Rental car racing stripes

So last Friday, Halloween, I moved into a new apartment. The apartment is a lot more comfortable than the last, which I thought at the time was fine. After four weeks I guess you get used to your situation. Then when you move up in the world, it is that much better.
I also got a parking spot with this place. I am driving a Ford Mondeo wagon. It was delivered with zero kilometers on it. When I saw where I was to park, I did not see much of an issue, but I was more concerned about getting into the apartment. Saturday morning I went to move the car off the street and into the spot.
Here is the layout, a garage door that is streetside, leading down a narrow corridor into a small courtyard with about 15 garages there. Think of a capital "P" type deal. So I go and open the door and start to swing the car into the opening. It was then I noticed that it was a tight fit. A very tight fit. The Mondeo has parking sensors on the front and back. They start with a slow beep.....beep.....beep that increase infrequency when you approach something until it is a steady beeeeeeeep, meaning you are pretty much out of room. So I give it the first try, dopplers go off in the front. I back up to get a better angle, and this being a European street, the back goes off that I am going to hit someone's car. Forward and the nose of the car is in, not directly straight though. I slowly ease in and the front alarm goes off, too close to the wall in the corridor. I turn the wheel, ease away from the wall and ssscrrraaappppeeee!! Rear passenger door against the garage door railing.. SHIT.. I back away from it and thankfully do not hit the front of the car as it is now as steady buzz.. I eventually get it straightened out and head down the thirty some foot corridor.. I get to the end and realize, man this courtyard is a bit on the tight side of things. I swing around in an attempt to back into my allotted spot, which was in the middle of the fat part of the "P". I eventually get it backed in after multiple attempts and a whole crapload of beeping annnndd, there is no way I can open the door far enough to get out of the car. Well, this certainly is not going to work. Screw it, I am out of here. I then have to navigate back out the corridor, the opening of which is against the wall. I think I did about a three dozen point turn and still could not get to a straight shot. I thought I had it knocked, as I slowly started to creep into the corridor, the fast beep of the front sensor turned solid so I turned the wheel to get straight. Another couple feet and sscrraaaappppeeeee!!! Down the drivers side rear door. Looking in the rear view mirror, the door handle was also caved in a bit. Great. A few more back and forths and I eventually got it freed.
I had a sickening feeling in my stomach. I finally realized that company policy for renting cars overseas was to get as much insurance as possible. I am just hoping that the policy was followed because I did not see any paperwork, I just autographed a piece of paper for delivery of a brand new car. Oh boy!!!
I am thankful that my Cross bike showed up. The last two days I rode into work. There is something to be said for bike commuting, over cobbled roads, along a port, in Belgium. There certainly are worse ways to start the day..

The Suffering, Cont...

So I was 50K in and the cramping has started. Continuing on this up and down journey I realized, it was all up and down. There was not a flat three meter section to be found anywhere. Yeah, I had thought that Holland, as a country, in total, was pancake flat and below sea level. This is based on any time I spent there, and the postcards, and the fact that when you land at Schipol airport (the international airport in the country) you are landing twelve feet below sea level, and there is your triva for the day. Anyway, the southern part of the country is anything but flat. It is a sea of rolling hills, never ending, rolling hills with farm after farm.
I was on a desent a few kilometers later where a few hundred people were standing in the middle of the trail. The trail was more along the lines of a very steep ditch that was claylike in consistency and had my bike weighing about five pounds more that it would clean with this crap stuck to every tube and derailleur. Anyway, a guy stacked it up pretty hard. Thankfully after moving around him I was able to get back on the bike and enjoy going downhill again. Unfortunately that fun was short lived where I heard someone yell "Pon Guy" and I looked over to see a fellow Pon employee on the side of the trail with a flat. The only thing he had to repair his issue was a tube. No tyre levers, no pump, nada. So I stopped, handed over what he needed and waited. I was able to take a Euro style pee as a few dozen people flew past. I was thinking about leaving him with my stuff and continuing on with the premise if I flatted, he would give it back as he passed. I am glad I did not do that.
About 60K in, I was in rough shape. I only partially filled a camelback because my lower back has issues but I used it to carry some food, tools, and tubes. I finished one water bottle a while ago and when I was on a little downhill, I dropped my other when I tried to wash the cowcrapmud from it. I would have stopped but after dropping it, I ran it over, yep it was that kind of day. So, my legs were siezing up pretty nicely at this point. When I bent a leg to relieve the cramp in my quad, my hamstring in the other leg would ball up. The only thing that felt good at all was spinning very tiny little gears. Any effort would cause serious pain after a very short while. I was beginning to question even if I was going to finish this thing but at 60K there was a beautiful sight, the second rest stop. I hammered back a banana (knowing that my guts were not going to like that at all), multiple cups of sports drink, an energy bar, and also filled my bottle.
I left after a few minutes with renewed energy. That energy lasted about a half hour. Suprisingly, my back was the last thing to start giving me grief, but eventually it did. I continued on, no longer able to hold wheels as people past. I was using the "ride within yourself" adage, which at this point can only be interpreted as, just finish this thing. I came down another decent, the number of which I could not count and was starting up another hill when I realized the back end was a bit more squishy than it should. It was then I realized there was air leaving my bike tire. Okay, horrific. It was good to have an excuse to get off the bike though. I pulled the wheel out, took the tube out and checked to find the hole. In a nightmare I saw that the hole was on the inside of the tube, looking at the wheel, I saw that my rim tape slid over, exposing three spoke holes. Now that is a big issue. I did not have any patches or tire boots so the only thing I could do was suck down a banana gu, tear the packet apart and put it over the holes. Unfortunately that is easier said than done. It took a bunch of time to rip the pack apart with my weak, birdlike fingers, and then I needed another set of hands because the tire would not seat. That is the blessing of and the curse of the 29er. Sometimes it is actually too easy to put a tire back on. Eventually I got it mounted up and I was back on my way, evern more gingerly now.
Continuing on my hills, up and down, ad naseum. Another guy from Pon came past me. A nice guy who signed me up for this torture. He came by and told me that there was just another 10K to go. That was great news to me and I figured another half hour or so and I was out of this. That lasted until I came upon the third rest station. It seemed weird to me that they would have a station what was now 8K from the finish. Nope, there was 20K left. I kind of wanted to cry a little. One more full bottle and I was on my way.
The balance of the race was just wanting to see the end around the next turn, dozens and dozens of turns. Each brought a little hope to me, each time it vanished. I finally recognized the church steeple that was near where we started, it has to be over soon. I got closer and closer, only to be turned out for another loop to nowhere. Eventually though, it did end. To say that relief washed over me six hours and twenty five minutes after the start would be an understatement. When I stopped to hand over my transponder from the race, I yelped as my legs continued to cramp up when I unclipped.
I looked at the display area, seeing a few hundred people hanging out, drinking and listening to techno thump away, I figured I would just head to the car. If no one was there, I would just lay down next to it. When I saw the BBB trailer (Bikers Behind the Bushes) trailer, I could not be more happy. Even better was to get out of the bibs I was wearing for the past twelve hours and drink a warm Coke and Sprite. Different parts of my body would take turns knotting up and I would grunt in pain. The funny thing is how short the memory of what went on is. About a half hour later, the memories dull and conversations turn to training more, and doing the next ride.
Patrick thankfully invited me to stay at his place for dinner. The Mamasita was cleaned and boxed, ready to head back to the states. I was still filthy, but fed on Dutch pea soup, bread and pasta. The drive home was not too bad, and thankfully I got a parking spot right outside my apartment because if I was two blocks away, I seriously think I would have slept in my car.
The funny thing is that, even though I was exhausted in every way possible, I could not get to sleep because I was so sore. Now it is two days later, still not back to normal.

Oh, one other thing. The Renault car I have been driving is getting turned in. Some light with a wrench came on the dashboard. I notified the rental company and told them I want something different. The French, wine, yep, cheese, yep, cars... NOPE!

I wonder what the ogre is up to these days?

The Suffering

I honestly can say that I have never suffered as much on a bike as I did yesterday. It was a long day all the way around. I woke at five, had some granola and a banana and then got on the road to Holland. I stopped at a rest stop on the highway. Interesting thing about that, they sell beer everywhere. This rest stop was not like in the States with restaurants and whatnot. It was essentially a WaWa with an area with some standing tables, no chairs. Well, it was about quarter to six when I walked in and it was honestly like walking into a bar. That room had a dozen or so people around the tables, it was filled with smoke with empty cans of Jupiler all round. They were a raucos group as well, I can imagine how long there had been there. The thing is, it was a rest stop on a highway. The only place to go was back on the highway. Interesting to say the least.
I got to Patrick's house in Holland at a quarter to seven and built up the Mamasita for another run on European soil. After that we loaded four bikes on the top of a little trailer (pic to follow, I need one of them) and headed south. About and hour and a half later we were kitting up in a parking lot. Another Euro thing, if you have to pee, turn around and pee. There is no need to seek shelter or hide, just take care of business. Then it was off to the start line.
It was another mass of humanity, with a few thousand riders registered, though not the sixteen thousand in Norway. From the gun I had pretty good sensation in my legs, especially after about four weeks off the bike. It took about an hour to get the legs rolling but I was holding my own sitting in a crowd. We went through cow fields, old tractor roads, double and single track. Before the race started I was filling out my medical form when it asked what my blood type is. Needless to say, I don't know. I was also wondering why that was needed. Well, when I was desending this ribbon of slimy singletrack just about full out and realized I was two feet away from barbed wire fencing. After the sun burned the morning fog off, it turned out to be a nice day, which I am very grateful for because I cannot imagine what the course is like in rain.
So, at the first stop, I grabbed a banana and a few sports drinks. The stop was minimal, about 30K in and when I stop, I cramp. A little ways after the stop there was a sign, 50 and 75K to the left, 100K to the right. Well, I took the right.
Fast forward and hour and a half. I realized that the entire course, everything, was either going up or down. Ridiculous, not a flat spot to be found. Some of the climbs were just steep but nothing was overly long. I also realized that my bike was weighed down by an additional five pounds or so of claylike mud that contained both cow and horse shit. That made grabbing a mud caked water bottle more of a necessity than a luxury. I really started cramping up right at the beginning of hour threee. On a climb that pitched up to a granny gear march at the end, I could not make it and when both feet hit the ground, both quads siezed up at the same time. I just stood there looking down at the raquetballs above my knees begging for release. Thankfully they eventually let go and I was on my way, a little more gingerly. Two corners later I was hit with this dose of reality, a sign that read "50K". I figured, I was in trouble....

To be continued...

Rainy Sunday

I don't know where I left off. I am finally in Antwerp, have decided that I am a big fan of this city. Pretty much everything is within walking distance, which is cool, the beer is just fantastic, the people are nice in general as well. Things are going well overall. The only real bummer is that I am hanging by myself. It was something that I had become used to over a ten year period, but over the past two years, I always had people around in one respect or another, now I am going to be experiencing new things, going to bike races and stuff, pretty much by myself. Oh well, what can you do. I am happy that I brought my rain coat with me. For some reason I brought short sleeve shirts, which are completely uncessary at this point, it is cool to cold. It also rained at least half of the day, each day, for the past week. I will be getting used to riding in the wind and the rain, because that is what they do here. Apartment shopping took place on Friday, I saw ten or eleven different places. Of course the place I really liked is not available to the end of the month. It is about a half block from the national museum, about five blocks from the river where people do a bunch of riding, and in the south end of town, which I am told is the hip and happening place. It seems to be. Thankfully the guy has a palce to put me up for a few weeks until the apartment frees up.
The office I am working in is quite a mess to say the least. Everything has at least some issue that needs to be addressed in some fashion, some a lot more than others. For example, the "white collar" work week per Belgian law is 37 hours. If they work more, it is on them, but it cannot be asked or forced. So, the closest thing you can do to get those kind of hours, is have them sign a contract for a 39 hour work week and they get one full day off per month. Or you can do 38 hours and give them a half day off per month. Yeah, we are going to go with the 39 hour week, which gives 12 extra days of per year on top of the approximately six weeks they get. Umm, yeah, we have it really backwards in the states, I don't care what you say.
The Slingbox has been my savior. At least I get to watch American TV while I am here. I would say it is one of the better inventions in quite some time. There is only so much animal planet I can take, or watching the BBC or shows with Dutch voiceover and French subtitles. It is tough to say the least.
Being Sunday, and rainy, again, I am just killing some time until the Phillies game comes on, and a little american style football and a bit of NASCAR. I stopped by a little shop on my way back to the hotel to get a beer and the dude in there was Russian. I pulled a Duval out of the fridge and he commented that I can get that anywhere, try one of his Russian beers. Okay, not a problem. He then asked where I was from, and we talked about hockey for a while. He watched the Senators/Pens game yesterday, saying it was a good game, but he is an Ovechin fan, not the big dummy Malkin. He also asked if I played, not in many years was my reply. He invited me to join in his "old an" league here in Antwerp. They play each Wednesday from 10 until midnight or so. I am not sure about that whole thing, it has been over 15 years since I had that aspect of my game in tact. I think it is going to be better for all parties involved if I just stay with the cycling. After all, I embarrass myself enough with that over here.
Anyway, that's it for now, I had Sunday in Europe as much as in the States, go figure!!

I wonder what the Ogre is up to right now...

Another country

Well, after a weekend of fantastic weather in Amsterdam, literally the best I have ever had in Europe, it was back to business as usual, crap in Rotterdam. Wednesday I made it down to Antwerp finally. I am in an old hotel right near the center of the city. I am just amazed at the narrow, cobblestone roads that run every imaginable way. It is not as busy as Amsterdam, but I was walking around in a torrential downpour so maybe that kept people inside. I did the Belgian dinner of Frites with Mayo. I got a small but after that, I was done for eating anything else. I also hit an Irish Pub for a beer beforehand. It is kind of strange, I am surrounded by dozens upon dozens of places to eat, and I could not pick one so it ended up as fries with mayo. I can only think of it like when I used to go to the movie rental place without any idea of what I was looking for, just ended up walking block after block, past perfectly suitable restaurants and I end up eating fries. Well, at least they were very tasty fries. On the way back to the hotel I stopped in a corner store and picked up a bottle of Leffe', a bottle of Westmalle Dubbel, and a 1.5 Liter bottle of coke zero for the room. The three items came up to 5.5 Euro. Now, that is a bargin because at home that amount of dollars would get you either one of the beers in a bar, certainly not both and a big ole bottle of coke as a finisher. That may become an issue somewhere down the line. I also watched the first five innings of the Phils game on the Slingbox. I still don't know how they do it, but I thank whoever they may be for allowing me to remain sane over here.
I guess that is about it, tomorrow it is apartment search time and then the weekend. I think I am going to end up doing some exploring this weekend, after all, what else do I have to do??
That is it for now, I am sure there will be more frequent updates ramping up...

Rotterdam

In my hotel room in Rotterdam. I am watching the Mets play the Marlins from two days ago. They have some wierd TBS deal, no commercials so it is like watching the game in express mode. I need to get a workout in, and them I am going to walk around for a while. Rotterdam is a pretty strange place. For all of the old buildings of Amsterdam, everything here is post world war two, with the exception of an insurance building. The Germans literally flattened this city. It has been rebuilt in the "modern" architecture style, of which I am just not a fan. I am not sure why I find it so unappealing, but it just does not do it for me. Also, after two brilliant, sunny days, the weather has "gone dutch" in that it is a gray, pretty dreary day out there.
The hotel is a real nice one, they are still jacking me for high speed internet, and like a jackass I forgot to get a receipt for the cab from Amsterdam to here, so I am going to have to eat that money, really aggrevates the crap out of me. At least the health club is for free, I need to get a workout it, I feel like a complete slug. I have not done anything in four days. The chances of my doing the Bart Brentjens Challenge in less than two weeks is looking pretty slim. I have Visa stuff to do tomorrow, and then on to Antwerp on Wednesday.
Okay, off to workout, and then to walk around and czech this city out..

Double duty

Well, I finally got to Amsterdam. Finally in the sense that it has been coming for what seems like forever. Had the nicest weather I have ever witnessed here, crystal clear skies and temperature in the mid-sixties. I got checked into the hotel, grabbed a 10 am beer, which really is not as bad as it seems because it was 4 am on the east coast, actually I am not sure if that is good or not when it comes down to it. Then it was a power nap and went out to dinner. More drinks followed then a serious night of sleep. It is now 9:30 local, I think I could use a few more hours of sleep for some reason but I am meeting people for breakfast. I just checked on the scores from back home. The Phillies took the title in the East, which won me more Texas BBQ this year, thanks Greg!! There were also some upsets on the college football front as well.
I got wrapped up in this whole facebook thing. I just started on it yesterday as a way to keep up with people, I'll see how it goes because between this and facebook, I am not sure what will be let go first.
One thing that I don't understand is the Euro obsession with half shower doors. For some reason I cannot upload the picture I have of it here but if you imagine a bathtub shower. The shower door goes just half way, so the half of the tub away from the showerhead does not have any coverage and that part of the floor gets soaked. I don't know if there is an acrylic or glass shortage or what but it is rampant everywhere for some reason. Maybe that is the way I can make my millions.
Anyway, time to meet some people for breakfast.
Okay, back from breakfast. The most expensive 32$ US crappy hotel breakfast ever. I also washed a pair of jeans in the bathtub and hung them up on this wierd dryer grating deal they have in the tub. I really hope that they dry by the time I get out of here tomorrow, but I seriously have no idea. I wanted to get a workout in today, but the gym is 12.50 Euro a pop. Needless to say I did not want to work out all that much. I did another tour around Amsterdam, the hotel I am staying in is really on the outer end of the city, which is fine. I am trying to decide how I am going to get to Rotterdam tomorrow. Getting to the train will be a bit of a pain in the ass with three bags to lug around. A cab may be a bit more expensive but a lot more feasible.
I am watching the world road racing championships on Eurosport right now. I don't understand a word these commentators are saying, and with the minute or two gaps in them saying anything at all leads me to believe they are no Phil and Paul team. The Slingbox is working well thankfully because late last night after watching Animal Planet and Survivorman with bad voiceover, well it was about all I can stand. I think this is going to be a long three months of time with, well me, which can be a dangerous thing.

Part two..

I forget where I was. I have been sick all week long, so my preparation for my, what is looking like the final race of the season anyway, has been non-existant. Anyway, I think I was about the time where my bike finally showed up. After a quick build up, in which I was in such a hurry that I installed the fork backwards the first time and then when I put the rear derrailleur on, the cable was inside of the stay, on the cog. After getting myself straightened out, I did a bit of a warmup with a group of guys, where the picture above was taken. Pretty cool background if you ask me. After a decent dinner it was an early night to bed because of a 6am wake-up. I fell asleep pretty much immediately, and then woke up an hour later and was laying around, looking at the ceiling for about three hours before getting back to sleep. Breakfast was the usual Eurofare of lunch meats and cheeses, and pasta. The bus ride was not a big deal, but I could not fall asleep on the bus, which kind of sucked. We got to the start village, and I do mean village beause besides race day, the place is home to less than a thousand people. Race day brings an additional 16 thousand to their humble place.
The race, in brief, went as well as could be expected. I have, all year, been dealing with back issues. Part of the deal with the race is you had to ride with a pack weighing 3.5 kilograms, or 7.7 pounds. They supplied us with new camelbacks. My plan was to ride with as little in the pack as possible, and use a large waterbottle to hydrate. Then at the last aid station fill the waterbottle, and pop it into my camelback, adding weight. Well, on one of the first descents, about an hour into the race, I was rolling through a series of pretty vicious stutter-bumps when my bottle was ejected from its cage. That, was a problem to say the least. So, my hydration plan was out the window in a big way. I just sipped out of the camelback which at hour two was reeking havoc on my back. It got to the point where I could not generate any power without a hardcore stabbing pain in my back. What my only choice was to use one hand to lift the pack off my back whenever the road would allow and then on the inclines, get out of the saddle and stand on it. The problem with the second part of that is due to the fact that I was not hydrating, because I was worried about the pack weight, I started getting leg cramps. I will say that by the last 10-15K or so, I was certainly prepared to get off the bike.

I have to say that it was a great experience. I met some great people and saw a beautiful country that I cannot believe I would have had a chance to without being a cyclist.

If you see the ogre, tell him I said howdy.

I'm Number 1683!!

Had the opportunity to do the biggest mountain bike race in the world over the weekend. Very cool, it just happened to take place in Norway. Humph.. On Wednesday, I flew into Frankfurt and then onto Oslo. Not really a bad flight when it comes down to it. There is something to be said for sleeping pills and gin and tonic. In addition, when I did wake up during dinner service, red wine was free, nice. Then I went from Frankfurt to Oslo. I was waiting at the airport, got my bag, and then waited longer, and longer. Then I went to the window to ask were my vital piece of luggage is, the one containing my bike. I was told that it would be over in the far corner, for oversized luggage. I went there and waited, and waited, and nothing. So I went back and began filling out the paperwork to have a trace put on the case and see how to get it delivered, by Friday because the race was Saturday.. Should not be a problem, was all I was told. I then walked out to see blonde haired, blue-eyed Heidi (seriously, not kidding, Heidi) waiting for me. We were waiting on the Dutch participants before boarding a bus to head to where we were being put up. It turned out to be a three hour drive from the airport, and the furthere away we got, the less of a chance my bike was going to show up, bummer. We finally got to the top of this mountain outside of Lillehammer. Beautiful place, old wood buildings with grass roofs, nice.
Dinner was some really good BBQ, with Carlsberg beer, which has "Probably the best beer in the world" written across the bottom of the can. I also made two calls on the bike, the first one was not good, they had no idea where it was. The second one was better, it was located and going to be put on the midnight flight from Frankfurt to Oslo.
Friday morning started with a typical Euro breakfast. Sandwhich style stuff, pasta with meat, or cereal with milk that is more the consistency of half and half. I had a little turkey sammy and coffee. The next thing, Rune Hoydahl's mountain bike team showed up. Rune is a multi-time number one in the world mountain biker, multi-time olympian, and silver medalist in the world championship. He and his team did a presentation to the 120 or so of us that were there in the Pon contingent.. They did a decent time of scaring the shit out of people concerning nutrition, crashing, mechanicals, etc. etc.

I gotta go, to be continued....