Well since the last time we spoke I've been really busy except for one week when we escaped to Egypt down on the Red Sea.

The reefs are amazing; I couldn't believe the colours and the abundance of fish and other creatures. I took an underwater camera and one afternoon we spotted some black tip reef sharks, cruising around on top of the reef in about two foot of water. I swam as close as possible to the so I could take a picture and one of them swam right up to me about a meter away. I got a pretty cool shot and when I turned around to tell Isabelle she done a runner in the opposite direction trying to walk on water or should I say run!!!! After that little encounter she decided to concentrate on her tan. I tried to join in but managed to wind up with bloody heat stroke every other day.  So I just focused on getting as much sleep as possible.

After our little break we went back to Zurich and entered in the annual lake crossing. There were about 5000 competitors let of in groups of 500, it's not taken too seriously but really well organised. Before you start they have a warm up session of Aerobics which is pretty funny everybody doing Aerobics in their swimmers than you are off to your 1.4 kilometre swim. If you arrive on the other side you than received a Poweraid, a bowl of risotto, a pair of flip flops and a drink bottle. It took a little longer than we expected swimming across the current, so the food on the other side definitely hit the spot.

The next day I flew back up to Holland to compete in the Dutch Championship race at Assen. We were hoping for a bit of extra track time than we got with only two times 16 minutes sessions on Saturday our 8 minute warm up Sunday morning and then our 16 lap race at about 5 pm. Brock and I fought it out all the way but there was no way I wanted to come seconde him likewise and I just managed to beat him to the line by a whisker. But it was loads of fun and really nice to get on the bike after a couple of weeks off.

Two days later I was off to Rome to make a TV commercial and promotional Video about the new Honda CBR 600. It was really a big surprise to see the amount of manpower and organization needed to pull together such a production. We even had a stuntman! It was exactly the same as shooting a movie; it was a real eye opener. I don't think ill be nominated for any awards that's for sure!  Friday night I shot back up to Holland to be present at the Ten Kate's open day and promo event on Saturday. The Ten Kate boys run this open day ruffly the same time every year, with heaps goen on. There's lawn mower racing, tire changing comp., 3 complementary Dynos and all sorts of promotions and prizes. Oh yer they also had a embarrass the riders competition, which worked!  They estimated between 4000 and 5000 people, so a pretty good turnout with loads of bargains to be had.

Over the next three days Chris, Broc and I just hang out at the workshop and tried to keep our noses clean. The biggest problem was that both Chris and Broc just bought new little 110 cc mini motocross bikes, Chris even had a spare. So we basically terrorised the neighbourhood trying not to loose too much skin and not to get under Gerit's. This however wasn't very successful. I took the honours for the one who lost the most skin and the most crashes. The boys duked it out for the minor placing's. Not really such a great plan for the next race in a couple of days.  

On Wednesday it was time to head of to Assen for the next round of the World Championship. Same old story, park up wash the bus inside and out and get ready for the big event. I had another really great weekend with the most amazing weather I have ever seen in Holland, blue skies and not a breath of wind.

Because this was the team home event they had the hugest hospitality with more than 800 guests over the weekend. So it was really important for us to put on a good show. I managed to get my hands on another Breil watch and took the victory in the race by the narrowest of margins again, less than two tenths. This was definitely a great time to break out the barbie and have a few quiet drinks with the team.

 

Gotta go time to catch up on some ZZZZZ..