Pictures of shiny bikes and parts are all well and good, but for this year’s Eurobike we thought we’d supplement our usual picture/caption/picture/caption reports with a bit of behind-the-scenes goodness. Here, then, is our Eurobike kind-of-blog thing. We’ll aim to pop any interesting (or, frankly, any) happenings in here as and when we stray near whatever internets happen to be available. Most recent stuff will be at the top…

Saturday

9.07am We’ve cleared out of the caravan now, and are refuelling ready for a final assault on the remaining Eurobike halls before heading to the airport to fly home this afternoon. Mild panic may, just possibly, ensue…

Friday

9.31am Back in the press room for coffee and rolls. I’ve got to hand it to Messe Friedrichshafen, they know how to look after the press. We’ve got a press room with plenty of power outlets, decent internet connection and drinks on tap, plus the “Press Garden” outside which is essentially the same setup but in the sunshine which has finally appeared. And there’s a press lounge as well. It’s hardly surprising that some members of the world’s media don’t seem to have moved from here for two days.

We had an extra guest to lever into the now-legendary caravan last night – Cy Turner from Cotic had arrived at the show to find his accommodation arragements had fallen through. He also has a fantastic-looking sample frame in Reynolds 953, of which more later.

Two big presentations yesterday afternoon – Dave went to Cannondale’s new Scalpel 100 press conference while I got the lowdown on RockShox’s new SID fork. Stay tuned for the full stories on those soon…

Thursday

12.53pm One morning down, one hall covered. Out of, er, ten. May have to up the pace a little, then. First report coming up soon.

9.30am The show’s open! It’s easy to tell that that’s the case from the enormous queues to get in at the main entrances. Well, we say “queue”, it’s more of a scrum really. Anyway, we’re in the press room figuring out a plan of attack and, more importantly, drinking coffee. This is helping to offset the effects of possibly slightly too many weissbeers last night. Mmmmm, beer.

Wednesday

6.23pm We’re here! Something of a Trial by Ryanair (a travel experience a bit like the London Underground only with the sense of personal space or the smooth ride) but we made it. Simon (the publisher) and Richard (RoadCyclingUK.com editor) arrived yesterday, having survived torrential rain, 2,500m mountain passes and running out of petrol on their motorcycle-assisted trip over. They had the chance to check out Eurobike’s very own demo day – reasonably well attended, but hideous weather made it a very different proposition to the reliably hot, dry and dusty Interbike Demo Day that inspired it.

The caravan is entirely comfortable, and the rain battering off the roof only adds to the camping experience. I’m just catching up with some stuff in the press centre and then we’ll head out for some nosh ready to hit the show in anger tomorrow. Right now the multiple halls of the Messe Friedrichshafen are full of either fully-built and biked stands or people waving spanners, cordless screwdrivers and display boards around with an increasing air of panic. We’re sure they’ll have it all sorted in time, though…