Time to sort out a few links to the photo pages here. You can go and have a look at the Euregio Tour.
Also managed to get a few of the italy pics done as well with a Toscana one and a second here two
Then if you got time have a look at the first part of the Worlds, in Austria.
And while your there you might as well have a look at a bit of bike Bike Drifting.
And of course this made me laugh, the famous 'Lycra Outlaw', brings tears to my eyeswatching him ride away was poetry.
And this guy is real creepy, Peter Pan, found through the random search feature at the top of this page. He rocks, winner of some award for websites, you just can't help yourself laughing in disbelief.
And on random sites, how about this random video, British Soldiers having a good old laugh on LSD trails, to stop the enemy with laughter.
26 September 2006
23 September 2006
Random Worlds TT shots
Thomas on the way to a lap around the lake.
The locals have really gone full on for this week, many crazy displays to come.
Not what you think, another Walsler painted up in Specialized colours
Intergrated headtube and internal stem on a small Walsler (to get the bars down low for a very small girl)
World Championships, Salzburg, Austria.
The rain followed me from Italy, damn it.
Just got a few moments spare to myself to relax for an hour or so with my feet up. It’s the last race for me this year, and the most important one of course. I am working again for the country of Sweden, looking after the team of women, U23 men and the Elite men, both for the TT (which has been) and the road races (to come). And of course looking after my own girls in the team in their various nations. I have had a busy time so far and the worst is yet to come.
The following car for Susannes TT
In our own team we have Susanne (Sweden), Linda (Denmark), Loes (Holland), Amber (USA) racing both the TT and the road race. And also Madeline (Germany) racing the road race as well. It’s nice to know that our team is good enough to give the Worlds a really good thrashing. For Sweden we have a full team of six in the Women’s road race, one for the TT, three for the U23 road race, two for the Elite men’s TT, and one for the Elite men’s road race. It’s a few bikes to look after, a few dozen wheels, a few sleepless nights, and some very nervous rides in the team car.
Amber warming up before the start of her TT
The TT went well for the team, (Sweden), with Susanne just using it for training for the road race, think she was 15th overall. The two elite men are done as well, Gustav Larsen, and Thomas Louvquist, both had a good ride, but unfortunately didn’t win. The TT course was mean, full of hills, steep (20% in places) climbs, twisty downhills and beautiful countryside. The most of it will be used for the road race as well, which is sweet for our team (Buitenpoort) and Susanne (Sweden and Buitenpoort).
Susanne almost at the top of one of the climbs.
Got a busy day with the U23 starting at 9am, then the women starting later in the afternoon. The streets are lined with spectators already, many of them already drinking and cheering the riders practicing on the course. The number of spectators expected is over 200,000, closer to 250,000 from what we have seen already. And this is for a bike race, and how many people go to watch a Rugby game. That’s right, what’s rugby, I laugh to myself when I recall a line from the Minister of NZ sport, “The Rugby World cup will finally put NZ on the map, with 75% of the Worlds population watching it on TV”. Is he dreaming, not a single person in the last year has even known about the game of rugby (I feel happy with this), let alone them knowing about NZ holding the WC in 2011. Europe doesn’t care, they love cycling. Oh yeah his other best quote in the same article “Half of New Zealanders want to be an All Black, the other half want to marry one”. Get real, maybe he should come here, then he would want a road WC in his own back yard. Even thousands of already drunk spectators (most of them, Belgium’s), have not caused a single problem, no fights, no stress, just loud cheering, even for the old guys checking out the course. There is huge paddocks already full of campers, with all the nations flags flying, but peace prevails in the cycling world. It’s going to be a good weekend.
Funny, but the only scandal so far is from the host nation, with three of the U23 men caught with something dodgy in their blood. The temptation for the little guys was too much. Otherwise, my time out is over. Back to work, but knowing there is only a few days to go is keeping my energy up. And working on a potential World Champs bike, is incentive enough.
And nice to see the helicopters covering the womens race for a change.
21 September 2006
Tour of Tuscany (Tuscany), Italy.
Heading back to Italy is always exciting, but this time it was going to be a little bit different. Our director and boss JP was not going to be coming, he was busy supporting his wife Miriam in hospital. I got thrown into the job of team Director, and got to keep my job as mechanic for the week as well. It was going to be busy, not only looking after the bikes, but organising the staff, transport, transfers of the team and the driving during the race. With only a small team of five, and most of them training for the World Champs the following week, things were not going to be that demanding.
I will endevour to write this one up properly, but next week, as we are pretty busy here in Austria this week, and the internet is shit in the hotel. I just spent a day or so of valuable down time trying to post some pics, but it has failed every time. But will try a few pics here instead. The picture on the beach was the only nice day for the week, in fact it rained every day, bar one. What a mess when it rains, but more later, enjoy the few pics.
The small, but very capable team for the week.
Of course there is always plenty of old churches here as well.
And some very nice sculptures.
And some very big sandwiches
Some very slipery streets, with smooth old stones.
And some dry slippery old stones, through old buildings.
Of course there was some racing, but from a different perspective for a change.
I will endevour to write this one up properly, but next week, as we are pretty busy here in Austria this week, and the internet is shit in the hotel. I just spent a day or so of valuable down time trying to post some pics, but it has failed every time. But will try a few pics here instead. The picture on the beach was the only nice day for the week, in fact it rained every day, bar one. What a mess when it rains, but more later, enjoy the few pics.
The small, but very capable team for the week.
Of course there is always plenty of old churches here as well.
And some very nice sculptures.
And some very big sandwiches
Some very slipery streets, with smooth old stones.
And some dry slippery old stones, through old buildings.
Of course there was some racing, but from a different perspective for a change.
20 September 2006
Test for links.
With some good help I think we may have sussed out how to link to anything I need. So here it goes.
Just put this word blog and then, as if it's magic... Your back again.
Or we can try this one, for one of my picture pages. And if things go well, you might get some action.
But that is shit as it does not open a new page, but this one might. It's worth a crack, so lets have a look at the Tour of Bern.
Just put this word blog and then, as if it's magic... Your back again.
Or we can try this one, for one of my picture pages. And if things go well, you might get some action.
But that is shit as it does not open a new page, but this one might. It's worth a crack, so lets have a look at the Tour of Bern.
14 September 2006
Aaaahh Italy
Where I would like to be this week, but we are 100m inland, working like dogs, damn it.
Euregio Tour
Run by the same organization as the Holland Ladies Tour, this was the first time the race had been run. Covering the bottom of Holland, parts of Germany and Belgium, it was looking good. The start list was small, as the Holland tour had taken it’s toll on the teams, and they were wise not to start. From the high of 176 riders the previous week, to a start of about 75, the bunch looked small in comparison. It was a bit of a shame as the race was looking to be organised exceptionally well, four days, so not so demanding. Our main sponsors, Flexpoint, and Bombergier were sponsoring the race, so we were happy to race for them. It was not our strongest riders, as they were resting up, but a strong team in comparison to the level of riders racing.
Hanging out before the start.
Got to love the countryside
The weather had improved, and the summer was back again, I was very happy as it gave me a chance to dry the truck and equipment out properly. All the transfers were close, and we were not changing hotels every night, things were looking sweet. I have already forgot most of the first two days, there was some hills, think there was a TT, and we were chasing the USA National team as we were only 25 seconds behind. On the third day, Miriam crashed hard. You can read, or may have already read about it below, I don’t want to tell ya again. But I can update you with the news that she is recovering well. Her face is looking good, only a small scar under her chin where they fixed the jaw, the swelling has gone and she is smiling again. Another operation is happening as I write this, to remove a few pins that have been holding her pelvis together. And a small plate is going in to hold the bottom of her pelvis together. She is in good spirits, and is over lying around in bed already, a couple more weeks in hospital and then she is home.
Nice to see some downhills for a change. And the mist never lifted.
With the last stage to race, I got to be driver, mechanic and director, not the sort of entry into the job I would have liked. But with Jean-Paul hanging out at the hospital, he was better use there for Miriam, than racing with us. The team was in good spirits, even with having to see the accident scene as they rode past her. But cyclists are strong skinned, they took it in their stride and raced hard, almost taking the stage and almost gaining the time we needed for Loes to win. But my first win as director was not to be, a close chase down to the finish, and the Americans took good control of the race. Second place overall, and the green sprinters jersey, and the teams classification was enough. Home for another night, and then off to the Giro dela Toscana (Tour of Tuscany) in Italy for a week in the sun. But this will be no holiday as I will be mechanic, and director for the week. With a team of five, there will not be as much work as it could have been with eight, thank god.
The team on the podium again.
A few more pics to come, at a later date.
Hanging out before the start.
Got to love the countryside
The weather had improved, and the summer was back again, I was very happy as it gave me a chance to dry the truck and equipment out properly. All the transfers were close, and we were not changing hotels every night, things were looking sweet. I have already forgot most of the first two days, there was some hills, think there was a TT, and we were chasing the USA National team as we were only 25 seconds behind. On the third day, Miriam crashed hard. You can read, or may have already read about it below, I don’t want to tell ya again. But I can update you with the news that she is recovering well. Her face is looking good, only a small scar under her chin where they fixed the jaw, the swelling has gone and she is smiling again. Another operation is happening as I write this, to remove a few pins that have been holding her pelvis together. And a small plate is going in to hold the bottom of her pelvis together. She is in good spirits, and is over lying around in bed already, a couple more weeks in hospital and then she is home.
Nice to see some downhills for a change. And the mist never lifted.
With the last stage to race, I got to be driver, mechanic and director, not the sort of entry into the job I would have liked. But with Jean-Paul hanging out at the hospital, he was better use there for Miriam, than racing with us. The team was in good spirits, even with having to see the accident scene as they rode past her. But cyclists are strong skinned, they took it in their stride and raced hard, almost taking the stage and almost gaining the time we needed for Loes to win. But my first win as director was not to be, a close chase down to the finish, and the Americans took good control of the race. Second place overall, and the green sprinters jersey, and the teams classification was enough. Home for another night, and then off to the Giro dela Toscana (Tour of Tuscany) in Italy for a week in the sun. But this will be no holiday as I will be mechanic, and director for the week. With a team of five, there will not be as much work as it could have been with eight, thank god.
The team on the podium again.
A few more pics to come, at a later date.
Rotterdam World Cup
Across the river from the start.
After the wet, wet, wet Holland ladies tour, we changed hotels and team overnight. Only two of the riders stayed with us, but the weather stayed, damn it. But to make things even better, the wind picked up to about 50km/hr and a bit more rain came down. Working into the early hours getting things ready, the other mechanics had trouble holding onto their bikes and equipment. Thinking ahead when parking your truck or van can really help, and some of them are just stupid, that’s all it can be. I parked out of the wind, around a corner, and for the life of me, being the last in the car park, I couldn’t believe my luck. It was so pleasant, no wind and no rain, with a 12 story hotel blocking the weather, what more could I ask for. Watching the other teams struggling with their tents and awnings in the morning, was great entertainment. Maybe my years making and flying kites has taught me well about wind, and living in Auckland has taught me well about rain. I was happy, working in the dry, windless area in the back of the truck, and when I popped my head out occasionally, there was so much action, tents and bikes flying in the air, frantic staff securing flapping awnings. I turned the music up and continued with work.
Waiting for the start, and the weather looks fine, but wait..
By the time we started, the wind had died a little, and the rain had stopped. But God was watching, cause as soon as we started the wind picked up and the rain came down. Now I have seen some wind in my day, I have been on mountains, travelled to weird countries all around the world in search of wind. But this was the strongest I have experienced for some time, gusts up to 75km/hr and constantly above 50km/hr. I watched in disbelief in the first 10km as a gust just blew over about 20 riders like dominos, unbelievable. Things got worse as the pace picked up to about 25km/hr into the wind (yep that was all they could do), a small group of 12 got away, lucky we had Tanja in there. The group rode away and the bunch just keep on getting blown over, more and more crashes meant that it really slowed down. I had put all the girls on low section rims for this race, all except one, and she would not let forget it as she was fighting all day not to get blown over.
We heard all sorts of stories afterwards of riders just getting picked up and blown off the road, blown into other riders, and just getting blown over. The front bunch was riding fast, and managed to get about 10 minutes on the bunch. It was a bunch finish along the waterfront of Rotterdam, and we managed to get a second place with Tanja, but first was out of reach. All the gang finished, and had all sorts of great stories to tell, I sighed a breath of air, as I was happy all the bikes and riders were safe home. Now for a day at home, in my own bed for a change. Next up the Euregio tour for four days, in the surrounds of Holland, Belgium and Germany. And some hills to race for a change.
A few more pics to come.
Tour of Holland 2
The Holland Ladies Tour, started with a crash and a bang, and another crash, and another crash, and a bang. The morning broke with rain and the fine weather reports bandied around by the locals just didn’t hold water (pun intended). There can be nothing worse for both the mechanics and the riders, than waking to rain, especially on a long stage race. Both of us know that it’s going to be trouble for the day, and some of us know it means a whole lot of extra work.
The field was huge, 172 starters or something, a really big peloton for a change, nice to see for Women’s cycling. Racing started just as the biggest downpours of the day started (plus it rained all night and all morning non-stop, ye ha) and I was very nervous, and damp. Most often than not, the peloton is very dangerous on the first day of a big stage race, throw in a bunch of club riders, and some rain, and guess what, you are asking for trouble. Almost as soon as we started racing, the first crashes started. More often than not, the crashes happen at the back with some of the more inexperienced riders, our girls know this, and always try to stay near the front. Still it keeps me on the edge of my seat for the first stage, and in and out of the car for most of the day as well. The Dutch race radio is sweet for information, most of the time they give us some indication of the teams on the ground, saves me having to get out of the car, wheels in hand, sprinting to the crash scene. I’m always ready for that call ‘Buitenpoort’, then the stomach hits rock bottom, and with wheels I hit the road, ready for the worst, bikes and bodies sprawled across the road.
My view out the window of my office for the week.
Most of the time you can see the crashes from a few cars back, if our girls are in we hear it on the team radios, either from the rider down, or one of the girls that passed the scene. We were lucky for the first five or so spills, a few riders down, none of us, thanks. But then the shit started, crash, and a big one, almost twenty riders down, and yes we had a few in there. Tanja, the winner from last years race was down, I could hardly see her at the bottom of a pile of about 10 riders and bikes, what a mess. She was moving and struggling to get out of the mess, and I was struggling to find her bike and a way out for her. Her bike was broken, both the top tube and the down tube, hanging together with a few threads of carbon, time for the spare bike. Later we find out she managed to stop just before the crash and was safe, but for the bunch behind, they ploughed right into her, nice. A few more crashes for the day, and thank you the day was over, four girls involved in small skirmishes, and Tanja in a big one. A frame swap for the night, and some very dirty bikes, and a few buckled wheels, what a day.
The race continued for a couple of days, with the same shit, more rain, even heavier than the first day. A few more crashes, and lucky, none of us, but doesn’t make it any easier for me hanging in and out of the car constantly. Nothing much was happening with the race, as the bunch was staying together with the weather being so bad. We were sitting sweet in the classification, most of the team was not losing any time, thing were good. Next up my favourite day, the double stage, finishing with a team time-trail in the afternoon, and it was still raining. The morning stage, was one of just keeping the girls safe. We were the favourites, as usual for the team TT, and would take control of the race and the jersey from here on. Bit sad really for the other teams, as there is no reason for the TT to do so much damage to a race. For the professional men, things are a little bit different, with only 20 secs allowed between places, i.e. 2nd place may be as far back as a min, but the team gets awarded only 20 secs behind. For the Women, thing are as they are, if we get 3 mins on second place, our time stands and the race is done. Even though this is good for the team being in the lead again, it’s almost like cheating, and not really fair for the other teams (but maybe they could ride faster). This should not disadvantage the other teams so much, it has to change, but at this stage we love it.
The weather was looking good for the TT in the afternoon, the rain had passed as we were finishing the stage in the morning, so we all thought it was going to stay clear for the afternoon. But you got to believe it, just as the first team was starting of the line, the rain started, and heavy to boot. At least all the teams were going to have rain, unlike last year when we were the only team on the course when the rain started. Think about a team of six, disc wheels, skinny little tires, up to 140 psi, wet roads that look like glass, ohh and throw in some wet, shiny, hard stones. Well they call them stones, (they are not cobbles as they are almost round on the top, and even worse), but these are flat, and as smooth as glass, most of the time they put them on corners for the grip when there is snow on the road. These things are crazy when they are wet, but most of the team knows them well, and we were not out to take any risks today. We started well, and finished even better. A first place, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 in the GC. Now all we had to do was defend those spots for the next few days. And the rain was still falling.
Tanja, about to start the Team Timetrial, looking a bit anxious.
The team on the road, and what a fantastic day.
We raced well for the next couple of days, keeping out first four spots. It was difficult to keep as all the teams were sending riders out, attacking us left, right and centre. But we kicked their asses as usual, and by halfway through most stages, the peloton was beaten into submission and stopped all their attacks. The last day was to decide everything, some good hills to split things up again and to stop the monotony of the flat roads Holland is famous for. Things got interesting when a break of two riders got away, then there was six, lucky we had Susanne in the break, our number one position was safe. The group stayed away, with two riders a minute or so back, Loes was in this group, chasing hard to maintain her second place. It was not to be, the group stayed away, Loes chased for an hour or so, the bunch stayed away as well. But we ended up winning the tour with Susanne, also she won the mountain jersey (mountains in Holland??) and Linda won the best young rider (and a washing machine), and we also won the Teams Classification which was nice. The boss was happy, the sponsors happy and the mechanic still had another race the next day so he did not know what to think.
Susanne after her fantastic win for the week.
And more pics in the link to the right.
The field was huge, 172 starters or something, a really big peloton for a change, nice to see for Women’s cycling. Racing started just as the biggest downpours of the day started (plus it rained all night and all morning non-stop, ye ha) and I was very nervous, and damp. Most often than not, the peloton is very dangerous on the first day of a big stage race, throw in a bunch of club riders, and some rain, and guess what, you are asking for trouble. Almost as soon as we started racing, the first crashes started. More often than not, the crashes happen at the back with some of the more inexperienced riders, our girls know this, and always try to stay near the front. Still it keeps me on the edge of my seat for the first stage, and in and out of the car for most of the day as well. The Dutch race radio is sweet for information, most of the time they give us some indication of the teams on the ground, saves me having to get out of the car, wheels in hand, sprinting to the crash scene. I’m always ready for that call ‘Buitenpoort’, then the stomach hits rock bottom, and with wheels I hit the road, ready for the worst, bikes and bodies sprawled across the road.
My view out the window of my office for the week.
Most of the time you can see the crashes from a few cars back, if our girls are in we hear it on the team radios, either from the rider down, or one of the girls that passed the scene. We were lucky for the first five or so spills, a few riders down, none of us, thanks. But then the shit started, crash, and a big one, almost twenty riders down, and yes we had a few in there. Tanja, the winner from last years race was down, I could hardly see her at the bottom of a pile of about 10 riders and bikes, what a mess. She was moving and struggling to get out of the mess, and I was struggling to find her bike and a way out for her. Her bike was broken, both the top tube and the down tube, hanging together with a few threads of carbon, time for the spare bike. Later we find out she managed to stop just before the crash and was safe, but for the bunch behind, they ploughed right into her, nice. A few more crashes for the day, and thank you the day was over, four girls involved in small skirmishes, and Tanja in a big one. A frame swap for the night, and some very dirty bikes, and a few buckled wheels, what a day.
The race continued for a couple of days, with the same shit, more rain, even heavier than the first day. A few more crashes, and lucky, none of us, but doesn’t make it any easier for me hanging in and out of the car constantly. Nothing much was happening with the race, as the bunch was staying together with the weather being so bad. We were sitting sweet in the classification, most of the team was not losing any time, thing were good. Next up my favourite day, the double stage, finishing with a team time-trail in the afternoon, and it was still raining. The morning stage, was one of just keeping the girls safe. We were the favourites, as usual for the team TT, and would take control of the race and the jersey from here on. Bit sad really for the other teams, as there is no reason for the TT to do so much damage to a race. For the professional men, things are a little bit different, with only 20 secs allowed between places, i.e. 2nd place may be as far back as a min, but the team gets awarded only 20 secs behind. For the Women, thing are as they are, if we get 3 mins on second place, our time stands and the race is done. Even though this is good for the team being in the lead again, it’s almost like cheating, and not really fair for the other teams (but maybe they could ride faster). This should not disadvantage the other teams so much, it has to change, but at this stage we love it.
The weather was looking good for the TT in the afternoon, the rain had passed as we were finishing the stage in the morning, so we all thought it was going to stay clear for the afternoon. But you got to believe it, just as the first team was starting of the line, the rain started, and heavy to boot. At least all the teams were going to have rain, unlike last year when we were the only team on the course when the rain started. Think about a team of six, disc wheels, skinny little tires, up to 140 psi, wet roads that look like glass, ohh and throw in some wet, shiny, hard stones. Well they call them stones, (they are not cobbles as they are almost round on the top, and even worse), but these are flat, and as smooth as glass, most of the time they put them on corners for the grip when there is snow on the road. These things are crazy when they are wet, but most of the team knows them well, and we were not out to take any risks today. We started well, and finished even better. A first place, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 in the GC. Now all we had to do was defend those spots for the next few days. And the rain was still falling.
Tanja, about to start the Team Timetrial, looking a bit anxious.
The team on the road, and what a fantastic day.
We raced well for the next couple of days, keeping out first four spots. It was difficult to keep as all the teams were sending riders out, attacking us left, right and centre. But we kicked their asses as usual, and by halfway through most stages, the peloton was beaten into submission and stopped all their attacks. The last day was to decide everything, some good hills to split things up again and to stop the monotony of the flat roads Holland is famous for. Things got interesting when a break of two riders got away, then there was six, lucky we had Susanne in the break, our number one position was safe. The group stayed away, with two riders a minute or so back, Loes was in this group, chasing hard to maintain her second place. It was not to be, the group stayed away, Loes chased for an hour or so, the bunch stayed away as well. But we ended up winning the tour with Susanne, also she won the mountain jersey (mountains in Holland??) and Linda won the best young rider (and a washing machine), and we also won the Teams Classification which was nice. The boss was happy, the sponsors happy and the mechanic still had another race the next day so he did not know what to think.
Susanne after her fantastic win for the week.
And more pics in the link to the right.
10 September 2006
Tragedy in Euregio Tour
Getting ready for the Rotterdam WC race, looking good.
While racing the third stage of the Euregio Tour, Miriam, while taking a very dangerous bend on a downhill descent, crashed hard. We had given warnings of the corner well before the peloton had reached it, but it was not enough. With high speed, Miriam took a corner a little too wide, thinking she was safe, steering herself into the grass verge, overshot the edge of the road, falling on to the road below her. Impact was through the right knee and the left side of the face.
Injuries include, broken hip ball joint, broken pelvis both front and rear of the socket that holds hip. Fractured Jaw in three places, lacerations to knee, elbow, and forehead. Surgery has gone well and they have fixed all of the damage, she has left intensive care and now is on the way to recovery.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you Miriam, here's to a speedy recovery, and a quick return to your saddle. Your bike is waiting.
Waiting for the satrt, Euregio Tour
This accident could not come at worse moment, with her recovery almost complete from her surgery a few months ago. Form was just returning, with the first races looking promising, on the way to the World Road Champs in Salzburg in a week or so. Out will also be the Cyclocross season, which was about to start.
Hey, on a lighter note, we all ride, we all crash. Shit happens, and it's not nice when it happens to someone we know, we all feel for her, some of us more than others (cause I crash more than most). Time is a good healer, we have lots of that in our lives, thank god for that. Sitting in a couch watching TV can be more dangerous for your health, and think of the fun you are missing out on.
5 September 2006
Tour of Holland
Sorry but now I am getting a little bit late, so I will leave a few pics for you to look at, and fill up the story later.
We ended up winning the race overall with Susanne, the mountain Jersey (Susanne), the young riders Jersey (Linda) and the teams Classification, so it was another sucessfull week.
pics here. http://web.mac.com/bennydeville/iWeb/Site/Tour%20of%20Holland.html
We ended up winning the race overall with Susanne, the mountain Jersey (Susanne), the young riders Jersey (Linda) and the teams Classification, so it was another sucessfull week.
pics here. http://web.mac.com/bennydeville/iWeb/Site/Tour%20of%20Holland.html
SSWCO6 #3
The afternoon sky
Copenhagen turned out to be quite a treat, dripping with history and draped in new buildings everywhere it kept us occupied for hours. I was like a combination of the canals found in Holland and the islands of Stockholm. The night lights were great, reflecting off the water everywhere and the streets were full of people, nowhere near as hungry as us though as we searched for a feed. After all you can eat at a BBQ restaurant, I just wanted to sit down, I was full. But we managed to find a few bars open late on a Monday night.
Through a nice art expo
The next day we cruised the same streets and a whole lot of new ones. We had been told to visit a place called Christiania, a hippy commune experiment, still barely alive with land developers breathing down their backs, they feel very threatened. Still it was nice to wander round on the bikes at some of the boundary properties, they were really amazing to the downright squalid.
God Damn hippies, can't they just buy some bars?
Spot our three bikes can ya?
The city had quite a lot of new building going on, with a few very cool buildings just finished. They seem to want to put their city on the map with some really crazy looking buildings, on an otherwise turn of the century look. The older parts of the city seemed to be out of fairy story books, with some brightly coloured shops to the old cobbled lanes. We found some good coffee and went exploring.
Nice block oof apartments built on the outside of a old oil silo
And the old part of the city.
And don't forget to check out the rest of the photo's in the links to the right of this.
SSWC06 #2
Some very tasty smoked fish from this guy.
Race day started with a meeting at the waterfront bar/café Street, then a short ride to the trails. About 220 had showed up, all ready to race, or just hang out in the beer tent. Looking back over some of the bridges there was a long line of singlespeeds, brought tears to my eyes.
A gaggle of singlespeeds.
The bikes waiting for the start.
But you can see it here, a nice little video clip we found.
http://mtbracer.free.fr/video/index.htm
Check out the photo links on the right as well for that pictorial story.
First there was three, and then it grew.
The prize giving was a little bit strenuous if not forced, containing none of the drunkenness or sparks of other years. With the price of alcohol, no one could really afford to get rotten, but just slightly tiddly. The evening dragged on, and we found solace in a nice bar around the corner, some cheesy 90’s music later we were outta there.
Art shot #1
Spending the day cruising the city and the surrounding island, we headed out to a small bar, with three, throughout the night the mass grew, turning into to quite a gathering. About midnight, with a skinful of liquor, the races started. I knew better, and soon enough, the first tragedy was about to unfold. If you are going to street race, use your own bike as the one you grab might have the brakes around the wrong way. A guy we called Manchester took the biggest tumble I have seen for a while, lying on the road motionless, you could see he was writhing with pain internally. Just as soon as the fun started, two of the boys messing around, fell through a huge window, lucky enough to miss severing a body part. We left, in a big hurry, laughing at the mess riding back to the hotel.
Some of the local brew.
God damn singlespeeders.
And you can read some more here with Tony’s site. And yes I still have not learnt how to set up active links yet, so you just have to do it the old way.
http://web.mac.com/tohamac/iWeb/toha.co.nz/Toha%20Blog/Archive.html
4 September 2006
SSWC06 #1
Finally got a free day, and what a month it has been so far, so I will give it a crack at filling in a few details for ya.
It’s not been all work though, with a week or so in Sweden, racing the Singlespeed (MTB) World Champs in Stockholm and a bit of a tiki tour, the month started out sweet. I picked up another Kiwi from Amsterdam en route to pick up a third in Stockholm, kind of a makeshift team for the SSWC, serious all the same. Sweden, of course is now my sister country, working with the Swedish road and TT champ Susanne, and wrenching at the Worlds and the European Champs for Sweden, I thought it was about time to have a look around.
The city scape, looking from the old city.
We had a few days before the race, this was going to be painful as I have not been on a bike, bar the odd test ride here and there. My fitness was sitting well below average, but the legs were keen on a bit of a spin, and it is my only time to after the Worlds at the end of this month, I was excited. We headed towards the second largest lake in the country, where we heard there was a few trails. And it was nice to get a bit of mud on your face, and smell the dank air deep in forest, it brought back good memories of home trails, and great to spin the legs after 1300km hours driving. We caught the ferry from the top of Germany, to the middle of Denmark, and for a few euros it cut about 250km off the trip, plus forced you to rest for 45min’s, it was perfect. We hit Denmark just as the sun was going down, and small drive to the bridge to Sweden. After spending time on the highways of Germany, France and the like, where a speed limit is not necessary, Denmark and Sweden should get with the program. 110km on the highway is quite slow after a spin through Germany, we cruised at 160 km\hr through the night up the middle of Sweden, and passed a Cop car while doing 169, opps. It was late, just past midnight, so I slowed to 130 and pulled in as he sat behind me for a while. We were joking that in safe Sweden, he was on the radio getting instructions on what to do as it was the first time he had seen a speeder in ten years. Just then the lights went on and he pulled us over, damn it. After a car and license check (which of course I passed) I got the obligatory lecture on what the speed limit was (110km) and sent on my merry way.
Lake Vattern, and yes they were slippery.
Stockholm was good, we had a wicked hostel in an old converted jail from last century, this was smack in the middle of all city, the riding was close, and so was the race, the rain had stopped and we were meeting a few of the players sniffing around the city. It was good to catch up with some of the more colourful characters, and see what they were riding this year. We picked up the third Kiwi member of the team and went for some sight seeing, this was an old port form years gone by. The city is full of islands, all with their own character, some wicked old houses, all made from wood, strange for Europe, and plenty of nice little trails and bike paths everywhere, a real bike friendly city. It has an older area, which is as like it was for hundreds of years, big stone buildings on stone streets, so nice at night with all the little alleys, falling off the street, a real time warp, back to the days of a port full of ships and a whole lot of pirates walking around. We didn’t have a parrot for our shoulder but we did have a monkey on our backs, Andy, the fourth member of the team. He couldn’t make it this year, due to him being useless, so we have a replacement Andy, and so far he has worked out better. Causing no fights, and man can
he ride, every time I look over my shoulder, he is there, and quiet, out with the old, in with the new, that’s my thinking.
Meet the new Andy, carbo loading for the race.
The inside of the prison, built something like 1755, closed 1975, our hostel for the week.
We had a couple of days discovering the city and the surrounds. The riding was all with in a half hour ride, over a few islands, and few a bridges, no need for cars around here. The race was a few days away, so time for a bit of riding. There seemed to be a change in the people the race attracted, a lot of lookers and wannbes, busy discussing gear ratios when a fine Swedish girl rides past on a granny bike. More interested in talking than walking, It’s starting to loose it’s special character, I think.
Some of the nightlife, admiring my bike.
Cut and paste the link below, or off to the right you should see one soon. Part 2, coming soon.
http://web.mac.com/bennydeville/iWeb/Site/SSWC06.html
It’s not been all work though, with a week or so in Sweden, racing the Singlespeed (MTB) World Champs in Stockholm and a bit of a tiki tour, the month started out sweet. I picked up another Kiwi from Amsterdam en route to pick up a third in Stockholm, kind of a makeshift team for the SSWC, serious all the same. Sweden, of course is now my sister country, working with the Swedish road and TT champ Susanne, and wrenching at the Worlds and the European Champs for Sweden, I thought it was about time to have a look around.
The city scape, looking from the old city.
We had a few days before the race, this was going to be painful as I have not been on a bike, bar the odd test ride here and there. My fitness was sitting well below average, but the legs were keen on a bit of a spin, and it is my only time to after the Worlds at the end of this month, I was excited. We headed towards the second largest lake in the country, where we heard there was a few trails. And it was nice to get a bit of mud on your face, and smell the dank air deep in forest, it brought back good memories of home trails, and great to spin the legs after 1300km hours driving. We caught the ferry from the top of Germany, to the middle of Denmark, and for a few euros it cut about 250km off the trip, plus forced you to rest for 45min’s, it was perfect. We hit Denmark just as the sun was going down, and small drive to the bridge to Sweden. After spending time on the highways of Germany, France and the like, where a speed limit is not necessary, Denmark and Sweden should get with the program. 110km on the highway is quite slow after a spin through Germany, we cruised at 160 km\hr through the night up the middle of Sweden, and passed a Cop car while doing 169, opps. It was late, just past midnight, so I slowed to 130 and pulled in as he sat behind me for a while. We were joking that in safe Sweden, he was on the radio getting instructions on what to do as it was the first time he had seen a speeder in ten years. Just then the lights went on and he pulled us over, damn it. After a car and license check (which of course I passed) I got the obligatory lecture on what the speed limit was (110km) and sent on my merry way.
Lake Vattern, and yes they were slippery.
Stockholm was good, we had a wicked hostel in an old converted jail from last century, this was smack in the middle of all city, the riding was close, and so was the race, the rain had stopped and we were meeting a few of the players sniffing around the city. It was good to catch up with some of the more colourful characters, and see what they were riding this year. We picked up the third Kiwi member of the team and went for some sight seeing, this was an old port form years gone by. The city is full of islands, all with their own character, some wicked old houses, all made from wood, strange for Europe, and plenty of nice little trails and bike paths everywhere, a real bike friendly city. It has an older area, which is as like it was for hundreds of years, big stone buildings on stone streets, so nice at night with all the little alleys, falling off the street, a real time warp, back to the days of a port full of ships and a whole lot of pirates walking around. We didn’t have a parrot for our shoulder but we did have a monkey on our backs, Andy, the fourth member of the team. He couldn’t make it this year, due to him being useless, so we have a replacement Andy, and so far he has worked out better. Causing no fights, and man can
he ride, every time I look over my shoulder, he is there, and quiet, out with the old, in with the new, that’s my thinking.
Meet the new Andy, carbo loading for the race.
The inside of the prison, built something like 1755, closed 1975, our hostel for the week.
We had a couple of days discovering the city and the surrounds. The riding was all with in a half hour ride, over a few islands, and few a bridges, no need for cars around here. The race was a few days away, so time for a bit of riding. There seemed to be a change in the people the race attracted, a lot of lookers and wannbes, busy discussing gear ratios when a fine Swedish girl rides past on a granny bike. More interested in talking than walking, It’s starting to loose it’s special character, I think.
Some of the nightlife, admiring my bike.
Cut and paste the link below, or off to the right you should see one soon. Part 2, coming soon.
http://web.mac.com/bennydeville/iWeb/Site/SSWC06.html
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