Beer and BBQ

This is one week old due to my issues with das bloger.

I have been here now for one solid week. Although I am working here, and there is a lot of work to do, it still feels relaxing compared to the week previous to my departure. Filled with daily trips to McGuckin hardware either just to look and make sure I didn’t need anything else, or to pick up one small item and panic weather I was well enough prepared for the wheeled personal transport devices I would be responsible for. So far I feel pretty well prepared. That pre-departure week was also filled with attempts at Sheproval (Shep + approval, it’s a portmanteau) for my tool box. In a gin and tonic haze of confusion on my last evening in town, Shep thought the “it will do”, which is enough for me.

Upon arrival, Marc showed me the space we would be working with, and I went to work. I arrived early on a Thursday, and our first races were Saturday in Switzerland, and Sunday back local here, close to Freiburg. There wasn’t much time to prep the garage for these races, so I did a lot of work on the ground, and balancing coolers and such to make work benches.

The weekend went well. Stephen did particually well. The race in Switzerland was about equivalent size wise to colligate nationals for mountain bikes, only with a lot more spectators.

The race on Sunday was also about the same size as collegate nationals, but was basically equivalent to Thursday night North Star race, or Wednesday short track in Boulder. There are just that many people out here that are into it.

The course was short, about 3 km loop on some farm land above a nearby town.

Marc and I were support. I ran frantically around trying to capture every living memory with my camera, and shout words of encouragement while carrying a couple of spare wheels in case of a flat. We fortunately have no photos of me doing my job, but here’s Marc doing his.

Steven ended up 1^st Sunday! (take note of what is next to his right foot)

After the race, we rode back to Kirchzarten, on our way we did an amazing trail much like western states and missing link. From the trail it was about 10 km back to the farm.

The races here are well attended, because, they are easy to get to, and cheap to enter, I believer the Saturday race cost about $30, and the Sunday race cost around $12, and for Sunday, Stephen took home that keg, and 200 euros. Not to bad for a little local race. I believe Mountain State's cup races cost around $70 to enter, and if you win, you get your choice of 2 crayons from a 12 color Crayola crayon box, or something equivalent.

So far up to this point there were no mechanical issues, except for me. We went all weekend without a hitch, and I managed to flat twice on the ride home with the guys. I'd rather have it that way than the other way around.

Marc had started the coals by the time we got back, so we barbequed steak that was raised on the farm, and fed only from the farm. It was delicious.

Here's everyone patiently awaiting dinner.

Jack tending the grill

No, there is no 'glitch in the Matrix', or anything like that, my last post did post twice.

Am I going to fix it?

No.

Why?

The blog interface thing is stuck in German and I am not.

There are certain things I have experienced in my short 25 years getting rad that I can look at, and say “that was the best”. For instance, (no offence to anyone… mom) the best cheesecake I have ever had is Coleen Caulket’s cheesecake. It is perfect, even with one bite, it has the ability to only allow you to think solely about the perfect flavors, I don’t know what she does different, but it is perfect. You can taste the love in it. The reason I bring this up is, I went on the best road ride I have yet been on last Tuesday.

This place is beautiful, and I know that, but I was still taken aback at what the road right out the front door of the farmhouse had in store for me. The bike had absolutely nothing to do with this joy other than just existing as a bike. Really any functioning road bike could have still brought the same joy.

I had finished an adequate amount of work for the day, all the riders seemed to be facebooking away happily, I decided to head out for a selfish ride. The weather here was pleasant, around 75 or so degrees, sunny some clouds, and no wind. I turned my I-pod on, and kicked off.

It was a 27 mile loop, I was probably passed by 30 cars, and there was either no reaction by the drivers or gestures of encouragement and excitement, people out in front of their houses would cheer you on. It didn’t matter who you were, they were even thrilled about the idea of a 6’6” man on a tiny bicycle.

(Ignore finger on left side)

The ride was basically a climb up to the top of a ski resort, along a ridge, down in to Freiburg, and a smooth spin home.

The only complaint I had about the ride was that it was a bit lonely. A good friend, or better yet, my dad would have really just made this up there with Coleen's cheese cake.

Blogger is intermittent here, and German, I have more blogs written, it just takes time and bandwidth to post, but... more to come.

Up to date

From here I will catch everyone up with my life in 30 words or less...

Home from Chile. Graduated from UNR, Spanish Major, Latin American Studies minor. Move to Colorado. Buy ski pass. Gluten free. Get rad. Shep got me Job in Germany.

So I am writing from Germany at this point. Shep (Andrew Sheppard) put my name in at some point to Marc Gullicson for a position to wrench for some mountain bike camps in Germany for May and June, and here I am.

The flight was relatively painless save for a bloody nose and traffic that resulted in missing my first flight. I have to apologize to my roommates, when I left; I left the house a wreck. It wasn’t in good form, but it is done now. Peter was rad enough to rush me to the airport, even though he then had to drive back to bike house, get in another car, pack and drive a bunch of road bikes to Madison Wisconsin for collegiate road nationals. Peter rocks, and he rocks enough to be joining one of the camps in June.

Typically plane rides are horrible, this one however wasn’t too bad. I watched a couple of movies. There were no free drinks, but I ended up in economy plus, which has 2 extra inches of leg room, however I got there, it was totally worth it. Gully (Marc) Picked us up from the airport in Frankfurt, it was a 2 or so hour drive to Freiburg, then a couple more kilometers to Kirchzarten, and home base.

I have put off doing the blog thing a bit because it was stuck in German, and I was way too lazy to get involved with figuring that whole thing out. German is so far different I have absolutely no idea what people are trying to tell me. A lot of people speak English, but those that don't, I revert back to grunts and aggressive gestures to try to explain myself.

The place we're based out of is a farm, with some apartments in the old farmhouse. There are 4 riders here now.

From left to right: Russell Finsterwald, Kerry Werner, Steven Ettinger, and Jack Hinkens.

It's a good group of kids. More will follow shortly, it's bed time, and here's Bryan with a Mohawk

Up to date

From here I will catch everyone up with my life in 30 words or less...

Home from Chile. Graduated from UNR, Spanish Major, Latin American Studies minor. Move to Colorado. Buy ski pass. Gluten free. Get rad. Shep got me Job in Germany.

So I am writing from Germany at this point. Shep (Andrew Sheppard) put my name in at some point to Marc Gullicson for a position to wrench for some mountain bike camps in Germany for May and June, and here I am.

The flight was relatively painless save for a bloody nose and traffic that resulted in missing my first flight. I have to apologize to my roommates, when I left; I left the house a wreck. It wasn’t in good form, but it is done now. Peter was rad enough to rush me to the airport, even though he then had to drive back to bike house, get in another car, pack and drive a bunch of road bikes to Madison Wisconsin for collegiate road nationals. Peter rocks, and he rocks enough to be joining one of the camps in June.

Typically plane rides are horrible, this one however wasn’t too bad. I watched a couple of movies. There were no free drinks, but I ended up in economy plus, which has 2 extra inches of leg room, however I got there, it was totally worth it. Gully (Marc) Picked us up from the airport in Frankfurt, it was a 2 or so hour drive to Freiburg, then a couple more kilometers to Kirchzarten, and home base.

I have put off doing the blog thing a bit because it was stuck in German, and I was way too lazy to get involved with figuring that whole thing out. German is so far different I have absolutely no idea what people are trying to tell me. A lot of people speak English, but those that don't, I revert back to grunts and aggressive gestures to try to explain myself.

The place we're based out of is a farm, with some apartments in the old farmhouse. There are 4 riders here now.

From left to right: Russell Finsterwald, Kerry Werner, Steven Ettinger, and Jack Hinkens.

It's a good group of kids. More will follow shortly, it's bed time, and here's Bryan with a Mohawk