this one was a bit faster.

waking up at 4 A.M. was not as bad as i thought it would be. as the sun was starting to bring light to the sky i finished up my oatmeal and went outside into the surprsingly warm dawn, i mounted the bike for the ride through the early morning konstanz. it was not deserted like i thought. music was still loudly playing as i left my dorm, the hard-core partiers still going strong. the birds unlike partiers were just starting their day, every tree seemed to contain a bird waking up happily from slumber. as i rode briskly by the "dance palace" (which as the name suggests is a dance hall) there were people staggering out the door and along the sidewalk. soon i was smashed in the middle of the back seat of the team car whizzing through the new rain down the autobahn. two and a half hours later we all unfolded and picked up our race numbers. quickly pinned them to the jerseys and off to the start. 5 minutes after the U-19 boys went off. the announcer said "los" and with cold engines my first road race in europe had begun. with wet roads and a short tricky desecent it was pretty catious throughout the peleton. around a few corners, though a road not wide enough for 3 bikers side by side and out onto the open road. a full road totally free of cars, a road where bikers ruled. the pace had picked up now, nearly at 50 km/h flying toward a totally unknown course. an easy left and it was up a few kilometers of easy hill. a corner and a steep short incline greeted us next, a few riders on the inside slipped their tires on the painted road and caused a backup, luckily i was on the outside. the top came soon and the road leveled off. now came a long decent with the speed not going below 65 for a while. then a traffic circle came up and the peleton split like water around a rock, then quickly became one again. two more corners and the steep 400 meter starting hill was attacked by all. 12.4 km were done. 6 more times. this lap the trafic cirlce had some fun and a crash developed to the right of me. and then it was on to lap 3 then 4. the pace was starting to take its toll on some, on the starting hill some gaps opened up and at a bunch of small groups formed. i was stuck in the third on the downhill, the small road and then on the open road i had some energy, the guys up front pulling my group were tiring. i put the pedal to the metal and the power and speed the i jumped forward with surprised me. in 20 seconds i was in the second group. a corner and i was in the first group. which had now slowed as the riders up front were looking for their teammates. the peleton was big again. up the hill flowing around the round-about on the now dry roads. an uneventful 6th lap. the final lap the pace picked up and as i sat in the front 1/4 of the group down the fast hill the roar of wind and bikes was nearly defening. one more time around the round-about. and the sprinting for the finish began. being in the middle of the group i could not make any move, not that i had enough strenght left to do anything that would result in anything spectacular so i sat. and sprinted up the last hill like everyone around me. i came across in the now smaller first group in the 30s. after two hours and 18 minutes and 87 km, the guy in front of me collapsed after the line and went down, as did some others. some quick manuvering and i was safe. a quick cool down and it was off to the showers where it looked like a bunch of guys were getting into the shower with clothes on. and back into the car. 2 and a half hours later back at home. now with tired legs i am trying to motivate myself to go make some food.

5 bikes and cookies...