Rest Day

Today is a rest day of sorts. Velodrome racing ended yesterday and we came out with many personal bests, a world record and a few medals. We were very pleased with everyone’s efforts.

For staff, it was a day of cleaning out our velodrome storage area. The velodrome is about a 30-40 minute bus ride away from the athlete village. We had to transfer many sets of wheels, bikes, tools, massage table, helmets, coolers, etc, back to the athlete village. We have a few utility bikes available to use in the village. We used these to transfer our material from the bus stop back to our dorms. It was a bit of a scene and a good excuse for me to ride a bike.

Tomorrow we head into the road events. The road events consist of a time trial and a road race. The time trial is one person racing against the clock and the road race is a mass start event. These two events were also in the Olympics. There are seven staff members supporting cycling athletes for USA Paralympic Cycling. They include two coaches, two mechanics, an administrative director and the Soignuers (me, being a physical therapist and Michelle who is a RN/LMP).

We all stay plenty busy with our tasks. The mechanics will be busy changing out bicycles to aero equipment for the time trials tomorrow. US Olympic Committee has set up a medical clinic here in the athlete village. It is comprised of MDs, PT/ATCs, a DC (from my home state of Washington), and ATCs. They are a great group of professionals who work very well together. They are definitely supportive of our efforts out at the venues.