I decided to head out to Langener (lake) Waldsee about a little before noon. The sun was periodically peeking through in the morning, so I was hoping it would warm up a tad. Upon the advice of Mark, I was going to hop in a taxi for a short ride down to lake (12km).
I should have known the minute I leaned into the taxi cab’s window and the driver was having a hard time understanding me in English. He was a nice, older German gentleman so I thought we’d be able to get through the language barrier. I decide to pull out my map and point to the lake while making a swimming motion with my arms. In typical German, he responds, “Ya, Ya, I know”.
We then proceed to head out. In looking at the map, I have a general idea of the direction we should be heading and know that the lake is Southeast of the Airport and we’re directly north of the airport. In a strange sequence of events, he pulls over at a hotel as we are heading out of town. He jumps out and walks up to the doorman. They exchange conversation and then start walking to me in the taxi. Ahh, he speaks English and my driver must know him. I repeat where I’m trying to go and the listen to doorman and my driver go back and forth. After a few minutes, my driver jumps back in the cab and says, “Got it, I know”.
We’re back on the road, yeah. I begin to get a little concerned because we’ve been driving for about 25 minutes and according to the map, the lake should only be about 12k from downtown. We are now at the airport going all the way around. What the heck?
I cordially lean forward and ask if everything is ok. He tries to put me at ease but I can tell he’s getting a little jittery. We finally hit a gas station and he jumps out to speak to a young man. After about a 5 minute conversation, we’re back on the road. He again tells me, “I know where it is. No problems. Name changed from when I was kid.” I’m thinking to myself, “Please, I just want to get to the lake.” Now I’m in the middle of nowhere with a nice German taxi driver watching my meter hit cross 40 Euro.
Finally, after an hour we pull down into the road headed for the lake. Thank the Lord! Total ride charge 49 euros (about $65).
I pay 3 euros to get into the park and head down to the beach. The lake is beautiful. I didn’t take my camera because I wasn’t sure how secure my bag would be. I thought there would be more people, but I did run into a handful of swimmers.
I said hello to one of the gents as we were getting in and noticed after his reply that he had to be American. Next thing you know we’re chatting it up. Poor soul, he told me he missed the cutoff by 10 minutes at Ironman Switzerland last weekend. He’s here with his brother who is participating in Ironman Germany. I guess he passed a kidney stone early last week and had to be admitted to the hospital on Tuesday. He was out Thursday and decided to still do the race. Triathletes are NUTS, no matter where you are from!
As it’s been lately, the wind was howling pretty well and the water was rather choppy. The lake is extraordinarily clean and clear. It appears to be an old sand and rock quarry. I figure swimming into the waves would be a good simulation for the rough swimming conditions found in an IM event. I heard someone mention that there were 2,600 racers. That’s a lot of bodies in the water and on the bike course. No doubt, it will be interesting. After about 30 minutes, I decide that’s enough and pack it in.
I cordially ask the attendant if she can call me a taxi (thankfully I brought extra money). No problem. I make it home safe and sound.
That was the most expensive swim workout ever! 49+3+25=77 euros (almost $100).
In the afternoon, I headed over to pickup my race packet. It’s official. I’m in.
For dinner, I took the advice of an acquaintance that said I should check out Vapiano’s. I guess they just opened one in Ballston. It was delicioso!
By the way, the acquaintance I mentioned above is Steve Tappan. I was introduced to him through Ted. He participated last year at this event. He’s been money with his great advice and overall “what to expect” suggestions. If you’re reading this Steve, thanks again!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday, June 27 (Faris Al-Sultan in the house)
I had a difficult night sleeping. I slept off and on. My 2 beer trick didn’t work as well as expected. I nearly overslept after turning off the alarm. My plan for today was to join a guided tour of the bike course by the race director at 11 a.m.. The bike course is setup such that you complete two loops after joining the loop in downtown from the lake where the swim is. It was a little longer than I probably should have gone, but the pace was very gentle.
As I pulled up to meet the group at the starting point, I notice this fellow that looks like a spitting image of Faris Al-Sultan (for those that may not know, he won Kona in 2005 and he’s arguably one of the Top 3 fastest racers out there- He’s German, too). After a momentary pause, it hits me, “It is Faris!” How cool is this, I get to ride with Faris. I’m completely mad at myself for not bringing the camera. I had it in my hand when I was walking out of the door, but talked myself out of it at the last moment.
I’d say roughly 30-35 riders showed up. Right off the bat, I felt a little out of place. I was one of only a few that showed up without a light wind jacket. As we got started, a gentlemen rode next to me and asked if I was from Sweden. I chuckled and responded, “No, I’m just a stupid American that doesn’t look at the weather forecast before heading out the door running late. We introduced ourselves and now Mark become my riding buddy.
Mark was giving me play by play on how to ride the course, what to look out for, where you should go fast when with the wind behind you, etc. He turned out to be British, but lives in Frankfurt with another house in Bali. I never quite figured out what exactly he did for living other than he’s in the jewelry business. An interesting character.
Just to share a story of what a star Faris is over here, as we were riding through one of the villages there were two middle-aged German ladies, shopping bags in tow, standing on the curb waiting for us to go by so they could cross. Since I was about 3 riders behind Faris, I witnessed the whole event. As Faris passed, one of the ladies points him out and yells to her friend in German, most of which was said I didn’t understand, but I definitely caught the excitement in her voice when she said “Faris Al-Sultan”.
As I was having a late lunch, I also spotted Faris walking through the lobby. Sweet, I hope I can pester him into a picture one of these days. I know, I know…annoying American. It was interesting though that he was speaking English a lot on the ride today.
Below: I included a snippet of an email I sent to my cycling group back home
Quick recap:1. Faris is a total stud. I think he spoke to everyone on the ride. I wished him luck, told him to kick Stadler's butt and complemented him on his sweet helmet...aahh he wasn't wearing one, just a beanie cap. I guess we'd have to kick him out of core rides.2. Course is beautiful, very fast in parts and very scenic. Just praying for the wind to die down a bit. 3. I actually saw 3 riders with bigger calves than Damian.4. I think I saw one pothole the whole ride.5. Just about everyone speaks English. It's saving me!6. When you have to relieve yourself, you just swing off the rode and let it go. No need to hide in the bushes. I must admit it felt a little awkward with 15 of us lined right at the edge of the road peeing with cars going right by. Probably get thrown in jail back home.7. Every little kid by the side of the road in the villages wants a high-five. Very cool.
The plan for tomorrow is to catch a taxi in the morning for a short ride to Langener Waldsee (name of the lake where the swim is). I can swim in the lake with my wetsuit. According to Mark, the water is a little chilly. After that, I’ll get in a very short, easy bike and run.
As I pulled up to meet the group at the starting point, I notice this fellow that looks like a spitting image of Faris Al-Sultan (for those that may not know, he won Kona in 2005 and he’s arguably one of the Top 3 fastest racers out there- He’s German, too). After a momentary pause, it hits me, “It is Faris!” How cool is this, I get to ride with Faris. I’m completely mad at myself for not bringing the camera. I had it in my hand when I was walking out of the door, but talked myself out of it at the last moment.
I’d say roughly 30-35 riders showed up. Right off the bat, I felt a little out of place. I was one of only a few that showed up without a light wind jacket. As we got started, a gentlemen rode next to me and asked if I was from Sweden. I chuckled and responded, “No, I’m just a stupid American that doesn’t look at the weather forecast before heading out the door running late. We introduced ourselves and now Mark become my riding buddy.
Mark was giving me play by play on how to ride the course, what to look out for, where you should go fast when with the wind behind you, etc. He turned out to be British, but lives in Frankfurt with another house in Bali. I never quite figured out what exactly he did for living other than he’s in the jewelry business. An interesting character.
Just to share a story of what a star Faris is over here, as we were riding through one of the villages there were two middle-aged German ladies, shopping bags in tow, standing on the curb waiting for us to go by so they could cross. Since I was about 3 riders behind Faris, I witnessed the whole event. As Faris passed, one of the ladies points him out and yells to her friend in German, most of which was said I didn’t understand, but I definitely caught the excitement in her voice when she said “Faris Al-Sultan”.
As I was having a late lunch, I also spotted Faris walking through the lobby. Sweet, I hope I can pester him into a picture one of these days. I know, I know…annoying American. It was interesting though that he was speaking English a lot on the ride today.
Below: I included a snippet of an email I sent to my cycling group back home
Quick recap:1. Faris is a total stud. I think he spoke to everyone on the ride. I wished him luck, told him to kick Stadler's butt and complemented him on his sweet helmet...aahh he wasn't wearing one, just a beanie cap. I guess we'd have to kick him out of core rides.2. Course is beautiful, very fast in parts and very scenic. Just praying for the wind to die down a bit. 3. I actually saw 3 riders with bigger calves than Damian.4. I think I saw one pothole the whole ride.5. Just about everyone speaks English. It's saving me!6. When you have to relieve yourself, you just swing off the rode and let it go. No need to hide in the bushes. I must admit it felt a little awkward with 15 of us lined right at the edge of the road peeing with cars going right by. Probably get thrown in jail back home.7. Every little kid by the side of the road in the villages wants a high-five. Very cool.
The plan for tomorrow is to catch a taxi in the morning for a short ride to Langener Waldsee (name of the lake where the swim is). I can swim in the lake with my wetsuit. According to Mark, the water is a little chilly. After that, I’ll get in a very short, easy bike and run.
Here's some photos of the finish area. It's a little mind blowing the setup work going into this.
Tuesday, June 27 (I made it)
View from Room...I had a pretty good flight over. All flights were for the most part on time and relatively smooth. I’m very thankful I wore jeans on the flight to London. You could have hung meat in that plane. The most important item of all is that my bike, wheels and luggage all made the transit safe and sound (sign of good things to come, I hope).
The conditions in Frankfurt have been really windy. My plane was delayed about an hour due to these winds. As for the temperature, after speaking with a few of the locals at the hotel, it appears to be uncommonly mild at the moment. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this will hold. I still have trouble converting Celsius to Farenheit, but it’s roughly right around 70-75 F.
Yesterday was weird. I think my body and mind were having a little difficulty with the jet lag. I thought I’d take a nap, but after 10 minutes I realized that wasn’t going to work, so I decided to walk down to the Romerberg (old square, shopping & right next to the IM finish line).
Frankfurt really is a beautiful city. I walked along the river that meanders along the downtown area. It is pristine with a mix of walking and auto bridges sprinkled about. Once I arrived at the Romerberg square, the scent of brats cooking on the grill filled the air. I think I made it about 50 yards when I noticed a meat market that was also serving a mix of cooked meats which I couldn’t resist. I hunker down at one of the many picnic tables lining the shops and start my feast. I had her pile the sauerkraut extra high….yuuuummmyyy!
I had a nice conversation with an older German gentlemen who was sitting across from me at the picnic table. He was very curious about where I was from and what I was doing here. He reminded me a lot of Igda’s father in that he proceeded to tell me all about American history (her father loves to do this when we visit over coffee). I don’t know what it is with the European desire to inform you about how much they know about American history right after you’ve just met them. I get a kick out of it.
The conditions in Frankfurt have been really windy. My plane was delayed about an hour due to these winds. As for the temperature, after speaking with a few of the locals at the hotel, it appears to be uncommonly mild at the moment. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this will hold. I still have trouble converting Celsius to Farenheit, but it’s roughly right around 70-75 F.
Yesterday was weird. I think my body and mind were having a little difficulty with the jet lag. I thought I’d take a nap, but after 10 minutes I realized that wasn’t going to work, so I decided to walk down to the Romerberg (old square, shopping & right next to the IM finish line).
Frankfurt really is a beautiful city. I walked along the river that meanders along the downtown area. It is pristine with a mix of walking and auto bridges sprinkled about. Once I arrived at the Romerberg square, the scent of brats cooking on the grill filled the air. I think I made it about 50 yards when I noticed a meat market that was also serving a mix of cooked meats which I couldn’t resist. I hunker down at one of the many picnic tables lining the shops and start my feast. I had her pile the sauerkraut extra high….yuuuummmyyy!
I had a nice conversation with an older German gentlemen who was sitting across from me at the picnic table. He was very curious about where I was from and what I was doing here. He reminded me a lot of Igda’s father in that he proceeded to tell me all about American history (her father loves to do this when we visit over coffee). I don’t know what it is with the European desire to inform you about how much they know about American history right after you’ve just met them. I get a kick out of it.
After walking the brat off, I decided to head back to the hotel and go for 20 minute run along the river. This is the same location which is used for the run. Boy, it’s beautiful!
I polished off the evening with a trip to a restaurant I just stumbled upon called Chicago MeatPackers. Funny, I go all the way to Germany to eat at restaurant/bar playing top 40 music and trying to play themselves as a little taste of Chicago. In the spirit of hoping that it would help me sleep, I couldn’t hold out any longer. I had a couple drafts of Beck’s. Oh man, that was good.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Madelyn out for a visit
Madelyn came out on May 5 to visit Igda and I for about a week. We had a ton of fun. Fortunately Igda was able to take some time off of work to hang out with Madelyn while she was here. Lots of girlie bonding. I still can't believe my niece, who I remember waking me up at night crying while I lived with my sister back in the summer of '92, has grown up into a smart, athletic and pretty young lady. Man, time flies!
We were a little sad we couldn't make it up to see NYC. We've promised Madelyn that next year we'll plan a little better.
Here's a few pics of our day touring the Monuments at the Mall.
who's the handsome Uncle in the middle?
We were a little sad we couldn't make it up to see NYC. We've promised Madelyn that next year we'll plan a little better.
Here's a few pics of our day touring the Monuments at the Mall.
who's the handsome Uncle in the middle?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)