Rothenburg ob der Tauber

So its been a few days since updating...Kristi and I have been very active exploring the region and I've been getting in some good training sensations. The legs are feeling much better now and the black lung is only leaving an occasional cough so things are good. I am finally feeling that extra gear that I remember feeling in Colorado before I left. Which is now over 1 month ago. Very hard to believe that I have been away for such a time.
On Wednesday, we visited the Mercedes Benz Museum. It was pretty interesting. I will upload the photos shortly. I'm not much of a car afficionado or really a "car" lover. They are more of utilitarean than art to me. Nevertheless, the museum profiled quite a bit of history of Daimler and Benz. A nice portion was devoted to the participation of Mercedes Benz during the World Wars. I also learned how far ahead of the curve Mercedes Daimler Benz have been in the growth and development of eco-friendly autos, trucks, and technology.

On Thursday, we planned out a super logistical algorithm which allowed me to do a nice ride and meet Kristi in the beautiful Stadt of Ludwigsburg. Lots of rain but it was okay. The delicious cappuccino warmed me up nicely. That evening, Gretel came over and made an authentic Schwäbisch meal of spätzle, hackbraten, and kartoffeln salat. SEHR GUT! Hackbraten is minced meat in a au jus sauce with spices. Its kind of a german form of meatloaf. Kristi got some instruction on spätzle making and gave it a whirl. I finished up and was proud of my spätzle making improvement. It was actually authentic looking. Kartofflent Salat is potato salad sans mayo as in Schwäbisch tradtion. I've never been a potato salad fan b/c of the mayo. But its very tasty.

Yesterday, after an early departure to drop Heinz, Marc, Christian S., and Steffen S. at the airport(3:45 departure) I came back. Went for a trainer session b/c the rain was dumping and I just wanted to do an opener workout prior to today's race in Nürtinghem. Afterwards, Kristi and I drove out to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Its a medieval village about 100km from Backnang. The town is surrounded by a wall that once protected it from invaders. It is a very popular place for American and Japanese tourists as it seemed we were the only ones visiting its grounds on the cold, quiet Friday. Not sure how many people still live there but it has many shops, cafes, and hotels. It was funny b/c so much was closed on Friday. Not sure why but we managed to tour the city and took in a walk along the enclosed walkway atop the wall. It was pretty cool b/c it circles the entire town and provides expansive vistas across the region. And of course when in Rothenburg, one must take in a local treat known as the "snowballen." Its a local cookie that is everywhere. From the looks of it, I was anticipating a soft dough similar to a funnel cake but we were surprised byt the crispy confection that emptied into our mouths. We opted to share the schokolade creme snowballen. I think there were probably 12 varieties at the cafe we went too.

This morning, more rain but Karin has said that next week its suppose to be 20º which will be a nice change from the rain/snow mix we have been experiencing. I attempted to produce some french toast with cinnamon apples this morning. It was okay...sort of dry I thought. I'm still adjusting to the electric range at the house. I'm a gas man. We didn't have any maple syrup either so next time, I will go for baking it rather than making it in the pan in the traditional sense. Nevertheless, it was a nice treat I think. Kristi and I are going to frequent a Deutsch restaurant tonight before we head to Zürich in the morning via the ICE train, i.e. 300km/h high speed train. Should be exciting. But first, I will race and race hard!

Pics are of our kaffee and cappuccino with schokolade snowballen.

Chow,
Matthew

Good Sensations and a Little Touring

So I started back to "training" yesterday after my recovery from black lung. The sensations were good. Did 2hrs with several 5-10min threshold or above efforts on the climbs. It's exciting riding here because everything is new so each training session presents a variety of options for exploration. It also puts you in that unfamiliar zone with thoughts of, "I hope I can remember how to get home." But it wouldn't be as fun and exciting if you didn't have such a challenge. Fortunately, with a bike you can do so much. One just needs to have proper amount of food and water and ability to change an occasional flat. It's amazing how much you can see on a bike. I love it!

After training, Kristi and I headed to Stuttgart to do a little urban exploration. Stuttgart was quite lively for a Monday but also quite chilly as the wind was blowing pretty good. One of the numerous parks called our name and we had my traditional baguette with käse(cheese), not a bag-get. We found a nice cafe called, "Coffee Bar." It was the most american cafe I have seen here in Europe. They had 3 sizes, S,M,L for drinks with both take-away(paper cups) and in-house versions. My cappuccino was quite delicious. Good convo as well =)

So the wetter today was a little dicey. It seemed warmer than yesterday but after I started the morning with a proper bowl of muesli and a little brot mit nutella und banana I was forced to ride the trainer downstairs because of the schnee(snow). The schnee continued throughout the day but it was off and on. Kristi and I braved the elements and made our way around a nice forested trail near by. Then wir laufen(we walked) to Backnang Zentrum(center) and had a kaffee mit kuchen. We split the kuchen(cake a la rhubarb style) along with sehr gut convo.

The trail presented both mental and physical challenges along the way. We took part in a few. It was a good effort as we opted for the Black Course which presented us with the greatest elevation gains and the longest distance, 4,8km.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate without any schnee tomorrow so I can get out and ride. The plan is to visit the Mercedes Benz Museum in Bad Cannstadt which is suppose to be spectacular. The architectual design from the outside is quite impressive. And I would expect a museum with the Mercedes logo headlining it would serve up quite an experience. Pictures will be posted and the event will be blogged.

First race is this Saturday. Its a training race so not a lot of pressure but I treat every race seriously, and I am planning for a good result. The battle with Black Lung and Mallorcan Fatigue is shifting to my gain.

Chow,
Matthew

Immersion Blender Envy

Being a foodie...I had to share this pic from the Winnendon Krankhaus(hospital). I was and still am quite envious of such a beautiful piece of kitchen toolery.

Photos with Kristi and Cracksauce =)

Photos from München

In the photos: Kai, Schrödie, Steffen, and Myself at the Braühus and München Airport

Pause, Deutsch for Rest

Photos from a homemade spirits(liquor, whiskey, not really sure) stand at the Mittwoch(wednesday) market in Backnang. He shared some of his cured meats with me too. Kind of a like selling your moonshine.

My mandated fünf tage pause ist gut (5 day rest period is good). Ich hatte gut schlafe dis morgen(I had a good sleep this morning). So I am not sure if my grammar is up to speed but my vocabulary is improving. Yesterday was a busy day of board game playing in the afternoon with Alina. I also played horseshoes with Tim and a little fußball with him im garten(in the garden). I won several tough matches of Memory and Disney UNO! But both Heinz and Alina were tough competitors in UNO! It was a stalemate between Alina and I at Dominos.

I have been researching language learning classes here because I think it will really help me to take an actual class while I am here. In each stadt(city) is a Volkschule or learning school for the community. They offer everything from language, political, cooking, health, and numerous other classes. But it's very inexpensive. I am going to register for the Deutsch für Fremdsprache which is German for Non-Natives. Its part of the German Integration program. Europe has a language pathways program where you take certain classes and tests then get certified. I will start with A1.1 then move into A2 then A3. Next is B1 and all the way up to C. Its a standard framework for language learning. Its a great alternative I think to the high priced private schools. I will continue to supplement the classes with my private tutors: the Sandwalds!

Gretel made würst spätzle last night. It was really good. On Somstag(Sunday), I will cook an Indian meal for the Sandwalds, Kristi, and a few people from the team. It should be exciting and fun evening.

Tomorrow, I am going to Winnendon mit Marc to make food at the hospital for the community gathering to honor those that were killed last week. Marc works at the hospital next to the school and we are making food for a couple of thousand people. Many high-level political figures are expected to turn up to pay respects and give guidance to the community. It will be quite an early start as we must arrive at 4:30 in the morning. But we should be finished by proper frühstück (breakfast) time. Then in the afternoon we will go to the race in Nürtingen. It's a practice race. I will just be there to show support as I am resting till Montag(monday). Then in the afternoon is the big par-tay for Alina. So far, Sandra and Karin have not been invited. Hopefully that will change.

Tonight we are joining Johanna(Shimano person) for a Schwäbisch meal at a very popular restaurant. It should be exciting. Hopefully I will catch some pictures. Sunday, Kristi arrives!

Chow,
Matthew

One Month

Photos by Heinz Sanwald

It has been one month since I departed from Boulder on my quest to live out the dream. Quite a bit of adjusting...2 countries...2 languages...new food...missed persons...new friends. It's coming together nicely though for me. Backnang and Germany are growing on me.

I will open up a little bit on this post. I struggled today on the bike. I thought I had recovered from Majorca but I don't think I have. The black lung I think imparted a little bit more hurt on the already exhausted body than I had realized. I went out today with the workout plan of doing 2.5min VO2 intervals. I know my numbers and now that I am not at "altitude," I know that I should atleast put out the same or at the very least recover quicker. Well today, I managed to miss both of those "atleasts." It was frustrating. My knee is also battling a little tendinitis I think. I recognized that my saddle was about 2-3mm to the right. And the combination of that and walking really long yesterday trying to get from the Activity training center to the Fellbach Bahnhof then from the Backnang Bahnhof to the Sanwald compound I think did a little number on it. So bad legs and a nagging left knee. All created a bad situation today on the bike. It's mentally draining. Doubt crept into my head about fitness. But I know that I am strong, I have proven that all winter and on the training rides in Majorca, I proved that. It has just been a difficult last few days for training.

Fortunate for me and my head, I have a great support system. One needs it. Cycling is just too damn hard to not have it. I just need to make better use of the system because I know they are all there to support me and want to see me succeed and most importantly, they believe in me. Right now I need that.

After stopping the interval work at #2 as my power was so off, I continued to roll b/c I had to get home. So it was a 2hr ride. Rides here are never "easy" b/c of the amount of climbing you have to do. It seems like you could climb here more than in Boulder. Ate some lunch then rolled down to the bahnhof(train station) and caught the train to Stuttgart. It was a super beautiful day. Kristi arrives on Sontag, and I am very much looking forward to showing her Backnang, and exploring the great area of Stuttgart. Lots of cool places. I found a cool bookstore that Sandra recommended. Spent quite a bit of time in there looking at random cooking books. Then I found a cool language book that I picked up. Its a Deutsch/English picture book. Basically everyday stuff including people, places, food, etc with the english and deutsch word for each. I think it will be good for me b/c I need pictures sometimes to reinforce the memory. I think it will also be helpful and fun to practice with Älena and Tim.

Heinz gave me a special "German" anecdote for my black lung...a german ale. Supposedly, when drunk at room temperature it's suppose to cure infections. Hopefully it will work. Needless to say it was quite delicious. I much prefer the ales or "dark" german beers to the pilsners.

Here are some pics from cooking with Gradel and with Tim and I at the firehouse.

Chow,
Matthew

München with the Boys and Backnang Touring

So after I last published, I was able to tour the Backnang Zentrum(city center). It is very beautiful. What seperates many European cities from American ones is the lively town center which is abound with many people and shops. I took it quite a bit on my little walking tour. I found a bookstore. And those that know me well, know that I can easily spend quite a bit of time in bookstores. I enjoy mainly reading different books, usually cooking, and perusing the magazines that I am too cheap to buy. I found some kinder deutsch books, which are deutsch lesson books for kids. It might do me quite well to purchase a few. My time with Älena and Tim is limited. And I very much want to communicate more with them and beat them at the different games like Uno! I also came across some Schwäbische cookbooks. I will certainly have to pick one of these up. My spätzle making skills need some improvement. And when Grädle(sandra's mother) was helping me, I was thinking like all aspiring good cooks do, how can I make this different. Two ideas immediately, and spinach spätzle and a curry spätzle. Sure enough in the kochen buch(cooking book) was a recipe for spinach spätzle. I felt pretty proud of myself to think of it. Next i stopped by a cafe for a pott kaffee, which is a machine coffee. American pot style of coffee is not popular here. Kaffee is made in single servings with the machine grinding then pouring per cup. Its the way to do it if you don't have a french press which as I have written is the best way for kaffee.

Heinz pointed out later that I spelled spätzle wrong which I first noticed in the kochen buch. In English we don't have the 'ä' character so its sometimes difficult to understand the spelling if you don't see it.

On Saturday, Ich fahre 50km(i rode 50km). My legs were pretty bad from taking 3 days away from the fahrad(bicycle) and the black lung didn't help the cause but it was nice to get out and see some the area. I must say that it is quite beautiful here. The terrain reminds me much of growing up in East Tennessee which is very rolling. We just didn't have the small villages and narrow roads to ride through and mix it up a little. Much different than Colorado. I am finding it very difficult to find a rhythm on the fahrad b/c of the constant changing of pitch. It will be good for me because it will make me a more complete rider. I'll soon get used to it. Afterwards, I drove with Kai to Fellbach and we met with Christian and Stefan, two riders on the team. We then drove the Activity bus to München. It was a pretty wild ride. The autobahn is very nice. People aren't driving the insane speeds that we are lead to believe in the US but people do drive fast but always and only pass on the left. I paid 0,50€ to use the toilette at the petrol station. Granted it was a very nice WC(wasser closet). First time paying for a toilette at a gas station. Fortunately, I had some coins with me. Which brings me to my first installment of lessons for the euro traveler.
1) always have euro coins in your pocket. This can get you out of many problems albeit GI problems.

I also learned that in Germany, you can drink beers in the car if you aren't driving. I was totally blown away by this. I didn't partake but a few of my friends did on the way to München. Once in München we decided to head to the Zentrum and we found a parking space outside a bräuhus. We rolled inside and found a nice table. Definite Bavarian experience. We each had a 0,5L of the bar speciality. It was good. Pilsner style. I more prefer the ales and IPA myself but it was quite good. There were a group of four americans next too us. They stuck out. It was kind of funny because I am American but I'm a little more incognito because I am with my teammates and they are all German. We chatted with them a bit. I will have to upload some photos later. Then we drove to the airport and picked up Marc. I also met Leif Lampater and his girlfriend Steffi. Leif is also a 'driver' on the team when he isn't world track events and teaming up with Erik Zabel in 6Day racing. I'm very eager to race with him. It will be good for me to have a strong leader on the team and someone to work for in the races.

Today, I did my first training ride with the team. My legs weren't very good and the lungs were still black but I gave it a descent showing. I now know better where to sprint which will help me next time. It was a very good training ride. Wetter is getting better. Not as cold today. This week is suppose to be very nice. So hopefully I will escape the black lung soon and realize some of the benefits from the training in Majorca.

Chow,
Matthew

Back in Backnang

I am now back in Backnang, Germany. Majorca was wonderful but I am eager to be back here in my new adopted home awaiting the upcoming season. I am feeling very welcome here and I know that this will translate into a successful season for me and my team, Activity.

Today, Heinz took Tim and I to see a large steel pole removed from a firehouse. It was quite the undertaking. I hope to get some pictures from Heinz to post. When we got back to the house, Alina and I played several serious matches of Uno! and a memory-matching game. She is quite the competitor. I learned that I was invited to her birthday party in a few weeks. I am very excited and honored b-c I was invited to such an event. Apparently, only boys were invited. Karin(grandmother) and Sandra are not invited. Hopefullz Alina will change her mind and invite them too. Tim also joined in for a few games of Uno. He was a very sharp player. I question his gaming ethics though whilest he was the dealer. Very strange for one person to receive wild cards and 2+ cards and no one else receive any. I wont say who won that match.

Sandra's mother came over today and made kässe spetzel. Its a Schwäbisch dish. I got a little instruction on how to make it and got the great chance to make some. My technique is weak, but I will improve upon it. Heinz photographed the experience. It should be good.

Tomorrow is another rest day for me. Lungs are still black. Plan is to probably get back on the bike on Sunday. Saturday, I drive with Kai and a few team members to pick up Marc, Leif and Steffi in München. They are returning from Australia. We will go early and possibly do some sightseeing.

chow,
matthew

Training Camp Day 17, Departure

Well all things must end at some point. I think I totally wrecked my body. But it should pay off in a few weeks when I realize the form. One must find his limits.

I took a plunge into the Mediterranean Sea this morning. Couldn't let my lady one up me =) It was cold, and I am probably sure that I created a little suspicion at 0715 this morning. It was fun though. It's always been my thing to touch the different waters of the world. What will be next? Not sure, but I'm sure it will be written about.

Weather is looking better for Germany this weekend. I'm going to take 3 days off the bike. My lungs, or black lungs, are filled with fluid. I guess 1800kms and lots of kjs will do that too you if you aren't careful during my short stay. But I found new levels of pain tolerance and I will be stronger because of it. It is just no good right now.

Chow,
Matthew

Training Camp Day 16, Physically Cracked

Didn't want to admit it but I think I have reached a respectable level of physical and mental crackness. I did 3.5 hrs today. Rode up to the top of the Coll de Soller. It's a beautiful climb. On the descent I caught onto the back of a bottled water truck. Nothing like speed work on the Majorcan road system. Motorpacing at 80km/h behind a truck takes a mix of confidence, risk taking, and a little bit of teenage invincibility. It was quite fun though. I was literally spinning my 53x12 at 140+rpm. Needed an 11t cog to make it fun. I backed off b/c It was getting a little too much, and I wasn't in the total risk taking mood due to not really knowing what was ahead, but a 3km behind the truck was fun and a quick way to get back home.

The nasal infection I had last week which went into hiatus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday has come back as an evil transformation. Otherwise known as a URI, or Upper Respiratory Infection. I like to call it Black Lung but I'm not a smoker. Nevertheless, its a bit frustrating and motivation conqueror. I pushed on through today knowing that I will take a rest period of a few days once I return to Backnang. Its important that one finds their limits. My Majorcan training camp has definitely heightened my level of pain along with increasing the mental strength that is critical for me to reach my potential. So with 15 days of riding and over 1800kms, I think I have reached some new levels. We will see in a few weeks when I begin to realize this work.

Tonight, I had my "dinner date" with Doreen. It was a much hyped event among the british crowd. It turned out to be a very unveiling dinner but also a very enjoyable experience. Doreen has many of the same quailities and ideals that I follow. It's always funny how your impression of someone can be changed after a long conversation with them. I will definitely remember her and her warm personality.

Tomorrow I fly back to Germany. Spain is great, but I am very eager to settle into Backnang and begin racing and training with my team. First race back is 29 March. My little URI will hopefully be cured by then. I should be well recovered and into the next phase of my training and preperation.

Chow,
Matthew

Training Camp Day 15, Coll d'Orient

After watching some rather elementry methods of taking food from the dining room by the new Czechs which gave me quite the laugh, I suite up for the day's training. Decided to take on the much hyped Coll d'Orient. It's one of the more popular climbs. 5,7% at almost 6km. I was expecting something a little bit more. It was a beautiful climb but compared to Colorado, the climbs here are wicked short which is a nice change. Climbing for an hour is okay once in awhile but I prefer the shorter with more quantity of climbs throughout the day. Weather was muy fantastico. I went sans arm/knee warmers after the descent. It was fantastic! Hoping to work on the beautiful cycling tan.

Legs felt pretty good today despite the effort from yesterday. Lungs are a little congested now. Hoping its not bad stuff.

Dinner tonight was quite interesting. They served whole grilled squid. Pretty tasty! A couple had left their table to get a new plate and a czech took their table. When they came back the Czech refused to leave. It probably sounds like i am bashing the Czech's a lot but the Czech's I have seen here have formed an opinion for me whether good or bad. It's what is interesting about Europe...so many clashes and differences of culture. I'm becoming quite skilled at my buffet line skills. I have noticed that some new guy has taken my table at dinner. Not cool man...not cool.

Chow,
Matthew
ps. photos courtesy of the mobile phone