tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730233429051035621.post6218142293178703441..comments2024-03-12T18:42:09.892+09:00Comments on POSITIVO ESPRESSO: The Lost Weekend and Transharz Vmobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15740078823008165116noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730233429051035621.post-30669359964074913542011-06-12T05:17:23.667+09:002011-06-12T05:17:23.667+09:00Thanks David and Ludwig for the comments. The high...Thanks David and Ludwig for the comments. The highest point in the Harz is the mountain "Grosser Brocken" and you can actually ride to the very top as a telcom tower is located there. <br /><br />I will ride there again the weekend before Transalp with some of the newly found riding buddies from Bremen.<br /><br />It takes two hours by high speed train (IC) to the Harz from Bremen, but with local trains it is 2.5 hours - one way. This has the advantage that up to 5 persons can travel for about 1.700 Yen the whole day. Five hours in the train is long nevertheless. Al least that was my impression. Next time I will bring something to read, perhaps "Competitve advantage of Nations" by Michael Porter.<br />Then I may sleep for 2 hours in a row.<br /><br />The story of my former girlfriend is a long an complicated one, much more complicated than broken flowers. And it is a somewhat happy ending. I may tell you the next time we meet.<br /><br />Everything else by e-mail.mobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15740078823008165116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730233429051035621.post-17040702652914769152011-06-11T19:05:33.382+09:002011-06-11T19:05:33.382+09:00Entertaining as always, at least to someone who kn...Entertaining as always, at least to someone who knows the German language and political developments. Glad to know you finally got some decent miles into your legs in preparation for the TransAlp, and even discovered something resembling mountains (what's the highest pass there? 800m?). Two hours on a train is not so bad when you know how to use this time productively. Of course being with a bunch of skinheads may be less fun. I'm glad I'm usually taking trains in Japan, not Germany. And I'm also glad I hail from the south of Germany where public beer drinking happens in a more civilized fashion, usually without broken glass, certainly not on the road. So when do you finally get to practice with your new bike??Manfred von Holsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16569864868439666760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730233429051035621.post-36827863102740922212011-06-11T07:53:53.364+09:002011-06-11T07:53:53.364+09:00MOB: Thank you for the report. Great that you fou...MOB: Thank you for the report. Great that you found some hills (3 meters higher than Kazahari Pass!) and a training partner. Now if you can just get an inner chain ring you will be ready for Transalp.<br /><br />I was reading recently that Germany is now more energy efficient than Japan, on a "GDP per unit of energy" basis, which surprised me a bit. Now that I see all the beer being pulled by handcarts, I can understand why. <br /><br />In Japan, not only is the beer conveyed by shinkansen, but the bottles open themselves automatically, and then even the toilet into which the beer flows eventually has an electric seat raiser/lowerer/warmer, handsfree flush, etc. Japan will need to change, post-Fukushima.<br /><br />As for scaring the Germans with your JCRC champion's jersey, I think you should try it again with different bib shorts. Even if your NFCC shorts are the most comfortable, since when are Germans afraid of something French? Or maybe you should wear the farewell autographed Israeli jersey?<br /><br />Finally, in reading your report of visiting the former girlfriend(s), I was reminded just a little bit of the Bill Murray movie "Broken Flowers" ... have seen it?<br /><br />Saturday AM here heavy rain and very humid ... but it may dry later, so I hope I can get to the real Kazahari (well to Tomin-no-mori at least), for my final training ride.David Litthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821846303393230109noreply@blogger.com