Im in Frankfurt now and have been here since late yesterday arvo. The over night bus from Kusadasi was pretty good with both Wes and I sleeping the whole way after an all nighter the night before on the town. We did however though miss the stop that Lauren had told us was best so we had to get a taxi to the town center where I jumped straight onto a shuttle bus to the Airport. Turned out that Lauren was on the same shuttle bus and I got to see her give another local a kiss good bye. Better than Turkish delight but I still rekon a bit on the ugly side. Getting the bike from the Frankfurt airport was an ordeal to say the least. I had been told to go to baggage collection of Thai airways in the airport. They informed me that my bike was in cargo area which just happens to be on the other side of the airport and not accessable without car. The Taxi's were not intersted as the fare was too small and there was no way I was going to hire a car. I soon found there was a staff only bus and after a bit of begging I got to the security gate to enter the cargo area. Had to leave some ID, got a pass and another bus and then I was where I was meant to be. The crew there were fascinated that I was an Aussie so it went pretty smooth from that point. So got the bike, bike onto one bus, picked up ID and then back on staff bus to main terminal and onto a trian to the city. I headed for the cheapest hotel in the guide within walking distance from the station. Its 25€ a night and im the only guest. Nice and quite after all the partying places we have been staying in. Of course we have been the ones manking all the noise. Once showered I headed into the main part of the city to see what moved and get some dinner. Some guy in a cafe said I sound like a cricket commentator off the TV. Hmm I doubt it but same country is close enough. Found a nice bar and orderd a beer. Good price 2€ for a big enough bottle of beer that was really nice. Whilst there and chatting to the bar tender with his limited english he told me that there was a huge cycle race in town tomorrow with all the big teams. Well it turned out he was was right. So once I realised that I had my days wrong and I had to stay in Frankfurt for tonight anyway I was off to see the race. The race was the Rund em den Henninger-Turm. Roughly translated to "something something, beer name, something". Anyway it was huge. 220km race with 1 climb to 900 meters and 3 to over 500. Teams on the start incluced Team T mobile, Lotto, Fassa Bortolo, Colnago, Rabobank and many many more. Aussies on the start line included, Robbie Mcewen, Henk Vogels, Nick Gates, Ben Day, Hilton Clarke, Greame Brown and Brett Lancaster. Unfortunatly for them the race got blown apart when a 10man break away formed after the first climb and then a 40 or so chase group caught them with 100 or so KM's to ride. Some Aussies may have been in the lead bunch but I didn't see any of their numbers nor did I hear their names in the German commentary. I know one thing for sure and thats that Eric Zarbil was in the bunch and every time his name was called the crowd went wild. The race ended with 3 laps for an approx 6km loop around this brewery which just happened to also be the main sponsor. I tried to get into the brewery but it was all closed up. There was plenty of beer for sale though at the race and lots to see in the trade show. Hmm they even had some nice light dual xc mtbs on display so that killed a few hours whilst the bunch was out and about. The finish was pretty cool to see. There were a few attacks in the final laps but the crowd eurpted when the few team T mobile boys with Zarbel got it all organsied and set him up for an easy 1 bike length win. Was cool to watch and I hope you all enjoy the pics. Next stop is Offenburg tomorrw where I get stuck into helping the Ghost team with their mtb race at the end of the month. I also get to ride so ill put up some trail stories for those of you who like to get dirty.