pfalz

wow, whistlestop tour of hamburg where i went to the rappabahn and a 30th birthday party where the theme was "who wants to be a millionaire". i didn't understand a thing, but there was impressive sound effects, a powerpoint presentation for the questions, a german equivalent to eddie (the b'day boy's best friend) and copious booze and trashy german pop.

five days cycling. i thought i'd need a map but i just followed the rhine south. if i got lost i just headed east til i hit water and then turned right and kept going. at one stage, 1.30am friday night, i was riding down a donkey track, lit by my headtorch, with cornfields on one side and cars whizzing past on the autobahn at 160km-h about 10m on the left. no map. i took a detour, which was then closed and ended up totally lost! i got acosted by two security guards that night. one looking after a chuch and the other looking after a waste water plant.
the rhine is a mix of beautiful country, winelands, castles, beautiful 2000 yr old towns, crappy industrial sites, lots of cyclists (mean age - 62...which at least made me one of the fastest most hardcore of this elite group of athletes).

now i'm in bad bergzabern, climbing in the pfalz with rudi and wolfi.

dreams and asperations: leading "gross verschneidung" clean; getting my hands on an east german army tracksuit at a suplus store - think brown gotcha/adidas with the german flag colors running up the seams on the arms and legs. awesome.