It was my last ride in Munich today, so I thought I’d take some pictures to remember the ride… ha, and have a little fun.

So here is a picture of me before leaving to ride. It’s kinda blurry, hehe, I had to take it myself since my professional photographer who usually follows me wherever I go and takes photos for me to document my life had the unusual day off.

I took the S5 train from Marienplatz out to Gilching-Argelsried and hopped on my bike and off I went. Here are some sites along the way:

I have many more pictures from the ride that you can view here.

Of course before I went for my ride, I got a cappuccino in the Marienplatz Station. Bought my bike ticket at the machine, and then went down and waited for my train.

Today when I was buying my cappuccino a guy yelled out “Hey, it’s Lance Armstrong!” as I walked by. I guess I’ll take that as a compliment… I looked at him and laughed and said, “no… not Lance”, and he said, “oh, She is American too”… I just said, “yes, I’m an American…” I’m pretty sure that he had a few too many beirs for that time of day, but oh well. I’ll still take it as a compliment to be called Lance. Maybe that means I look fast, and we all know over half of bike racing is about how you look- ya know, what kind of high end bike you have, what snazzy clothes you wear, and what hot sunglasses you can find (that borderline on looking absolutely rediculous, but of course they are cool because you are wearing them and no one else. primo example of this type of sunglasses– the “George Hincapie“– they look good on everyone I have seen who wears them, but I think they look absolutely rediculous on me).

The one thing I’ll miss the most about riding in Munich is definitely the coffee stop right before I leave to ride. That never gets old, and it’s especially nice when it’s cold out (which seemed to happen a lot when I was riding here!).
Now it is time to say goodbye to Munich and hello to North Carolina. I am happy to be moving back home!

You see scooters out parked everywhere-

Bikes parked in front of flower pots-

What?! FLOWERS??! Yes… flowers are finally blooming in Munich after we had three days of SNOW a couple weeks ago-

Smart Cars are parked everywhere- well, they’re always everywhere, but I think they are cute!

People are out walking around Sendlinger Tor-

I can actually open the apartment windows and not FREEZE!

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Kreuzstrasse 6. It has been a great place for me to live for a year. I hope that it will take care of Joe for another couple months once I leave to go back to the US to race for the rest of the season.

Here is a cute pink bike that I ran across today while I was out walking around. Deb loves pink, and it made me think of her.

I am always fascinated by all the bikes I see around the city of Munich. It’s amazing how many people commute by bikes. I love it!

I went with Rosi and Stefan to Tier, Germany for a circuit race. It ended up being a hilly circuit. Rosi was amazing… she attacked and kept the pace high the first couple laps, then I countered her attack and ended up being off solo. I didn’t look back.

Rosi kept the field at bay, and then she took the field sprint! So we were first and second on the day. It was a fun race… and I won my favorite bottle of wine, Reisling. Wee!

I ended up coming back to Munich after the race because I have the beginnings of a cold. Rosi and Giina raced in Dueren today and they took 2nd and 3rd! Way to go girls!!! I am proud to race with such strong girls.

Yesterday I went on a beautiful ride with Rosi and Stefan along the Weinstrasse. There is a big Wine Festival this weekend that they were setting up for.

Here are pictures Stefan took from the ride.

We are out the door for a race, so I will write more about our ride later! Ciao!

I am staying in Deidesheim for a couple days of training with my friend Rosi from Team Stuttgart. Deidesheim is known as the “German Toscana” because of the mild climate that allows for tempramental grapes to grow and palm trees to last through the winter. Therefore there are a lot of vineyards and rolling hills… just like Toscana.

Believe it or not, flowers are blooming here!!!

I have had some amazing runs here. Just 500m from Rosi’s flat I reach wide open vineyards on the WeinStrasse.

I run up through the vineyards and then reach the edge of the forest and instantly I feel like I am back in North Carolina. The trails are amazing, and along the way I ran into an outdoor camp. Rosi said that school kids will use the camp for a day trip.

Also, all over the forest floor was Weidenkaetzchen, or better known as willows.

Once I got home, Rosi and Stefan had breakfast out and coffee ready to serve for me. What wonderful hosts! I am enjoying my stay in the German Toscana.

Joe drinks too much Beir