A RECAP OF EUROPE AND SOME STATS ALONG THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD

Howdy,

It's me again, I am looking at my notes in my log from the trip. We have been in Europe for 2 weeks so far on this race adventure. The trip started in Zurich, Switzerland, we drove right up to Offenburg, Germany the day we arrived. Spent the first 2 weeks in and around the Black Forest region for the World Cup in Offenburg. The roads and villages in that region were incredible. We were able to go on rides and I went on a few hikes in the forest. There was some logging going on and I also found some deer stands in the forest. On one hike I climbed up into a stand, it was about 20 feet high on the edge of a clear-cut. I ate lunch and enjoyed the view. The country inn we stayed at had wireless Internet, so we were able to communicate with our families back in the USA and race promoters in Austria. Just to put things into perspective, this trip and the trip to Belgium back in April, Jeff and I stayed in rather small villages. There was only one or two people in each of those villages that we had contact with, that could speak English. Each day was an adventure in itself. The situation made you realize how self sufficient you have to be in another parts of the world. You can't take things for granted!

All in all it was a pretty incredible experience to be over in Europe twice this summer. Jeff was representing the USA at all times whether he was riding his bike on a training ride in the country or racing at the different race venues. We drove about 950 kilometers on the Belgium trip, and 4000 kilometers the second trip. We were able to travel through Germany, Luxemburg, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Jeff raced at 4 races over there. Two World Cups, and two Austria Cups. He earned a 7th place and a 3rd place at the 2 Austria Cup races. Jeff earned 37 total UCI points in Europe, which goes toward his Olympic bid. It is now November, and Jeff has 130 UCI points for the year of 2007. That ranks him at 161 in the World and 8th American. In the USA National rankings, he was 13th in the series. At the USA National Championships, Jeff finished 9th. A very solid racing adventure year of 2007.

Mike