Tour Down UNder Adelaide 2007

stew1236

Just returned from this year Tour Down Under in Adelaide
Sth Australia. Mixed bag of weather , some good racing ,:D
Cheers Stewie.
http://ozpics.smugmug.com/gallery/2380474#124749707

chuckice

stew1236 wrote:

Just returned from this year Tour Down Under in Adelaide
Sth Australia. Mixed bag of weather , some good racing ,:D
Cheers Stewie.
http://ozpics.smugmug.com/gallery/2380474#124749707

Some nice caps, thanks!

DoctorIt

nice ones stewie - saw more than a few famous faces

Kenny

stew1236 wrote:

Just returned from this year Tour Down Under in Adelaide
Sth Australia. Mixed bag of weather , some good racing ,:D
Cheers Stewie.
http://ozpics.smugmug.com/gallery/2380474#124749707

Got some good shots there Stewie... Were you on the back of one of the Photo Bikes? Some of the angles look like you were?

The weather was pretty ordinary on Friday and Saturday... I got drowned on Friday :cry Oh well... at least it wasn't 40+ degrees (Celsius) each day like it was last year!

Cheers,
Ken

stew1236

Kenny wrote:

Got some good shots there Stewie... Were you on the back of one of the Photo Bikes? Some of the angles look like you were?

The weather was pretty ordinary on Friday and Saturday... I got drowned on Friday :cry Oh well... at least it wasn't 40+ degrees (Celsius) each day like it was last year!

Cheers,
Ken

Hi Kenny , No I was like you a barrier watcher , the weather and racing was very ordinary , I will not be going back after four years of TDU.
Sad , but they have got to entertain !
cheers Stewie

Kenny

stew1236 wrote:

Hi Kenny , No I was like you a barrier watcher , the weather and racing was very ordinary , I will not be going back after four years of TDU.
Sad , but they have got to entertain !
cheers Stewie

I think that is one of the problems with the Tour... if you're standing waiting and watching, nothing much happens... then woosh! They've been and gone. The exceptions are the Tour Classic on Tuesday night, the three laps around Willunga, Aldinga, McLaren Vale and then the final stage on Sunday around the closed street circuit in Adelaide. There really doesn't seem to be much happening around the event, which is sad, because there is so much they *could* do at the start/finish of each stage.

We'll see what happens if it becomes a "Pro" tour, but I think that is both good and bad in itself. Oh well...

Cheers,
Ken

DoctorIt

Kenny wrote:

I think that is one of the problems with the Tour... if you're standing waiting and watching, nothing much happens... then woosh! They've been and gone. The exceptions are the Tour Classic on Tuesday night, the three laps around Willunga, Aldinga, McLaren Vale and then the final stage on Sunday around the closed street circuit in Adelaide. There really doesn't seem to be much happening around the event, which is sad, because there is so much they *could* do at the start/finish of each stage.

We'll see what happens if it becomes a "Pro" tour, but I think that is both good and bad in itself. Oh well...

Cheers,
Ken

Interesting to hear this.

As I'm sure all of here know, people stand on the road sides at the Tour of France and Spain for days - just to see the riders woosh by, once! Besides having the absolute gods of the sport, what do they do that other tours don't. It's a good question... one that many US tours struggle with as well. Maybe its just the times. The Tour du Pont used to be one of the biggest races, now, the Tour of Georgia is only so-so.

Does the TDU have the sponsor "train" that comes through first and throws little trinkets to the crowds? Don't know if thats enough, but I have several friends with neat little souvenirs from standing on the sides of the TDF.

stew1236

DoctorIt wrote:

Interesting to hear this.

As I'm sure all of here know, people stand on the road sides at the Tour of France and Spain for days - just to see the riders woosh by, once! Besides having the absolute gods of the sport, what do they do that other tours don't. It's a good question... one that many US tours struggle with as well. Maybe its just the times. The Tour du Pont used to be one of the biggest races, now, the Tour of Georgia is only so-so.

Does the TDU have the sponsor "train" that comes through first and throws little trinkets to the crowds? Don't know if thats enough, but I have several friends with neat little souvenirs from standing on the sides of the TDF.

Yes Eric thay do have a sponsor train that goes before the race.
However two stages , Tanunda 152km the bunch was 24mins 35 sec behind
and Hahndorf 150km 17mins 19sec behind . Both times the riders came past in pairs chatting like a club run . At best they could look like there racing .
I do not think Pro Tour status will be given to this race ever.

Cheers Stewie

Kenny

stew1236 wrote:

Yes Eric thay do have a sponsor train that goes before the race.
However two stages , Tanunda 152km the bunch was 24mins 35 sec behind
and Hahndorf 150km 17mins 19sec behind . Both times the riders came past in pairs chatting like a club run . At best they could look like there racing .
I do not think Pro Tour status will be given to this race ever.

Cheers Stewie

You're right Stewie... I was lucky enough to be leading them over the entire event (riding one of these) ...



I have to say that in a few places we really had to be on the lookout for them... they *did* race and there were a number of break-aways... however, I also have to say that for a *lot* of the time, they seemed to be out for a bit of a country scenic ride. The pelaton really seemed to be on a slow train to nowhere on a couple of the days. Maybe they need more incentive to race... like being made to ride back to Adelaide from their finish point if they don't perform during the race :snore

Cheers,
Ken

DoctorIt

Nice ride Ken!

I've never raced in a big tour, but I've done enough road races to know you can't fly the whole time. Even guys in the TDF have sections where they "take a break", it's expected on really long stages of a multi-stage race. Maybe the TDF coaches are in better contact with the race organizers, and "suggest" to the riders where to race and where to rest to keep all the fans and sponsors happy?

ian408

There's nothing like an RT for this kind of business. For the first time
in several years, I'll be on my GT for my next gig--that's gonna be
interesting

gus

ian408 wrote:

There's nothing like an RT for this kind of business. For the first time
in several years, I'll be on my GT for my next gig--that's gonna be
interesting

The queensland coppers recently got new RT 1200's. They look great.

Kenny

gus wrote:

The queensland coppers recently got new RT 1200's. They look great.

Hey there Gus!

We've got 12 of the 1200's now I believe... they're in the workshop being fitted out. The first one should roll out at the end of February... I just got a new 1150 that I've only put 25000 K's on so far, so I've got at least another 70000 to go before I get the "upgrade"

Cheers,
Ken

ian408

Kenny wrote:

Hey there Gus!

We've got 12 of the 1200's now I believe... they're in the workshop being fitted out. The first one should roll out at the end of February... I just got a new 1150 that I've only put 25000 K's on so far, so I've got at least another 70000 to go before I get the "upgrade"

Cheers,
Ken

Go down to the dealer and take that K1200GT for a ride...just don't twist
the throttle like you would on an R bike

Kenny

ian408 wrote:

Go down to the dealer and take that K1200GT for a ride...just don't twist
the throttle like you would on an R bike

I hear ya!!

We used to have K series bikes before (K100 and K1100)... my own personal bike (before I recently became "bikeless") was a Yamaha FJR1300... man I miss that beasty The Yammie used to get the front wheel up reeaall easy... the R series is a bit harder

Cheers,
Ken