Trans Germany Recap and Little Somethin' Somethin'

So TransGermany was all the hype and more...Unfortunately more of the "more" persuasion. Weather was challenging every day with rain and cold temps..I thought this was summer. Shawn and Karl did what they could but injuries and wicked deep pain cave fatigue got the better. After 3 stages they pulled out. It was heartbreaking to watch. I on the other hand got to see many beautiful vistas along my rv touring of Germany. Being the driver does lend some benefits. Our typical day consisted of waking up at 6:15 and crawling out of my dojo(more on that later) and whipping up some nectar of life ie french-press coffee, coffee in its purest. One must prioritize during these times and coffee always came before food. As the Sherpa would say, "You people and your addiction! I wouldn't expect anything less." Well the Sherpa was right. Following a proper amount of go-go juice I got cracking on breakfast. How do you eat for a 4-6hr mtn bike race after you did the same the day before? Muesli, bread, nutella, cheese, salami, honey, fruit, eggs, and ham. In the beginning of a stage race, eating is quite pleasurable. Because I like to eat, this bodes well for my day-to-day mood. But it's not much longer that you find eating to be more of a chore. The food you couldn't stop touching yesterday has become bland today and will become even blander tomorrow. But you have to eat to keep the body fueled for tomorrow and the next day. I have reached this point of non-desire. Fortunately, it didn't last =)

The race itself was typical European...big, bad, and crazy. They had a Brazilian dancer with full feather regalia on the start of Day 1. The race caravan and support system was something to behold. I had never been on the non-rider side of such a spectacle and I must admit it was rad. In road races you have lots of autos and motorcycles. In a mtn bike race which takes the riders over some of the gnarliest of German terrain you have ATVs and Dirtbikes. Even the camermen road on the back of the dirtbikes. There were many professional teams in attendance, some of the best if not the best marathon mtn bike teams in the world. In the mechanic area, bikes were getting rebuilt each night because of the heanous terrain and gunk that the riders poured through each day. Food was pretty good. I scored a food pass which entitled me to many tasty pleasures of German regional cuisine each night. As I was not racing, I also enjoyed some nicely crafted beers. All was good for me. The immediate post-race food was quite the spread. It was perfect for me because I would go out and train then roll back to the finish area and have myself a sandwich, fruit, water, maybe a little cake =) and only lifted the lower lip to say, "eine käse brotchen bitte" or "ein schinken brotchen bitte." No more slogging away in the kitchen figuring out what to eat while your stomach is eating itself out. And you can even go back for 2nds! It was in my opinion a magical wonderful.

After my 10-day pause(break), I'm finally feeling fit again after a month or so of deep fatigue and black lung. Hoping the form will continue to build and hold me out till the end of August.

Last night we did a night criterium in Ludwigshafen which is in the Rheinland Pfalz. My front row start ju-ju must of run out because I was stuck in the back. Then after lap 5 of 55, a rider in front crashed causing a huge gap to form. Over the next 30 laps of the 700m course I tried in vain to catch back on but the schmucks with me were keen to ride easy which is quite frustrating. At lap 35, the field caught us and I pulled out. Lame but whatever. I had a good time. And countered the dissappointment with a beer and brotwurst mit brotchen. It was lecker(tasty)! At the race I also spotted an American school group. I have a keen eye for my fellow compatriots. These youth were 13-14yrs old. They hailed from my birthplace, Winston-Salem, NC. Pretty crazy stuff! I rolled up to their group as they sat and ate pasta at an Italian place. And I said, in my "I'm going to speak English slowly so you understand voice" which is what happens to one when they are abroad for any extended period. You don't even think about it until you start speaking and you realize that you sound like an idiot b/c you are speaking your mothertongue to a person/s that speak the same mothertongue. I said to the young girl on the end of the table, "you are American?." As you can imagine she was pretty blown away probably more from the sight of such a charming and good looking cyclist than the fact that I was speaking english to her. But I digress...=) I ended up chatting with their group for a while. They were totally into hearing about my race. It was definitely a cool surprise for them on their last night in Europe. So maybe I will make it in their post-trip writing report as the American from Colorado that we saw racing in Germany. They were blog worthy so I hope that I am report worthy...

chow,
Claw