Here in Germany... Where to start? Arrived here on Thursday after a sad departure (for me at least) from my new home in Switzerland. Special thanks to the Stirnemanns for their hospitality, and continued friendship. Despite the sadness, I was excited to get Germany over with, honestly, and get home. However, Germany has opened new doors for me.
This place is beautiful - different, but beautiful. Of my travelling in Europe, which isn't that extensive, mind you, the village of Kirchzarten in the middle of the Black Forest is one of the most beautiful areas I've ever been, and the riding is by far the best. Roads spur and lead to nowhere - mountain passes, 2 hour climbs, flat fields, and rolling hills. I am happy to be in a new place to explore and lose myself in. The town is East of Freiburg about 10 km - a small little village nestled in the valley West of a small range of mountains. The mountains serve as excellent training ground for the US National U23 team - me included.
I hate to go into detail about the whole team, since I know some of them will probably see this post, but I'll give those back home a short character-analysis of everyone for their benefit - I hope no one minds.
My roommate, Tristan Cowie, is a laid-back, friendly rider from Bervard, North Carolina, though he grew up in Georgia. He rips the descents, and is always excited to be on the bike, taking photos, messing around, or racing and training. We fit well in our luxurious room(compared to the other rooms), which has two rooms within the one room, one with a suite, and the other with a kitchen and a pullout (my area). We're both really into the Schakolade Müesli with Vanilla Joghurt (chocolate muesli with vanilla yogurt, for all you that couldn't figure that one out), and Nutella. Note to self: Americans eat a lot. This house is mainly an eating ground, since rarely is any sleep done here...
Next door is the National Team, Tad Elliot, Rob Squire, and Ethan Gillmore... Tad is one of my personal heroes, and rides like a star everyday. He has always inspired me with his laid back attitude, but multitude of successes - many of which I tried to accomplish myself, and failed(or am still working on). He's a great guy - friendly and always working hard. Rob is the innocent new guy (not the only one, mind you, there's still me!) - an 18-year old phenom who popped onto the racing circuit and instant success just last year. He won the National Championships last year and was the top American at the World Championships, which landed him a spot on the U23 team this year. Rob is outgoing to the point of obnoxiousness, but only on occasion. Sorry Rob : ) Ethan is ... well, Ethan. He is quiet and always seems to be focused very hard on what is at hand for his future success. He's a great guy, with a great personality, but I just can't really put it into words - like a quiet, resourceful, outgoing, completely juxtaposing kind of guy.
In the same room is Stephen Ettinger, from Boseman, Montana (grew up in Washington state). (I guess if I'm giving location, I might wanna go back. Tad's from Durango, Colorado. Rob's from Sandy, Utah. Ethan's from somewhere in Vermont.) Anyway. Steve is outgoing and great company, always making good jokes and telling great stories. He rides well too, and was riding for the US at Worlds a couple years back.
In the final room is Mitch Hoke - the tall humanitarian, who sees the good and bad in people with an honest and straight-to-the-point joke. I've known Mitch for a couple years, though I haven't seen him in a couple either, and he hasn't changed much. Still a great guy to be around, and lots of fun. He likes his sleep, and his food. Mitch is from Carbondale, Colorado, though currently in Colorado Springs at CC.
With Mitch is Trevor Downing, a quiet, conservative guy, who nonetheless tells great jokes and stories. He's silent but brooding, always seems to be thinking about something. He was riding for the DEVO team throughout his Junior years, and now rides for Mafia and Ft. Louis College Cycling in Durango. Trevor comes from the East Coast somewhere, I believe.
Wow, there's a lot of people here.
The last spot goes to Colin Osborn - the sleeper. He likes his sleep, and his coffee, and his food. Colin is a great guy, voted the most Euro of all of us here. He likes to split his rides into 3-5 sections with coffee in between each. Colin is Colin. Funny guy.
Other than the other guys here... Jimmy Deaton is kind of the man-put-in-charge, but nonetheless, one of the boys. He likes to joke around, listen to rap, and hang out with us while we talk about random cycling and other testosterone-prone things. Jimmy is somewhat of a big deal in the world of cycling - 199? Downhill WORLD CHAMPION, and mountain bike hall of famer. Watch this sick Old School video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxL8yQakrk
Jimmy's the MAN!
Joey Erst. The man behind the machine. If the National Team is the machine, that is. Joey runs shop here in Germany. The head mechanic here in Germany, he runs all bike maintenence cleaning and chain lubing that we forget to do or can't figure out for ourselves. He's a great guy, with lots of experience. Fun to hang out with, and very reliable.
Finally, the brains behind the operation, Marc Gullickson (Jimmy's the man, Joey's the wrench, Marc's the brains. There we go, it's all situated.) ... Marc is a quiet, conservative guy, but has a lot of enthusiasm for the team. I owe everything to him for letting me race World Cups and letting me come to camp. He runs things around here, and tries to run things in the US while here too. His official title I believe is Marc G. - USACycling Mountain Bike and Cyclocross Director.
So... the lowdown since we've arrived. Wow, I have to catch UP!
Arrived on Thursday, ate dinner, that's pretty self explanatory.
Friday, went on a short ride with the guys around Kirchzarten and got a little lay of the land. Ate at a great restaurant, and situated the rooms.
On Saturday, we headed down to Switzerland (only two days after leaving) for the Racer Bikes Cup in Solothurn. The course was 80% road (both paved and dirt), with some awesome singletrack for the other 20%, but despite the lack of trail, it was an awesome course in my mind. This positive attitude led to my best finish over here in Europe - 45th!! I started 46th on the grid, and so I moved up one spot, which is IMPRESSIVE in the elite category. I had a fantastic race. I even beat a couple of Americans, which was my main goal, honestly. I didn't want to be the slowest one here... On saturday, I wasn't. Granted, those guys were still jetlagged. Anyway, it was a great race, and I got to see all my Swiss friends for the last time. Sad, but happy at the same time. Check out www.tcracing16.blogspot.com for a course description from Tristan.
Saturday night I slept like a rock. Bad news for the race on Sunday. In a short explaination, if you sleep before a race, it usually means you're not ready for the race.
Sunday we had a local race in Wittnau. It was a small race, but I did not fare so well. The race included the typical Euro climb, a short section of over 25% grade. This climb led to my demise, and I blew up on the second lap. Sadly, there were 10 laps in the race. Ouch. I got 27th out of 30 -the last Amerikaner. Oh well, you can't be good everyday. Tad won the race, Rob was second, Tristan was 5th!!! Nice job guys!
Wow, long writeup.
The night after the race. I didn't sleep. I haven't slept since then more than 6 hours... in all.
The last couple day's we've been training around Kirchzarten. Great rides with great guys. This place is awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment