionally over the holidays as I will continue to post any important information here, and maybe a fun post or two as well.

Race Day

Well today didn't go as planned for most of us, in fact i don't think it went the way any of us really wanted it to. A lot of the men today didn't do as well as they had hoped and some did okay. We all gave it what we could but came a little short today, but we are all keeping our heads up and marching forward and ready to come home! We are all looking forward to being with our families for the next two weeks and then its back off too Europe were we'll keep doing our best in the competitions! Thanks for all the support this half and we look forward to keeping you updated for second half when it comes.

Schedule for JWC #3 in Sigulda

Friday, December 18
10:00 Challenge Cup
12:30 Junior Men, Run 1
13:45 Junior Men, Run 2
15:00 Youth A Men, Run 1
16:05 Youth A Men, Run 2
ca. 17:00 Awards

Saturday, December 19
09:00 Junior Women, Run 1
10:00 Junior Women, Run 2
12:00 Doubles, Run 1
12:20 Youth A Women, Run 1
13:15 Doubles Run 2
13:35 Youth A Women, Run 2
14:15 Awards

(Latvia is 7 hours ahead of EST)

Historic Sigulda

By no stretch of the imagination am I an expert on Latvian history, but I picked this up while walking about town yesterday (during our 6 hours and 40 minutes of daylight) and thought I'd share it.

Sigulda is a town of 16,000 atop a steep valley of the Gauja river. In the 12th century the Finno-Ugric tribes of this region were among the last pagans in Europe, which did not sit very well with the Pope. In 1187 a German missionary named Teodoric arrived on the scene and began preaching Christianity. To speed up the conversion process, in 1201 the Pope dispatched German crusaders headed by one Bishop Albert, who founded a settlement at Riga. The following year Teodoric upped the ante by founding a menacing-sounding order: the Brotherhood of the Sword. The Germans became a feudal ruling class in the area. In 1207 the Brotherhood and Bishop Albert settled on the Gauja as the dividing line between their conquests, and both built castles in prominent positions on either side of the river.

Ruins of Sigulda Castle, built by the Brotherhood of the Sword in 1207-26
N57.16644, E24.85032
The fortress on the south bank of the river was named Segewold (Wood of Victory), in Latvian Sigulda. The Brotherhood merged with the Teutonic Knights in 1237 and thereafter called themselves the Livonian Order. Between the 1500s and 1700s Russia, Sweden and Poland competed for influence here. The last Master of the Livonian Order, seeking protection from Ivan the Terrible, swore allegiance to the Polish-Lithuanian Empire in 1561, and the Order was dissolved a year later.

Sigulda Lutheran Church. A church was first mentioned here in 1483.
N57.16262, E24.85168
Sigulda castle was destroyed in the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia in the early 1700s. Russia won this war, and by the end of the 1700s all of modern Latvia was ruled by the Tsar. Sigulda began to flourish in the late 1800s with the construction of the Riga-Pliskau road. It became a well-known recreational destination throughout the Russian Empire, and was compared to villages of the Swiss Alps. The Soviet Union's pre-eminent luge and bobsled track was constructed here in 1986.

"New" Sigulda Castle, built in 1881
N57.16563, E24.84989
Latvia asserted its independence at the end of World War I in 1918. At first a democracy, it gradually slid into dictatorship. In 1940 Latvia was occupied by the Red Army and made part of the Soviet Union. But from 1941-44 German troops occupied the country. As World War II turned against Germany, Riga returned to Soviet control in October 1944. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Latvia regained its independence. In 2004 Latvia joined NATO and the European Union.

In-room dialing now available!

A telephone technician visited the hotel today, and I have been told that it is now possible to call directly to our rooms. It's weird, but the xx for each room is different from our room numbers. So forget the room number and use the following:

When calling from the USA is 011 371 6770 96xx.
Just replace xx with the following digits...

• Robby, Aaron: 22


• Jake, Andrew: 35


• Pete: 38


• Curt: 34


• Taylor, Isaac: 29


• Billy, Anthony: 31


• Lea, Summer: 30


• Keith: 28

As usual, please restrict calls to between the hours of 8AM and 10:00PM. Latvia is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Bridges Where Art Thou?

So a little background for you, I broke my back bridge beyond repair the day before the 1st race in Russia , and ended up racing on Jake's sled (which we named Jea Hyrnlinden). But all in all I was satisfied with how I raced, under the circumstances, heck I even beat a Russian in the 2nd race.
Any who, now I'm in Latvia and I'm sitting around hoping my new bridges are here so i can slide on my own sled, with the rest of team.

Oh and thanks again Jake for being so good at sharing

first impressions

well the first day of sliding is over and i must say Latvia still rocks! The track is very difficult and i by no means had good runs i don't think any of us really did, but they keep the ice very nice and well maintenanced. The hotel we stay in is above par that's for sure, and the rooms and food is above most every where else i have been! I think the people here are very nice and some even go out of their way to make you feel welcome. The team seems to like it here so far and I'll be keepin everyone up to date on how we feel about things :)

Huerbin, Britcher and Hyrns medal in Paramonovo

Team USA pocketed three medals in the first two Junior World Cups of the season in Paramonovo, Russia. Back-to-back races were conducted over three consecutive days December 10-12 on the beautiful new track.

Robby Huerbin (Pittsburgh, PA) advanced from a seventh-place first run to finish in third place in the Junior Men category, behind Germany's Julian von Schleinitz and Ralf Palik. This is Robby's third time to reach the podium on the Junior circuit. He has also medaled in Igls and at the 2008 Junior World Championships held in Lake Placid.


Continuing in the Junior Men category, teammate Taylor Morris (South Jordan, UT) finished seventh and sixth in the two races; both were personal bests. Also of note: Aaron Barge (Saranac Lake, NY), put down a seventh-place run in his very first race at the Junior level.

Summer Britcher (York, PA) had her best-ever finish, a silver medal in the Youth A Women category, behind Jennifer Flintova from the Czech Republic. Summer also deserves an award for resilience under stress: in the first day of racing she crashed, but against all expectations got back on her sled and put herself across the finish line. In her do-over run she crashed again... followed by three clean runs and the silver medal in the second race. She will be getting some well-deserved Milkas!



Jake Hyrns (Muskegon, MI) garnered bronze in the first race in the Youth A Men's division, and was just out of medal contention in the second race. These races were won by cousins Dominik and Kevin Fischnaller of Italy. Jake and his partner Andrew Sherk (Fort Washington, PA) had a fourth-place run in the first doubles race and a third-place run during the second competition.



Complete race results are available on the FIL website and at www.microgate.ru.

Internet!

Two weeks without internet basically drove us crazy! But now that we are in Latvia and get internet we are all a lot more relieved and feel more connected to the world. Of course facebook was our first thought when we heard we get internet in Sigulda! So far the food we've had has been delicious and we are pretty impressed with the rooms. We get to watch some t.v. in English which is a VERY nice change of pace. We are all excited to get out on the new track (for all of us but robby who has slid in sigulda before) and are anxious to learn it! This will be the last race of first half so hopefully we can end out this year with some medals!

Do svidaniya Russia, Labdien Latvia!!!

Goodbye Russia, Hello Latvia!

We are now in Sigulda after an unforgettable two weeks in Russia. We left our compound ("hotel" just seems too charitable a word) at 4AM this morning, and were bused to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. After rousing the staff at successive stops throughout the terminal, we boarded our 7:10 AM flight to Riga, where we were met by a driver sent from our new hotel. The morning dawned as we were driving through Riga en route to Sigulda, about 50 km northeast of Latvia's capital. Latvia has already made a favorable impression because the sun is shining, our rooms are comfortable and lunch was delicious.

I'm sure many stories, photos and videos will now emerge that were not mentioned earlier because our access to the Internet was so restricted in Paramonovo. But the first order of business is to tell you how to reach us here in Sigulda.

We are staying at the Hotel Pils. Every room has a phone in it, but it is not possible to dial directly to the rooms. Luckily, the reception desk seems to be proficient in English, so just tell whoever answers the first name and room number of whom you are trying to reach. If any of you run into difficulties with this, post a comment and I will try to make it work better.

The phone number when calling from the USA is 011 371 677 09625.

Room Number:

• Robby, Aaron: 22


• Jake, Andrew: 35


• Pete: 38


• Curt: 34


• Taylor, Isaac: 29


• Billy, Anthony: 31


• Lea, Summer: 30


• Keith: 28

The hotel has WiFi in the dining room, and a ethernet connection in each of the rooms, so Skype should also work. Out of courtesy to the hotel staff and our athletes' needs, please restrict calls to between the hours of 8AM and 10:00PM. Latvia is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Race Schedule for JWC 1&2

JWC#1: Thursday, December 10
(Moscow Time, 8 hours ahead of EDT)
9:30 Junior Men Run 1
10:15 Youth A Men Run 1
11:00 Junior Men Run 2
11:45 Youth A Men Run 2
12:30 Junior Women Run 1
1:25 Junior Women Run 2
2:15 Doubles Run 1
2:45 Youth A Women Run 1
3:25 Doubles Run 2
3:45 Youth A Women Run 2

JWC#2: Friday, December 11
1:00 Doubles Run 1
1:25 Youth A Women Run 1
2:20 Doubles Run 2
2:45 Youth A Women Run 2
3:25 Junior Women Run 1
4:25 Junior Women Run 2

JWC#2: Saturday, December 12
10:00 Junior Men Run 1
10:55 Youth A Men Run 1
11:55 Junior Men Run 2
12:50 Junior Men Run 2

Team Meets With U.S. Ambassador

Our team was honored to receive a visit from the U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mr. John Beyrle, on Thursday, December 3 at the luge track in Paramonovo.

He was invited by Vanessa Hyrns, Jake’s mother, who contacted him knowing that ambassador Beryle was a native of Muskegon, Michigan, Jake’s hometown.

On the day of the visit, two permanent staff from the embassy’s Sports Diplomacy office arrived in advance to set up the event, held in the VIP room at the track’s finish house. They were soon joined by the ambassador’s security detail. Mr. Beyrle himself arrived shortly before 2PM, in a black car waving the United States flag.

His arrival delayed by Moscow traffic, the ambassador’s time together with the team was limited due to our training session scheduled to begin at 2:30. He talked with the team for about 10 minutes and posed for a group photo, which was visible yesterday on the U.S. embassy's website. Tea and snacks were served, courtesy of the Russian Luge Federation. After the athletes left to begin their warm up, the ambassador, Pete and myself continued to the Junior Start, interrupted only by a call regarding ongoing arms control talks. Mr. Beyrle watched several sleds go by, and as our session began he was escorted to the Men’s Start by Gennady Radionov, Vice President of the Russian Luge Federation, and Event Manager of the competition.

The ambassador made a favorable impression with the team. “He was very laid back, and a cool guy,” said Jake. “I wish I had more time to talk to him, and I would have liked to ask him about his job.”

Training times available online

Times from all training sessions in Paramonovo are available for viewing on the Russian website www.microgate.ru. The site is all in Russian, but it is not very hard to get around in. From the main page, select the lowermost link containing this text: Спортивный хронометраж Алексея Пивоварова. The next page contains links to all the results. There are four groups, and the USA in in Group C (Группа С).

Paramonovo update

The International Training Week at Paramonovo concluded on Saturday, and yesterday the organizers provided a day trip to Moscow and a welcome event at the hotel, complete with Russian folk music and dancing.

Today is the first day of Official Training. Every athlete will get seven final training runs between now and Wednesday, with the first Junior World Cup taking place on Thursday. We still have not seen the sun since arriving in Russia, but instead of the warmest winter on record, things are looking more like I expected them to be. Namely, it has begun snowing. It started early this morning and has snowed continuously. Temperatures are now in the 20s, compared to the 40s last week.

Our internet situation has improved. Not at the hotel, but at the track. Some more connections were installed here this afternoon, and we put in our first Internet-friendly study hall, which just wrapped up thirty minutes ago. We will do the same tomorrow. So if you have emails you want to send to any of the athletes, I'm sure that they will be able to read them tomorrow.

First Post from Paramonovo

First of all, we are all healthy, warm, and fed. The track is exciting. and we are making progress. That's the good news. Logistically, things are very difficult here. I am sending this message from the control tower at the track, to which I do not often have access or time to sit down in front of a computer. As we do not have our own vehicles here, I cannot slip over to the track any time I want, but has to be coordinated with our sliding times, and of course we are all busy then.

I haven't yet read all the posts on our Discussion Board, because in my short time available (10 minutes), I wanted to get a post out myself. But I do want to repeat that anyone is welcome to call the number that Ron gave (011 7 916 327 4439), which is my mobile phone here. I am happy to pass the phone on to our athletes if he/she is nearby, and the discussion is limited to 10 minutes or so.

I will post again as soon as I am able. But don't worry about us, we are fine.