Carrefour Chaos

Cat and I are pretty excited that the grocery store called Carrefour is a 3 minute walk from our apartment. The only problem is that on the weekends its PACKED! So dont expect a quick trip if you are just picking up a few things.




Also, check out this sign on the way in...

Suzhou Full Race Report

Full Race Report... Suzhou Circuit Race

A brand new local team called "brown cycling" wanted me to race in the race with them in this race for some extra horse power and help some of the riders gain some experience. The team is made up of 100% local people who all started riding a few years ago. But for only riding a few years they are super strong, too bad they have no idea how to handle themselves in a pack. They gave me a kit and i was good to go. oh... the Director Sportif for GStay gave the ok.








Arrived a day early to register and pick up our rider packet, which included a brochure that listed all the registered riders, schedule of events, course description, etc... oh.. we had a synthetic number that could have been ironed on, too bad the hotel we stayed at didnt have an iron so i had to use the sewing kit, what a pain in the ass.



The next morning the race started at 1 but for some reason we all had to be ready at 7 for breakfast. Id normally prefer my typical cereal but ended up at a local hole in the wall that served beef noodles. Some carbs, protein, sodium, cant be all that bad...






Showed up to the race and noticed all the banners, balloons, Pit area, it looked like the Nature Valley Grand Prix. I was getting fired up.





Start time 1 PM, and of course i was out warming up and almost missed the start.. good thing we rode into the front of the start pack so I ended up with a good position at the start.




Course Description:

6km loop that is shaped in a lolly pop, with a crazy 180 degree just after the start and finish line. the couse was rolling and perfectly smooth, must have just paved it this year. This was probably the smoothest course i've ever ridden, smoother than OPUS.

Race started and two Trek riders got away off the gun, a Hong Kong team and us let them go for a while because they were not gaining any time on us.



After 1 lap i decided that it was way to dangerous to be riding in the middle of the pack so I decided to instigate the chase.






After catching the break, I counter attacked hoping someone would hop on, no one did when i looked back so i slowed down to have the pack catch back up. Right when i eased up i noticed a two person attack, i tried to accelerate but couldnt catch it. I don't have TT legs, only sprinting legs so i couldn't really do much. 4 laps to go, we figured we could catch the break again, too bad no one wanted to work so the break got further and further away. with 2 laps to go one of the breakaway got a flat.



1 lap to go.. everyone gave up on the leader, so it was pack sprint time. We spooled it up pretty fast, i was on my own, Trek and a Hong Kong Team had a train. With the Hong Kong team wining the sprint, i wasn't too far behind for 4th in the sprint and 5th overall. Not a bad result.

I was super happy with the day, I stayed upright even with the sketcy riders, and managed a podium spot. I am even happier that i still get a chance to race my bike while im here. Next race will be in 2008.. so its time to put on some base miles.




Here is a pic of the Martin (French) who i ride with in Shanghai, who won the race.

Race Report... Teaser

Grandstay on the podium again. 5th in a field of 150 riders... not to bad

Interesting Problem

We are now officially moved into our new apt. I'll post some pics later but this AM i encountered an interesting problem.

Because of space, the majority of the washer and dryers are combined into one unit. Im ok with that. But this morning after loading the washer/dryer unit i see this.



All the buttons are in chinese. I jumped on the internet to find a manual, after 15 minutes i gave up. Apparently this model is a China only model not sold anywhere else. I had no idea what setting to use and what button also makes my clothes dry. So i decided to take a stab and set it somewhere and push some buttons for good luck.

The thing is running as i am writing this, hopefully my clothes come out clean and dry.

Driving

I'm starting off by saying that I love to drive. I though after two weeks i would be dying to get behind the wheel of a car. As it turns out, one month later, it still hasnt hit me. With all the taxis around i really dont need to drive here at all. Im also half wondering if all that traffic dodging while riding every day has calmed down the urge.

Finally moving from the hotel

I just heard back for my relocation company that we will finally be able to move into our new apartment on Thursday. Next thing now, is to figure out how squeeze two bikes, and all of our stuff in a taxi.

Here are some google earth shots (the little house symbol is our new apt.)

31°14'22.64"N
121°34'35.02"E
Altitude: 3ft above sea level

100km view



20 km View



1 km view



Its a great location with Groceries, Food, Gym, you name it right across the street.

My office

Here is a picture of my office. It is definately bland. I have a plant in it that gets watered by some guy once a week.




Here is a shot of what i see when i look out my window. Its an industrial complex, so all the buildings look exactly the same.



Also, the office had a huge leather office chair that reclined. I was great if i wanted to take a nap, but not so good for daily work.

Food Picture of the Day

Shanghai Hairy Crab, apparently a local favorite. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I knew how to open the thing, had bigger legs, and didn't eat the orange gu inside the main body.

Group Ride

I've now done a few group rides and have realized that every time its a hammerfest. we always go the same route, Huge wide road, no lights, and dead straight. Probably the best road to do intervals on. Apparently we were cruising at 55 - 60kph today (34-37mph) for 15minutes. It reminded me of the MN training rides trying to hang on to Mean Dawg's wheel on a false flat with a 20mph cross wind. And of course the main instigator of this had only 1 hr of sleep and been drinking vodka all night.

1st China Race Report

Havent posted in a while.. my bad....

Im starting off the post with "Grandstay on the Podium"




Race update.

Depart from hotel at 7:30am. Eric (Guy who i met a few times on group rides) will be driving. Race starts at 10. a 45 minute car ride later we arrive at a high technology park or what we call commercial park not too dissimilar to opus, only a lot bigger. Driving there the only thing thats going to my head is that here i am in china and I manage to find the bike racing scene and im traveling to a race just like i was in MN. The scene seems pretty good with lots of people, bikes, registration, food... everything you would find at a local MN race except for the fact that its in China.





The race is 8 laps on a 5.5 km circuit with a sprint prime in the middle. The roads are wide open so there are no issues with any corners.

After a 15 minute warmup i head to the start and wait.



Gun goes off three guys take off for a break.... im thinking here we go again.



Once we catch the three guys.. it was time for a sprint lap... my specialty. I guess there was nothing special in the lead up to the sprint.. the speed didnt seem like it was all that fast i just waited until a few hundred meters to go and then turned on the gas.. I won it fairly easily, I dont think the second place person was expecting me to start so early. Too bad Cat was on the back side of the course taking pictures of kids in the trees.



After the sprint.. i was hurting for some reason.. probably because im Fat and out of shape or the pollution is getting to me. So i decided to take it easy until the finish. Of course the moment i decided to roll into the back of the pack, two guys attacked and got away. Since i really didnt have a team there i decided to play it safe and not try to instigate a chase.




Here comes the Rookie part.... because there was no bell, for some reason i thought we had one lap to go but it apparently was the end. ROOKIE!!!! I ended up 10 or so, not bad for someone who was just rolling it in thinking there was one more to go. At least i won the intermediate sprint and got to go on the podium.

oh.. they have podium girls here!!!!! I was quite pleased.. Check out the pic of Cat kissing some guy on the cheek, she got volunteered to be a podium girl for the B race.



Group shot of a local Chinese team




NEXT RACE... November 18th

Food Picture of the Day

Spicy Flavored Oysters.
Rate 1- 10: 9

Race Next Weekend

Now I need to find a way to get my Reynolds here.

Shanghai Group Ride

I found this local club called Flying Hairy Legs which is basically made up of a whole bunch of expats like myself thru a guy named Martin I met on Thursday morning.
Meeting time: 7:00 am at the German Center (10 min ride from where i am staying and living)





Ride Distance: approx 100k. I need to start thinking in km because I have no idea how far that is.

# of people: id say there were a good 25 people at the start




about 40 minutes into the ride we were riding on what felt like a Highway because it had 4 lanes and metal guard rails on the side. Then the Semi pulled up next to us going just a little faster than we are and the next thing I know there were 6 of us sucking this guys draft going id say 45 mph (I have no speedo but I was spinning out in my 53/12 ). We did this for id say 3 to 4 miles until we turned off to head toward the Pudong International Airport. Not soon after the airport the road turned narrow with little traffic.




Martin is on the local Trek Development team (riding a Trek in Marco Polo colors) turns to me and says "lets go" he takes off.. I jump on.. I take two pulls and then it's time for me to pop (HR 190). little did I know there was the sprint maker 1 mile up.

Anyhow, after that we stopped at a local market where a bunch of locals were looking at us like we were aliens.




On the way back it was much slower and I had a chance to talk to everyone. People from Singapore, UK, Scotland, Austrailia, US, I think I'm missing a bunch.

One of the guys took a picture of me on the nice FLAT road on the way back. Definitely different scenery around here..




Last note.

CRIT RACE NEXT WEEKEND!!! Grandstay's going to "rock the free world" in Shanghai.

Traffic Rules in China

Green light= Go
Yellow light = Go Faster
Red light = Stop (see below for more details)

So far everything seems ok... Then you get the

Red (right turn) = Go ( The traffic will slow down for you)
Red (left turn) = Go (when the car in front of you goes or you can squeeze in between cars they will slow down)
Red (no cars) = Go

So as far as I can tell Red equals Go but its up to your judgment on whether its safe or not.
Oh... one more rule. Yellow line = Optional (oncoming traffic will slow down)

But there is a good side... On todays ride no one honked at me to get off the road.. Everyone respected that I was on the road and gave me plenty of room.

Bike lane traffic in the AM... not bad huh.

Chinese class begins

Well it turns out that a Mandarin Chinese language school is located in the same building as where I am going to live. I signed myself right up to start taking classes this Thursday. Hopefully I can learn enough in the first few classes to communicate with the taxi drivers enough where I no longer have to pull out the Map. That in itself is a interesting because I've come to realize that none of the taxi drivers here have ever seen a map. I'll pull out the map and they'll start looking at it upside down, sideways, you name it even though its got Chinese written right next to the English words. oh.. we've also learned not to take the Red or Blue taxis, they tend to not know where they are going.

And try to avoid the motorcycle taxis, not sure how safe they are

Maiden Voyage

Well... 6am i was on the bike. It felt great. Not 2 minutes into the ride I meet up with the GM for Specialized Asia to do a few hot laps around century park. We rode for an hour with two laps (i was ready to puke) 2 months off the bike is rough... just happy to be back on.


Next race November 18th... time to start the intervals.

The Bike has Arrived

My long awaited bike has arrived!!!! could'nt wait to unpack.


I can't wait to get out tomorrow, but have no idea where to go. but that doesnt matter at this point. AM weather 65 and sunny!!!

Living in a Hotel

Well its now almost 3 weeks living in a hotel... granted its a nice hotel but i am really looking forward to moving into my new apartment once my China Work Permit clears. Hopefully within the next two weeks.



There is however a nice plaza within two minute walking that has a Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Macdonald's, Starbucks, among other international cuisines, and also lots of shopping. So Cat and I have been visiting there almost every day.



Today we decided to try an Italian restaurant, I was throughly impressed. Should have taken a picture of the meal, but Cat took a picture of the pigs feet we had the other night...



Oh.... my bike finally arrives tomorrow... Im dying to go for a ride... good think the sun still comes up at 5:45am here and its in the 60's so ill be riding in the AM... will post what the streets looks like once im out.