Mid-week update (late)

So I wrote this up a couple days ago, but dropped my internet connection and forgot to post it.

It's been really busy the last three days. I've had 4 meetings over the last three days, and lots of travel. Monday I had to get from Hamburg to Bremen, about a 1.5 hour drive each way. I had a second dinner meeting close to the hotel in Hamburg. Bremen (the little that I saw of it) was nice. I like the layout of the cities here; the ped-friendly city centers are nice. There’s also a lot of commuter-bike friendly infrastructure in the cities.

Yesterday I got out to a small town outside of Hamburg. It was quaint; the small downtown reminded me a bit of downtown Stillwater. The meeting went well. It’s quite interesting, my company is trying to increase their presence in Germany. We partnered with a retired professor; a very distinguished one at that. There is a lot of interaction between universities and the engineering industry in Germany, so this relationship holds a lot more weight than I expected; a wise business decision on my company’s part.

Today I went up to Varel, a smaller town in the far north, directly west of Hamburg. It was a 2+ hour drive on the autobahns. Today I got my first taste of “true” autobahn; we drove (well I was a passenger) some stretches without a speed limit for about an hour.

Driving on the autobahn is not entirely unlike racing bikes. You trust everyone else to be predictable. You are extremely close going very fast. One small mistake can send one crashing. The onramps are much shorter than we get in the US, and the road is still full of slow-moving vehicles. You’ll see a car merging in the distance as you are going 110+ mph, and hope that the car in the right lane doesn’t move over into your lane to allow the car to merge.

Of course, the German drivers are much more aware than American drivers, which made me a lot more confident. Instead of just checking their sideview mirror before moving, they gauge the speed of the approaching car. There’s also a lot higher level of patience; no one gets hot-headed when they slow down for two trucks are passing each other at 100 kph.
The rental car we had was a Ford Mondeo wagon. It was 10x nicer than any Ford I’ve rode in before. It’s a European specific model. Actually reminded me of my Saab quite a bit. It also handled quite nicely at 120+ mph.

Now I am on a train from Bremen to Nuremberg. I wish I had more time to spend in Nuremburg, but I will only be here for a few waking hours. Checking into the hotel somewhere around 7 pm and leaving at 7 am.

The days have been super tiring. Up before 6, to bed after 12. They are definitely taking their toll. I constantly feel tired; if I sit idle for more than a couple minutes, I start to nod off. As long as I am busy or engaged in a meeting, it’s fine. Luckily I mentally prepared to have my training all but zapped over the next couple weeks. I’ve got two workouts in during the last 5 days, which is better than nothing. I should be able to get three days in a row over the weekend. Running is the plan.

Well that’s all I have for now.