Dean Tracy

Nothing goes quite right on the first day of the six. All in all, no crisis, no crashes, and many days to go. Enduros seem to be in he same boat. Theo Bos came down with some mystery illness a few nights before the start, so the major teams were shaken up a bit to give Peter Schep a proper partner. The crowds and over-eager singles expecting to be wowed by the patented Bos megawatt smile are surely dissapointed, but no one wants Malaria, or Tanzanian mud-flu, or whatever hideous bug he has.. At least there's still Marvulli.

A tip:
Never say that you are not all that tired when someone asks about your jet lag. As soon as you say "I feel fine," your body will decide it's actually 4 in the morning and you should go to sleep immediately. Coffee, coffee, drink some coffee and keep it on the level.



The three-wide track stand is not an easy one to pull off. At least this time it wasn't me that screwed it up, and we held it through the picture. Chalk it up to day one.


The news is ripping along in western Europe. The British Navy is mothballing billion dollar warships before they're completed, every other pro roadie is getting popped for something or other and the Frogs are rising. Much respect to the French right now. The government says "we're raising the retirement age for your parents and grandparents," so the French youth and middle class says "AAAAAAGGHH! OHNOYOUDIDNT!" and proceeds to collectively lose it's shit, shut down 12 of 12 fuel refineries in France and drag the entire country to a halt. Now THAT is a protest. Action. I like it. Still, glad my flights don't connect through DeGaulle. Or anywhere, for that matter.

BBC news is on most of the day in the background at the hotel. One of only 3 english channels, and the other two are CNN and MTV Berlin. Of the latter two, not sure which one's worse. Entertainment news hysterics or Katy Perry and endless German ringtone commercials. German isn't a terribly relaxing language to have on in the background if you don't speak it, but on the other hand Ms. Perry isn't so bad on mute...

DT