many thanks...

and apologies.

Thanks for all of you who called me, emailed, texted, whatever, on my birthday. It was a lovely, necessary reminder that despite where I am in the world, my friends and family are the finest people I know. I love you all, despite how good or bad we are at keeping in touch. Apologies for the lack of response so far, I was in Austria for the week and had no email or phone - off the grid so to speak.

This weekend I am going to call you all, and I will try to post pictures and a story about my trip.

The quick and dirty facts:

• I love Europe.
• I love Europeans.
• I love European women.
• The Alps are fucking steep.
• Full suspension bikes suck.
• Gears suck.
• Gears are OK in the Alps.
• I love European women.

That is all for now.
Double-R out.