Forgot a Title Yesterday

Fabian Wegmann won Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt (hereafter referred to as RFEF) on an overcast day in central Germany (of course it rained here in northern Bavaria). This win (in what he states is his favorite race) puts him one behind fellow countryman Erik Zabel for most RFEF wins.

Please, take a minute and compare the two photos (the one of Cav courtesy of Velonews) above. There seems to be happy emotions flowing from Wegmann and negative ones from Cav. Alas though, we've all been had. Wegmann has to show positive emotions because any display such as the one Cav put on would result in death in Germany. Ok, maybe less death and more reformatting since all Germans are actually robots.

And yet despite their cold efficiency, RFEF seems to make no sense. Here, take a gander at the race route:

Clearly the dotted blue line is the most intelligent route to take as Google maps calculates it to be roughly 13.6 kilometers as opposed to the 201.7 kilometer route the peloton took. Now, you could argue that RFEF, as the name implies, travels around the financial area that encompasses Eschborn and Frankfurt, but that is illogical and does not compute.

Penny and I ate at Bauerei Hoh last night (sorry, no pictures). Hoh is a small brewery a couple minutes outside Bamberg in the very small town of Köttendorf. The beer is a rich caramel color and has a smooth taste. The best part of Hoh though is the chicken. For €4.50 (roughly $6), you get half a chicken that is roasted to perfection with pepper and a heaping side of french fries. Penny and I both had the chicken and a beer and our total was €12.40. Amazing.

I'd like to get out today, hopefully things work out and I'm able to.

Damn, Two in a Row

Went for a nice ride yesterday. I planned on just going out and getting some miles in my legs, but like normal I can't stick to a plan. I looked down at my "cyclo-computer" and realized that I was riding at roughly 12 km/h and that I needed to slow down so that I wouldn't burn myself out. Anywho, blah, blah, blah, cadence, blah, grade, blah, horrible athlete. Below is a print out from my "cyclo-computer" displaying the results of my efforts:

I honestly wish that was just a poor attempt at self-deprecating humor and not a valid representation of my abilities. At least I was rocking my AHTBM socks (thanks to Stevil for offering those) so that each time a crosswind turned into a headwind I was able to hold back the tears by looking at my socks. Of course, that became dangerous after a while and I decided to focus my gaze at the road ahead of me.

After the ride, Penny and I went to Brauerei Spezial for a beer.

Spezial brews a very mild Rauch (or smoke) beer in a Lager, Märzen, and wheat beer. Rauch beer is the beer that put Bamberg on the map. Not literally, as I'm sure it was some cartographer slowly slaving away at his passion. The story the new guys in town hear is that one of Bamberg's malt factories (there are a minimum of two) caught on fire centuries ago and instead of wasting all the malt and perhaps missing out on a brewing season, the breweries used the malt that was left. The fire imparted a smoky flavor to the malt unknown to the brewers at the time; and the rest as the say is history. While this isn't the true beginning, it makes for a unique fable.

The beer is a nice amber color with only a mild smoke flavor. The smokiness is really more of an afterthought and compliments many meat dishes extremely well. It is quite delicious. Spezial also has a keller on the hillside above Bamberg that is open in the summer and offers inexpensive food, more great beer, and one of the best view of the city you can get while enjoying a beer.

Back to cycling quickly. Mark Cavendish gave the "Italian middle finger" upon crossing the finish line at the Tour de Romandie's second stage. Of course there has been a big to-do about it. Comments decry his finish line "antics" and argue that he has tarnished the sport of cycling. Whatever. He doesn't dope, he wins races, and he brings emotion to the pro peloton. Look at what Tiger Woods did for the game of golf (before the scandal). He won (a lot) and showed his emotions, both good and bad, on the course. For the last decade golf has been more popular in the US than it probably ever has. Cav is good for cycling, despite what all these "purists" who love the "soul" of cycling say.

Makin' It

Rough life these days. The sun is shining, the roads are smooth, and the job is not existent.

Penny has to (maybe she doesn't have to, but with the work culture it's probably better not to miss it) go to a dinner tonight to say farewell to those in the office who are leaving, including her. I had a similar dinner in January before I left. I'm going to miss living in Bamberg, but the group dynamics have changed. In high school I always looked up to the juniors and seniors as kids to emulate. Once I became a junior and then a senior, I couldn't really care less about those underclassmen, save for a select few I played sports with. All I really wanted to do was pack up and hit the road. I guess that's similar to how I feel now. The guys here are friendly and fun to hang out with, but the bar was set in '04 when I arrived by those present at the time. Eh, new chapter, same book.

Off to ride, enjoy.



I need to get a stand for my bike.

Lies-Blood-Losers

As I wait for my breakfast to settle so I can go ride, I can't believe how many stories there are already about the booing that occurred yesterday as Alexandre Vinokourov won Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In no way am I saying I disagree with those who were booing, but the myriad news sources that spend more time reporting on the fans reaction and less time on the (tactically and maybe chemically) brilliant ride are right there alongside the Peoples of the world. But hey, if The National Enquirer can be nominated for a Pulitzer than who am I to criticize.

"The Eagle" has been in good form lately. We'll all see if it is from his "hard work" during his suspension that he feels was unfair or from something else:


This is a video still taken from a testrider.com interview of AV. A couple things of interest:

1. At the end testrider makes it clear that there was not an official translator there so nothing can be verified (they have two videos with Contador, neither of which contains the same disclaimer).
2. For a guy who comes across as being very narcissistic (purely judging him on his previous doping offense and his hair), he seems very set on helping AC in this year's TdF. His track record shows he played a good second fiddle to Jan (who sucks).
3. Testrider uses King Missile's Detachable Penis as background music. Actually, they use it on many of their videos.

Enough of that guy. I haven't found any decisive imagery yet, but I have a theory behind Gilbert's inability to win every race he enters this spring. If you look at the earrings he wore in the fall of last year when he went "all unstoppable" as I might have heard kids say, they consisted of a stud and a dangly one. This year, it looked like he was wearing a full up Olympic ring for LBL. Think about it.

Some more big ups to Chris Horner; winner in Basque Country, seventh in Flèche Wallonne, and now eighth in LBL. I don't know, it may be sacrilegious to say this around American cycling fans, but should we transfer Big George's moniker of "one for the classics" to Horner? Debate amongst yourselves.

Next on the table for debate - who is the bigger DB?

Honestly, I'm a fan of both Farrar and Contador. I know that I'm probably one of the few Americans who likes Contador (considering if you know who he is you probably hating him for being the cyclists who filled the hole when Lance retired. Nature abhors a vacuum.), but this commercial is horrible. Right before this scene, he taps the shoes on his chest twice like Slammin' Sammy used to do after he would hit one of his steroid and cork backed homeruns. And Farrar - umm, ok, he wins.

Off to ride, stay ahead of the rain.

Blowsy, with Hints of Asparagus

Unable to post yesterday due to technical difficulties. But never fear, I remembered my training from Roy in the IT department, "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Bam, success.

Went on a nice ride yesterday, a decent amount of climbing which I was kind of hoping for (only kind of because my brain and pride thought I was in better shape than my muscles would have you believe). Each ride I do I discover a new secret bike path Germany has to offer. This place is wonderful in that respect, I'm really going to miss it when I'm riding on crappy roads in the Midwest this summer.

Penny and I went to a wine tasting last night. To temper the snobbishness of said event, we decided to partake in the (almost weekly) brewery tour today around Bamberg. While we will be joining the group late, we'll still get the opportunity to sample a handful of mugs of the delectable beverage the Germans brew from hops, barley, yeast, and water.

See you on Monday, barring any more technical (or otherwise) difficulties.

Just a Little Wallonne on that Please

Good win for ole Cadel at Flèche Wallonne. I was kind of hoping Schleck's break-away (Fränk - with the umlaut - and not Andy. Unlike the commentators on Supersport, some South African station, would have you believe, it isn't too difficult to tell them apart since Andy wears the national champion colors of Luxembourg) would have held out, but the field sprint/climb was pretty exciting. For a while I thought that the most hated cyclist in America, Alberto Contador, was going to pull it out, but the rainbow jersey and some perfect timing pulled Evans to the win. Good for him. Also good for Chris Horner nabbing another top-10 spot with a seventh place showing today. I hope LBL is as exciting (and I get a chance to watch it).

I'm off to dinner with the wife. We're hitting up Salino's Pizza (provided they aren't booked, which wouldn't surprise me even though it is a Wednesday evening). I argue it is the best pizza in Bamberg. If you disagree I need your rebuttal post-marked by the 24th of April as well as notarized by a notary public.

More Free Time = Maybe More Posts?

Yo, back in Germany for a couple months. I’ve been riding a decent amount (days that is; not miles since I’m out of shape) as well as playing mad amounts of Super Mario Bros Wii.

The new bike is sweet. It is stiff, light, and fast. Once the issue of my extremely low physical fitness level goes away, I’m sure that I’ll be able to fully enjoy riding the new Bianchi.

Penny and I will be heading back the States around the beginning of June and will spend about a year in northern Kansas. During that year I’ll study for and take the LSAT as well as apply to law schools. Not sure where we’ll end up in 2011, so the list of possible schools is too big to even discuss.

I figure with all the extra time I have each day that was previously consumed with a steady job, I should be able to post more often. We see if my slackerdom doesn’t flow into that endeavor as well.