scott.projectsomewhere

As I’ve already said, I’ve just returned from a busy week in
Amsterdam visiting Tina and generally playing tourist.

It was very amusing to have to get back on a bike so soon after my
downhill adventures around Garda. My hands still took a few days to
recover. Anyway, for anyone who hasn’t been to Amsterdam - it is
bike central. There are more lanes for bikes than cars, and
basically everyone uses them to get everywhere. That probably has
something to do with the lack of fat people around the place… but
who knows.

Tina and I took a cruise down the canals on the first day to see
all the major sites. Plenty of kodak moments there.

Of course we had to visit the red-light district… even an
eye-opening experience for someone as open-minded as I consider
myself to be. Good fun all the same. I had more than enough offers
to buy anything from pot, through coke to heroin…
interesting.

Not that the red-light district detracts from the city. It is truly
an amazing place, which has somehow managed to keep its character
and individuality without selling out too much to the kitsch
commercialisation of almost every other major city on the
planet.

And I managed to find a mac store and a computer book shop… bonus
points there.

Now its back to the sailing…

I’ve just returned from close to a week of sightseeing in
Amsterdam…

There are plenty of photos and plenty of stories to tell, though I
will blog it all when the creative vibes start flowing later.

I didn’t like Ryanair when I
flew from Stockholm to Milan, now I really hate them. Their catch
phrase should be changed from “The on-time airline” to “The
inflexible airline”.

Dunstan & Nick had a flight at 10.25 from Brescia/Montichiari,
but when we arrived at 9.50, they’d closed the check-in, and
wouldn’t allow them in. I guess its their company policy to close
check-in 40min before departure, but when the plane is running
30min late - and hasn’t even arrived yet - its a bit rude.

So feeling guilty for missing their flight - since we did give them
a lift down, I offered to pay the cost of getting on the next plane
in the morning… the least I could do.

I hope those cheap-ass bastards go bankrupt… and a
lot of these people seem to agree.

Tired is one way to explain how I felt (and still feel) after
yesterday… with more than 8 hours of mountain biking through the
hills around Lake Garda.

I naively accepted the invitation to go riding with Michael &
Nick who were in town again after a regatta at Gargnano. The plan
was to rent bikes and catch a lift to the top of the mountains on
the western side of the lake, then ride downhill to Limone, then
catch a ferry across the lake to Malcesine, then back up the hill
via cable-car, then back down to Nago & Torbole.

Unfortunately for me - my riding skills leave a lot to be
desired… After a short uphill on a rough track at 2000m of
altitude I realised I was incredibly out of form… and that was
only the beginning.

We then rode the bikes downhill - winding down rocky eroded paths
on the cliffside for a good 1000m (vertically). My steering was so
bad that I found everything I focussed on I would run into… the
bad part being that more often than not I would be focussing on the
biggest rocks in the path.

By Limone I was totally screwed… with the adrenaline pumping for
a few hours, and every part of my body incredibly sore.

That was only the beginning… the Malcesine ride was harder and
longer… at some times so steep and rocky we had to walk downhill
beside the bikes with the breaks full on to try and keep in
control. Amazing.

Anyway after a stack of wrong turns, far too much uphill work and a
shortage of water… I was very glad to be back on the road to
Torbole.

By the end we were all so so so sore… unbelievable. Michael’s
comment was “I feel as though I’ve been raped”.

It was just amazing to do… but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to
get back on a bike just yet. My hands are still twitching a day
later from the nerves!

After a few days of r & r in sunny Riva, we packed again for
the next trip - this time to Lago di Iseo, only an hour or so
away.

With Sophie and Ashley in tow, Peter, Dave and I headed off early
on Friday for the days training with the Italian squad. Following
another aborted attempt at navigation, we finally made it to Iseo
only an hour or so behind schedule.

The Italians were incredibly generous - as we’ve found with almost
all the Europeans we’ve met. The FIV, through the Italian 29er Association had provided us with all
meals and accommodation through the entire weekend -
incredible.

Another nice addition was the temperature. With warm water and hot
air - by European standards anyway - it was time to pull out the
wettie shorts for the first time. I can’t describe how nice it
feels to sail about without hulking loads of neoprene and plastic
to move around in…

So the regatta went well. Racing against somewhere near 15 Italian
29ers. One of the boats got away to a huge lead in the first race
with a nice shift out on the right-hand layline. Dave and I wound
them back in on the next work, rounding on their tail, then
trouncing them downhill. We went on to win the next four almost
from start to finish. While it was good to win, it would have been
better for everyone if the fleet was closer together. The best part
is that all the Italians are keen to get together to train with us
as much as possible. With Luca & Marco wanting us to sail
against them in Iseo, Giovanno & Adriano wanting us to sail
with them from Campione, and Carlotta & Alessandra interested
in training on Silvaplana - not to mention Bepe (the coach) wanting
us to join in with the squad training from Brenzone in August. I
don’t think we can fit it all in!

The regatta was run through the Associazione Nautica Sebino on Lago
di Iseo. The club is housed in a building which was once the
Berretta machine gun factory… interesting. Their hospitality was
again pretty amazing. With fantastic meals for everyone and a great
prize giving at the end. We came away with some enormous silver
bowls and a bronze replica of the symbol of Brescia - that weighs a
ton. It will cost a packet to get that back home…

Anyway, I have no idea how they allocated the winner of the 41st
Trofeo del Sebino. The A Class catamarans were racing, with Aussies
Scott Anderson and Glenn Ashby both there (though Ashby wasn’t
sailing). Perhaps since they A’s were too wimpy to go out on Sunday
when the wind was slightly gusty… they gave the trophy to us… I
don’t know. Also on the water were the RS600s - a single handed
tupperware boat from the UK which looks like an International Moth
ripoff from 1984… wow. Those old machine guns might have come in
handy to put these guys out of their misery

The next few days should be relaxing… maybe. We are planning to
walk up the mountain again, repair a few things and do a bit of
sailing… then its off to Amsterdam.

Sophie & Ashley were wanting to be mentioned on the blog… so
I’d better say something good. Hmmm…. maybe next time.

Full Results

Dad
finished in 32nd in the
Queensland IOM Championship over the weekend. The photo shows
the lime-green “Goodvibes” leading the pack - must’ve been during
the pre-start
I didn’t think he’d be allowed to take the Peugeot away to a
sailing regatta with the boat in the back…