First stage has been cancelled

''For the first time in the history of the Transalp, a stage of the world’s hardest mountain bike stage race had to be cancelled. Due to the bad weather conditions with heavy rainfall in the start town Mittenwald and partly snowfall in higher altitudes with already 0 °C at the Karwendelhaus a safe run of the course to Reith im Alpbachtal could not be guaranteed....''

Unfortunately I didn't pack my winter equipement...damn!Fingers crossed the weather will be better tomorrow and we won't freeze to death.

Instead I had a nice piece of the world famous 'Sachertorte' in one of those cute austraian 'Kaffeehausern'.....yummy! So far it has been fun and we had lots of laughs.

Its been great to meet the australian crew(Craig, Hans & wife, Naomi and Andrew), which are participating in this race. I spent the first evening with them getting entertaint with bavarian 'Schuhplattler'.

Crossing the Alps from the 18.-25th

Yep, here we are - time has come to face the pain. HURTFEST!

A long awaited race - The Jeantex-bike-Transalp race is up this Saturday until next Saturday.

I am going to leave home tomorrow to get down to Mittenwald, near the Alps.

If you are interested, check out the daily updates: http://www.bike-transalp.de/englisch/

We are starting as Team 'Schwarzfahrer 2' in the mixed categorie, but I can tell you now that my preparation for the climbs has been cero....

I was very much consumed by preparing my portfolio and send out job-applications. The job hunt takes all my time.

But most important for this race is to enjoy the mountain view, the social character and to finish without injury.

If I find the time and nerves, I will update the blog during the race stages.

And there it is...my new bike!

First tested near Andy's hometown, which is/was once famous for coal-mining. I am exactly standing on the tip of a heap of stones, which was constructed after the mining-industrie break down, in order to 'recultivate' the area for recreational activities. It is now a nice place to enjoy a stroll....or bike-ride with a view over the area.

My new bike.....yeah baby

Giant Anthem Advance Carbon...in red/black. Should take a picture soon and post it on the blog...

Believe it or not, but it is a really nice bike that knows when it should performas a dualsuspension and when it should be a hardtail.