Life in Offenburg!

Bonjour
Comment allez vous?
Yes - the French is progressing.... very slowly - it is a hard lingo to learn!

The weather is finally starting to improve - in fact the weather forecast shows sun and warmer temperatures for the rest of the week. Might be finally able to have my jeans washed!

On Sunday Jase headed out for a 6hr ride, so I made my way into town to go swimming. The mtb marathon race was on and most of the roads were closed until 1pm so it was a bit like trying to find my way around a maze in getting to the pool, but I eventually got there. I was gutted to find that the Hallenbad (warm indoor pool) was closed - I was told it was now 'Freibad season' (aka outdoor freezing pool season). Turns out the indoor pool is now only open Tues-Fri 10am-1pm.

I reluctantly made my way to the 'Freibad' (about 100m down the road). The sign on the door said the pool was 20 degrees and the outside temperature was 12 degrees. I convinced myself that this would be warm enough and headed in. There were only 3 people in the pool - 2 women and 1 small child. One of the women told me it was warm if you kept swimming....

Let's just summarise this story by saying I am an idiot. I swam 2.5km with my pool buoy (as I had told myself that this was the minimum as it was 1hr). I was absolutely freezing - especially since I was not kicking. I could feel myself shivering in the water but I was frustrated so kept going. When I got out I felt incredibly sick and almost drunk - I found it tricky to walk. I couldn't work out how to turn the shower on so flagged it and got changed. I felt like sitting down and sleeping and I was uncontrollably shivering. I decided I had better find the lifeguard and tell her I had hypothermia. I couldn't find her and knew I couldn't drive so walked into town to the cafe and ordered a coffee. I started shivering really badly at this point and I was quite scared. The ladies behind the counter were talking about me and brought me over 2 chocolates and one rubbed my shoulders! Finally I warmed up enough to head outside into the crowd watching the mtb race - I jammed myself right up against 2 fatties and managed to warm up eventually. I am an absolute idiot and I know it. End of discussion.

Anyway the marathon mtb race finish was awesome to watch. I will attach (well Jase will - the last 'learn to attach photo lesson' almost ended in fireworks!) some photos - The riders were all so stoked to finish and did major double arm victory celebrations - the guy pictured actually finished about 600th! There is also a picture of a guy rehydrating post race! Classic - we generally have water, sports drinks and coffee... the Germans had both a beer tent and a wine tent! Most of the crowd was dancing away to the sounds playing - Eye of the Tiger was played about 3 x, as were other hits from the 80's all in English! I think the Germans have been left behind in the 80's...

Monday I was a bit wiped out - think the cold really got to me! Jase was working, so I headed off sightseeing with Nic, Katherine and Ray (Katherine is an Aussie mtber and Ray is her partner). It is so great having some others to do things with - especially when they speak English too! We drove one of Jase's cycling routes - me as the navigator, and we didn't even get lost! Jase will attach some photos of the afternoon - at the ski jump, waterfall, and a picture of a sign up the road here - it seems it is a common occurrence for collisions between tractors, cars, and bikes here!

Today Jase was working again, so I went to the pool (the warm one!) with Nic and then had a wander around town - of course completing my routine of going to the bakery for coffee! Luckily the staff were different today so they didn't recognise the idiot who came in at the weekend! (although I did score free chocolates!).

Jase has now finished work for the day so is out biking. He has just received confirmation on his Marmotte entry - and has been given start number 6649! That sucks! Think that means he is in the 3rd wave of starters... Have you guys back home got your start numbers yet? You could stage a mass protest! (well all 4 of you!).

Not much more to report... we may go to the tennis this week in Strasbourg. Maria Sharipova is playing.. I need to look into it.

Aurevoir
Jeanette