Andreas' excellent adventure

All I want for Christmas is to hang out with these guys 

Andreas Kloden is on vacation in Dubai, well actually he is at training camp for 8 days, but from where I sit it looks like vacation. In fact it looks like an excellent adventure. The best part of following someone on twitter is when they travel. (I could really care less what they eat, or how far they swim). But following someone's journey to another land is like escaping from my small neighborhood in Denver and being there with them. This week Andreas Kloden (of Team Radio Shack) is on vacation with his good friend Jan Ullrich. I wish I was on vacation with Jan Ullrich. 

Here is a snapshot of their recent adventures:

First you meet your friends at the airport (and don't forget your phone)

You bring your lightest bike, because, you know, you are riding with your friends

It doesn't have to be team issued, only light weight

But you still have to wear your team kit

You get on your bike and start riding - somewhere

And then after the ride, you go shoe shopping with the boys

And then you convince someone else to dress like you (but ride a heavier bike) and go out and ride again the next day

Now that you have bonded, you go home to watch camel races live online

And get all wild and crazy with the locals

Now this is the day when I arrive on vacation with Klödi and Jan

I say why ride when you can just keep going out on a boat?

Okay now we're talking motivation to get out and ride a bike

I'm liking this vacation so far

Just hanging out in Dubai,

with Andreas Kloden and Jan Ullrich

You can look back at Andreas Kloden's tweets from October 2010 when he was in the Maldives - oh the memories, that was a good one too. 

Of course I did not take any of these pictures, Andreas Kloden did, but I wish I had. I took liberty on the narration (as you probably already guessed).

Meanwhile the new Team Geox-TMC is in Cantabria's Hoznayo for four days of training camp at the Villa Pasiega hotel. And the Garmin-Cervelo Team are at training camp in the Cayman Islands - rough life. But for this vacation I chose Jan Ullrich over Jonathan Vaughters.  Garmin-Cervelo: Days three and four at Cayman training camp

Post post article on 12/09/10: Klöden on Ullrich, the German media and staying motivated

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I was there that day on Luz Ardiden

On a mountain in the Pyrenees

In 2003 I visited France for 3 weeks and followed the Tour de France through the Alpes and Pyrenees. On a warm morning in July I rode from Lourdes up the east side of the Col du Tourmalet, descended the west side and continued the climb up to Luz Ardiden for the finish of Stage 15.

As is typical with many Tour de France mountain top finishes, the road was packed with fans that day and the last three or four kilometers to the top was closed to cyclists. We dismounted and carried our bikes along the edge of the road for a few kilometers, then found a spot on the hillside to rest our bikes and our bodies. We waited. It was a long cold foggy wait that day on Luz Ardiden. But it was a wait well worth our time.

We could see a large screen TV near the finish line and hear the French Tour commentator from where we stood on the hill. The fog periodically blanketed and revealed the screen above us as we stood surrounded in the excitement of the fans anticipating a pack of riders approaching from the switchbacks below. At the very moment the large screen again became shrouded by a cloud, the commentator gasped, and then gasped again, quickly sputtered some words in French, and then in full voice burst forth, "Lance ArmstroNG!, Lance ArmstroNG!, Lance ArmstroNG!".

What was happening? Had he fallen? The buzz in the crowd began to spread that Armstrong had fallen just down the road. We waited, the screen remained clouded over. Suddenly with a crazed angry pedal stroke and a look I will never forget, Armstrong emerged in front of us, the lone rider. Distanced from the other riders, he flew past us headed to the summit 500 meters away. Followed quickly by Ullrich, Mayo, and Zubeldia. I can still remember the unexpected look of pursuit on their faces.

It was later that night that we learned what had happened that day on Luz Ardiden; when a mussette bag had snagged Armstrong's handlebars and brought him to the ground, only to rise again in a panicked fury. I was there that day on Luz Ardiden and will never forget the competitive look of an athlete turned inside out with the raw realization of "I cannot loose".

Lance Armstrong on Luz Ardiden 2003 Tour de France 500 meters from the Finish. Photo by: PedalDancer.com

Did Ullrich wait that day, or did he not? Jan Ullrich, Iban Mayo, and Haimar Zubeldia on Luz Ardiden TDF 2003. Photo by: PedalDancer.com

A moment of surprise (this was the scene down the road)

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