Current Conditions: Sunny and Warm

Christine and I arrived yesterday after a SUPER long flight direct from Seattle to Minneapolis. We were stuck in an hour long holding pattern, circling the 10,000,000,000,000,000 lakes while we waited to land on the lonely airstrip still available to planes due to the heavy winds. Our poor ride, driven by the wonderful Miranda, circled outside the airport in upward of two hours while we waited in a congested full flight of screaming toddlers and loudly snoring passengers. A few hours later, we arrived at the dorms, not even 100 feet from the track and proceeded to be treated like rock stars with dinner at Chili's and a late night stroll on the wooden planks.

We hit the boards around 10pm last night - spinning out our heavy, flight filled legs and it felt like something out that Kevin Costner movie; "If you build it, they will come." Super surreal and amazing.

After sleeping a solid 9 hours, we woke to the sound of sleepy riders rummaging around the halls and as the day has progressed, so has everyone's excitement. The biggest topic is of course the weather - where everyone is hoping against all odds that the thundershowers potentially forecasted tonight will hold off just long enough for us to get some racing under our tires.

A HUGE shout out the the amazing people who have invested weeks of preparation into this event. From housing, to sanding and painting, getting sponsors, mowing the lawn, picking up weary and late travelers, etc - THANK YOU! The US needs more events like this put on by such passionate people as you - it makes an enormous difference.