Santos Tour Downunder 2012
Topic: Australia
Saturday I don't mind a bike ride every now and then, so when a couple of mates said they wanted to go to Adelaide to see the Tour down under and combine it with a bit of bike time. Hey Pick Me. Jump in the car at 6am, sorry 9 am, sorry go to feed the dog on the way out the door, he's sick ( nothing is sicker than a lab that won't eat) emergency trip to the vet. Get home, write note to dog sitter detailing drug regime the leave at noon. Its only 700km, not a bad drive. I get in at eight. Barry takes me down the Godga St for a feed. Thai green curry in, 10 min walk home Thai green curry out. I hope they recycle around here.
Sunday The other blokes rock up and we head into town for the first race .There is a lot of people here. We watch the teams presentation, then there into it, one hour flat out around a short track. All that riding make me hungry even though I did none of it, so we head off down the mall for some pasta and an early night.
Monday check into the hotel “The Grand Chancellor” on Hindle St. Pretty posh. Good Sangria and Latin dancing around the corner. Thai food across the road, Club X next door , My kind a place. It's a rest day but the lads are keen so along with Jen whose on the trip as well we set off for a leisurely 50km up the Gorge. Map Boy like mountains, Jen and The Dealer are triathletes, I'm just a sucker for punishment. At least I’ve got a bit of time on the new bike now.
Tuesday is our first real ride day. It's a balmy 40 deg, with a gentle 40 Knot wind (88KMH) from the north. Where riding North. The Hotel has a little toaster oven, if you made it bigger and put a big fan at one end, set the conveyor speed to 12KMH and rode on it for 5 hours it wouldn’t even be close to what my day was like. MB and TD decide to set off from the hotel for a 147 KM ride, funnily they can't find any takers from the other 10 of us. I've elected to ride 60km the shortest route offered. Most people chose 100. We get to the first stop every one gets out, every one gets back in. 60 km is suddenly very popular. MB and DK make 80 before there toast and the bus picks them up at Tarlee where I started. I do my sixty, ten before the end the bus pulls up with the lads on it. I offer to let them do the last bit with me, but they just sit there with smiles on there faces licking the windows. Consolation prize, between the three of us we did the whole lot. By the time I get to Claire I'm toast to. We have a nice meal in Claire and watch the Pro's arrive. It's the slowest ride in the history of the tour 32 KMH.
Wednesday we head for the hills. We have breakfast in the hotel and head off to Lobethal. I'm very happy we get to the bottom of the hill and the bus keeps going right to the top . This is more my style. We catch the start of the tour which is doing a couple of circles around some hills before heading off for a couple more circles at the end. With a bit of riding you can see the race at a whole lot of different points. There is a big breakaway by a young Uni SA rider which the peleton can't chase down. I watch the finish and then coast 20km back down hill back to the hotel.
Thursday a quick 35km down the beach before the Hotel breaky. The we pile in the bus to watch the start of the race in Unley. Nothing like seeing 20 Skodas with $150,000 worth of bikes loosely strapped to the roof. Map boy gets his hat signed by Eddy Mecks a 5 times Tour of France winner. Off to Mount compass for a Sprint finish, then lunch, at the pub, with a bit of winery action on the way home. Pick up a couple of Church Paddock for the collection. Drive down a big hill which I'm expected to ride up in a couple of days.
Friday. My knees a bit sore. I think its from carting all the wine around. It's the 136KM Bupa challenge. I pike it and only do 100, this eliminates the big hill that you drive up to leave Adelaide. There is 8000 people on this ride. Bikes every where. My new bike goes downhill really fast, I pass people peddling like crazy, just rolling. Funnily when we get to the uphill bit they are all going faster than me, must see if I can get that fixed next tuneup. I get interviewed by the press they tell me there is another big hill. No one mentioned that. When I get there its only 2.8 KM long and 145 meters high, hey dude I've been to France, they have big hills, this ain’t one of them. I arrive and I don't feel to bad. MB,TD, and I head off to the pub, It's 500 meters past the finish, which we miss. I look up from my pasta to see a bunch of blokes patting Oscar Freire on the back, hes the oldest bloke in the race and he's won the stage. We have the box seat view of the celibrations.
Saturday. We head out to Maclaren Vale to watch the start. We decide to ride the 35KM loop which they do 3 times before the start of the race. Off down the hill to Willunga. Its blowing a gale like Tuesday just not quite as hot, I pike it after 5KM at the first coffee shop, spend a pleasant hour reading the paper, and watching the race every time it comes round. It cant last, MB and TD find me and we head up the category2 climb to the finish line. Old Willunga hill is crowded with thousands of people, and some of them clap and cheer as we grind our way up the hill. At the top there is, hot dog stand, cool drinks, and a giant screen next to the finish. I finally get to see a bit of the race. We settle in and watch a classic hill climb with the finish decided by count back, its going to be a great final day tomorrow but first we have to get there. We have a Legends dinner to go to at the convention centre. The main guest is a true legend. Eddie Merckx , 5 times winner of the tour of France. We quaff mountains of SA's best red, and boogie with the band until late. On the way home we have a wander down the circus known as Hindle St, the Kings Cross of Adelaide. In the Pub a group of Poms are trying to punch the crap out of each other while watching a soccer match. The meanest looking female bouncer I've ever seen, chucks about ten of them out, then the cops roll up and cart them off. Great family entertainment, Who said Saturday night in Adelaide was boring . A couple of hours later we get spat out unhurt back at the hotel.
Sunday. My head hurts. 7am ride, missed that one, hell I has trouble making the 9.30 AM breakfast. MB missed even that one. Check out at 11, It's hot, I seem very thirsty. We head off to the final stage a couple of hundred meters away. The three of us take turns sleeping in the shade while the race cruses past. Simon Gerrans an Aussie wins the race for Green Edge the first Aussie team in there first race. It doesn’t get better than that. MB got a late check out, so we head back to the hotel for a quick swim before I drive back to Melbourne. A few quick goodbye's and I point the Ford up the hill. Petrol a $ 1.50 a litre, thanks guy's. It's only a tad over 700KM from here.
Thanks to Phill, Susan and Ben from AllTrails, for organising a great trip.
PS the dogs on the mend
Posted by bondrj
at 12:01 AM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 16 February 2022 9:40 PM EADT
Antarctica , cold and remote. It seems a long way away, but if you live in Melbourne it's closer than Auckland. Between 1988 and 1992 I spent 18 months working and living at Casey Station. I drove lots of big toys, laid carpet tiles, made big rocks into little rocks at the quarry, drank beer, became a Jolly king, heard lots of penguin jokes, and even did the odd bit of electrical work. I lived in a donga,sea iced things,drank homers and drillers,loved Wenesday nights, joined the corgi club, and for a little while was a tunnel rat. Even on the bad days you could just look out at the icebergs, and go things ain't that bad.Click the pic above to learn what the buildings do or this link for some more antarctic pics. Work in progress I'll do a bit more later . In memory of "Orby" 1962-2005
