**Remember, if you click on any photo if will open them all in a larger, slideshow format.
Walking through Otepaa...
Estonian homes...not that different looking.
Quaint little neighborhood street covered in snow.
Very pretty church on a hill in town...
Looking out at the course in Otepaa...
Men getting warmed up for their final race in Otepaa...
After our week in Estonia we piled into a coach bus with the teams from Austria, Kazakhstan, Korea, and Brazil for the trip to Ostrov, Russia. If you do a Google Maps search from Otepaa (where we were in Estonia) to Ostrov it'll tell you the drive should take roughly 2.5 hours. We left Otepaa at 7:30 am and didn't get to the Ostrov venue until 2:30 pm. What Google Maps won't tell you is that crossing the border into Russia with a team full of biathletes from multiple nations and their rifles will take forever.
We were packed into the bus: ski bags and rifles filled the aisle all the way to the back...
When you go into Russia you first have to leave Estonia. At the Estonian border we encountered a fox who was pretty sure we wanted him on the bus and that we were going to feed him...
There's a no-man's land between the two borders.
Russia has strict gun control laws so we weren't allowed to keep our rifles with us after crossing the border. We had to deposit them all into a guarded bus for transport to the venue where they kept them in a constantly-guarded room. It really made us appreciate the freedom we have else wear!
Our first views of Russia after we crossed the border...
After we made it through the Russian border we deposited our skis at the venue before heading to our hotel an hour's drive from the venue in Pushkinskie Gory, a resort community where Russian poet, Pushkin, spent much of his time.
Lots of things to read there but not much that I read....
One of the biggest differences between our Russian hotel and any hotel you'd find in the U.S. was the food we were served. At our first meal we discovered that it would be a long (and maybe a little hungry) week of new foods... In a situation where I wasn't racing and expected to perform well I might have been more tolerant of the food differences but on a racing diet it was a bit tough!
Our first salad: a large dollop of mayonnaise, cabbage, shredded apple, sliced ham, corn.
Russians love their black tea!
The Christmas tree in the dining room...
Breakfast: day 1. Hot dogs, cabbage, a slice cucumber, a slice tomato, just-add-water mashed potatoes.
Custard square with sour cream.
Our translators told us not to drink any water that didn't come from a sealed bottle so when they served us juice at lunch in a big pitcher we were leery...
The dining facility at our hotel
One of the better meals we enjoyed: potatoes served with chicken or fish topped with cheese melted over sautéed vegetables.
The sign on our meal table. Good thing they decided to write it in English too or we probably wouldn't have figured it out!
Hannah saving veggies for our coach, Armin, who only eats raw foods. Tough diet to follow in Russia.
Russia doesn't follow daylight savings time so when we crossed the border from Estonia we gained not one, but two hours. Nine hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Being so far west in their time zone meant that it didn't really start to get light until close to 11 a.m.
Getting off the bus at 10:45 a.m. for training. Still almost dark!
Each day we joined the other teams on police-escorted coach buses for the trip to the venue.
In Ostrov they were pretty strict about always having an official training bib, race bib, or credentials on you at all times.
Our cabin (Tracy, Hannah, and I) at the hotel:
Photos outside the hotel. The cabins (L) and the main hotel building (R).
The venue had a water company sponsor the event so we were provided with official Silver Drop Ostrov Biathlon IBU Cup water to drink....
In Russia they have a lot of stray dogs and cats. These two hung out outside the lobby of our hotel where I think they were being fed. They were really friendly but I was afraid to let them get too cuddly as they clearly had fleas.
Some views through the bus window into the city of Ostrov. Very, very poor communities.
Typical Americans. I feeling left out being the only one without internet access right on my phone...
Heading to the opening ceremony in this huge marble building at the center of Pushkinskie Gory.
Hannah and Tracy: all smiles.
Concert hall for the opening ceremony...
Women's drumming troop...
Children dancing...
Gymnasts...
Singers...
A singer and dancers...
More dancers...
The relay was really fun to race. I skied second leg and took the tag from Hannah in 6th place. I caught up to the Swedish team in 5th place right away and hung on into the range. I hit 4 in prone and used 1 spare to hit the single miss. I went out in 5th but came into standing right with the Russian 2nd leg skier. I was a little overwhelmed by the screaming fans that were following her and missed two in standing. I used all three of my spare rounds and managed to clean the target still but took a bit of time doing it and tagged off to Bill in 7th. Shooting with a screaming crowd is definitely a new thing for me!
Some more pictures from the area:
This cool truck was at our hotel...it has a stove in it for heat!
This neat building sits at the end of the venue road so we passed it every day.
Green gunpowder tea anyone?
Giant fruit...not too sure what it was though.
Ice skating rink
The bakery
Wynn found a fishing shop and was pretty psyched about it!
The school...
Russian money...Rubles
Views through the muddied front window of the bus on the drive back to the hotel...
Tracy and I landed the front seat on the top floor of the double decker bus...
The final two races were a little rough for me. I didn't sleep well the entire time we were in Russia and it caught up with me after the relay and through the weekend. My sprint was pretty terrible. I missed 2 prone and 2 standing, finishing 39th. In the pursuit I started in the 4 minute wave (if you finish over 4 minutes behind in the sprint then you start in a wave at 4 minutes after bib #1 in the pursuit) and managed to stave off getting lapped and moved up two places to 37th. I shot (0, 0, 3, 1) and had the 2nd and 5th fastest range times in my prone stages.
Check back later for more on Russia...now it's time for some unpacking, laundry and sleep!
