Cycling in Asia

February 04, 2009

Stage 1 – Let the Tour Begin

Today is the official starting date for the Tour Down Under (TDU).  The TDU is currently in its 11th year and it is the first pro cycling event of the year.  This year is especially popular with Lance and other big name riders taking part in the race.  Over the course of the next six days, the pros will ride more than 800 km over the rolling hills in and around Adelaide Australia.  Us enthusiasts will ride approximately 600km over much of the same course which is not too bad either.

Today’s stage is from Norwood to Mawson Lakes.  According to our tour director Tony, it is one of the hardest stages that we would ride and it included the infamous Checker Hill.  The nice thing about riding the same circuit as the pros ride is that they have plenty of signs warning of sprint areas and also where the King of the Mountains (KOM) climbs are.  KOM is a race to the top of big hills (mountains) and the riders get points for being the first guys through.  Anyhow it was great to have the course so well marked so we could mentally prepare for the climbs we had to do.   It is also nice to know what the pros have to actually do and it is humbling to watch them do it so much faster and better.  After reading the brouchure for this trip I decided to use my old bike which is not as good as my new bike for climbing hills and mountains. The descriptions of the climbs in our tour brochure seemed pretty reasonable so I decided I could manage the climbs on my old bike.  The thing I did not read or see was that Adelaide is a bunch of rolling hills outside of the flat city grid.  I found this day very tough.  Checker Hill was the toughest spot on the course.  At 20+% gradient for approximately 800 meters, I was blowing through all my limits to make it up this tough climb.  The nice thing was that the fans were there early to watch the pros and they even cheered on the crazy amateurs like me. I have to say it helped me do it!  Ian, one of the guys in our group, and one of the best cyclists I have ever seen in action, did this climb in his big chain ring after accepting a challenge from Tony the tour director.  Ian rocks! 

First Climb of the Trip (not Checker Hill)

Checker Hill – Humbled many who had to walk part of the way up.

Overall I managed to squeeze out 100km of riding along the rolling hills of Adelaide.  There were two challenging climbs and very few flat areas along this route.

Today’s ride:  http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7501118

Posted by Jeff at 05:07 AM | Permalink

Who are these Dudes?

Kim and I have not been cycling for that long and therefore all of the pros with the exception of Lance are fairly new to us.   Staying at the Hilton we were able to meet and greet a number of pros, even though we did not have a clue as to who they were.   That said, it was still nice to meet with guys who I have learned about after my short time enjoying cycling.  The fellow on the left is Oscar Pereiro, the 2006 Tour De France winner.  Winning the Tour De France is the pinnacle of the cycling world and truly an amazing accomplishment to ride for three weeks up difficult climbs at the pro level.  I am in the middle and have no idea who the other dude is, but was thankful for his picture. 

Lucy also did well meeting pros- here she is with George Hincapie (who we also did not know only two years ago)

Gordon also managed to meet a few of the celebs. Here he is advising Johan Brunyeel.  Johan Brunyeel was Lance Armstrong’s coach for all his Tour De France victories, and is currently his coach again with Team Astana.  Again, another guy we did not know until recently.

Lance

On Saturday night we will attend the Legends Dinner which will be a formal evening with all the cyclists and many other famous cycling legends.

Continue reading “Who are these Dudes?” »

Posted by Jeff at 04:26 AM | Permalink

Time to Ride

Monday the riding officially began for our tour group.  Gordon and I popped out for an early morning ride with Ben the anti doping guy and around 20 of his friends.    http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7539365

Cycling culture in Australia is similar to what we typically do in Singapore: ride a bunch of kilometers and then go for coffee.  Coffee in Australia is much better than the brew we typically get in Singapore (sorry Starbucks) and it was a nice treat to have coffee after a ride in the cool morning climates.  At 8:30 we met up with the official group we were part of and started to ride back in the same direction we did on the earlier ride.  The ride was very enjoyable and it was nice to meet the fellow cyclists who had come to enjoy the TDU.

Once again we had seen a number of the pro teams on training rides ahead of the start of the race tomorrow (Tuesday) which was exciting.  On the way back to the Hotel we ran into….you guessed it, Lance Armstrong and Team Astana riding the streets of Adelaide.  The reaction was similar to the first time we rode with Lance in that we all disbanded the group and hammered it to catch up to the team and snap a few photos.  Not too bad…two days, two rides with Lance. 

Astana approaching.  Lance had turned off with lots of cyclists following…Gordon and I used a strategy to take a shortcut in hopes of getting a great photo of Lance and the team.  We managed to get ahead however this lousy photo was all I could muster as they were flying and my thumbs were too big!  The people from the tour group loved it and it was just as exciting for us too even though it was the second day of doing this.

Here We Go Again!

After the group ride was over we went for a wonderful lunch at a Greek restaurant and had a nice day in Adelaide waiting for the offical TDU race to start tomorrow.

The group ride can be seen here http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7539366

Posted by Jeff at 03:46 AM | Permalink

The Down Under Classic – Let the Racing Begin

Riding with Lance was really the highlght of the day. 

The Down Under Classic is a 50km charity ride that is the first racing of the pros we would see.  We had a very nice seat at the start finish line which would let us get a good look at the pro teams. In addition to good seats, we had awesome food and beverages which helped to make the event an enjoyable evening.  Before the race all the pro teams were introduced to the fans.

The media presence was huge at this event. Many of the locals we spoke to mentioned that the crowds were at least three times bigger than usual and this was attributed to the official return of Lance Armstrong to pro cycling.  

Lance, Andre Greipel (last years winner) and Oscar Pererio (Tour De France winner 2006) at the start line of the Tour Down Under Charity Classic. Photo – Lucy

The race would only last about an hour given that it was 50km in distance and these guys go fast.  We watched the race, ate great food and had a few drinks to officially launch the race.

Today was also the day that we were able to meet the cycling group.  There were 20 cyclists in our group and most of them were from various parts of Australia.  In addition to the Aussies, there were four of us from Singapore, Gordon from Scotland and Klaus from Germany.  The group would ride together tomorrow for an introductory ride.

After a few cocktails, great food and the completion of the race, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the first group ride.  When we returned to the hotel we approached our room which was blocked off by a group of chairs.  I was wondering what was happening and asked this fellow in the hall. He asked me what I was doing there and I told him that my room was beside his and that I was going home.  It turned out that this guy was the head of the anti doping association in Australia and that his room was being used to test riders for the use of illegal drugs.  After realizing that our room was beside his he apologized and was a very pleasant chap.  We chatted a bit about the race and the impact of doping on the sport.  While we were sitting there (we decided to have a glass of wine with him in the hallway on the seats that were blocking our room) one of the riders had left his room.  Ben, the anti doping fellow, had asked us if we knew who that was and Kim and I both said no.  As it turned out it was the rider who actually won the race, local favourite Aussie Robbie McEwen.  After hearing that Kim diligently ran down the hall and had Robbie autograph her hat!

Posted by Jeff at 03:42 AM | Permalink

On the Road with Team Astana

Lance Armstrong Leading Astana – this was amazing to see pros so up close. 

We were all keen to get out and ride in Adelaide after an enjoyable first day in Australia.  Tonight we would be experiencing our first racing event as the pros were going to ride in the Down Under Classic, a 50km race to launch the overall TDU.  The race was at 6pm so we took time during the day to get out and ride around Adelaide and take in the local scenery.  Lucy, Andrew and Gordon met Kim and I at the Hilton and we set out on our first ride Sunday morning heading for the beach front area called Glenelg.  Another sunny and clear day was perfect for our ride.  I am not sure if it was the Tour Down Under or just plain old Adelaide but there were thousands of cyclists riding around on this Sunday morning.  During the ride we saw many of the pro teams practicing for the big race that starts on Tuesday and getting warmed up for the short charity race for this evening. On the way out to Glenelg Gordon and I hoped on the back of the Garmin Slipstream (an American pro team) and pedaled like crazy to keep their training pace. It was very cool to ride with pro riders.   Gordon was amazed at how close we were able to get to the pros (we were riding in their pack) and said that you could not do this at the other pro cycling tours.  Gordon has been to many pro tours so this was great to hear that we were so fortunate. 

Gordon riding with Garmin

After 20km or so we ended up at Glenelg and had some great coffees by the beach.  After talking with some locals and getting the inside scoop, we decided to ride up the coast and get a few more kilometers in.

After our loop up the coast we decided to head back and get some rest before going to the charity classic race. 

Waiting for Kim on the roadside I snapped a photo and heard sirens approaching us.  I looked up and it was none other than Lance Armstrong (dressed in his black/yellow Livestrong outfit) and his team Astana following Kim and Lucy around the corner. I quickly fumbled to grab my camera to get a pic of the legend!  It was amazing seeing him after all of the hype that had been generated when he decided to ride in the TDU.  After snapping a couple of pics of Lance and his team I thought…hey screw the photos, let’s ride with Lance!  We quickly jumped on our bikes (forgetting Kim, Lucy and anything else) and took off after Lance and his peleton.  There were approximately 60 enthusiast riders following Lance and team Astana ride through the streets of Adelaide.  It was actually quite dangerous but most of us were taking photos and making movies of the experience of chasing Lance Armstrong while at the same time riding 37-40km/hour.  It was pure adreniline.

Kim rounding the corner…followed by Lucy, and of course Lance Armstrong.

We ended up riding approximately 20km behind the Astana car before arriving at the Hilton Hotel where we and Lance were staying.  It was amazing at the end that Astana team kept riding while Lance peeled off and met his greeter/security dude at the front of the Hilton.  Fans quickly gathered around and snapped a quick photo of Lance and thanked him for the great ride.

This was totally awesome.  Once again Gordon said to ride behind Team Astana with Lance there in the USA or Europe is something you would pay thousands of dollars for.  It was really an amazing ride.  After calming down a bit I asked Gordon ‘hey where is Kim and everbody else?’   In all the excitement we forgot we were riding with others!

Time to rest after the ride to get ready for the race this evening.  We have VIP seating near the start/finish line and today the TDU teams will be on display for the fans to see.

Posted by Jeff at 03:41 AM | Permalink

January 25, 2009

Heading to Adelaide Australia – January 2009

After exciting trips to Italy, Bali and Vietnam, Kim and I thought about doing another cycling trip to kick the year off right.  We had looked around on the internet and decided to book a cycling trip in Adelaide Australia which would enable us to cycle the same routes as the pros and then watch them do it.  In addition, it would give us some time to drink some great Australian wine and eat some great food.  I told my colleague Andrew about this trip and before you know it him and his wife Lucy were signed up. Not long afterwards, Gordon McKenzie was also on board and we were all getting ready to head to Adelaide for the first pro cycling event of 2009.  That was in August…..in September, Lance Armstrong announced that he was coming out of retirement and that his first pro race would be the Tour Down Under….BONUS.  After the news announcement Kim was on the phone immediately securing the second last room at the Hilton Hotel for us. 

Posted by Jeff at 03:58 PM | Permalink