10 Days to go!

The training all done, the bike is packed away, and the World Tri Championships are only 10 days away. I qualified for the sprint championship last year at he Canadian Nationals held in Kelowna last year with an unexpected 3rd place finish. It was quite an honor to stand on the podium, with my ragged Blue Bomber T-shirt, til the Gold Medalist hollered "Go Riders!!". Too bad there wasn't 12 laps to complete, he'd likely have done an extra lap, and I might have squeaked into 2nd.
I wasn't initially planning to attend the World's in Beijing this September, but a number of things fell into place. I was working with some doctors from Beijing, who were enthusiastic that my family and I may come to visit. My boss told me I could have the time off, and possibly could use some of "conference time" instead of my vacation time. Finally, when I brought up the possibility of travel with my 2 boys, they thought I was a great Dad for inviting them to come. pretty hard to let them down after that.
the course is the same as the 2008 Olympics. The men's final was the most exciting race I've seen of any kind. The lead changed at least 3 times in the last kilometer, and our man Simon Whitfield almost won it all, only to be nipped out in the last few meters.
The start of the triathlon year started rather ignominiously for me. Had to pull out of a duathlon after injuring my calf, couldn't seem to get my goggles to stay on in the 1st 2 events, but things picked up later in the season.
Manged to get a 2nd overall in the short course at Morden, passing a couple of young bucks in the final kilometer. Had my best time ever at riding mountain triathlon in the Olympic distance, and surpassing my performance at the Canadian Nationals with a faster time and a 2nd place in my age group. (I've now qualified for the world's in 2012 in Auckland, but that's another blog)

The hard part now is ensuring we have everything packed. Can't forget the neccessities like electric converters, copies of all our documents and deodorant. (According to one of the many travel guides I read, it is almost impossible to find deodorant in China)
I'll try and keep this blog up while away, from what I hear, internet access can be choppy and unpredictable.
Flight leaves Labor Day at 7 am. Booked a limo because it would take 3 priuses (?prii?) to take all our luggage and us and my bike box would likely have to ride on the roof.