Early Morning Mayhem

This entry is in segments of location. I will break the segments down to you so you can rest assured that you are getting the full experience of Bomb this Hill.

Live from Brussels Airport:

Since my trip started, I have gone without an alarm clock. Not the brightest of ideas I guess, but I always said I liked a challenge. We were a little late this morning so Gregg offered to drive me straight to Brussels Airport this morning. I was glad that I had everything packed up nicely before I finally went to bed at 1130pm. This is my 2nd day of travelling and I have had approximately 8 hours of sleep. I hope to catch some zzzsss on my flight here in a few to the UK. Then its a few hours of layover and doing my best to not spend any money on overpriced airport spread. I did buy a koffie this morning but I am trying to unload these euro coins I still have, and I want to have one last bit of sweetness hit the tongue before going back to drip stuff.

I packed my bike bag up pretty good and still had 3kilos to negotiate with at check-in. Being the pro traveller, I have always managed to get inside the weight limit and it helps to be the minimalist that my friends and family know. Unfortunately, I created a bit of SNAFU for myself by not including my kryptonite bike lock in my bike bag. It was my effort to save weight. Well, it cost me. Now I don't have a bike lock. Apparently, the Belgian airport authorities are as brutal as the American TSA. I did get through with a large thing of toothpaste, so I stuck it too them! You have to appreciate and remember the little battles in life. So now I get to go and buy a new lock when I arrive back in SF. Its probably a good thing b/c the lock I did have was one of the older kryptonites which can easily be picked with a ballpoint pen. Maybe I will go with something lighter too, or perhaps go with the Fa Get A Bout It chain lock from kryptonite. Ohh the fun choices I have in store for myself!

Now my trip is approaching its conclusion. It seems so long ago now that I was Leaving on a a jet plane, not knowing when I'll be home again...Yes, I digressed into a little improptu song reciting but would I do anything less? I kind of have this disconnect from the US right now. Sure, I have done my best to keep abreast of news and communicating but the idea of everyday life in the US seems kind of a distant memory. It will be good to get back, but its always quite sad to bring an end to this euro velo adventure. But as you know, eventually all good things must come to an end, or do they?

Not speaking either Francais or Flemish, I have had the privilege of going through most days not understanding what the hell is going on around me. My reading of Francais and Flemish has improved greatly, and I could read a menu now and tell you most things as well as navigation. Essentially the two criteria for survival here on the continent. Apart from that, I just hear noises from people's mouth then nod or go into the "NO FRANCAIS, NO FRANCAIS!!" response. I hate being uneducated and not being able to speak. I plan on starting some Francais lessons when I get back to SF. Francais is a beautiful language, and is pretty much spoken everywhere so it will be a good arrow in my quiver of skills; on the same level as knumbchuck skills, bow-hunting skills, computer hacking skills. Girls like guys who have good skills...primary motivation =) With all my time during the day not being able to communicate with anyone, it gave me a lot of time to think about things. Often I thought about my usual stuff, like solving world hunger, creating a time machine, and how great its going to be for my next cuilnary treat whereitbe dinner, breakfast, or lunch. You know...standard mind ramblings.

So the #2 question in my exit interview, what was the most memorable experience here?

Well Bob, its difficult to put a price tag on that answer. But I will give it a shot. Prior impressions of Europe and what bike racing would be like were completely off base. I don't think it was an experience that was most memorable, but more the incredible sincerity and generosity of the people I met in my euro racing skit.(tbc)

Live from the inside of the British Airways Airbus A319 in row 16, seat F(window).

The generosity of the people has been the most surprising and enjoyable part of the entire experience. When I arrived over 5 weeks ago, I had not the slightest clue of Belgian culture. At the airport, a guy about my age started chatting with me in English and was happy I was visiting his country and riding my bike. When my living situation in Westmeerbeek was at its top diceness, Gregg and Holly Germer stepped up huge and offered a room in their new house and even picked me up from the Gent-St Pieters train stop. After completing several races, I met this wonderful Belgian couple at Bevelgem kermesee. Having a terrible ride and not feeling good they provided a nice chair and a coke for me. It was a real pleasure chatting with them throughout the afternoon. The wife emailed me a few days later, so it will be nice to keep in touch. Then my travels and riding took me to the Rhone-Alps in Francais. A great french guy allowed me to stay at his house while I was in Grenoble for a few days which was a lot of fun b/c I was able to experience living in Grenoble as a local, atleast for a few days. A nice deutche expat in Grenoble gave me a ride to my first cyclosportiv in La Mure. At the La Mure, the nice women at registration help my bag for me while i raced. Upon my finish, they greeted me and a scottish woman helped me out finding a ride back to Grenoble and they properly keep pushing food and drink at me to make sure I was alright. The french riders were not getting 10% of the attention I was, so I felt pretty pro at that point, and I didn't even have the 1 on my jersey(typically, the leader of a team carries the number 1 bib number, examples, 1, 10, etc). It was a long day at the La Mure but the people I met were amazing. The race director and team director of GMC38 team gave me a ride back to Grenoble which is about 40k away so that was huge. Also at the La Mure, I met a wonderful British couple, Helyn & Guy, the purveyors of King of the Mountains hotel in Le Rivier d' Ornon. They chatted with me at the La Mure then invited me to tea which turned into feeding my hungry body after a training ride to their hotel. I later saw them both at the

From 7000m above the Norde Sea after just finishing my British Airways ham&brioche sandwich which hit the spot after not having anything else to eat this morning.

Vaujany cyclosportiv. Helyn was driving the van and cheering every rider that passed and I saw Guy at the finish and the start with his two mates. Guy had a good ride but he was glad to be finished. At my hotel in Les Oirgens up the rivier from Bourg d'Oisons I met this nice dutch gentleman who I dined with each day. He was incredible nice and has offered to let me stay at his house if I ever visit Nederland. The pizzeria owner who let me borrow his corkscrew was a lifesaver...lol. And lastly all the friends I created along with way beginning with the British and Scottish riders, Andrew and Daniel in Westmeerbeek, Rico(Kiwi), Alex Coutts(flatmate in Belgium), Kim(canadian friend of Holly & Gregg), my Australian friends, and the lone americans in Bourg d'Oisons Diana and her mother. And of course all odd belgian guy who took my picture at my 2nd kermesse and always seemed to show his face at other races and giving me the nod of support. I am of course forgetting people, but so I give a big thanks to all the crazy belgians on the kermesse circuit who made me stronger by driving the pace hard and yelling random flemish at me. And the race directors who always offered to announce the race instructions in English at the start and giving me a coke when I finished.

So now, the #1 question on everyone's mind...Will he be going back, or will he be coming back to the US?

Well Bob, thats another great question. Yes, I will be coming back to Europe and trying my hand at racing and riding again here. The addiction of the euro lifestyle has hit me. Though I have missed certain things in the US, I will surely miss a lot on the continent. My trip was great start for me and provided an incredible amount of learning(tbc)

Back to this tale of euro racing...live from London Heathrow Terminal 3. Upon arrival in Heathrow, I was greeted to lines of people at immigration, lines of people at train, lines of people at Virgin Atlantic bag drop, and lines of people at security. The only part I didn't have to wait in was the baggage claim for my velo. It was promptly waiting for me. Which makes sense b/c I immigration took well over an hour. You know me, mister sketchy. Actually, the brits put 3 people in the EU section which sees about 5% as many people than the other section, or "second class" section as I was made to feel. 3 officials chatting around doing nothing while there are hundreds of people waiting in line. But I made it to the duty free/food section safely and although tempted only went with a £2 grande cappuccino. It felt great to order a coffee that could be consumed in more than 2 sips. Ahh,...

Now back to the legendary tales...

Belgium was a great racing scene for all-out racing. I definitely picked up skills on riding in a tight group, riding on cobbles, dirt, and just absolute crap, sprinting, sprinting out of corners, drafting, and pushing riders, being pushed, yelling american slang, taking flemish yelling, using international hand signals to communicate, signing in for races at smokey bars with good inhalation then racing, riding 60km home after racing for 110km, and a variety of other skills.

I preferred riding in the Alps though. The beauty and the challenge of the cols will forever be remembered. I definitely reached a level of pain that I have yet to experience anywhere else and digging deeper and riding through complete exhaustion to the summit of the cols despite the wind, rain, snow, and just complete vacancy for endless kilometers. My descending greatly improved and my climbing has gone up a whole new level. The riding also took me across the cols that made many a great champions.

Will I go back...absolutely, and I am already planning my next euro racing season. I would like to pursue a French club in southern france/alps region. It would allow me to do the bigger european club races and continue on racing the cyclosportivs and just experience the joy of riding in the Europe again...

My mind now wanders into the surrealness that my trip is nearly over. I just have a hella(norcal) long plane flight across the pond before reality comes back. It will be good to be back and see everyone but at the same time, I felt like I had just gained some ground in Europe. Riding a bicycle in Europe, whether racing, touring, or for pleasure is incredibly beautiful and really the only way to experience it all. So I encourage anyone if they have the opportunity to seize it b/c the you are approaching your finale, its the experiences you will remember and be thankful and the opportunities not seized that you will regret. So when you wonder whether you should do something, its sometimes better to regret what you did, than regretting never attempting.(you can chalk that one on your list of Words of Wisdom by Matthew)

Au Revoir, Tot Ziens, Ciao,

Matthew

PS, I will continue to keep the blog going b/c its fun and its techy so keep on watching for the updates.