Well, here they are. Some of them anyway. The angels of the BMX-club of Draguignan. As you can see, the sun has had a chance the dry the track a bit. It felt good to be out in the sun this Saturday morning, because it is still quite chilly when the sun is not high enough yet.

I'm still not teaching and still watching and just not doing all that much. I do feel capable of teaching, however, the boss of the track is taking it very easy with me. I'm not complaining. The kids are nice...well, most of them. They're kids, enjoying themselves on their small bikes. Some need coaching, some need training, some need a pat on their back....In general, it's just good fun!!

An alternative tourist office of Draguignan

I think the tourist office of Draguignan and Lorgues and Entrecasteaux should recognize my efforts to upload this beautiful place to the web. Last Tuesday I went for a ride that turned out to be almost 3 hours.

There are still places that I haven't seen and of course a slow ride on my roadbike was the perfect opportunity to discover. The ride itself wasn't all pleasure; it had to be done to get back in shape and to get hours and kilometers in my legs.....The weather is still a bit off, so every day of riding, in between showers, is a bonus.

In the backland, between Lorgues and Salernes is an area of what I call 'old land'. Entrecasteaux, of course, is a castle whith plenty of history and the land surrounding it is calm and gentle, with a few of these big estates that breath history and nobility. I was surprised and it made my ride such a pleasure that I forgot all about the necessity of it. If I am surprised than so will other people be.....the changes are open. The game plan is forming itself.

More riding to be done today, but today I will take my mountainbike out for a tour. The sun is out, the mud hasn't dried yet and the hunters will be sleeping-in or at work. There is a lot of wind, so I will stick to known territory to stay sheltered (brrrr....don't like the wind).

"It's Raining Again"......

I'm tough enough to hike and ride in the rain for days on end, if it is a means to an end.....that is, if it is the only thing to do to arrive at my destination.

But I am also whimp enough to stay indoors and get some exercises and alternative weighttraining done at home, when IT JUST DOESN'T STOP RAINING.

Last wednesday was my first day of student teaching/instructing at the BMX club here in Draguignan. Well, all I did was observe and ask questions and get to know the people at and of the club. It was long afternoon, because the track was wet and muddy and the kids complained it was too hard. Apart from that the sky was grey and heavy and in an area where you're used to the sun, this kind of weather presses heavy on the mind. Everybody was just a bit grumpy....

But hey.....I'm used to the grey skies and I did not pay it all that much attentions, I just watched these kids to see what sort of teaching they could use......the eye of the master, sort of speaking, to prepare myself for the months to come. The track here at Draguignan is tough; big tables, doubles and a line of whoops into the finish line. Quite attractive though and I would love to see Luca handle it and give a bit of a demonstration to these kids. I wonder what he'd say about it. Let's wait and see what the next months have in store for me. Looking forward to it.

With the beginning of a new year, it's time to pick up the pace and start progressing on some serious business. After my arrival on Saturday the 5th of January, I went for a ride on Sunday. Saturday's rain had gone, the sun was out and it was very mild. The only cumbersome thing, the wind, was strong. So I put my head down and put 90 minutes of roadcycling in, against the wind of about 70 km/h. Only the last 20 minutes I could cruise along and my ride finished with a nice 60 km/h descent into the last stretch home.

While cycling, 'cause all you can do on the road is think and ponder, I realised that I'll have to move in on my plans to offer holidays and day-trips to holiday goers in and around Draguignan. As if all has to be this way, I bumped into a guy today at my favorite store 'Bouticycle' who mentioned that someone he knows is building a guesthouse and maybe he'll be needing customers soon, and why not team-up?
I do have to start looking around for a nice Bed & Breakfast or hotel that can accommodate mountainbikers and other interested cycling fans, since the first options opted out. "Not interested".
I also have to look into the paperwork and other legal issues and I already have some leads and I will follow-up on these this week.
Tomorrow another ride, on my MTB this time.....I'm going to look for new single tracks and also put some time into some serious training this week. Looking forward to it. This year I'm looking at my first paying customers!!