After a disappointing race in Prague, I got sick my last night and had to drive sick about 8 hours I think to Tacen for the next race. I arrived in Slovenia on Monday night, stayed in my bed almost all of tuesday, tried to paddle wed. but had a huge headache. Now Thursday, I am well again. I paddled for a short time this morning, eat lunch, played volleyball, and now I am on my way to paddle. I am almost back to normal, hopefully for the race will be fine.

I will let you know more soon

Cheers

Pablo

Well, I have seen the course, I like it. Tomorrow is the qualifying day. I am very much looking forward to this. If you want to keep track of the race, go to

http://www.slalomtroja.cz here you can find live results and video on the internet.

Cheers

Pablo McCandless

Training is well, after having to rest for a couple days with minimal training because of the effects of the beijing course and jet lag, I am back to my normal self. This is very nice because I can now paddle hard again.

I loaded some pictures on www.flickr.com

If you search for Pablomccandless as is and for Tags only, you will find some pictures from beijing if you are interested. Also

On You Tube, I have posted two videos, check them out by searching for Kayakpab. You will find one labeled beijing Paddlers and another labeled King and Queen Hotel. This is what i did in Beijing on my spare time.

Also search Pablo McCandless and you will find some videos of the Pan-Am Championships which was my Olympic qualification race.

Cheers

Pablo

Well, After taking another half day off, I took this opportunity to visit The Great Wall of China. This was a great experience. Amazing place. It was a very hot day also, so I am sweating a lot. But it was worth it.

Then on the way back down, I rode a sled on the bob sled course. This was really fun. Its safe and a great way to get down off the mountain.

Now, I am in Prague. It was an easy flight. I had a little trouble getting my boat on the plane because the airline does not take boats, but they take surf boards for 150 Euros, ouch. So I asked if they could pretend my boat was a surf board and they accepted. I also said it is important to take this boat because I will be using it for the Olympics later, which is a lie, but it helped.

So, I am feeling jet lag again after a 6 hour time difference from Beijing to Prague but it is not as bad as the 12 hour difference I had when arriving to Beijing from Charlotte.

Cheers

Pabs

Today, I had the day off, I thought to go paddle anyways on flat water early in the morning but when I woke, I decided this was not a good idea. I kept with the plan of taking the full day off.

We went to Silk Street Market to do some shopping. Silk street is famous here for its cheap prices. And they have everything you need from shoes to ipods.

I went to buy just one pair of shoes and came home with two different pairs, a wind resistant jacket, and some socks.

Silk street is also known for its bargaining. I held to my prices and in the end, got what I wanted. Only one person turned me away. It was amazing because everyone is trained in bargaining and you can hear all of them saying exactly the same things.

The vendors really attack you but all the ones I dealt with were really nice and I felt this was true with all because it was a game we were all playing and having fun doing. The game of who could get the best price.

So, a fun day of shopping but after all that walking, my feet hurt. And now as I go to bed with feet in pain, I have to set my alarm for an early rising.

And by the way, I use my cell phone for an alarm and so I have to turn it on for the night. Because US phones work in Beijing, I frequently have gotten phone calls in the middle of the night because there is a 12 hour difference. I guess some friends still don't know that I am in Beijing at the moment. I am afraid to pick up because the phone call might cost a lot but I will remember those names that come up.

These few people have probably left messages but i will not check until I return to the US in July, so you can email me, this would be better.

Well, I think these are all my thoughts for tonight

Cheers

Pablo