WTF?

Those of you that know me also know that I’m cynical, sarcastic and a full-time smart ass. Somehow, my loving wife finds this endearing. Lucky me!

In spite of these disabilities (my maladies not the love of my wife) there’s a couple of things that people here in Germany (doesn’t seem to happen other places) do that completely befuddle me. At the top of this list is the helmet over the handlebar habit. For some unknown reason, more often than not, you’ll see people riding along with their helmets securely clasped to their stem and handlebars. Who knew that handlebars and stems needed the protection?

Check out this video… at about 35 seconds, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

My opinion…. if you’re going to bother taking it off of the shelf…. WEAR THE DAMN THING!!! I actually understand not wearing a helmet far more than I do taking it along for a ride and not wearing it.

Breath Cleveland… breath. Ahhhhhh, need to relax now.

So, Kera and I have figured out what our next brief adventure after next weeks will be.

Does it get more beautiful than this?

Of rocks and huts

One of the places we would stay

The Dachsteinwanderweg… it’s theoretically an 8 day hike around the Dachstein (where Reinhold Messner got his start) with our nights spent in mountain top huts. I’m looking forward to it…. a lot!

Lap just before sunrise

This coming weekends and next weeks adventures start Finale Ligure at the 24 Hours of Finale (pics from last year) in Finale Ligure, Italy site of one of my all time favorite 24 hour races. Part of it is that we get to see many of our European friends and because of the amazing views from the course.  The course it self is also great. After the race we aren’t sure where we’re going. Could be Arels, France back to the site of one of our favorite meals ever (when we met many of said friends) or St. Moritz, Switzerland. We’ll decide as we go.

Last thing… really cool video from Iceland of the volcano.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Sometimes things just don’t work out

So, the job that I’d really been expecting to get, I didn’t. Seems I didn’t sell myself well enough or they didn’t read my resume well enough. Maybe it was a combination of both. The apparent reason that I didn’t get the job was not having enough quality control experience. What did I do onsite with a multi-million dollar project? Anyway. As you can see, I’m not too thrilled about the result. The woman that won the position is fantastic, I just felt that I was the best candidate for the job.

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On to other, happier, things. Here are a couple of good photos from SS Italy where we had a fantastic time as I’d previously mentioned.

Kera made and gave away a bag to the winner of the Pixie Cross. Notice the colors.

Some cool and interesting costumes. That mustache is real.

Master of ceremonies Stefano looking happy in a chair. The smile is genuine. He’s a fantastic guy!

Our friend Ed scored Kera one of those cool cycling hats from Stefano as well.

Friend and teammate Ed looking a little too….something.

Kera made me suffer up this hill for this photo. So appreciate it!

Subbaqqui Rules!

A great photo of Chris another Ami.

The male and female winners admiring their new jerseys.

A charming photo of me.

Lot’s of the nutty folks.

The Gay Fisher

A good one of Kera taking many of the above shots.

Unfortunately, we won’t be going to Zurich for SS Switzerland this weekend. So, if the weather cooperates, we might just have to do our own ride around here.

Munich is absolutely nuts right now as Oktoberfest is going on and there are people here from around the world. Everywhere you go it feels like rush hour. It’s rather strange. Kera’s been once and will go at least once more with work. I’m not sure whether I’ll end up going this year or not. Due to a FUBAR situation, I ended up selling my ticket to go tonight.

Till later.

Back and alive!

I got back from Italy late Saturday night from a week of Alpentouring. It was fun, hard and incredibly beautiful. Would I do it again? IN A SECOND!!

Currently, I’ve got to head off to work but I wanted to let you know that I’m uploading photos as quickly as I can and I’ll write a full report ASAP. In the meantime, some photos will have to suffice.

This weekend, we’re off to our favorite race of the year Schlaflos im Sattel. I did it last year solo and this year we’re a 4′er team. Don’t expect results as we’re doing it for fun. Kera and I are going over early, trying to get in some riding and have a good relaxing weekend with some cool friends and folks.

In about 3 weeks we’re off to SSWC in Napa, CA and then up to Seattle to see the inlaws and sort through a bunch of stuff that we had in storage. UGH! The last part sounds like fun eh? NOT!

O.K., gotta get!

Lazy and hot….

No post is complete without at least one photo of a bike. Saw this one in Rome. Check out the integrated brake levers.

Nice stencil too. We went by one day and then again the next. It appeared overnight.

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…….. It’s been awhile in part because I’ve been gone and busy. Phew! I’ve, finally, had the chance to slow down for a bit.

However… the short list:

A week in Italy on vacation with the in-laws

Too much work

Germany getting to #2 in the European Championships

Locking myself out of the house while Kera was in England

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So….

First: A week in Italy on vacation with the in-laws

Very enjoyable. My in-laws Dee and Don are just really cool people. After a week in close quarters we were still happily speaking to each other and doing things together. We started on Friday heading through Switzerland (St. Moritz to be exact). Man… beautiful. I now understand why people love it. Kera and I will have to go back and ride there sometime. We then wen to Cinque Terre. It’s an amazing collection of cities that hang on the side of the cliffs bordering the Mediterranean Ocean. If you’re ever close, check ‘em out. Take the train from La Spezia though it’s far, far easier than driving.

After Cinque Terre, we headed towards one of Kera and my favorite places on the planet… Volpaia. It’s just so easy for us to relax there. Not to mention excellent food and wine. While there we visited quite a few of the local cities. From there we headed toward Rome to visit with some of Dee and Don’s friends (Di and ? who were wonderful). We got the grand tour around town and kept running across the filming of the next installment of the Dan Brown based movies “Angels and Demons”. Di had seen the stars throughout town.

Rome was never a place that I’d wanted to visit as I’d built it up in my mind to be overrun with tourists and just not worth the bother. Honestly, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Rome is a beautiful, vibrant city with a lot of cool areas away from the zillions of (American tourists while we were there) visitors. There’s lots of art, cool shops, things to see, etc. everywhere you go. The restaurants aren’t crazy expensiveand outside the really hot temperatures while we were there everything was great! We’ll definitely go back again.

Next: Too much work

I was crazy busy which, thankfully, has slowed a bit. I was working 3 or so nights a wee plus everyday as well. It’s now down to 1 or so night (if I don’t substitute) and everyday at least 1/2 day. The slowdown has given me a bit more time to ride. I did get some great news in that I should be getting a 25% raise starting Aug. 1. Woohoo!

Then: Germany getting to #2 in the European Championships

Well, that about says it. I know most Americans could give two hoots about soccer. For the most part, I often feel that way as well. However, when you live here, the fever is easy to catch during both the European Championships and the World Championships. I wasn’t too impressed with the way that Germany played but I’m not an expert either. Maybe next time.

Last: Locking myself out of the house while Kera was in England

Kera had to go to England for work for a few days. On her very first day gone I went out for a semi-long run. As I walked out of the house I put on my iPod and grabbed what I thought was the apartment key. After running around the Oktoberfest grounds and getting back to home I pulled out my key only to realize that it was the wrong key. I stood there trying to figure out what to do. It occurred to me that I’d just given Christian our house key back the night before. He and Sara live not too far away up the hill in Giesing. I couldn’t take the subway since my pass was in the apt. as was my cell phone. My only chance was to either call a locksmith or run up the hill, get my key and run back. That’s what I ended up doing.

I got back home after running another 40 minutes in addition to the 45 that I’d previously run. Needless to say I was tired that night as well as glad that I’d given Christian our key back. Phew!

Other than that, I’ve been to the Ministry concert (photo link) with Christian and finished my tattoo (just last night). We’ve also been to our friends Susanna and Matthias’ wedding which was quite nice.

Here’s the link to photos from our Italy trip and other things. More photos yet to be loaded as well.

At the end of next week I’m off to Italy for a week to do the Dolomiten cross. It’s 6 days of riding, lots of miles and lots of elevation. I’ll take lots of photos and share them with you later.

ESSC08 European SingleSpeed Championships – Massa, Italy

Which one is pissyer…..? Them or me?

So… a couple of weekends back I drove along with two others to Massa, Italy where the European SingleSpeed Championships were held.

All-in-all the photos probably tell the story better than I can. Suffice to say we drove a long way, 700 km’s each way, got in a bit of a ride plus the race, got rained on, had some really good food, met some really, really cool people and had some really good times. The race is going to be in Dresden for the ’09 version of the European SingleSpeed Championships. That’ll make it a bit closer… I think.

I’m looking forward to hanging out with the whole Los Lobos crowd again somewhere down the road as they’re some of the nicest, most welcoming people that I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

Oh… our buddy Isaac pulled off a 3rd place finish on a borrowed bike against a pair of pros. Not bad in my book. Unfortunately, for us, Isaac is heading back to New Mexico in a month. We’ll miss him but you guys out west keep an eye out for this skinny speed-demon.

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Vox… one of the coolest, most laid-back dogs ever… Poor guy got attacked by another dog.. hence the bandage.

This crazy chef-dude below makes some of the best ribs that I’ve ever tasted. Yum!

Check out where the path leads… too much Ramazzoti boys? It’d never happen in good old Deutschland.

My buddy and teammate Ed… also from Missouri.

The kind in the Grey French SS jersey is Isaac (aka The Fastest Boy on Wheels) and the guy in the metal jersey is Flo. A really nice guy from north of Munchen.

Gary never considered this marketing scheme…. Gay Fisher

The aftermath of the trip.

Looks as though they put me down as finishing 41st even though I’d call it a DNF. RESULTS HERE!

A few different places to find more info. and photos.

Orme.tv SSEC link

Orme pics

Stefano’s pics

Singlestoph Photos

Flickr ESSC08 Pool

Los Lobos Blog post on ESSC08

So…. got my squeaking problems fixed today after putting Teflon tape on the bottom bracket threads and anti-seize on the outside of the EBB. Thanks to the folks at MTBR.com for helping me fix it.

My in-laws show up on Friday and then I’m doing the Tegernsee Marathon on Sunday. The following Friday we’re heading toward Rome for a week of vacation.