"Open Castle"

After a week of recovery, eating lots and stretching, we arrived in Offenburg today, the Thursday before the second world cup. Offenburg is a very beautiful and touristy area of Germany with miles of vineyards covering the rolling hills surrounding the area. We even got a sample bottle of local white wine with our rental suite. Offenburgy means "Open Castle", and I've heard that there is a small castle somewhere..going to have to go exploring. It's kind of a mountain biking mecca here too, rumor has it that there is 6000km of marked mountain bike trails, and there are tons of rolling roads through the various vineyards..definitely would be a neat place to do some bike touring.

I still don’t feel like I’ve fully recovered, the massage did wonders, but my legs are still a little tender. That race in Houffalize definitely took a lot out me. After a day off yesterday I was super excited to head out for a ride today, and did a lap of the course. It’s a really fun course, technical, not a lot of climbing and a couple of really steep and very sketching descents….it’s awesome. I’m slowly getting my singletrack confidence back.. it’s amazing how long it’s taking to feel comfortable in that stuff, I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that I love. I hoping to get out on the course tomorrow and Saturday to do a couple more laps and get everything dialed.

The weather is really wonderful right now. After a cold and very wet couple of days in Switzerland, the sunny humid weather of Offenburg is extremely welcome. The forecast for the weekend looks good, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays dry… I’m getting soft and really loving the hot dry weather.

Tried some German cheese last night, I was really disappointed after the "Swiss" cheese experience. Off to find some coffee...mmmmmm.