Total KM's Ridden: 267km
Pre Ride Weight: 79.2kg
Post Ride Weight: No idea as they forgot the scales but I did go through 9.5 drink bottles!!
I'm glad to say that it wasn't trucks waking me up this morning, but it wasn't my alarm either!! Knowing that it was forecast to be 40c and windy I started on the heavy fluid intake during the evening last night so when I did awake busting for the loo I could have almost filled my own swimming pool!! I then decided to get up a touch early making sure I was well organised in time, and started with a 600ml bottle of water.
I had a big bowl of museli with pear and banana for breakfast plus my glass of pineapple juice, then finished getting organised before heading down for the team briefing. We collected our bikes where we saw that we now had numbers on them, just like the pro's, and mine was Number 1!!! (For the pro's this means that you are the team leader for that Tour so I was very honoured to get it!!)
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| Just About To Head Off On Stage 1 |
We loaded up the cars, had our briefing, then headed off with our police escort and green light continuation all through the City, and through North Adelaide to the official start line in Prospect where we briefly stopped so those that wanted to could turn on their bike computers. However all the measurements for the stage are after race neutral (where the bikes stay behind the Director's car until he waves a flag and the racing actually begins, in this case was 8.1kms - so because I had a 'cheat sheet' on my bike, I started my bike computer from here (but Strava from leaving the Tour Village).
The 'cheat sheet' is just a brief overview of that day's stage which I attach to the top tube of the bike with blu tac. It lets us know then the King of The Mountain (KOM) is, the sprint points (which we in the BCT don't contest), when the feed station is, and how long the stage is etc.
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| The 'Cheat Sheet' |
However, this is my first time using a cheat sheet and what I didn't think about was the fact that they are laminated, have sharp corners, and stick over the edge of the top tube. Each time I got out of the saddle to climb or stretch the legs I would scrape the side of my leg!! Needless to say all the others will be getting the corners trimmed from now on!!
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| Some Of The Many Scrapes On My Leg From The Cheat Sheet |
As mentioned, the forecast for today was 40c and windy so my plan for the day was to sit at the back, not contest the King of the Mountain (KOM), spin the legs up all the climmbs, and generally save myself as much as I could. Well for the first time in history, I actually followed my plan exactly!!
Today's ride from Prospect took us up the first KOM which was on Lower North East Road, it was gradual, but nothing too steep or difficult. A few of the riders did contest, but as I was way down the back I didn't see what happened. We stopped at the top where our team cars were waiting for us with drinks and a re-stock of gels etc.
We continued on and made our way into Kersbrook, Williamstown, then Lyndoch where the the three loops which we had to do began. We had a head wind for half of it, but a tail wind for the other half which included the climbs so overall it worked out ok.
The support we received from people along the sidelines was nothing short of amazing, all of them clapping and cheering! We finally made it to the finishing straight where the crowd had really built up and it was a great feeling to cross the finish line all together as a team.
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| At The Finish In Front Of The BCT Support Car |
We had lunch, watched the pro's come in where once again Caleb Ewan from Team Orica GreenEDGE won by a goo margin, then loaded up the bikes and drove back to the Tour Village. For me it was then a very quick shower before heading to Bade's room for my much needed massage!
We had a team briefing at 6.30pm after which was free time so the family came in and met me before going out to dinner.
Overall today's stage was a great one to begin with. It was very scenic, not too difficult as far as the hills go, some good downhills where we could take a break, and the pace we travelled at meant that we weren't having to bust our gut either. The heat and wind did take it's toll and fatigued us all, however we kept the fluids up and made it to the end!
Tomorrow:
An even earlier start at 4am and riding from Unley to Stirling - 132km. We expect to finish in Stirling around 11am, but have to do 5 difficult circuits beforehand!!
Crap Pro's have To Put Up With:
Headwinds!!
