Tour Down Under Day 1 Tuesday

So it was an early start up at 5am to get on the plane by 7am. So after a taxi ride to my base at the Rogers house in Balhannah, I was on the bike at 10am to head over to the KOM point at Checkers Hill. I had my google maps directions to get there.

I was taking it relatively easy taking in the scenery on the way to Checkers Hill



All went well and I arrived in heaps of time. So After climbing up the hill from the east I rode back down and came up from the west which is the way the peleton would come.

Coming up to the KOM at Checkers Hill

There was a three man break that had got away from the main bunch. There were heaps of spectators congregating at the KOM point.

And LOTS of bikes, including an 09 F1

A few $1000 worth of bike up against that tree

The riders went past and of course it was just a blur, and I didn't really spot anyone except Robbie McEwen who was at the tail of the main bunch. They did go over the top of the climb fast as the bunch was chasing down the break.



As soon as the riders had gone past there was a mad rush to get to of the hill and to the next point you were headed too.

I needed water so I headed the way the riders had come from. I was aiming to cover about 35km in about 2 hours and I would make it to the finish before the riders at Mawson Lakes.

So after a refuel I was off with about 30 other riders heading where I thought was the finish.

First mistake.

I came to a fork in the road and could have gone left or right.I headed left and down gorge road which was a great descent but took me too far south. Second mistake. So after getting some more directions and then getting lost again third mistake, and getting more directions and yes getting lost again fourth mistake, I made it to Mawson Lakes to see this............


So after missing the finish I now had 40 kms to travel to get back to Balhannah. It had been 35 deg all day and I was hot and ready to get off the bike and in the pool.

So I got the Google maps out again and was off, all was going well until I missed a turnoff, fifth mistake, so I backtracked and headed up Coach Rd which was a tough climb when you have done a 100km in 35 deg. Lets just say I was less than impressed when I got to the top and Google maps said turn left but it was a dead end. Sixth mistake, trusting Google maps.

It was a good view of the city on the way up.

So now it was back down and up Greenhill Rd for the climb back to Balhannah.

I was surprised to still see a smile here in this photo, I guess it was because I finally knew where I was and how to get home.

So my first day watching a professional road bike race was over, I had ridden over 120kms spent 8 hours outside in 35deg heat and seen the riders once for all of 10 seconds. And I still thought it was great.