Last few days of the l'Aude

So a couple more stages in the beautiful, sunny l'Aude region, and then I had to leave. Bit of a shame not to see the last few stages, but I had another mission to attend to.


Amber and Madi getting ready for signing in, and then off to the start.


I love this shot, through the local vineyards, doesn't it look nice.



I had not really had any real time off for the last couple of months, so a few days off were ordered as it was the last chance for a while. I had been selected (by the loosing vote) to head off to Montreal, Canada for the 6th World Cup and the Tour of Montreal as Mechanic and director for the week.

I had a day off in the beautiful city of Carrcossane, checking out the wicked castle, a bit of photography, and a nice easy day. Then it was off to sunny Holland for a few days R&R, a bit of riding and then some organising for the trip to Montreal. The few days relaxing turned into three days on the couch, somewhere here I lost a day, waking up on the couch 24 hours later, man I must have needed it.

The team ended up winning the tour, all coming from the second to last stage. This is three in a row for us, Amber taking out the two years previous, and Susanne cleaning up this years race. Once again we show the rest of the world our fantastic tactics, awesome riding, clean bikes and some of the best wrenching around. Much to the disappointment of T-Mobile and Nurenberger, who were thinking they had the lead under control.

Check out the photo pages, thats if I get a chance tonight.

I will write up the Montreal trip tomorrow, as I have just arrived back a few hours ago. And what a trip, as usual, my movement into directorship is still very badly jinxed, if there is ever anything to go wrong with the team and the race. Whats the bet that I get to deal with it. No wonder Klas or JP were quite happy to stay home, think I will be doing that next year as well. Hey it's a great way to learn, but we don't have to deal with 85% of the troubles with 300% more staff, but more on this later.

We race first thing Saturday morning in the top of Holland, then leave for Spain on Sunday for Durango race and the tour of Bira. This is on top of jetlag, hammered body and sleep deprivation, but I still won't be able to sleep cause I am really excited about some good racing for a change.