i think my internal clock is about back to normal. falling asleep at 6pm and waking up at 3am isn't fun. the Bicycle Paper latest issue is out now. there is an article about NAHMBS, and interviews with some of the builders in the northwest. including donkelope bikes. so that's cool. sara did a good job. check www.bicyclepaper.com for the web version. in other publication news, urban velo has issue 7 in the print shop. donkelope bikes has an ad in this very nice mag. Kaveh did a sweet job on the ad. so get your issue soon. the pic is from the back side(downhill) of the Kemmelberg climb in the Ghent-Wevelgem. race organisers didn't use it because it is too dangerous. by yourself it's not, but with 200 racers going all out. gnarly. the other pic is from the Tour of Flanders on the Molenberg. George was looking strong, but didn't get it done. Mike, part of our tour group, is from Denver. he took the photo. awesome! the last pic is on the Carrefour de l´Arbre, from Paris-Roubaix. it was the last "hard" section of pavé. the scene there was incredible. especially when Boonen came through in front. people went ape shit. check killer flag in background!
late, g

What a trip! Belgium is awesome. I highly reccomend going there. Especially if you're into cycling. We probably would've stayed longer, but we missed Raz too much. The riding in the Flanders region is so good. We had some local ex-pros to show us around. Eric Van Lancker and Eric de Clercq(in photo). They both know the area very well, and took us on some amazing rides. Thank you! The Ronde de Vanvlaarden is one the most amazing races ever. I've always loved the spring classics, but after riding 140km of that course, in true Flanders weather(upper 30's to low 40's w/rain and wind), it's unbelieveable how fast the pros go. Check the photo of Jill on the Muur! We rode a lot of the country side and in and around Ghent. Which is a beautiful city. So old, so many people on bikes, so many people dressed nicely. Americans are pretty damn lazy when it comes to that(I'm guilty). We also watched, and rode, parts of Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix(photo on the cobbles). We rode 6 or 7 sections of pavé, including the Tranchée du Arenberg. That section is completely ridiculous. Many of the sections we rode were the pavé you would think. Somewhat uniform, flat, but hard to ride. But the Arenberg is made of huge holes and sharp jagged stones. And it's a long section(2.4km). After the pavé, we rode the finish in the vélodrome(me in photo). Watching the races was crazy as hell. The Belgians are die hards. So every good/cool section of a race was crowded with people freaking out. Check the photo of the donkelope flag flying. I can't wait to get the dvds of all the races. There were a lot of Australians in our group. So one day, we went to Ieper(photo of church) and the surrounding area to ride and visit some war cemetaries. Belgian soil is very bloody. A lot of battles were fought there in both world wars. We also visited the Tour of Flanders museum. Tons of cool photos and pieces. You could stay there a whole day checking everything out. Or at least I could. I had one hell of a good time, and would do it every year if I could swing it. Bikestyle Tours did an amazing job. Our guides, the Eric's, were awesome. And the group was tons of fun to ride and hang with. It was freakin' sweet!! G

just a quick update. belgium is rad. everyone rides bikes. even the women dressed up in skirts and heels!! the racing has been good. i wish i could ride cobbled climbs all of the time. of course the beer is delicious. the u.s. dollar sucks. and it is hard to type on keyboards here. more news with pics next week. later, G

it's been awhile since the last post. but it's gonna be awhile again. donkelope bikes is headed over the puddle to Belgium, for some of the spring classics! we'll get to ride, and of course watch the pros, at the Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, and Paris-Roubaix. it's going to be awesome! so that's why there won't be any posts for a couple of weeks. unless i can tear myself away from the fine ales, or stop suffering from a chocolate hangover, i'll do some updating over there. but then a long winded post. this is something i've wanted to do for some time. and now it's happening! freakin' sweet! later, G