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Went for a 3 hour ride down in the Rhine River Valley. We stopped by Ina's brothers bike shop la Bici. And stopped by an old castle that was originally built in the 700's. It was cool to see something that old. makes the 150 year old stuff we have in Utah seem downright new. I had schnitzle for dinner, it was really good.

Went to see my first ProTour race today. It was located in southern Holland. The start was in the plaza in Maastricht, then did three big loops in the area and finished just down the road in Valkenburg. We got there pretty early and since we had a T-Mobile car we were able to park on the square. We watched the start then went out to the course where we eventually ended up on the Gulperberg, a hill where they would pass three times. Once down it and twice up it. We hung out in that area and watched the race there the rest of the day. For real race coverage see cyclingnews.com. Here are a few pictures from my day.

The team busses roll in to the start area.


I ran in to Utah local T-Mac and his son in the plaza, he was at the table next to us.


T-Mobile boss Bob Stapleton chills before the race


World Champ cricket boy signs in.


Team cars wait for the race to start.


Team bus from the outside


Team bus from the inside


Waiting for the race to come up the 4th climb of the morning.


The early break being lead by a Felt F1, you can buy your own at Racers Cycle Service


Lars and I having lunch, the race would later pass right behind us.


The Peleton reaches the top of the Gulperberg


Watchin the race in the car, waiting for them to come back one last time.


Lars hands bottles for the Gerolsteiner Team. Last feed, 28 km to go. His expert bottle handing skills lead to a 1-2 finish for the team.

We went to one of the classic womens races up in Holland Saturday. It was an afternoon start so we drove up that morning and got there in plenty of time for the team lunch and meeting. The course was one big loop that had all the typical spring features. narrow roads, tight corners and short, hard climbs. I got to ride shotgun in the team car with Anna Wilson, the Director Sportif, and Wolle, the team mechanic. It was a good time. We drew 8th position so were were a bit back but we did get to up to feed and up to a break in the middle of the race. There is some pretty crazy driving back in that bunch, but all the drivers seem to work well together and what to do when something crazy happens, plus there is a official kind of directing traffic in the back. Definitely a good time.

The team car loaded up and ready to go




Early view of the race strung out on the dike.




The first climb of the day. We went up this twice, the second time we were mixed in with riders that had fallen off the pace. crowded.




Passing the commiser, in the grass to get up to the break. Note the posts in the grass that we had to avoid. We gave Kristen a bottle too since we had made the effort to get up there.




Ina on the podium, lost by a wheel to the world champion.




I drove home after the race and did 200 kph on the Autobahn. Legally.

Went for a short ride today, about two hours. Here are some photos

Ride Route


Ina's home town of Metzkausen




Bennie, a true german dog




Some guy ridin through the countryside.




Teute taking a break in Mettman, just down the road from home

Went for a awesome ride today but sorry, no photos or GPS, batteries were dead on the Garmin when I pulled it out to leave. We rode on some awesome farm roads over to the Ruhr River and then south and back home. Nice 3 hour ride, stopped for cake and hot chocolate in the park on the river. It was tasty.

In the afternoon we went into Dusseldorf for dinner. We had dual GPS for the trip in.



I had to test the new Garmin Edge. It now has a max speed of 112 mph recorded.


All the taxies in town are a bit more stylish than the ones in the us.




Here I am on the Rhine River water front.




Here is something else we saw on the waterfront.

The thing to do in europe is go to the Buettgen Velodrome to do TT testing. Wind tunnel time is pretty dang expensive and not everyone makes Lance money to afford such things. I showed up just in time to catch the second day of testing for The T-Mobile Women's Team. I showed up to watch, and was immediately put to work as a photographer. My job was to take profile shots of the riders as they rolled by at 44 K per hour. Petra Rossner, the teams teams technical director and former world champion and olympic gold medalist, would then review my pictures with the rider while Lars Teutenburg, would review the SRM data and propose position changes along with Petra to the rider.



Track World Champ Kate Bates cranks out the laps

Due to the lack of velodromes in Utah, I have not seen a track this cool before. All I had seen previously were poorly kept out door ones. This one is located just outside Dusseldorf. It is indoor, older, but well kept. The banking in the corners had to be 50 degrees. I wanted to grab a bike and do a few laps I didn't. Some Day when I have a chance and my own bike I will have to do it.



The Velodrome


High banks in the apex at least 50 degrees


The whole testing crew


Chantal Beltman heads on to the track


Snappin Photos


Lars downloads the precious SRM power data


Lars on the bike demonstrating a position


Suzanne de Goede in her stylish helmet

Yeah it took 2 months for me to follow up from the Australia trip. A lot has happened since then. We have gone through four or five foster dogs, I'm anxiously awaiting for my Supercaliber 29" frame, and we got the roof replaced on the shop. The bike business has been busy with the spring weather, and I'm losing my manager to the war on terror.

What else? the Felt 29ers showed up at the shop. They did good on them. I really like the low bottom bracket height.

And I am on my way to Germany to hang with Ina for a week. This is getting to be a regular occurrence, and I feel very fortunate, the original reason for this trip was to deliver a dog, but it is now getting picked up and I am still going. Rock and roll,

I'll get some updates out as quickly as I can.

Later

Racer

We took a rest day yesterday, lots of rain here. We went out for 4 1/2 hours today. Got rained on a bit, but we were able to avoid most of the storms. We did get wet though. It is actually quite refreshing, with all the humidity here. I got a couple of flat tires though. The rains yesterday washed a bunch of crap onto the shoulders.