Weather is much colder today, -0. Fortunately the sun made its way out and there was not much wind. I rode just short of 2hrs. Followed a similar route as I did on Wed with Marc. But this time I went on the climb a little further. I was rewarded with a beautiful descent that gave impressive views of the valleys and lands far, far away. As I made my descent, I approached a town that was built on the edge of a clif. The cool part was the sharp bend at the edge of town with a stone wall about waist high. Cycling in Europe is very beautiful and you are never too far away from any town. Not that cycling in the US isn’t beautiful b/c I have had the great opportunity to ride in some of the most picturesque regions of the country, namely the San Francisco coast up to Sonoma and Napa counties, the mountains of Colorado, hills of Tennessee, and the Chicago lakefront and surrounding flatlands of Chicago, most notably, Sheridan Rd.
Legs felt much better today. After returning, I had my baguette with cheese and a little rice pudding. Then it was off to Activity for “training” and team presentation. Activity is the title sponsor of the team and also a health club. There were many “American” workout machines. But what was most notably different was they have badmitton courts and an indoor soccer field. Enrico, my new teammate, re-introduced me to badmitton. I told him I hadn’t played in 11 years, which was Racquet Sports class in high school or gymnasium in Deutsch. I know why I excel better in cycling…my hand-eye coordination es no bueno. Afterwards we did some training together with weights. I showed him some of my core exercises that I do with the stability ball. I hope that he liked them.
The end of the day was the team presentation. In the US we don’t have these events as they are only typical to professional teams. But here it is very normal. I think its good b/c it brings all the team together and you get to meet the sponsors. Bonus is the schwag and food that you get. I came home pretty good last night =) The first part of the presentation we took team photos of the entire club and then just the elite team(which I am a member of). Then we did individual shots for the elite team. Marc, the team director introduced me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying nor understand very well but Sandra his wife gave me a thumbs up so I assume it was good stuff lol. Afterwards, I had a bite to eat then I had an interview and photo session with a reporter, Gerhard?. He is writing a multi-part story. I have never done such an interview. Felt kind of pro. He has been following my blog. So its good to know that I have some continental followers lol. The funniest part of the interview is the discussion of where I am from in Colorado. It is also the first entry for my “lost in translation” segment. This will be an evolving list of the good, no-so-good and funny translation mishaps that I will of course encounter.
1.The Boulder Bubble
I list myself as residing in the Boulder bubble. In the US this means I live in Boulder and Boulder is deemed as a “bubble” of sorts b/c things that happen in Boulder seem illogical or impossible elsewhere. Its more or less a joke.
For Gerhard’s research, he was thinking that I lived in Boulder Bubble which is right to think that b/c that is what is in my blog. We had a funny laugh when I explained to him its significance. But he did Google “boulder bubble,” and he said that he found entries so it did give my joke a little credence.
Now its 0330. Very tired when I returned at 2200 and fell right asleep now I’m awake. I will fall back asleep hopefully shortly and struggle to pull myself out of bed at 0900 which is very late for me. Hopefully my sleeping pattern will normalize soon. My Deutsch learning is improving. I am very keen to learn it and I continue to encourage everyone to speak as much Deutsch to me as possible. At the end of the day, my head is very exhausted. So much new and so much thinking. Das gut though. I knew beforehand things would be this way.
Tschüss,
Matthew
Legs felt much better today. After returning, I had my baguette with cheese and a little rice pudding. Then it was off to Activity for “training” and team presentation. Activity is the title sponsor of the team and also a health club. There were many “American” workout machines. But what was most notably different was they have badmitton courts and an indoor soccer field. Enrico, my new teammate, re-introduced me to badmitton. I told him I hadn’t played in 11 years, which was Racquet Sports class in high school or gymnasium in Deutsch. I know why I excel better in cycling…my hand-eye coordination es no bueno. Afterwards we did some training together with weights. I showed him some of my core exercises that I do with the stability ball. I hope that he liked them.
The end of the day was the team presentation. In the US we don’t have these events as they are only typical to professional teams. But here it is very normal. I think its good b/c it brings all the team together and you get to meet the sponsors. Bonus is the schwag and food that you get. I came home pretty good last night =) The first part of the presentation we took team photos of the entire club and then just the elite team(which I am a member of). Then we did individual shots for the elite team. Marc, the team director introduced me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying nor understand very well but Sandra his wife gave me a thumbs up so I assume it was good stuff lol. Afterwards, I had a bite to eat then I had an interview and photo session with a reporter, Gerhard?. He is writing a multi-part story. I have never done such an interview. Felt kind of pro. He has been following my blog. So its good to know that I have some continental followers lol. The funniest part of the interview is the discussion of where I am from in Colorado. It is also the first entry for my “lost in translation” segment. This will be an evolving list of the good, no-so-good and funny translation mishaps that I will of course encounter.
1.The Boulder Bubble
I list myself as residing in the Boulder bubble. In the US this means I live in Boulder and Boulder is deemed as a “bubble” of sorts b/c things that happen in Boulder seem illogical or impossible elsewhere. Its more or less a joke.
For Gerhard’s research, he was thinking that I lived in Boulder Bubble which is right to think that b/c that is what is in my blog. We had a funny laugh when I explained to him its significance. But he did Google “boulder bubble,” and he said that he found entries so it did give my joke a little credence.
Now its 0330. Very tired when I returned at 2200 and fell right asleep now I’m awake. I will fall back asleep hopefully shortly and struggle to pull myself out of bed at 0900 which is very late for me. Hopefully my sleeping pattern will normalize soon. My Deutsch learning is improving. I am very keen to learn it and I continue to encourage everyone to speak as much Deutsch to me as possible. At the end of the day, my head is very exhausted. So much new and so much thinking. Das gut though. I knew beforehand things would be this way.
Tschüss,
Matthew
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