Campionato del Mondo

Teolo, Italy

Teolo is a municpality in Parco Regionale Dei Colli Euganei, an enormous national park outside of Venice. The region is surrounded with wineries, and is a popular destination for the weekend bicyclist.

The course starts in Castelnuevo and ends in Teolo. But this year a portion of the track was washed away. The road was closed for several months as it was rebuilt. It was reopened just weeks before the race! A good majority of the road was repaved.

Insul Cup

Insul, Germany

About 10 minutes from the world famous Nürburgring lies the small town of Insul. There are two hotels in town, which are about the only thing of significance. The town is in a valley, with a river running through the town.

The course ends in town. The start is at the bottom of a cow pasture. The course winds back and forth, with five hairpins before making a hard right turn into town. The finish line is immediately after the turn.

Kozakov Challenge

Kozakov, Czech Republic

Away from the crowds in Prague lies a small hill in the Czech Republic. The top of the hill has some radio and TV antennas. A few small villages dot one side of the hill. Down the other side a road runs into the town at the bottom.

Maryhill Festival of Speed

Goldendale, WA

Once again the gravity sports world decends on Maryhill for the Maryhill Festival of Speed. Just outside of the small gorge town of Goldendale, overlooking the Columbia River is a small private road that has become one of the American Meccas of downill. The course is 1.8 miles and sits on privately owned land. The road was repaved a few years ago, but with mild weather and almost no traffic the road is in decent shape. The course has a constant grade and quite a few turns with almost no straights. The speeds are relatively low, and with the constant grade means it is more about pure racing.

We left Prague this morning with the intent of going to Munich for two days. The original plan was to take a train to Nuremburg and then another train to Munich. With our rail passes this would be no problem. But we were travelling with two people who needed to purchase tickets. They were told it would be cheaper to take the same train to Nuremburg but get off at Schwandorf and take a train from their to Munich.

Today was a long day, and is not an auspicious start to the summer of 2011. It is a little after 1:00 am and I am sitting in my hotel room in Goldendale. Maryhill Festival of Speed kicks of the 2011 IGSA Season tomorrow. My original goal was to make it down here in time for tech inspection. Even after getting up at 6:30am, we failed to make it.

Newton's Nation

Bathurst, Australia

Just on the other side of the Blue Mountains from Sydney, is the town of Bathurst. With a population of about 30,000 it is a fairly large town for the area. The city was built on some gold mines. But today its claim to fame is a Dentistry school and the world famous Mount Panaroma, home of the Bathurst 1000. A big car race held every October.

Malarrara Pro

Teutonia, Brazil

Towards the southern end of Brazil, admist the Braziallan jungle lies the small town of Teutonia. The town itself is on a small hill and is home to an addidas plant. The town has some cobblestone streets, a skate shop, and even a disco. The town lies on the foothills of a mountain range.

Kozakov Challenge

Kozakov, Czech Republic

About 100 kilometers north of Prague lies a large preservation area. At the top of this area is a tourist hotel and an antenna area on a lookout tower. The small tourist hotel is mainly for hikers, and not really a hotel.

Insul Cup

Insul, Germany

Deep in the heart of German wine country, not far from the Reihn, and about 10 minutes from the world famous Nurnburgring is the small village on Insul. It had a couple of hotels and a bank, but I never saw a grocery store. Leading down into the village was a road with a bunch of switchbacks.