TDU - Day 1

3am get-ups are always rather harsh but they tend to be a common occurance when it comes to bike trips away, although this time it was more the infrequient Auckland – Adelaide flights which dictated it.

After a some what bumpy 4 ½ flight it was great to be met by Leigh at the airport and although we inially only had a short time to catch up before he headed into work. It was still nice to be dropped off at their house in Bridgewater (North Eastern hills).

This gave me a good opportuntity to unpack the bike and check that it was all in order, not like Thor Hushovd's bike (Team Credit Agricole) only a few days earlier. Then I settled into feeling at home in their nice house “Also known as "Braewood Cottage”.

Later afternoon when Leigh returned we headed into the CBD so I could have a look around the “Tour Village” to see what was hot or not and after all it was a perfict opportunity to get to know “Oppy” (see image) the TDU kangaroo masgot.

This “Village” concept is very unusal for professional cycling tours, you wouldn’t ever see it in place at the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia as they’re more concerned with secrecy and mistrey in terms of who has the fastest bike or the lastest frame aerodynamics. This tour was more about allowing the public to come in & see the team machanics clean, tune and later store the bikes for the next days stage, right in front of their eyes. I think it gave Leigh (and the public) a real insight into what pro bike racing is all about.

So after a a considerably time of me foming at the mouth and boring Leigh senseless with the technical aspects of each teams bikes, Kylie arrived from work as she’d been based at a clinic not far away.

As Kylie was far less interested (I mean who wouldn’t blame her) we left the villiage and headed to the south beach for a sunset dinner. Some might go so far as calling it romantic but for three! I’m not so sure. Still it was a beautifully sunny and warm night so it was a good choice of Leigh & Kylie to take me there and close the first day with this great setting.