Of the many places I've wanted to visit in the US, Eugene, OR has always been right up there at the top of the list. All because of one man, Steve Prefontaine, aka "Pre". For those that don't know, Pre was a middle distance runner in the 1970's who had a big impact on the sport. Although he only finished 4th at the '72 Olympics in Munich, he had a huge impact on the fans for his aggressive front running style and his rough as guts, never say die attitude. His Coach, Bill Bowerman, was also famous for starting Nike by making running shoes with his wife's waffle iron. Right from the time I arrived at Eugene airport, there was no escaping Pre's impact on this little town.
But enough about the history, what about my trip?
My was with Sanofi Aventis. Another athlete day talking about the wonders of Apidra. Good times, I hoped. I wasn't disappointed.
Well the trip didn't start amazingly well, with those horrible people at United Airlines charging me $140 to take my bike and bag on the plane. But things soon got better. I went out riding, and managed to get soaked through. I was able to go round a nice little loop thanks to a local guide, Lisa, who I meet out riding and who showed me where to ride, so that was all good.
I was invited out to dinner by Stefanie, the Sanofi rep looking after me while I was in Eugene. In was at dinner where Eugene's slightly different culture began to show. First of all, there was a massive screen up showing the VP debate. There seemed to be a big crowd for what wasn't even the leaders. Secondly, they were advertising free wireless internet in a pub. In a coffee shop I could understand, but who brings their computer to the pub? Thirdly, there was their rather strange advertising to get people to vote. Below is a photo of the tomato sauce bottle at dinner. Note the girly hands holding the bottle up.
Apart from those weird little things I noticed about Eugene, there was 2 things that really stood out. The Ducks, who are the local University team, and the legend of Pre. Since I don't care about college sport or football, I didn't take much notice of the first. Though I am a big fan of Pre, and I was lucky enough to have some time in the morning to check out his legacy (or unlucky enough to have time, since the reason I did was that my bike was getting fixed). I did have an excellent tour guide with me, and our first stop was Hayward Field. This is the famous track which Pre ran on, and was the venue for the US Olympic trials.
Inside the stadium I took a photo with my good friend, running coach, and shoe maker Bill Bowerman. I almost felt bad for standing on the statue's base in Puma shoes.
After seeing the stomping ground of Pre, it was then time to see where he met his end. We took a trip up through Hendricks Park, and after a quick view over the city, headed to Pre's rock. Pre's rock is situated at the sight where Pre crashed his car, ending his life on 30th May 1975. The site is littered with flags, ribbons, race numbers, medals etc from dedicated fans of Pre.
Of cause had to leave my tribute, and to the lower left of the stone you can see my Team Type 1 business card.
After my guided tour of Eugene, it was time to get to work. This started with lunch number 1 at a doctors clinics. This was a typical meeting with doctors, talking about Apidra, my OmniPod and my Navigator.
After lunch number 1 it was onto lunch number 2. This was a much nicer lunch with a few doctors and people who I weren't quite sure who they were. Still, just spread the message of Team Type 1, how I use Apidra, and all is good. This can be quite an easy job when I just have to talk about how I look after myself.
After lunch there were a few more doctors to visit, then it was onto Alton Baker Park to talk to some diabetics who would be brave enough to turn up in the pouring rain. Unfortunately there weren't too many brave people that Friday afternoon. Fortunately, this wasn't a precursor for the stepout event on Saturday. Despite pretty lousy weather, good numbers came out. I did get a chance to speak to a lot of people, and spent a lot of time signing autographs. Not just on posters, but also a lot of t-shirts. I also got a chance to talk to everyone there. This is shown in the photo below.
After the Step Out, the weather started to clear up. This was great, as it gave me a chance to get out and ride under sunny skies. I was also lucky enough to have Stefanie as a local cycling guide to show me the good roads to ride on.
After the ride, we then got to check out the Laughing Planet Cafe. This cafe seemed quite suited to me; it was on Blair Blvd (my dad's name, for those that know), its smoothie flavours included "Auckland" and "Farm boy Tim" and it has a lot of randomness. Below is a photo of me and nutritionally aware Bigfoot reminding me to eat my greens.
And finally, if you had noticed from Hannah and Ariel, I do try to meet new girls every time I go on an athlete day trip. Below is a photo of me and my Eugene girlfriend.
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