Managed to sleep in, even with 25 people moving around and opening lockers and snoring and stuff. Only reason for this being just how trashed I was. Paid 15euro for tonight and resumed chatting with the Israeli dude and the two Aussies. Rain, sun, rain, sun..
2.50euro pasta dish for lunch from a bakery near the station. My iced coffee survey added 69c Mullermilch from a nearby MiniMAL. You get what you pay for. Took more pics of couriers – sneaky bike-lovin’ bastard that I am. Spent most of the day chillin out and talking shit with the other hostelites. Feet hurt again from too long in ‘the’ shoes. Thinking about sending home the Kryptonite cable and some other stuff that I haven’t used yet, to ease strain on the rear wheel. Could just stop eating but where’s the fun in that? It doesn’t really matter because I’m going to start taking trains now.
BIG triathlon in Hamburg this weekend!
At the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) I found the schedule for “fahrad” (bike) carrying trains going to Berlin on Monday. Some require reservation (like the faster (2hr) IC trains, really fast ICE trains don’t take bikes at all). The RE (regional) trains don’t require bike reservations but take 4hr+ to do the same journey and require a change of trains at Schwerin.
Gave some money to the African(?) drummers in the mall. Wish I could read their flyer! Also spotted a guy playing a didgeridoo!
I can’t find the triathlon, but keep seeing funny bikes being walked and ridden past me. Dude just went past on a Kona SS (pretty sure he’s not in the tri) and some aero-helmeted tri-geek on a Softride cruised by sporting the craziest hydration setup I have seen yet! It was an aero (teardrop-ish) bottle stuck out the back of the bike, behind the seat, with tubing running up to the guy’s mouth! It looked pretty crazy!
Speak to a guy at the “border crossing” and he said they will be coming around soon. I stayed from some fine tri-girl booty! But(t) of course I left my camera gear at the hostel and my battery went flat! Curses!
It seems like the amatuers have raced already and these are fast women. I’m assuming they’re fast because 1) they have names written on their race suits and 2) they are going fast! Maybe elite men next? Wonder how many laps?
Oh, NOW I know why it seems so big.. I made it around the corner and found the start/finish line and above it is written “ITU Triathlon World Cup”. Holy schnitzel! It IS a big race! No wonder they have their names on their backs! Now I know what all those helicopters were circling around for!
Anyway, I stayed in the grandstand and watched the rest of the race. It was totally frickin’ cool! Crazy MC was hyping up the crowd and we’re all clapping and cheering like mad. There was a crash just after a sprint lap (primes in tri? Elite tri really IS turning into road racing!). Wandered through stalls full of hardcore bike pron after the race.
Went out with Israeli dude and Lauren. Decided not to go to “Click” club because Israeli dude hurt his foot on a trampoline in the Dom amusement park and me feet were all screwed up again from the shoes. So, we just bar happed around the hostel (heaps of choice!). Dinner was beer. Can’t remember where exactly as I was drinking Paulener Weise beer before leaving the hostel. I know it rained at one point and we dived into a Portugese restaurant on Schuttlebart(?) Str. Also went back to Fritz Bauch and had a little photo session – Lauren’s some kind of photo nut. After that we went to the “gay” bar under the hostel. It’s not actually a gay bar even though skater boy from Pittsburg claimed so. Drank more here (well duh!). Left or got kicked out around 6am (and sunrise) and then someone said something about a “secret club” behind the hostels fire escape door!!! Surely this is rubbish but we all ran in to find out. Holy craniums! Up the stairwell, through the hostel fire escape and we were indeed in some club!!! It seemed to be full or Turkish dudes and Chemical Brother’s “Galvanize” was playing (love this track!). The group was kinda half through the door but it seems it’s invite only. I was happily bopping along to the Chems while Lauren hassled security. “Private party” was the claim. The claim was rubbish. Oh, we’d picked up “Pittsburg” and the Irish dudes in the “gay” club too. After getting kicked from there we headed down the street again, with Lauren hassling everyone she saw for weed! One guy kept trying to get us to go to his place and he’s “call some people” for some.. uh huh.. fscking psycho axe-murderer..
Gave up the pursuit and headed back to the hostel common room, where we annoyed the hell out of the people sleeping up on the little balcony thing. Hey, if you don’t want loud, drunk, idiots ruining your sleep – don’t be such a tightass! Finally went to bed around 7am. Woke at 10am so not exactly the full doctor-recommended eight hours sleep.. whatever!