Well here we are in Germany. We arrived a couple of days ago and after a few hassles picking up our vehicle we eventually made it to our first nights stay in Fussen. 
I picked this location as our jump off point because there is some really spectacular scenery in the local area and it is just a short ride to Sonthofen. Yesterday we tooled around Fussen and checked out the Neuschwanstein castle.
Our intention was that after lunch we would spin our way to Sonthofen. As fate played with us, it started to pour as we toured the castle and despite waiting through lunch for the rain to stop, it did not let up. Plan B quickly became “Let’s drive to Sonthofen and maybe get a ride in there.” The drive was spectacular and by pure chance (we were following the GPS directions) we drove right down the first climb that we will attempt in the race. Everybody’s eyes tuned in and we surveyed the first of many climbs we will see in the week ahead. Much bravado filled the van about how it did not seem particularly intimidating. I guess time will tell!
Today we are checking out our start town and meeting up with the rest of our crew. In total there are 26 Canadians from the Vancouver area over for the race. Joerg Becker http://www.magicplaces.com/ has been running trips to the Tour TranAlp since its inception. He lives in the interior of BC and we used his vast knowledge of the logistics required to help plan our trip. This year he is running support for multiple teams. After a great breakfast and registration, we intended to go for a ride but again the skies opened up and rain poured down. Shelve that idea for a little while. Instead we cleaned and tuned bikes and stocked the van for the week ahead.
Everyone hunkered down under the awning and we all got to know each other a bit better.
Joerg has managed to garner us some small perks. We are all starting in the first start block tomorrow so we have only 100 riders ahead of us, and 900 behind us. That should make the start a little less hairy. He also managed to get Trevor Linden his favorite number so the beast goes off with plate #16. Dave and I have #76.
My partner is Dave MacLennan who is a colleague from work. This is his first road race also and he is a little leery as to what the week ahead will bring. I think that his biggest worry is not the length or breadth of the race (he has cycled across Canada) but the tight quarters that a peloton will bring and the possibility of “road crashes”. It is my opinion that in a lot of crashes most of the variables are out of your control. Hopefully we will be in the right place at the right time, and not the opposite.
Tomorrow is Day 1, and the first pass, the Oberjoch awaits us 15 km out. I have butterflies already.
I picked this location as our jump off point because there is some really spectacular scenery in the local area and it is just a short ride to Sonthofen. Yesterday we tooled around Fussen and checked out the Neuschwanstein castle. Our intention was that after lunch we would spin our way to Sonthofen. As fate played with us, it started to pour as we toured the castle and despite waiting through lunch for the rain to stop, it did not let up. Plan B quickly became “Let’s drive to Sonthofen and maybe get a ride in there.” The drive was spectacular and by pure chance (we were following the GPS directions) we drove right down the first climb that we will attempt in the race. Everybody’s eyes tuned in and we surveyed the first of many climbs we will see in the week ahead. Much bravado filled the van about how it did not seem particularly intimidating. I guess time will tell!Today we are checking out our start town and meeting up with the rest of our crew. In total there are 26 Canadians from the Vancouver area over for the race. Joerg Becker http://www.magicplaces.com/ has been running trips to the Tour TranAlp since its inception. He lives in the interior of BC and we used his vast knowledge of the logistics required to help plan our trip. This year he is running support for multiple teams. After a great breakfast and registration, we intended to go for a ride but again the skies opened up and rain poured down. Shelve that idea for a little while. Instead we cleaned and tuned bikes and stocked the van for the week ahead.
Everyone hunkered down under the awning and we all got to know each other a bit better.Joerg has managed to garner us some small perks. We are all starting in the first start block tomorrow so we have only 100 riders ahead of us, and 900 behind us. That should make the start a little less hairy. He also managed to get Trevor Linden his favorite number so the beast goes off with plate #16. Dave and I have #76.
My partner is Dave MacLennan who is a colleague from work. This is his first road race also and he is a little leery as to what the week ahead will bring. I think that his biggest worry is not the length or breadth of the race (he has cycled across Canada) but the tight quarters that a peloton will bring and the possibility of “road crashes”. It is my opinion that in a lot of crashes most of the variables are out of your control. Hopefully we will be in the right place at the right time, and not the opposite.Tomorrow is Day 1, and the first pass, the Oberjoch awaits us 15 km out. I have butterflies already.
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