Bike Freitag und Dopplegangers

a view to the East on my morning commute.

Guten something, my friends.




Besides a gazillion trains, Frankfurt is also all about bicycles. Maybe 2.4 gazillion of 'em.  Again, I can't help but draw comparisons to Portland and Minneapolis.

Achtung! No standing on your bike!

Bike stuff is everywhere: Bike paths, Bike stoplights, bike lanes, bike rentals, bike signage and even a separate bike entrance at the stadium parking lot.  This is the reason I brought my own bike as a form of transportation   Yep, that's right.  I week before I left, I bought a Bike Friday.  Who? What,? you haven't heard of them?  Well, Based in the cycle-mecca of Eugene Or, they produce folding bikes designed to travel the world.  It comes with it's own Samsonite suitcase that converts to a trailer.  It's the kind of all-purpose bike that MacGyver would ride. Thanks to my 'cycle counselors' Ken Johnson and Uncle Rob for helping me pull the trigger on this purchase. I can't wait to ride with you.

I have been feeling better these last few days, so I have been able to ride. It's a refreshing 20 minute pedal to the stadium, compared to the train ride of 10 mins plus a 10 min walk. (um, I was told there would be no math...)  With these long work days, this is the only chance I have for exercise.  As an added bonus, I get to see, smell and feel part of the city!

 With Brasil besting Australia 1-0 and Norway fending off Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Group D, we cycle back to Group A tomorrow with Canada playing France at 9aPT. It is reported that there is a 60% chance that Christine Sinclair will not play due to a broken nose suffered in the Germany match.  Later, at 11:45a, Nigeria takes on Germany at the stadium right next door to our TV compound.

I'm sure ALL of you Equitorial Guinea fans are very disappointed. But, don't despair! You made the Ipswich Town Stat of The day.
Equatorial Guinea is the only African county to speak Spanish as their first language.
Ian better start listening to his Rosetta Stone CDs



In what is quickly becoming a staple of the RRRblog, Today's Doppelganger DoubleShot features our PA Jorge. (who, we have decided, is much funnier than last year.) We think he stole his haircut from Australia's Sally Shipard. We even appreciate the 'pufffed cheek' expression to perfectly reveal the similarities.

Jackie continues to encourage us to a higher level of professional achievement.  Someday, everyone will have an inspirational poster like this in their office that will help them achieve greatness.

Throughout this month, as in any international event, there are countless language translation issues in the day to day stuff- many of them resulting in my own embarrassment.  Here is one example that you might remember the 2006 blogs. You must stop everything you are doing and watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmOTpIVxji8