Besseges
Life 2 Comments »Truckin along here in France at the Etoile Besseges, now 3 days in. It’s been a bit of a shock to the system jumping into a stage race that’s been pretty darn stiff but it’s been great to get back racing and into the flow of the season. It’s been overwhelming watching everybody here (a team of mostly returning guys) step up a huge notch, race like we should be, and have fun doing it. With what the team has done behind the scenes in the past 6 months we’d be feeling like idiots to not have. At this race, now down to 6 riders after Blake went down in stage 1, fracturing his pelvis, and Kiki came down with a stomach bug today, we have 1 director, 3 soigneurs, 2 mechanics, 1 bus driver, 3 cars, one of the big trucks, a sprinter van and the big bus. It’s mind-blowing compared to some of the by the seat of the pants action we’ve pulled off in the past few years. Everything is dialed; a really nice way to have it, and a way that leaves very few excuses for not getting it down out on the roads.
My big drama here, I’ll preface this by saying how unbelievably SAD this is going to sound, has been the premature passing of my blackberry. It’s been said that they only have a 1-year life span, and I guess mine hit it. Or something else did it in. Who knows, but it’s crazy how important that little f-er is. I’ve written up a pretty entertaining journal for velonews on it, but it’s still not posted. Fingers crossed it makes it up… if not I’ll post it here. What the past few days sans-blackberry has shown me is how addicted ALL OF US are to those damn things, how annoying it can be, but also how useful and functional it is doing what we do. It has been a bit of an awakening however and I just might have to be better about some “away” time when I get a new handset in a day or two.
Been reading a lot here to kill the time, at least until the net came back online recently, and have a few more book recommendations. Not that anybody’s asking for ‘em, but, if you’re looking for something to dig into I’d toss a few stars to Michael Pollan’s new book, In Defense of Food. A follow up, digging a bit more into the science side of “nutritionalism” and exploring the social ideas that he entertained in the Omnivore’s Dilema. While not of the same entertainment value of the latter, for anybody interested in a healthy lifestyle, and for those who should be, it’s a must read. If you haven’t read the Omnivore’s Dilema you should. Next up would be Gaviotas. Walker told me that this is a must read and was spot on. Not for everybody, but anybody with even a slight inclination towards environmentalism, or in reading an inspirational tale of a community doing amazing things in an incredible setting, should give it a look-see.
Off to bed. 2 stages to go before heading down to Girona and getting the apartment dialed in for the season ahead. After the past month of hotel food it’ll be great to enjoy a few home cooked meals.
