Coming off of my victory high, I now had to get registered for the championship. After a little difficulty, we got it all figured out with a lot of help from my parents and Bill from the bike shop, who both did most of the work. After more coffee from Moon Frog, I went to the bike shop like usual and we planned to go out for a celebratory dinner after work finished. When I wasn't at the shop, I was at Bill's from Warmshowers, Bill's from the bike shop, or Moon Frog. I would find somewhere I could sit and work on these blogs. Especially because pecking them out on my phone, they take a ton of time to do, usually over an hour apiece and were a big part of why I was only getting 7 hours or less of sleep. It was really nice to have some casual days to work on them and not be quite so exhausted. Because they take so long, I also don't check for errors, of which I know there are many when I go back to read them. I'll go back through and edit them someday when I have the time.
My friend, Zephyr, was flying into Denver today, but wouldn't be arriving until later. The plan was for me to stay with him and their family once they arrived, but Bill said it was no issue if I stayed another night with him since they were coming in late. Bill had allowed me to stay for six nights, which is pretty unheard of, and I couldn't be more thankful to him as it made my time in Winter Park a possibility. Without Bill, there's no way I would have been able to stay as long as I did, let alone race. Through Warmshowers, I met so many great people, and Bill is certainly up there on the best of the trip!
These days were not very event filled as I was mostly taking it very easy in order to be in good condition for the coming race as well as figuring out the logistics of the race and where I would be staying. I caught up on a lot of TV shows and with people from back home during this time, and a student from San Lorenzo High School reached out to thank me for riding for their club, which was the highlight for me.
I did eventually leave Bill and met up with Zephyr and his family, who I would stay with for the rest of my time in Winter Park. Zephyr's arrival was great for me, not only because they treated me to dinner and food a number of times, but because they were bringing resupplies from back home. I got a bunch of bars, jerky, electrolyte powder, and more! They would also be taking back a lot of the gear I no longer wanted or needed, like all my cold weather gear. A little hard to give up after nearly freezing solid a week ago, but I would not be needing it once I hit the plains. But before I got to those I had one more race to do...
