From: James Sanford Subject: [cyclists] guten tag.. mein neues fahrrad hey..thought I would check in! This isn't nearly as nice as Ian's new Waterford, or even my Lemond at home, but it has a definite purpose.. http://www.divinia.com/people/jsanford/20050501/DSC_2033.jpg (picture another bag strapped on top of the Ortleib panniers) Yes..I'm in Germany right now, getting started on my supposed 5-month long trip. I was in London for a bit, then I flew to Amsterdam for a few days (including Queens Day, a completely crazy national holiday where everyone wears orange, parties in the streets, everyone puts their things for sale on the streets, and all normal functions cease) After that craziness, Sunday was over 80 degF in Amsterdam, and I decided to get out of the city..I hopped on the train to Zandvoort, which is a coastal town -- you walk out of the train station, walk across the street, and you're on the beach! Monday I took the train in to Koblenz, Germany, which is right on the Rhine (where the Moser meets it) -- very beautiful country out here. So beautiful that I went into a quiet bike shop today and walked out with what the photo shows. Later this week, and this coming weekend, are a series of races, including a 24 hour race, at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. I bought an ADFC (bicycle club) map of the area, which seems to indicate that the Nurburgring is about 60km away.. so that is tomorrow's adventure! Hopefully you'll see some more picturesque photos of that bike (or just in general) -- the hills next to the Rhine are quite nice. You can see some of the priliminary photos (admittedly, it's not much -- sorry!) at http://www.divinia.com/people/jsanford/20050501/ James