Amstel Gold (and hopefully, more kibbeling)

On that last trip in the fall, my Navy classmate Chris regaled me with stories of life in the cycling capital of the world….the Spring Classics are in his backyard, the most prestigious one-day races on the planet. 

Ghent-Welvegem, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris Roubaix…the latter is 150 miles, with 30 of them cobblestones; choking dust on dry days and ice skating on wet ones. 

And Amstel Gold….Starts and ends in Maastricht. Something like 30 climbs, a bunch of loops, and plenty of drunk Dane spectators to make things spicy. 

I told Chris last fall that I would return to watch some of these goodies in person. And here I am once again!

Lovely riverside city, home of the first treaties to create the European Union. 

Race morning was more than a little nuts. 

Each team of 10 riders will have several support cars, each with a half dozen or more spares. And a whole lot of extra wheels inside….Each bike is probably $15,000 or so!!

Team introductions…

No more ‘hopefully!’ And I don’t care if the time of day is more suited to pastries…for NBC, it’s lightly fried cod cheeks at 10am!!!

For years, I drove an official’s car in Bend’s Cascade Cycling Classic. So much fun to see the race from the inside!

The cargo on this one car could pay off my house!

And they’re off!!

Pro teams (at least the well-financed ones) have their own RV…

Chris and I got into an animated discussion about last week’s epic Paris-Roubaix race…250km, with 20% over cobblestones!! The hometown winner, Wout van Aert, has a habit of showing off the best hair in the business….

Chris called him ‘Heat Miser.’

I opted for Buster Poindexter. 

I think we’re both right. 

You find the strangest things in the Netherlands, like this hat. Meanwhile, an Oregon kid just broke the NCAA record for the 1500m on his own track with a 3:31, that’s just ridiculous. 

The breakaway came thru as the rain started to fall, with the pack several minutes in arrears. 

We watched the rest of the race from Chris and Mary Martha’s lovely home in Eijsden, just a few miles south.

Belgium, a stone’s throw away. 

Chris’s daughter did some damage in Corvallis. 

I did some damage at the restaurant….scampi salad?!? Yes please. 

Chris’s wife Mary Martha said “you’re the reason we moved here!” Since I didn’t know them until 3 years after they relocated, I took that to mean they enjoy having visitors!

Lovely town, great experience, excellent friends!

Austria

Had too much fun last fall in Europe, and no need to wait. Time to (re) execute!

The train from the Munich airport to downtown, and on to Salzburg….

The apartment had a nice courtyard view of NKG (Naked Kitchen Guy)

A nice walkabout past this lovely Bialetti display…

The next table had the good old ‘pasta in the parmesan wheel’ thing going

Mine was prosciutto and goodies….didn’t figure Austria for excellent Italian, but it’s a border country..

The Fortress….will be up there in a few days to check out the torture chamber

I just love this sign in Old Town!!

Wolfie graces a hellacious hiking path up the nearby butte…

Nockerl?!? Four pounds of sugar and light as a feather (until afterwards)

An excellent salmon flatbread with cremé fraiche and a honey mustard drizzle…

Side trip to Munich. Dachau was on the list, but road construction and a transit strike indicated it was not to be. Next up; the 1972 Olympic venue, site of a horrific terrorist act. 

The address in the Olympic Village where it happened…

Can’t imagine being there in real time. 

RIP to 11 athletes and coaches. 

The main venue is a short walk away, and has seen better days. However, the lack of access is due to a 4 year renovation in progress, glad to see. 

Without looking it up, I would have told you that Greece’s Spiridon Louis was the winner of the first modern Olympic Marathon in 1896 Athens. Heck, I told you I was an Olympics researcher at age 10!!!

A nice beer hall for lunch…

The brauts met with approval, along with the tremendous sauerkraut. 

My kind of place…

Good words from Mozart that my superlative music teacher taught me in high school…

Don’t know why this kid is up there. 

He’s still there, but I have other fish to fry. 

Heading upstairs. 

Lovely view from the top!

Was this really my first ever string concert?

The first violin (on the left) was a madman…and he did a little walk thru the audience while playing. A maestro, for sure. 

Into the countryside…

A nice overlook to ‘Julie’s Meadow’

The hills are alive (the green area, especially…)

The Hallein Salt Mines, 3000 years old….we walked from Austria to Germany and back, underground!

At the end of the tour, we were encouraged to sign our names….ergo NBC was here. 

(His 4x great nephew Hans broke bad, all right……Hans and Franz?!?)

One more pasta dinner….carbonara is never wrong!! The waiter said they use pancetta instead of guanciale, and I concur with this approach. However, I might have to buy myself a pasta making; the fresh noodles bring it to another level, for sure. 

After dinner chilled drink was this madness with lemon and lime.

One more hike up the butte…a good hour of cardio weightlifting. 

Wanted to see Hallstatt; an internet search called it one of those lakeside towns that deserved a visit. Halfway out on the bus, I see an equally tranquil town called St. Gilgen, so I bailed out. 

More Wolfie; his mother was born here. 

Some superb schnitzel for lunch. 

A few final shots of Salzburg. Lovely city worth a visit. 

Who’s got next?

(I’m just getting warmed up)