Started early  on Tuesday so I could take my time but still be in LA for my training session on Thursday after noon. I have definitely seen a huge chunk of the USA by car this year with a drive to South Carolina for Masters Nats and now going to Worlds. Scenery varying from boring, barely keeping awake to spectacular. The spectacular comes every time I get to mountain areas like the Appalachian in the east and now the rockies and beyond traveling west. New Mexico not so interesting on this drive but definitely not Minnesota landscape, always fun to see new world views. The weather has improved significantly, warm and sunny leaving the cold, rain and snow of CO behind. A stop just west of Albuquerque in a town called Grants for a night after a long day. I’m finding my Holiday Inn Express connections I made going to SC are paying off. Their mobile app makes it easy to find and book a room along the way without having to stop and ask if there are rooms available for the right price. Wednesday drive leaves me in Barstow CA, just far enough away from LA (130 miles)  to make the drive in tomorrow easy but give me an evening to get the road bike out and ride for an hour or so to work the kinks out and relax. Out one way to find the road dead ends at the desert and then turn around. Dinner at an In & Out Burger, thanks to Andy K for suggesting that venue. Early to bed and then up early for the final stint.
Up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains past an exit for Mount Baldy which is quite scenic to get into the LA area. The 405 freeway is huge and slow, filled with traffic and of course a few major crashes to slow things down even more, Google gets me to the velodrome area but not really to the velodrome. It’s on a campus so some driving around and there it is finally. Who do I see first when arriving? John from Boulder who I just met last week as a Team Sprint partner. Small world.
Unload the car and find an infield “cabin” area to claim for Andy, Linsey, me and who knows who else from MN. Plenty of time to get ready for my 3:00 session so easy to get all the gear stowed and Dolan set up for the training ride. My first impression is the track is easy to ride, really smooth, not slippery and kind of reminds me of Manchester. I just can’t quite get comfortable with the home straight/back straight orientation. A couple of 20 minute sessions and I’m ready to be done. Of course the battery in my power meter died on the way here and the spare I have is not the right one, not sure how I found the wrong size but, that’s it. I have another hotel for tonight, Air Bnb starts tomorrow. Time to look for a battery, which is way harder than it should be but eventually I find some at Walgreens and not a Batteries Plus, really? Rush hour traffic to deal with, finally back to the track and load the new battery and confirm it works. What, indoor Velo, no GPS speed available. Crap, I guess tomorrow I get to try and locate a bike store and a speed sensor, along with Air BnB check in, casual road ride, pick up Andy at the LA airport, should be plenty to do.