Surviving the Serious Demands of Volkschule

Today I completed my Volkschule class. Well the rest of the class is meeting tomorrow and 3 days in June, but I begin my Urlaub(holiday) a little bit earlier. It was quite a unique and enriching experience. Perhaps I could say in 30-40 years from now, "ahh yes, when i was 28 I studied in Germany in a most prestigious learning environment." And of course this would be said with a glass of scotch in one hand as I continue to rattle off the long and perhaps embellished stories of my "wild" days.

It's a pretty gorgeous day here in Backnang, close to 80ºF and sunny. Nice change from all the rain we had last week. I'm taking a pause(rest period). Gearing up for my awesome Österreichen experience tomorrow.

At the race on Sunday, I came to the conclusion on why Europe predominately excels over us in the States in bicycle racing. Is is the awesome haircuts, the bling around the neck swinging or the obscure American music that is blasted at all races? No, its the the attention the sport pays to the youth. 75 riders in the U15 categories! Even the U11 raced two laps on the demanding course.
Watching them spin their small chainrings and blast up the climb was just fascinating. Yeah they suffered, but the mountains don't let anyone hide. Some just hide the pain better. There are areas in the US that are doing great things in growing the sport. But it's pretty isolated. Even more isolated than bike racing in the US. Yeah things are improving but if you want to learn to race and learn to race at a new level, you have to give Europe a try. To me it is a difference in mentality. In Europe, cycling is seen as a possible way to the means. In the US its a means for the way. Now not everyone here is looking for a job as a cyclist. The majority are hobby riders. I'm not knocking the American scene. We have done a lot in the last 25-30 years. But we can do more. Developing youth programs and promoting youth cycling or sport in general is my solution to the obesity and lackadaisical pandemic that has gripped the young population. Maybe they aren't all lazy but forgetting how to enjoy the outside without electronics and mom and dad hovering over them has become an ancient practice. I know my family reads this but if my parents knew half of what we(brother and friends) did or where we went on our bikes we would have probably experienced a life-sentence somewhere far, far away. But we survived and we have all grown up to be responsible gentlemen. How does this relate to my writing about my experience here in Germany riding my bike? It all comes full circle like everything else in the world. If you think about it long enough, parallels can be made if they can't, just make one up and hope no one questions you.

Chow,
Claw