Impending Doom

So it used to be fun for some of guys on the team to make fun of my accent when speaking German, but that had faded away of late and people were kind of getting used to it. Then at dinner last night Christian told me that I spoke German with a French accent. Whatever that means. Now it’s whole worlds of fun for the boys again. Thanks Christian.

We just got a whole pile of wheels last night and today, so we basically spent the whole day glueing tires onto rims after an hour spent getting stabbed in the ear by a doctor while turning hot laps on the race course. I’m not too sure if bike number 2 and wheelset number 2 are quite up to the job tomorrow, since I haven’t actually ridden them yet. Better save them for next week in Berlin.

Hm, yes, that’s right, the return of the Berlin park race. For those of you not with me at this time last year, just look in the archives for a course description. Tight, mossy, hilly pavement path criterium makes for a good short version. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to mount the file treads before then, but that would require another set of wheels which may or may not appear by then. Did I mention how much fun the early season is? Great anticipation of new gear countered by the agony of getting it all ready in time when it shows up mere hours before the first time one has to race it.

Still no sign of it cooling off here, and no air conditioning in sight.

Groenendaal is racing here tomorrow, as is Wilant van Gils, Steve Chainel and probably some other OG’s too. The chances of scoring UCI points are diminishing rapidly. Nothing like racing to build form! Oh yeah, and the start list is currently at 75 in the elite field, on an extremely narrow and twisty course, so basically where you start is where you finish- unless you eat shit, and then you’re finishing worse. Moving up really isn’t a realistic goal here.