Catching up on the last couple of days feels like a blur in my mind. Having my wife drive me to the airport to catch a noon flight on Thursday in Dallas (via Charlotte, NC) to arriving in Frankfurt, Germany on Friday morning at 7am (midnight CST) is enough to throw anyone’s internal clock off. Luckily going 211 km/h in a rental car adds some adrenaline to your system and giggles for boys like us. Though jetlagged, we found our hotel, Sachsenring and Team USA in the pits. The adventure continues!

It was a bit harder than I thought it would be to leave my family, but an opportunity like this couldn’t be passed up. My flight to Charlotte was a simple 2.5 hours flight with some Hunger Games audio book enjoyment and some pleasant conversation with a lady from Washington D.C. Once in Charlotte, I checked into Foursquare and this alerted me to Hoop’s presence. We high fived and boarded our plane to Frankfurt.

Soon we were being fed the customary microwaved meal and enjoying some Beck’s. Hoop was several rows in front of me, so we had to just pretend we were cheering each other (PROST!). Once finished, the movie selection began. When I saw they had The Avengers, I had to watch it; such a great movie. More Hunger Games, an attempt at sleep and then some Men In Black 3. By this point I was ready to feel solid ground beneath my feet. Luckily an hour later we landed in Frankfurt and were standing in line waiting for our luggage and a rental car.

We made a quick stop for some breakfast where our handmade orders were made right there in front of us. Quite an awesome way to start the day; no McDonalds needed! I found a Special Edition Blue Red Bull that tasted great. It was blueberry flavored; the states need this for sure! Jumping back into the car, we continued on our journey to Chemnitz to find our hotel. Fairly simple, but we can’t check in. So we waste some time at a local market area where we can’t read anything.

After getting checked in and settled, we find our way to Sachsenring, the home of the GP races, so we can grab our media passes and meet up with Team USA. As we stumble into them, half the team is still in Tech Inspection. We got to watch quite a few of the guys (mainly the ones on four strokes) find new ways to quiet down their bikes. Chris Storrie was the last one to pass Tech -with the help of multiple support crew members – and impound his bike. Everyone will at least get to start!

Hoop and I then started to settle into our hotel room. Dinner was enjoyed at our hotel restaurant, along with a few German beers. Once we had our fill of food and hops, it was off to bed. We would arise in the morning and get ready for the 87th ISDE’s Opening Ceremonies.