The freedom of two wheels

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So I have finally made it through the Christmas and holiday season, along with its typical back to training sickness. I have been on the bike and in the gym most days during the week and now weekends consist of mainly heading off to the Mountains and playing on the snowboard, making the most of a good stormy dump the last few weeks. As non specific as it could be, it is still a great work out for the lungs and legs. The last few days I have been on the roadie, only managing to sneak in an hour and a half or so each time before the sun finishes its tiny, wintery arc and plummets below the horizon once again. But I’m grateful. These are special days for winter. They’re are usually few and far between but here in Karlsruhe we have been graced with sunlight for 3 running days now.

With the chilli air hardly breaking feezing point, averaging around 0 to 1 degrees, it can be hard to get motivated to layer up and get out there but within a minute on the way, I know its easily worth it.
Frost lines the streets, covering everything from cars to the dirt on the gutters edge, lingering all day in the areas not graced by the lowly sun. Hardly a breeze blows through even the open plains, leaving nothing but the hum of the rubber along the tarmac and the lungs rythmic processing of oxygen, only randomly disturbed by the odd car traversing the rolling hills. The cold, January air not only makes every breath feel fresh, but its good enough motivation to ride hard and attempt to get the blood flowing to the fingers and feet Although sitting near static, they are necessary to keep the rider on course. The legs feel great and I am able to sit on a solid tempo cadence up some middle distance hills, enjoying the slow build up of lactic acid, only to develop into a warming burn with a final extended sprint up and over the crest.
In the withering sunlight, a lonely and small dark figure appears rolling towards me, descending from the hilltop town down to the housing suburb in the valley. Without grace or significant speed, it doesn’t appear to be another lone, lycra clad rider. On the approach, I can make out a small school boy, atop a bmx bike, still too big for legs. He throws an ocasional thrashing pedal stroke, just to make sure he is at maximum velocity. The school boy rolls by, with beaming eyes concentrating on only the flowing pathway infront of him. I couldn’t help but notice the faint smile, appearing naturally with the enjoyment of the two wheeled journey home. A humbling happiness he subconciously finds himself in.

For me, this is cycling. Freedom with the simplicity of two wheels that can take you anywhere. I started out just like this kid, getting around on a bike, but unlike most, not growing up and getting off. These little things make me smile and constantly remind me of how much I enjoy my riding and freedom. Such a simple combination of steel and rubber can bring so much joy, along side freedom and escape for a child. Everyone deserves the opportunity to experience this. Give what you can to share the freedom of the bike. https://www.gofundraise.com.au/page/TdFforNamibia

Cheers,

Dave

Iron Bike Race, Einsiedeln, Switzerland. 101km, 3600vm, 5:56:16.7

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Yes, it was a long time ago but though I really needed to throw something up here to keep afloat. Here is a quick spiel and some pics on what went down in Switzerland.. In a nutshell, a good flogging..

The two rides for the weekend

As is expected for an Aussie let loose on an Autobahn, I gave the Mondeo a squirt on the Autobahn to see what she had but traffic kept us to a reasonable 215kph. She cruised nicely along at 200kph though, quite and smooth from the little diesel! Upon arrival on the saturday, I rego’d without too much fuss, into the Elite category, knowing well that I would be lining up against some of the finest marathon racers from Europe.

Terrible view..

Considered hitting it on the Epic.

I got out for a quick punt around some of the lower slopes of the mountains surrounding this green and tranquil town, savouring the remaining sunlight as I hadn’t checked the weather for race day. I also wandered through the demo and stands section to check out some unusual Euro bling we don’t see down under too often.

It won't get dirty..

They need some tips of Cancellara for hiding that motor..

After a good double feed thanks to the race package dealio, it was off to bed at a reasonable hour int he back of the car. A little too upright sleep later and it was go time. A crisp morning awoke the riders but blue skies gave enough motivation to rise to the challenge that awaits. Once to sun was around for a few hours, it was clear it wouldn’t be cool for the middle of the day.

Start of the 50km race

I was able to catch the beginning of the 50km riders race off into the distance, with likely around 500 riders amongst them. After a half arsed warm up and complimentary espresso, it was staging time. I found a nice little spot on the grid.. just behind no other than current Marathon World Champion Christoph Sauser and alonside veteran mtb hardman, Urs Huber. I knew these guys wouldn’t be mucking around out here, in their own backyard in Switzerland and with the race forming an intergral part of the European marathon series.

One of many a tarmac climb, the picture doesn't do the crippling grade justice..

Boom, we’re off. The first 10km or so was nice and flat along the valley floor on mostly sealed roads, with the pace leveling off to what I found quite comfortable, sitting in the top 20 of the front bunch. Comfort levels decreased significantly though when the road suddenly pointed upwards for the first of many giant climbs. The tops guys just didn’t let up and drilled the tempo into the hill, splintering the group. After touring at low pace for 2 months and not racing for nearly 3, my legs had no idea what Lactate was anymore so were punished as I redlined myself to remain in the group. After bobbing on the back of the selection for a few hundred metres, I was off, alongside many other ambitious competitors.

Paining without even breaking a sweat yet..

So it was set to be a survival race after all, there was no ay I was in any shape to be competitive, alothough that wasn’t going to stop me from pushing, and that I did.. I worked like crazy on every climb, with my heart exploding by the top of each crest, only to get a little respite on the gravel road decents. Most of the area was dry but there was a good bog section that saw me lay it down into some mud, a still enjoyed a laugh at myself.

View back towards the lake

The scenery made all the climbing effort worthwhile though, with stunning landscapes and mountain rising from the greenery and lakes. The race bore on though and the climbs didn’t relent, they just became higher and steeper. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had cramps but it was starting to come on very strong, so I was in and out of periods of damage control. The key is to not stop as that gives the muscle a chance to cease movement and tense up, just drop a geat or two and spin! I continue to ride, though sometimes awkwardly and extremely painfully at times but eventually combining this with nutrition and fluid, you get the respite you are after.

Traversing one of the ridges

After landing into what appeard to be the final valley of the day, with stupidly steep climb to compliment it, I was running pretty low on fuel. Luckily for my sake, the Euros know how to stock well at the feed station. Plenty of gels, bars, bananas, fruits and fluids to get you through the next encounter. “Don’t fight the mountain” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsHMnjIk-o8)

Never ending mountains

Hike-a-bike time!

So this particular final climb gave a nice hike-a-bike at the top, just incase you had nearly buried your cramps. It was interesting to see how hard you still have to work to climb a few sets of stairs, carrying your bike and with 90km of climbing tormenting your legs. After eventually cresting I was happy to be over and ontot the descent back into Einsiedeln. Coming throught he town to the cheers of the locals and ring-ins for the race is always enjoyable and makes you give that little bit more.

I have no idea how me or the bike managed to stay so clean..?

So after what I would rate as the hardest marathon, yet alone one of the hardest races I have done to date, I still enjoyed the day. Disapointing result in finding out I was nearly 1:45 behind Chrisoph crossing theline first, but then I didn’t expect much after next to no intensity for 3 months. Some more single track other than the short ridge traverses would have been nice but all in all it was good to be back belting myself on the mtb, doing what I love.

Cheers,
Dave

Eurotrash touring.. London, UK -> Bremen, Germany – 1108km, 8 days

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So post TdF after catching up with some family and friends and getting some awsome riding in the Lakes district (Northern UK), I still needed some more touring adventure fix so I set off to ride to Germany, with very vaige plans and running off only a 1 : 1 000 000 map covering Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany..
This is where I went..
Fulham, London -> Dover, England (134km) -> Calais (ferry) -> Armentieres, France (126km) -> Zwalm, Belgium (92km) -> Ouddorp, Holland (178km) -> Haarlem, Netherlands (122km) -> Heerde, Netherlands (166km) -> Wartle, Germany (168km) -> Bremen, Germany (122km)
(168km and I only gained 57m!! now thats flat..)
http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=134107
luckily the most part (ESPECIALLY HOLLAND) is perfectly cycle friendly and ‘feitspads’ (cycle paths) run all roads in all directions, with their own signpostings with distances.  It makes cycle touring a breeze (oh and the complete flatness also helps..). Its no wonder the EVERYONE here owns a bike and frequently gets around on it. its easy, the network is unreal and the attitude and culture towards bikes is first class.
So I’m just going to reel off a little blat about each day..
Fulham, London -> Dover, England (134km)

Tower bridge, doing its thing, London

Olympic road race trial with the US bringing the peleton home, Fulham, London

Settling off fairly late in the arvo, I relied on the Bryton to map a route for me to follow getting me out of London and heading South-west towards Calais for a ferry the next day.
This function on the Bryton works well, only in that it tends to take as many back roads as possible, which in theory is good for a cyclist, ie less cars, traffic etc,  but doesn’t really work out to be any safer or faster. Faster is obvious due to the small, usually more undulating roads and safety drops as well seeing as though it sends you into 3 times as many intersections as you could have done just sticking to the main road. With some fine tuning the route planner would be a treat to work with, maybe for a Sunday ride out in the hills its a ncie function. Although, I was surprised in that it knew some small cycle paths linking different roads which was nice. On the flip side, it alsop knew some very rough, hardly roads, more 4wd trails linking small towns and roads. Made for some interesting manouvering with the loaded up tourer but fun enough nevertheless!

Some nice offroading for the tourer somewhere in the s-e UK countryside..

So anyway I eventually made it to Calais and down the nice little decent to the docks. There’s not a lot really down near the coast there, just the town with a heap of hotels for travellers and then the huge docks to facilitate cargo, passenger ferries and cruise ships. I wasn’t real keen on climbing back up and finding a place to camp so I managed to wander into a little run down yard and found an area that was good enough to pitch the tent in. It was in the front yard of the abandoned drug den so seemed like a safe enough spot! White cliff backdrop and only 200m from the ferry terminal, win!
Calais (ferry) -> Armentieres, France (126km)

White cliffs looking back towards Dover from the ferry.

So I found myself back in France, rolling along just as I was a few weeks ago, all be it in a very different area. The north here is quite flat so moving along can happen at a reasonable pace if your feeling good. Again using the Bryton navigation, I managed to follow some nice, lon straight country roads and along a nice river for a while, heading in a general direction South-east still.

Rolling along by the river

Pedalling into Hazelbroek I was keen enough to find a place to settle but other than private properties, it was just a public park so I kept on moving through, managing to find a long grassy strip in the next town. Nice and soft under the back!
Armentieres, France -> Zwalm, Belgium (92km)

What? No one camped here..

Armentieres, France -> Zwalm, Belgium (92km)
So the reason I was heading s-w and not along the coast (whihc I read isn’t too special anyway..) was that I wanted to visit a little place any self respecting cyclist should know..

ROUBAIX! Cutting my lap of the famous Velodrome.

Unfortunately my bike probably wasn’t up to the 258km jaunt from Paris along 50+km of cobbles, I managed to find a few section that got me in the mood enough. Riding around the drome it was surprising to see the condition it was in. The concrete was cracked and big holes opened up all along the inside line. I guess its let go a bit between the race in April and track season.
The place was erry quite with not a sole in sight, a stark contrast to what most are use to seeing it packed to brim, with thousands on their feet, cheering for their repective heros as they soldier into the glory of finishing a cycling monument.
Upon leaving Roubaix, I set out straight over the border into Belgium, where the cycle paths started. Ill rolled up to a hotel I had booked the day before and just as I got in the door, the giant Thunder storm hammered down rain across the region, with some good lightning flashes to keep people entertained. Only a small hotel, but with some interesting features including themed rooms, a few pet deer and geese and great service from the Dutch owner.

Terrible photo of my neat little Japanese inspired room.

The pets..

She was quiet, unlike the geese..

The Zwalm region here is very famous for another cycling manument, The Tour of Flanders, which passes through here every year a few weeks before Paris-Roubaix. It is a similar race, although the cobbles seem to occur on nice piches of hills, making them extremely difficult even for the Pros.
Zwalm, Belgium-> Ouddorp, Holland (178km)

A nicely modified Golf.

So after more cycle path action and finding out how big Belgium is (Not very..), I was out before I knew it and headin north into the Netherlands, towards the coast.. Andthe cycle paths got even better! Nice and smooth, divided lanes and complete signage with distances.

The Scouts peleton roaring past

Ferry (basically made for cyclists!) across a major inlet channel from the ocean.

So after getting the ferry across the first channel on the coast, the next three were a series of long dams joing a few islands scattered along the coast. They seemed to allow the water the water to flow in and out, but at a controllable rate.

Dam!!

Favourable winds along the coast made the going quite pleasant, and with the warm sun shining away it was a perfect afternoon for a rool along. Along these big islands are decent sized towns and touristy beaches. The beaches actually looked quite nice but I didn’t want to get salty before bed!

Beachside fietspad

It took me 50km to see my first (traditional) windmill, poor effort Holland. (Plenty of wind power up here though)

Boucing ym way along some more cobbled action in town.

So after stocking up in a town on the third island, I managed to stumble upon what seemed a near perfect camp site! Nice grass, by a nice river, quiet, with a bench and a bin.. sweet! And a sunset to match!

Tucking into my pasta, ham and carrot combo super-tourer fuel, delicious!

Paraglider into the sunset

Ouddorp, Holland -> Haarlem, Netherlands (122km)

The girls sitting around in the morning

Continuing on with the theme of awesome cycleways through Holland, I moved further north across another few Islands along the coast. The next section of cycle path (fietspad) rolled its way through the sandy dunes just inland from the coast.

Meandering through the dunes

It was again quite a nice day so the summer tourists were out along the beaches. Unlike Aussie beaches, here they tend to be extremely long, flat and not seperated by headlands or rocks.

Bikes at the beach

I continued to hear sirens and horns for about half an hour in the distance and started noticing people gathering by the roadside. I had no idea what was going on so figured I might as well wait and check it out. Soon enough an entourage of blinged out trucks rolled through in a big parade, blasting their horns the entire time.

The trucks..

Still have no idea what it was for but seemed like a good enough excuse to make a lot of noise and parade some big Diesel.

The ferry ride across another inlet channel was entertaining chatting to the Dutch bunch cyclists about my trip and them checking out my gear and test riding my loaded rig. They thought I was just mad.
I continued to stick to the coast and avoid Rotterdam city, but couldn’t really avoid Den Haag. After a supermarket lunch, I eventually worked my way out and rode up to Harlem where the camping options were looking slimmer as the suburbs became more dense. I managed to find a nearly covered section of bush in the city park in Harlem, which worked just fine!

Haarlem, Netherlands -> Heerde, Netherlands (166km)
After getting up and away the plan for today was to ride into and through Amsterdam, which turned out to be quite simple, much to my surprise.

Streets of Amsterdam

Parking lot, Amsterdam Central station

The city was still very quiet from the saturday night before so it was a crusy roll into and around the streets. I didn’t really have time to sit around and have coffee so I just jumped on the ferry across to the north of town and continued riding into the pleasant sun that was still shinning for the last few days.
I had not ridden on a road in days thanks mainly to the wildly extensive cycle path network here so it made getting along a breeze. The pathways also have signs along the way with distances to towns as well. Is awesome!!

Sun still shinning!

After working my way up to the giant dam, it was a quick stop for water at Maccas and then onforth. By giant dam, I mean its huge, some 30km in length! Two of these giant concrete ridges break up the huge inlet in the north of Holland, making for calm waters in the bay for water sports such as sailing.

The never ending dam (Camera colours failing..)

After two stops along the dam to rid myself of some slow flats, I eventually made it to the otherside and after soem long straight sections of pathways through the greenery, I was into the forrests of Holland.

The greenery!

And then I worked my way along the last 10km with road single track!

The winding tarmac!

I evetually made it to the nice little hotel in The Heerde forrest, where I decided on the all you can eat ribs option! A definite winner!

Ultimate touring dinner!

Heerde, Netherlands -> Wartle, Germany (168km)

So today took me back out of the Netherlands and into Germany for the first time. Back onto a mix of cycle paths and roads, I worked my way between dozens of small towns in the coutryside.

I eventuall called it a days after nearly 170km when I found a nice little forrest park on the entry to a larger town.

Camped amongst the pines.

Wartle, Germany -> Bremen, Germany (122km)
So today I moved along some more coutry roads, between towns and towards the North western German city of Bremen. I was to meet up again with my friend David from the Tour, and his little French kitten, Minou.

A well travelled tourer infront of his standout yellow house,

.. complete with a mounted Bianchi

So after having a few relaxing days in Bremen with David, rolling around, visiting the town and his 100 year old grandfather (!!), I attempted to leave and continue on my way until the bracket on my pannier finally completely failed. after attempted fabrication from another piece of metal, it was clear nothing was going to be strong enough to handle the weight that I was carrying again so unfortunately this was where my touring ended this time around. In hindsight though, I was very surprised it actually lasted that long.. It had begun to deflect from day one in France so I figured it would be kaputt soon enough but it hung in there for another month!
Either way a good trip, and the perfect way to see some awesome countryside, on the bike!!

Lakes district, UK – 114km – Skelwith Bridge -> Keswick

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waking up in and amongst it.

http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=114276
So after spending about 10 days in the Uk post Tour catching up with family and relaxing, I headed north on the train (first PT in Europe! Would have rode but time constraints and crazy Uk roads/drivers would have just made it hellish) to the Lakes district, up past Wales but not quite Scotland. What a spectacular place! I heard it was nice but this is stunning, everything glowing in green from the huge amounts of rain the region sees.

Greenery

I set out to follow some loops and roads through farmlands and into the mountains. The weather was nice, with high teens/low 20′s and sun for much of the day. I couldn’t get over the numbers of rocks used in the region.. All the paddocks are divided up by old rock fences, most about 4-5ft high, as well as lining most of the roads along the way! All the cool old houses are made of them as well! There must be millions of rocks and it would be interesting to know where they all came from and how long they’ve been there. (Ed. The stones are from the local rocky peaks and they’ve been here hundreds of years)
Stonewalls everywhere..
Anyway enough rock talk, I went riding. I set out to cover Wrynose pass first. After being told by my uncle that it was quite difficult the reality sunk in when I found the sign indicating 30% grades ahead! Ok I may be in a little bit of trouble here, hopefully its a generous 30..

it happened..

The road keeps rising..

Nope, pinches up to 30% with consistent sections over 20%.. riding this on a normal road bike would be tough, but on this loaded up and highly unstable tourer it was a death march.  Although the climb wasn’t long, I would have to say it was as hard as anything I did in Frnace following the tour, if not harder. My heart rate shot to 184bpm and I had to pull up just the once to avoid either toppling over or throwing up, of which I was on the limit of both. I was determined to finish it though and definitely wasn’t going to walk it (not that it was even possible in riding shoes and with the grade).

Deep grassy valley..

As always the views from the top made up for it though, With pristine grass hills divided by rocky escarpments and little rivers as far as you could see. Conrinuing on my way I passed through several cool little towns and over some very old bridges. After a coffee stop and refuel I was away again heading up through Coniston and Ambleside with more beautiful scenery to pass by some of the bigger lakes and waterways.

Lakes..

The roads continued to wind and undulate over the green hills with 15% pinches becoming a breeze after the earlier torture.

pint and map, hand in hand

After a local dark ale and a stunning lap around another lake out of Keswick, I’m camped down for the night in amongst the ferns near Derwent Water lake. Really nice spot, apart from the thousands of minute flying ants eating me alive!

Sunsetting over the lake

I have my fingers crossed for some more of the same brilliant weather and hope to explore more of this stunning area. I then plan to meet back up with my auntie and uncle to finally have some fat tire fun on an mtb for a few days!
Cheers,
Dave

Day 25 – 8km (on foot!) – Creteil -> Champs Elysee, Paris

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What a special day. Being in Paris to watch Cadel Evans become the first Australian to win the tour de France. I still couldn’t believe it last night and the reality hasn’t even set in. I’m sure back home everyone is behind him and loving the effect this will have on the sport. It’s a great achievement and no one deserved it more than Cadel.
My historic copy of L’Equipe to start the day
After picking up my official L’equipe (French sports newspaper) with Cadel on the front, we wandered off into Creteil to check out what we could see of the start line and teams. After plotting around behind the fences and seeing what we could of the buses and bikes laid out from each team it was time to get a little closer.

BMC straight into things with yellow on one of the team cars

Excited kid waiting for his hero to emerge from the team bus

With a quick scan for Gendarmeries, Time, Matt and myself each hopped over the fence and wandered into and around the teams gear, getting a close view of the bikes and buses. This was a restricted area for media and special guest so we tried to lie low and look half professional. Ha.

The wavy Pinerelos of Team Sky lined up for their last day of action

Gerro all smiles to finish another Tour

After checking out a few of the different teams we moved back to Cadel’s BMC team and waited for the riders to come out off the bus to the sign on. Hincapie and a few of the other members came out first to fuel the press frenzy before Cadel appeared from behind the bus curtain, comfortable and smug in his new yellow kit. After signing a few young fans gear he was swarmed by the mob of media and we wrestled our way in closer to get a shot and piece of the action. Matt gave him a nice pat on the back and said congrats which was cool.

Sammy Sanchez' bling'd up gold (current olympic champ) bike left unnattended while he visits the loo. hmm..

When he was shuffled on all of the other riders from each team started appearing around us and rolling up to the sign on. You name them, they rode right up next to us. Andy, Frank, O’Grady, Fabian and Jens each rolled past with other riders chatting away. It was good to say G’day to Simon Gerrans as he moved from the Sky bus too. After watching the Polka dot jersey of Sammy Sanchez roll back up for a loo break, it was funny to see how much more relaxed the riders are at the end of the tour now. He casually rested his gold bling adorned bike (Current Olympic gold medallist) against a bin and went into the portaloo, just leaving it sitting there in front of us. It was good to get a picture with him as I thought he rode a great race after some early bad luck. (NB> picture to come off Tim’s camera)
More of the dozens of riders kept rolling past occasionally stopping for photos and signatures towards the sign on and we moved on up to see if we could get in anywhere. No such chance really, the start line was packed and people were everywhere. Luckily we had already had our close look in and were content with what we saw in and amongst the teams.

Jens rolling to the start with Richie

Having some fun in the street back on the fat tires!

We headed back to the van and drove into Paris to quickly find a spot only to figure out it was a good 4km walk from the corner of the Champ Elysee circuit. We watched the riders fly by in the bunch and then kept walking up towards the loop. The stalls of books and posters along with the many famous sights by the river made the walk a little slower but had some interesting stuff to check out.
Bardso driving a hard bargain

Notre Dame

Celebratory brews for Cadel

We passed Notre Dame and the Louvre museum and could see the Eifel tower top in the distance. It was Paris that’s for sure. After finally getting to the corner of the circuit it was packed, as expected and we saw then breakaway and peloton fly by. After figuring we weren’t going to see much from here we headed back in search of a pub to catch the last lap action on, only to find one just after the race had finished.
We sat down for a beer and watched the replays of the final lap. As expected it was a textbook lead out and delivery for HTC shooting Cav to the line by a bike length with pure speed and strength. We watched the official ceremony of the jerseys and press conference after the stage on the tv here too.
After a long, exciting and adventurous journey following the Tour de France it has all come to an end today. It has been a special trip and something I will never forget. I have met some awesome people along the way and experienced some amazing things. The race result couldn’t have been better with our man Cadel taking home top honour in a stunning display of cycling performance and determination. I still can’t believe I’m here for it!
I’m currently camped down in Calais ready to go through the tunnel tomorrow and into the UK for some R and R to visit family and friends. I will post a complete wrap up and reflections post in a few days on the Tour when I get my head together properly.
Cheers,
Dave

Day 25 – 0km!! – Grenoble -> Paris

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I just realised this is my first day off the bike since being here. It sure does feel weird not having the legs atleast turned over at some stage but I think I deserve a little break by now! It would have been good to ride the TT course but it was blocked off from fairly eafrly in the morning.
After the rain had settled I got up to find we had been camped outside of a primary school haha :-/. This could have been bad had it not been a Saturday. Definitely would have looked sus with the van and tent. We parked the car a little closer to town and worked our way in on foot into Grenoble to check out the sights and sounds in and around the ITT city. The stage set up was very spread out and we tried to find the teams area hopeful of getting in close and having a look at the gear and riders.
After eventually finding where they were coming from it was pretty secure and entry was not on so we headed back through to the course. On our way over though Cav rolled out along the gravel right in front of us, dressed in his sprinters green, about to make his way around the 42.5km circuit. It was good to see him up close and just as soon as he left the BMC team car came rolling in closely followed by Cadel on his TT bike after a morning recon of the course and warm up. Both happened too quick for pics sorry.
We worked our way back to the course and set up in front of the big screen, 200m from the finish line. We watched the early riders work their way around the course and down the final straight, clearly able to tell the ones out there having a good crack at it and the ones just happy to have finished this epic race. Richie Porte rode an exceptional TT taking 1st position for a while, ahead of ITT superstar Fabian Cancellara.

Gap down to 1 second!

It was now down to the business end of the GC (General classification) riders after they had started in reverse order. The crowds had steadily built up and was now bulging with fans from all across the world including plenty of Luxembourgers and Aussies.

Crowd action

Thats the Speed machine Cadel in the bottom corner, top photography I know..

The showdown was on and after Cadel’s first time check it was clear he was riding his heart out. An exciting 30 minutes followed with the gap ever increasing and Cadel eventually becoming the virtual Yellow jersey on the road. He smashed the course, ending up only 10 seconds of the blistering (and stage winning) pace of the German Tony Martin. But most importantly was the gap to Andy Schleck.. 2’04!!!! What a ride!
A few people gathered for the pres..

A sleepy Grenoble

After the high that was seeing Cadel smashing it down the finishing straight and a quick bye to David and George, we made our way down amongst the masses to the presentation area. It was jam packed and we couldn’t really see anything so I sighted a rooftop ledge a few people had climbed out onto from the building. After a dangerous little urban climb up I made it on and got Tim to pass me his nice SLR to get some snaps of the winners for day, most importantly being Cadel of course!!
(Will get some decent shots up soon when I get them off Tim)
It was extremely special to see him up there accepting his yellow jersey knowing that he has finally done it and deserves all the accolades for an outstanding performance. The atmosphere was great with the Aussies scatted in and amongst the crowd. After watching the SBS presenters embrace in shear happiness for the determined Aussies, we got a few waves and camera action waiting for Cadel to possibly come out to the public. He didn’t show but I’m sure he had a fair few more important things to attend to!

Mike T was pretty happy with the result..

The Aussie fans waiting for something to happen..

The long drive 500kms up to Paris was made easy by the super speedy freeways of France, thought the 42 Euro’s in tolls along the way wasn’t real good for the hip pocket! I’m now camped at a truck stop hoping to see some of the riders in Creteil before their departure for the celebration stage.

Passing the sobbing Schlecks on the drive to Paris

It still hasn’t set in how special this is for cycling in Australia and Cadel but I’m sure everyone back home is jumping for joy at our first Tour de France victory in history. What a great time to be at the race amongst it!
Still having a ball,
Dave

Day 24 – 34km – Alpe d Huez -> Alpe d Huez

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After rolling out bed atop the mountain to nice clear skies again, I began my descent down the Alpe d Huez to meet Rowan at the KOM banner. I thought the Galibier was busy yesterday..

Here we are..

Some of the hundreds of Dutch that lined the course. Continuing on after the all night party last night

10’s of thousands of cyclists were grinding and churning their way up the mountain as I worked my way down. Cars, camper vans and tents were precariously staggered all over the edges of the steep climb and people lined every inch of the 13.8km stretch of road. An amazing sight but made for a slow and dangerous descent (hence the lack of photos sorry)

The Dutch corner was as loud and giant party as ever with music blaring, beers flowing and orange covering everything including the people. Oh and did I mention the views? Breathtaking.

Looking back across the valley..

1100m vertical above that town. A few of the famous 21 turns on the side as well

The climb works its way up the road along the famous 21 turns from the small town below to the ski resort of Alpe d Huez. It is fairly steep and so looking down from 1100m into the valley and against the rocks on the other side was stunning.

I chatted to Rowan for a few minutes then left him to grind his way up with the panniers on. I left mine in the van at the top (soft I know, but working through that crowd was bad enough without them). I made my way up at a reasonable pace, only stopping a few times for photos and in the traffic. I made it to 1km to go and then was stopped behind the 000’s of other cyclists jam packing the upper section of the track. I did up to here in 1:02. Lance conquered the climb in 2001 in 35’10.. I[m only a few minutes off the pace! After riding my way along the scenic road around into the back of the town I sat down for lunch with Tim and Matt at a (surprisingly) quiet cafe in the back of town.

After meeting back up with Rowan at the big screen, we settled into watch the riders work their way over the Col de Telegraphe and Galibier again before the huge descent to the base of today’s show down on Alpe d Huez. It was a tense few hours watching Cadel work so hard and pull back every time someone rode away.

Cadel matching the Leopard super team on the big screen

A heroic Pier Rolland coming in to the final 200m to take not only a historic victory atop the Alpe but also the best Young riders White jersey. A massive achievement for someone nobody knew and who had worked tirelessly for his team leader in Voeckler for 3 weeks.

Jens. enough said.

The huge headed by Cavendish

Once the last climb was underway the crowd was all on their feet watching as the riders screamed up the long and steep rise to the finish. It was great to see the young EuropeCar rider Pier Rolland take the stage ahead of two spectacular climbers in Contador and Sanchez. He rode an awesome stage and has been an exception worker for the former (after today) yellow jersey wearer of Thomas Voeckler. He has etched his name in Tour history in winning atop the famous climb and received the White jerseys as best young rider overall for his efforts.

Just having a LOOK at somg bling in the carpark

After waiting out in a bar to let the crowds and cars descending the mountain clear, we set out in the van to drive down when only a few corners down we were stopped in the gridlock still.. this was not looking good but luckily the gps found another rad coming down and we wound our way down that. The lights from the cars on the mountain and through the town in the jam made for an awesome scene, especially since we wern’t sitting in it.

Once we had merged with the rest of the pack and moved through some slow going sections we eventually made it to Grenoble (for the Individual time trial tomorrow) fairly late so needed somewhere to set up camp. After finally finding a place with grass it was good enough so I set up the tent and layed down ready for as big day tomorrow.

It’s a huge ask to pull back 57 seconds for Cadel even if the Schlecks time trial isn’t their strongest field but I’m confident he will leave everything he has out there on that loop tomorrow. C’mon boy!

Cheers,

Dave

Day 23 – 69km – Briancon -> Col de Galibier, Serre Chevalier (return)

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Woo, happy birthday to me!

Birthday chips fit perfectly in the spare bottle cage

As a nice gift to myself today I set out to climb the 23km
Col de Galibier. Although not a real steep gradient, averaging just over 5%,
the length makes it a Hors Category ascent. Bardso and Matt had managed to hire
some roadies so joined me for the trip.

Cruising along the paceline towards Galibier with Bardso (giant backpack)

Bardso climbing with Matt all smiles out back

Birthday lugging with happy Matt out back again

Tunnel action up the Galibier

Cloud peeling off the snow capped mountains

The snaking road up the Galibier

We took it at a pretty steady pace and worked our way up
over 2500m, only stopping for a few photos and another run into David. We had
to diverge around the section near the Col de Loretet along a goat track and
paddock for some cyclocross, which was hard work with the panniers! The steep
grass hill on the other side to re-join the road was even harder though,
pushing the heavy rig up a 23% slippery hill in cleats!

Bike lock up

Finally at the snow!

Hundreds of thousands of people packed the climb all the way
up the winding pass. There were riders, walkers, Campers, old and young
everywhere, an enourmous turn out, as you would expect on such a big day in
perfect weather. Our ascent was stopped though by the Gendermies 2km from the
summit so we locked the bikes up and trekked up on foot the rest.

The final winding 2km

The views were stunning. With the snow-capped mountains in
the distance and the sun shining on the scarce but very green valley, the
scenes were picturesque. It began sleeting so we worked our way back down to
the bikes and descended down another 4km to a spot we had scoped on the way up.
It looked right  over the giant valley and down to the road snaking its way up. This was a great spot to watch the race wind its way up and we also caught up with another two Aussies from Bondi.

A couple of hundred campers and the team buses parked on the course. This parking lot continues up the whole mountain

We all sat and lapped up the Alpine sunlight for a few hours
before the Caravane arrived with its usual hype.
The big yellow TT dude at the head of the Caravane
The race came fairly late but sure enough was moving along at a very fast pace considering the climb. With the assistance of Bardso’s giant lense we could make out a Leopard rider and
Astana rider in a break, well ahead of anyone else. By the time they got to us,
much to the delight of the Luxembourgers near us, Andy Schleck had broken away
and continued to charge on up the Col. This was bad news for Cadel as we could
only just see him and the Yellow jersey group coming up a few kms down still.

Not a bad view for a toilet break!

Whats everyone looking at, the awesome mountains that'a way --->

They came up quick though and we were right in their faces
shouting encouragement as they chased hard.

Another ordinary shot of an extraordinary rider

It was great to be so close to the riders and see them parting the crowd of people all the way along the road. After a few bunches and then many lone riders still working their way up, the
grupetto (last group on the road) spun its way past us, containing most of the
domestiques and sprinters. These riders are still pushing though, working
themselves hard to make the time cut off and not be eliminated from the race.

A lone rider grinding away

HTC and Leopard leading the gruppetto home some 23 minutes later..

After the last remaining team cars wound their way up slowly
we set off with the crowd down the mountain. The first few kms were packed with
thousands of walkers and riders so progress was slow. After this though the
crowd dispersed and thousands of cyclists descended back down the road to
Briancon. It was a fast and flowing descent and we managed to pass plenty of
other riders taking it easy down spectacular piece of tarmac.
We reached where Bardso had parked the car and after seeing
the traffic up near the Col, decided to wait it out at maccas for some Wifi.
After an hour or so we drove up to check the pass and found at least 10kms of
gridlock traffic over the pass! No chance of getting through anytime soon so
stopped in at a bar for another few hours into the night. Our 2nd
attempt was more successful and we managed to drive over the minor Col and
descend back down into the valley to the base of Alp du Huez. After a drunken
crowd filled drive to the top were now camped up here for another day of big
mountain racing and I hope too meet up with Rowan again after his huge few
days.
All in all not a bad way to spend my 22nd
birthday at 2200m, in the French Alps watching the Tour de France! =). First
Hors Category climb and highest I have been at 2645m.
Cheers,
Dave