The Killer: Ride to Stirling

When you got no car, the bike's the next best transport but defintely not on a 40c day.
For people who remember Glen Osmond and the freeway up to Mount Lofty and then Stirling, basically that was where the race was gonna be ending that day. So we RODE up it and boy, I almost died when I got there. Unlike rolling hills whereby there is up and downs, its just up, up and more up, no chance for you to catch your breath.

The Peloton rolling past.
Skoda, the official Tour cars. Rather than the cars, the point I was trying to make was that those people driving them must all by qualified to drive in car rallies. The corners they take; lets just say I would stay ON the footpath.

What is priceless: On the way back, I had the Astana, BMC, French Team riders flying past me back to the city. I was coasting down from Stirling at 60-70km/hr holding on to dear life (and the brakes) and these guys are just zooming past me!
Now I know why bike riders break collarbones so easily, even a guy on a motorbike has more padding than me!

Eye Candy

Team Sky's Chris Sutton winning the last day of the race in the heart of Adelaide.

The new Pinarello Dogma 60.1 running Shimano's Di2. And the Prototype C50.
Spesh's new Tarmac SL3.

Feels like home...

Its hard to describe but when you've been away from Adelaide for that long, it somehow still feels like you're coming back home. Maybe its cos my good friend and hsemate for 4 years is still there. Or maybe its cos you look down a street or turn your head and you can tell exactly (or most of the time) whats round the corner, where are the good cafes.
Mate, Mihkel and me after touching down in the early hours of the morning having breaky in the city.
Adiemus and wife, Debbie. Stayed a few days at their newly built house in Adelaide.

Occupation Hazard: I pry into people's pantry when they are not looking. I wake up pretty early even without the alarm clock and was roaming through the house. (Cup-a-soups; what I like to refer to as just a bigger packet of salt sachet)
Trust me, Cat. I go through yours as well ;)
Well, if I'm going through your pantry, it also means I consider you a pretty close friend.
Team cars packed in Victoria Square, near the central markets
Nothing has changed too much. KY CHow is still there, but changed location, still on Gouger. Went to some of the cafes on King William street. Had lunch at Hong Fatt.
Glenlg, unfortunately is now lined with high rise apartments.

Want vs Need

Want: Subura Forester or Mitsubishi Outlander

Need: Corolla or Honda City

Price: $30-32k (want) vs $21-23k (Need)

Engine: 2.4L vs 1.5-1.8L

Fuel/100km: 9-9.5L vs 6.5-7.5L

I probably only need the 'want' car 20% of the time, if folks visit or I'm going biking/camping.

The 'need' car would probably suffice for 80% of my time.

I'm a logical person but when I pose the Qs to my hsemate, the reply was:

" you only live once.."

Its a write off

Here's a Christmas Lunch that the whole office is not gonna forget anytime soon.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/14/2770593.htm

Cyclone Lawrance was just passing through the gulf of Darwin but it brought along with it 250+mm of rain in 1 day (which is what we might have gotten in a month). Iwas having Christmas Lunch at the Vibe Hotel at the waterfront but next thing I know, the cars flash flooded.

I'm insured with AAMi but unfortunately, people down South just have no clues.

Me: I'd like to put in a claim for my vehicle that got flooded in a storm

AAMI: Oh, thats no good, was it raining

Me: Yes, it was (We've just got a freaking cyclone pass through)

AAMI: Were you trying to drive through it?

The hardest thing about the episode was that whenever a big 4WD decides to drive past, the wakes it creates from the water was just bobbing and hitting the semi floating cars against the kerb.

A friends Hyundai (parked behind me) and another driving a Mitsubishi Magna was written off straight away as the engine could not even start. But I was able to start and actually drive it off. So if you want a reliable car, I cannot recommend Toyota more than enough.

The Airbags electronics are located near the central console so even if I was able to drive off, the airbag circuit had actually been short-circuited. Most insurance will write it off as its too hard to repair electronics and its a safety issue. If I was to be involved in a accident, there is always the likelyhood that it will not deploy.

So here I am off to look for another car...

Gravity 12hr MTB race (Melbourne)

Went down to Melbourne's Apline regions for the annual Garvity 12hr bike race. Basically, the aim of the race is to complete the most number of laps within the 12hrs. I teamed up with a mate; Mihkel and entered as male pair.
Melbournians called it a heatwave that weekend, while me and Mihkel who flew down from Darwin called it great weather.

The day was fairly hot and dry but the nights were still freezing. Above; the guys discussing the pros/cons of hardtail vs a full suspension bike. I'm crap at the downhill sections but always catch up at the uphills.Pre race startThe fairies were out. He was in that outfit with the time trial helmut for most of the whole day!Mihkel before going out on his nightlap.

I was fine the whole day until my nightlap where I took a dive at one of the ditches. Could not see my bike line or path to take as I was going down. Next thing I know, I'm sprawling on the gravel. Just took some bark off the right knee cap.

Some facts:

600+ participants, 250+ teams; 4 male and female cubicles (equates to long q's at the toilet in the morning)

How I fared:

Team name: Mixed Nuts; 148th out of the 250+ teams and rank 19 within the male pair category.

So Mike, I was doing some free promotion with the Shimano Jersey, any luck for me on sponsorship?

Sydney 'Work' Trip

I think the guys still didnt believe I was in Sydney for a work trip.

Anyway, I was not in the best of shapes that night. The drug company wanted to fly me in overnight and expected me to attend a full day conference on Saturday and Sunday. I was also watching the Tour De France (live) in the night and survived with a few short blacks the next day.

There arnt many tickets/flights from Darwin so I flew via Adelaide to go Sydney. But that meant I could be there the night before. I even managed to catch up with an old friend/hsemate (Adiemus and Debbie) at the Adelaide Airport.
Siew was taking the pics but she was there as well. Am glad Serene could make it with Ed and Charlotte. Am sure Serene has more picts and things to blog about but perhaps getting to the computer is not so easy these days ;)