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My move to Germany

valve bouncer

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
Yeah Partsy told me it was illegal in his area too near Kaiserslautern. Had one officious hiker give us the rules of the kitchen one day. Just nod, smile and continue. In my experience them telling you that you're doing something wrong is what satisfies them, they don't particularly care whether you stop doing it or not.
 
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?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
I've heard it through several guys that I ride with and at the bike shop. Trails must be at least 2 meters wide to ride a bike on.

You'll soon realize that Germans have a ton of silly laws governing everything. I sometimes think that if there wasn't a law describing exactly how to tie their shoes, they might just look down and stare dumbfoundedly at their laces not knowing what to do with them. They're pretty lax about women baring their breasts, speed limits, and where you can drink though, so... it's not all bad.
 
JohnE

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,570
2,223
Front Range, dude...
I rode that a few times when I was up that way. I rode it solo, so I dont know if there were parts I missed, but it was alright...not worth the drive from our hood, imho. I have been told to go check out the Schonbuch area...
 
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Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
I've been out to Schönbuch once. What I saw was nothing special, but at the same time worth riding. Again, the area is mostly forest roads with short sections of single track cut between them. There are a few fun downhill sections.

Bad Wildbad is about an hour away and from the videos and ride reports that I've seen should be great. It's more downhill oriented, but my friends that went ride all-mountain bikes and had a blast.
 
valve bouncer

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
????? said:
Bad Wildbad is about an hour away and from the videos and ride reports that I've seen should be great. It's more downhill oriented, but my friends that went ride all-mountain bikes and had a blast.
Click to expand...
Bad Wildbad should be a right of passage for any mtbiker in Germany.
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
valve bouncer said:
Bad Wildbad should be a right of passage for any mtbiker in Germany.
Click to expand...
It's on my list. It's been a great Monday; found out we can lease a Fachwerkhaus built in the 1400's, and my small initial shipment containing my bikes has arrived and is awaiting delivery.

We visited downtown Stuttgart this afternoon and took in some sights around Schlossplatz:

Neues Schloss as it looks today:


As it looked in 1945


A stern resident of Schillerplatz




 
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?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
If you get your bikes unpacked and want to go riding next weekend, I usually meet at Bikes n Boards on Tubingerstr. around 3-3:30 for a Saturday ride with the guys from the bike shop.
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
JohnE said:
Some good riding in the Solitude area.

You know, it didn't rain as much before you got here...
Click to expand...
There's only been 178% more rain this year vs last year. :rolleyes:

Coming from ABQ where we've been averaging 4.5" of rain the last couple years, it's hard to get used to. :(

By the way, we did enjoy a beer & Kuchen at Katzenbacher Hof before heading over to the Schloss.

 
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N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
Heading down to Kirchberg, Austria this weekend. Looking forward to meeting cool peeps, seeing awesome scenery & riding epic sh!t:

 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
Me and another local mtb dude volunteered man the feed/tech stations for a couple US Pro racers doing the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships there on Saturday and we will ride after and on Sun.

Should be a great trip.
 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
What an honor to support the U.S. National Team!

Responding to a FB request for assistance, a local mtb buddy, Martin, and I traveled down to Austria Friday after work to provide team support to Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick. We met them in their RV at the race venue in Kirchberg, Austria at 6:15AM in the morning for a briefing on our role and support requirements. They had coffee and breakfast waiting for us and Mary also made us a small lunch to pack along.

0700 Martin and I divide and conqueror to support as many Feed Zones (FZ) possible; 7 for the men and 6 for the women, most are shared zones but spread out over 94km of race course. We really could have used one more person because I was spread kind of thin supporting 4 FZs and Martin supported 2 FZ spread out much farther away (he had his car to use to get places). One thing was painfully obvious, other national teams had dedicated professional support at each FZ full of equipment, this included national representatives and corporate sponsors (Topeak/Specialized/etc).



Martin was at FZ 1 - which was approximately 30km into the race, 18km was valley floor gravel trails and then they started climbing. He filed this report: 1 km away and 500m below me the men’s lead group of 9 appear and they transition to a ski slope climb, not even 200m into this wet cold grass brutal climb the lead field detonates and splinters. An Austrian wins the first massive climb but filters backwards from there on out, still a top 10 day for him. Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR) destroys the competition on the first climb by sacrificing two other Norwegian team members to lead her off the front on the first big climb, national team support. Our U.S. Champions come through farther back with a full head of steam and looking strong.

Some perspective - Climb 1


I coverd part of FZ 2, getting Mike a bottle as he hammered thru (an young Austrian kid supported Mary as she came thru a bit later) and moved to the top of the muntain to support FZ 3, 4a, and 6/7. It took me 5 min to pack up the tech kit & spare wheels, 10 min to hit to the ski lift, and 20 min to ride up the mountain. By the time I got to the top, the lead men had already passed thru FZ 3. Luckily I got in place and set up just as Mike passed thru and picked up a new bottle. I hoofed it over to FZ 4a (this was the additional loop the men had to do that the women didn't), set up and waited. I had to cover this FZ and then get back over to FZ 3 to give Mary her bottle as she crested the peak. I had a bottle and fresh glasses (pink lenses) ready for him. As he came thru the FZ he tossed his glasses and bottle and I handed him fresh ones. I quickly packed up and headed over to FZ 3, but unfortunately, Mary topped out about the same time and I missed her (I didn't know it at the time -BUT- she managed to snag neutral support hydration and food later on). But since I didn't know she'd gone thru, I waited quite a while, even asked the UCI official who was tracking riders if #44 woman and come thru, but she said no. So I waited and waited. I saw a young female German Team rider totally crack. She stopped her bike at the top of climb #2, got off and just started crying. Really crying. One of her male support crew came over and tried to console her, but nothing was working. I guess there is crying in Pro Mountain Biking after all.

FZ 4a




This was the top of the 2d climb up from the valley floor far-far below


Last FZ before the only bit of real single track - a muddy/sketchy decent to the valley:


Martin filed this report from FZ 5 & then at the finish line: Mean while at FZ 5 right before the final climb I’m all set up with everything I have and our teams FZ support kit, I pale in comparison to the $5000.00 worth of new spare parts and tools at the Specialized rider support spot right next to me…really 3 all brand new carbon wheel sets for one FZ…and this was replicated at all the other FZs. Lead men roll through…they are down to three and the race is finished on this climb because there is no way to pass on the final 7km if someone doesn’t crash out. Lead women rolls through with her pursuer less than a minute behind her and closing, leader (Gunn-Rita) wins by over 3 minutes. Our U.S. team members come through still looking good but off the pace of the leaders, still amazing performances under very difficult conditions.
I make it to the finish line somewhere in the finish of the men’s top 10, watch a guy ball it up on the last corner but he runs to the finish. Gunn-Rita Dahle finishes in an impressive time and after a few waves to the crowd immediate has her young child brought to her where the tears of joy explode. I think she has her priorities right.

In the end, our US champions finished very respectable places in a VERY DIFFICULT (14,600' of climbing for him/12,500' for her) race, but off the podium. They had ZERO, ZIP, NADA official U.S. team support nor any physical presence from their sponsors, so they were disadvantaged (this was a UCI World Championship race after all). Martin and I felt pretty good supporting their massive effort and all out physical performances. Both were so humble and appreciative to what we could do. After the race, we had fun hanging with them later after they'd had time to recover; awesome tales of their experiences racing World Cup, U.S. National and Olympic and other major events. They gave us their signed (muddy number plates) and paid for our hotel.



On Sunday, we drove over to Aschau im Zillertal, Austria and rode up-up-up! into the Alps for 3.5 hrs. It was mighty awesome!




How all EPIC mtb rides should end, followed by a dip in the Kneippwasser for tired legs


Yeah, this weekend didn't suck.
 
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N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
This past Saturday, a buddy of mine from New Zealand was down in the French Alps doing a little DH race (the Megavalanche) down Alpe d'Huez. He finished with the 26th fastest time and 3d in his age class. No bad considering he broke off his seat post on the upper 3d of the mountain and rode the rest without a seat. :eek: :dead:

 
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N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
Busy month - we're leasing a house which dates from 1462 and we've finally all moved in and settled.

The only area we dont have much going on is the cellar of our house.

 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
The cold, wet gray days have washed anything faded memories of summer away… but the my neighbor says that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. So I bundle up and occasionally ride in the mornings..

This one one of my favorite vistas on my usual morning ride near my haus - it's about 5 miles from the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen (btw, the Porsche museum there is a great way to spend an afternoon).

 
N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
T'is a very very cold and blustery winter's night here in the Old World...

Weihnachtsbier


..and..

Scotch.
 
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N8 v2.0

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
A typical MTB ride around my area - a 14th century fortress & active prison (currently housing former concentration camp guards, WWII pillboxes along the River Enz, and a La Cumbre Elevated out on our front patio of our 500+ year Fachwerk Haus (I like to think of it as my own private biergarten with with a vastly superior beer menu than usual) - PROST!

Hohenasperg









WWII Pillbox Ruins along the River Enz







Most Popular Beers: American IPA | BeerAdvocate -




More WWII pill boxes (this one had a heck of an overwatch position), some old graves and evidence spring has sprung:











Schloss Solitude - built as a "hunting lodge" in the mid 1700's
 
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