The Track Hack

Sunday, August 2, 2026

What did you do last weekend?

Just an ordinary Friday....except not at all.

Breakfast in Portland with classmate Steve and his visiting god-daughter Colleen, who tells me that her friends are going to some music event that night with an Australian DJ. I nearly spit out my coffee...

As an aside, Steve orders a pretty awesome breakfast

But I digress...the Australian DJ just happens to be the headliner at the BossaNova on Burnside tonite. And the opening act is.....my kid.

Zoe has performed about 125 jobs in 2 years while finishing up at school. She became interested in the work of Max Byrne, aka 1 TBSP, straight outta Sydney, and she's developed a rapport with him.

12 May, I'm asleep at midnite...in London. Phone rings, it's the kid, and she's hyperventilating. Once she stabilizes, she says, "I told you that Max is coming back to Portland, right? Well, THEY WANT ME ON THE TICKET!"

Of course they do. Kid has paid her dues in advance.

She has an appointment with a tattoo artist....I have an appointment with an old fashioned artist...celebrating my kid's pending launch into the stratosphere.

Game day beckons, and Zoe is an understandable nervous wreck...mostly because she'll be playing in front of the guy who really motivated her into music. And in front of 350 people, per published ticket sales......I tell my nervous kid it's gonna be 600....because I'm a helper.

At the venue during sound check, I get my pass into the venue.

That's profound...I have a wristband for an event in which MY KID IS PERFORMING.

Jeezus, I need another drink.

As Dad expected...the moment she walks in the door for sound checks, the nerves disappear. Having her BFF Devynn there is a huge help.

Max shows up...good guy. Zoe thinks we could be related.

We sure could be related...with slightly aggressive breeding, I could be this 29-year old's grandfather.

Zoe presents a painting of him that he loves.

Then she lights it up, and we're going to 11 right away.

The light show is so cool...

Her high-tech special effects are on point, too.

With 10 minutes left in her gig, I notice Max's green room door is open. I look inside, and this international DJ star is dancing...to Zoe's music.

I barely hold it together.

What an incredible weekend. She has worked her tail off for two years gaining proficiency, and when the opportunity arrived, she was ready.

Who knows where this goes now? All I know is that she's pointed in the right direction.

Well done, kid.

Monday, July 27, 2026

The Alps, the Olympics, Le Tour....and Quincy.

Part 1: Bologna and Lugano

Original trip plan: Dijon for 10 days, then Paris for the Tour de France finale.

Hmmmm…Dijon is pretty close to Lausanne Switzerland, home of the International Olympic Committee, a place I’ve been reading about since age 10 in the Bridgewater NJ county library. And the Tour de France will be near Dijon on earlier stages….perfect.

Then a friend with three decades of European living told me that a Dijon visit is two days, max.

Ok, what else is on my bucket list? A train ride thru the Alps. So….Bologna first. Since I don’t want to spend hours on a train, I’ll go from there to Lugano for a few days, then onto Lausanne.

And oh btw….Lausanne is close to Montreux and its acclaimed 3 week Jazz Festival, which happens to end on the day I roll into town.

This is becoming quite nuts. I’m a huge Quincy Jones fan and he conducted bands there for years…I have to go just to experience the vibe.

In March while visiting Zoe at school, I wake at 0200 and buy my concert ticket without knowing or caring who would be playing. Ticket obtained…..who’s on the docket?

Van Morrison and James Taylor.

Now I’m banging my head against the wall….and smiling.

3 hours after leaving the train, I'm at a place I never thought I'd be...

Carlos and Sting also spent time here...

Van is pushing 81 and still bringing it hard.

JT is equally as spry...still the cleanest male voice in the business.

James still has his all-star Sax man, Lou Marini, of Blues Brothers fame.

Blue Lou was a prominent figure in Steve Martin's King Tut skit on SNL

Great experience!!

The next morning, it's getting real....literally, 51 years reading about this place and its product.

Ok, i found what I came here for....my extensive reading as a kid introduced me to athletes beginning in 1896.....Ray and Alvin were huge figures in my imagination back then. Ray in the STANDING high jump, that used to be a thing. And Alvin cleaned up in 1900 with four golds. Five decades ago, seeing their names...and now seeing them again. The rest of the names, similar...Paavo Nurmi convinced me to be a runner.......Chills and a smile.

Soon to be Doctor Roger Bannister at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, finishing just out of the money. He redeemed himself two years later with the first sub-4 minute mile in history.

Current world track and field CEO Sebastian Coe, the only man with two Olympic gold medals in the 1500 meters.

Yeah, no....the Olympic Creed is 'Stronger, Higher, Faster.' Chess doesn't make the cut.

The Swiss do cheeseburgers well.

There's no limit to the number of times I say, "Things are going to another level now." Because this whole trip is like that.

I give you....Le Tour!!

Months ago, I realized that a Tour stage would skirt Lake Geneva during my stay. Trouble is, the route isn't all that convenient, and I don't have a car. But I do have a Eurail pass, and there's a train station near the mountain finish. I put my thinking cap on....walk 3 miles from the train station to the beginning of the final climb, then scoot asap to avoid the traffic jam on the way off the mountain.

An hour before the riders, the Tour Caravan comes thru, with sponsors throwing swag to the spectators.

Just hilarious. I walked away with neck pillow (airplane travel) and a couple of tire tread gauges.

At my post....

The finish is a Hors Categorie climb HC) ....beyond category, the toughest climbs in the Tour.

Our fearless leader...he was swallowed up by the field shortly after.

My location had an escape route to the west down a gravel road, so I didn't have to fight thru hoards of specators taking the normal route.

Crowded train, but I found a seat....meanwhile, there's always one bozo taking up more room than he should.

Monday was an open day, so I'm exploring. A quick sushi grab at the Co-op.

Bern is 90 minutes away, pretty city.

This waffle wasn't a bucket list item, but it should have been.

Not exactly sure what this sign is saying.

Pierre was the founder of the modern Olympics, and he's buried in Lausanne. Another guy I first came across five decades ago.

International Olympic Headquarters.

Back up to my crib. "Up" is accurate, it's on the side of the mountain above Montreux. Plenty of cardio on each outing.

The next highlight: A Tour stage in Evian les Bains, a short ferry ride across Lake Geneva. This is the individual time trial.

About 15 miles, with a nasty climb for the first six.

Here comes the caravan again!!

If swag collection is your goal, the time trial course is the way to go. Sponsors have a limited amount of swag, and the TTs are much shorter than regular road stages.