November 2, 2006 – I realize it’s been a little while since I updated everyone on where I’m at in Europe, so here it is. Where I’m at is, in fact, in the Hamburg airport departure lounge to begin my trip back to Canada. In racing terms, things have been on the upswing with a couple of podium finishes and a top-ten (barely) in UCI-level competition just yesterday in Magstadt. Magstadt was the first race run under real cyclocross conditions so far this year — cold, windy, rain and hail squalls etc. This made finding traction in the field sections a little challenging, but good for honing the slippery off-camber handling skills. I managed to recover from a less than stellar start and complete lack of motivation to pull out 10th position 3:30 behind Heule, who at #5 or so on the current UCI world rank list is not a bad guy to be gauging one’s form against. I pulled a rookie move and blew the win last Saturday in Rade, which was a little disappointing at the time but on the whole I am quite pleased with where my form is at right now.