The Para-Cycling World Championship Opening Ceremonies

Since this baby has decided to wait for Labor Day, I’ve been out and about with vecmamma Inga and the boys here in Greenville taking advantage of the last days of summer. As I wrote in this previous post, the 2014 Para-Cycling World Championships have come to town, and the Opening Ceremonies and Parade of Nations was Wednesday evening at the Peace Center Aphitheatre.

  

Athletes from 40 countries are participating in the games, having overcome disabilities and handicaps to excel at this physically demanding sport. We welcomed Oskars Gailišs and team from Latvia, who will be competing today in time trials and Sunday in the road races.

The USA team paraded through, 30 athletes strong. We can’t wait to see them all in action!

The official website, including live streaming of the weekend’s events can be found here.

For the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling World Championship schedule click here.

The road race course map can be found here and the time trial map here.

Youtube coverage of the Parade of Nations -

Para-Cycling coming to Greenville!

The 2014 Union Cycliste Internationale Para-Cycling World Championships are coming to Greenville, South Carolina!!! This Olympic-sanctioned event is heralded as the “Superbowl of para-cycling” and will bring 400 athletes from more than 40 countries to the Upstate for five days of action-packed competition. This will be the first time in sixteen years that this prestigious competition takes place in the USA!

The championships kick off on August 27^th with a Parade of Nations and the Opening Ceremony. It starts at 6pm and is taking place on the TD Stage at the Peace Center Amphitheatre. The next four days will be filled with relays, time trials and road races occurring at the BMW Performance Center Track and at the Millennium Campus. Races at the Millennium Campus will be accessible from Carolina Point Parkway, and admission and parking is free.

Oskars Gailišs from Latvia

We are proud to have a silver medalist from the 2013 UCI Para-Cycling European Cup in Belgrade joining us in Greenville for the championships, Oskars Gailišs from Latvia! Ten years ago he underwent a 6-hour surgery after injuring his leg in an accident, and for six months he couldn’t stand. Yet he has overcome dire predictions of doctors who said he would never walk without crutches again, and today has a successful bicyclist training school in Latvia and travels to Para-Cycling events aroung the world. We’ll be cheering Oskars on during the five day event, and hope you’ll join us!

Oskars Gailišs on the podium with the silver

Everything you need to know is on the official website.

For the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling World Championship schedule of events click here. 

The road race course map can be found here and the time trial map here.

To learn more about Oskars Gailišs you can check out this youtube video (in Latvian)

Have fun storming the castle!

A few weeks ago we joined a dozen friends for the Amazing Castle program at the Upcountry History Museum. The hands-on exhibit is geared towards kids 4-8 years old and introduces visitors to medieval history through a make-believe castle village community. The program was the perfect opportunity to storm the castle, as it included various other activities outside the exhibit.

We started in the classroom, learning about medieval knights through a storybook and mini-lecture. The resident bearded dragon demonstrated differences between real-life and fairytale dragons, after which we made shields complete with emblems designed by each child.

Next up was a story read aloud in the exhibit, and then the kids discussed the various “jobs” in a castle community. After a guided tour exploring each station the kids were let loose for free play.

Mikus (age 2) thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit too, and I feel both boys learned something from our visit. We would have had a blast even without participating in the program, as there are plenty of things to do within the walls of the castle: dressing up in costumes, harvesting vegetables, building castle walls and answering questions correctly to prompt the appearance of a dragon were among the favorites. The informative nature of the display guaranteed older children had a great time as well, and in my opinion this is truly one of the better-designed exhibits at the Upcountry History Museum from the ones we’ve been to, especially with the boys in tow.

Admission rates to the museum were as follows: $5 per adult, $4 per senior/college students with valid ID and $3 per child ages 4 to 18. Pricing varies for programs, call for information on groups of more than 15. The exhibit runs through September 28^th, so you still have plenty of time to explore!

The new and improved Greenville trolley

On Thursday we had the distinctive honor of being the very first passengers on the new Greenlink trolley!

Source: City of Greenville website

The brand new open-air trolleys have wooden benches seating 35, a bicycle rack on the front and a wheelchair-accessible door and seating in the rear. Televisions run scenic shots of Greenville while pleasant music plays in the background. There was none of the exhaust blowing back into the trolley as with the older ones (which possibly are the same vehicles that have been in service ever since the trolleys started running in 2006), and the ride was much quieter and more enjoyable.

In addition to the new trolleys, the route has been revised and service has converted from flag-stop to a fixed-stop. Look for downtown trolley signs about every other block on the new route, which can be found here. (However I didn't see too many signs, and the driver was stopping for people flagging her down, so I think that's still a work in progress...)

The benefits to utilizing this free service are many; less stress to park downtown, quick shuttling to and from the ball games at Fluor Field, the ability to enjoy the festivals downtown without having to drive (for those that live close to the trolley route in the North Main neighborhood) and a scenic way to show off the very best of Greenville from the comfort of a vintage trolley! We’ve often used it as a hop-on, hop-off mode of transportation when showing guests around town.

The new route still goes past Fluor Field

Thursday’s ride took us exactly 30 minutes to complete the entire route, and we had to promise to take the boys back the next day in order to get them to disembark…  The hours of operation are Thursdays and Fridays 6pm until 11pm, Saturdays 10am until 11pm and Sundays 1pm until 8pm. The trolleys run year-round - I can't wait to see them decked out in holiday lights!

The 11th Latvian scout and guide jamboree, Mantojums!

In a few days Latvian scouts and guides from around the world will descend upon the wilderness of New Jersey for the 11^th Latvian scout and guide jamboree, Mantojums. These jamborees are organized every four years in a location in North America, the previous one, Zvaigžņu sega, taking place in Michigan in 2010 with attendees from the US, Canada, Australia and Latvija.

Lauris attends his first jamboree! Also pictured: my father, mother, aunt, grandmother, godmother, sister and cousins who attended Zvaigžņu sega

I attended my first jamboree Draudzības Lokā at the age of five, technically a few months too young to be a guntiņa but proudly wearing the forest green uniform nevertheless. At that time still organized every five years, in 1992 I accompanied my troop to Canada for Ugunskurs, and then another five years later to New York for Kopsolī. 2002 was Kalnaine in Massachusetts, then Dziesmu Gars back in Canada in 2006. Despite Lauris being only three months old for Zvaigžņu sega, I have not missed a single Lielā nometne in my lifetime other than Kāvu gaisma, the 4^th jamboree that took place when I was only nine months old. Until this one.

August 1987, my first lielā nometne

With our move down south and the years spent in France, I have not been active as a troop leader as there are no Latvian girl scout troops in the area. This is possibly the second hardest thing for me about our living in South Carolina, the first being our distance from family, as scouting has played a large role in my life from the very first. With a mother, grandmother, godmother, aunt and various uncles and other relations who were/are active leaders in the organization, I grew up a guntiņa, then a gaida, eventually a lielgaida and finally gave my scoutmaster oath in 2006. The love of camping and the outdoors that took root during this time led to my degree in forestry and career with the Fish & Wildlife Service and US Forest Service, and I hope to be able to instill the same love of nature in my children in the years to come.

After giving my vadītāju solijums, with my grandmother, mother and godmother

About a year ago when the planning for Mantojums kicked into high gear I accepted a request to help with planned activities. It was with a heavy heart that I had to write back and report that I wouldn’t be able to attend the jamboree after all; I was so happy that Lauris and Mikus would be able to accompany me to New Jersey and attend the daycamp usually scheduled for those too young to be mazskauti and guntiņas, but with my due date estimated to be four days before the start date, there was no way any of us would be attending.

Roberts swears he first remembers meeting me at a winter scout camp - possibly this one? (See arrows)

And so, to all my sisters and brothers attending Mantojums, esiet modri! Enjoy your week in the woods forging new friendships and discovering yourselves and the wonders of the outdoors. I will be there with you in spirit, singing right along with you –

Šis ir mūsu mantojums, - ai          

Tik daudz laba nodots mums.

Saņemsim un sargāsim un

Tad to tālāk nodosim!

And maybe a little sīkguntiņa will arrive in the world just in time for Lielā nometne?