Training days

Wednesday was our first day of training at the Laoshan Bicycle Cluster. We left our dorm at 7:30 a.m. for a commute by subway (we take Line 1 from one side of the city to the other) and then on foot to the venue, an hour and a half of travel total. Good times.

I will preface this by saying (if it isn't evident by the lack of detail I've given thus far) that we know very VERY little about the details of our work. It is kind of tiring to wonder day after day when you'll be given your instructions or at least know what you will be doing the next day (or any day, for that matter). But--finally!-- a call from Lisa, one of our supervisors, alerted us to report for duty.

So there we were, walking up to the brand-new Laoshan Velodrome (where track cycling events are held and we'll be spending the majority of our time), ready for duty. But first a morning pat-down by security, scanning of credentials, and a stroll through the x-ray machine. We signed in, received meal vouchers and our three bottles of water (down to 2 today) and headed to the Photo Manager's office. There are a myriad of titles and acronyms used in this place which I won't bore you with. Unless of course people want to know. Like I said earlier, I could create a dictionary of sorts for this.

Here is what we think our training schedule looks like until the Games begin:
Morning lecture
Lunch 11- noon
"Rest" until 1:30
Some kind of activity in the afternoon

I wasn't able to attend yesterday as I was still battling my mystery sickness (sorry for ignoring the blog, too) but today followed this same schedule. The lectures are from various managers and supervisors around the venue. Usually, we hear the same information at least three times. The first day we also got to tour the facilities, which was great. It is unbelievable to be behind the scenes, especially before all the commotion begins in August. Construction is basically finished, there are just minor things going in now, especially all of the computers and technology required for information storage and delivery between our venue and the MPC. (Basically, the faster the photographers from the big outlets like Reuters, Getty and AP can get their images out, the faster and more they are used/sold by news media around the world.)

We checked out the BMX track which looks insanely difficult to master at high speeds on a little bike (in my inexpert opinion). We have the great honor of seeing the first BMX Olympic competition ever which is really exciting!

The mountain bike competition will take place on Laoshan Mountain (more like a very large hill) and some of the inclines those riders have to face look terrifying. I have only seen glimpses of the course but it looks intense.

Today, the best part of work was our rest time which we spend on battery-powered scooter bikes that are amazingly fun. Basically you can pedal if you want, or use the throttle (maybe?) to use the motor (I am not very technically inclined, I apologize) and then if you pedal AND use the throttle it goes really fast. Chris and I (whose scooters were the most charged) made it up a big hill and decided we needed the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz's theme music to accompany our rides. I have a feeling we'll be using these a lot!

My roomie Val and I won't be able to sleep tonight; we are so excited about getting our uniforms tomorrow!!