This is Cool x Infinity!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by norbs

Thanks to Shane Stokes for the heads up on Twitter. I wish we could see this for all races. I also wish my gears where as positive as that guys. 🙂

You can see it in all its full screen brilliance here.

Posted in General Cycling Info | Tagged , | Comments Off on This is Cool x Infinity!

Riding in Hay – Emus, Eagles and Ewww.

Posted on January 31, 2013 by norbs

Just a quick ride report from a 36km spin I did at Hay on Monday afternoon.

I knew the Hay Plains were flat, but 17m of climbing in 36kms is probably a record for me. It was quite hot, and I had been driving for 8 hours, so I just wanted a short blast to get the body moving. Heading west on the road to Maude, I was going into a fairly stiff breeze. On the way out I was traveling for a short time on a road I thought deserved a photo.

I then rode for a while, past the Murrumbigee River to the South and to a spot with a sign as seen below.

I was getting low on water, and what was left was getting very warm, so with the wind in my back, I set off on the return journey.

Sitting on a nice speed, I looked out to the left and saw 2 emus running along parallel to me. I was doing nearly 40kph and they didn’t seem to be struggling to keep up. I did consider stopping for a photo, but realised they would have been specks in the distance.

I pushed on. At one point I looked over my shoulder to see if I could see any cars coming up behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted an eagle just over my right shoulder. I looked again and he seemed to be following me. It was a very big bird, maybe a wedge tail. He was just gliding along behind me.

Whilst watching him, I reached into my back pocket for a Honey Shotz, a small portion of honey, to give me a lift. Whilst watching the eagle, I cracked it in half and squirted the honey down my throat. There was a few milliseconds of confusion, then the disgusting taste kicked in. I looked at the small package in my hand. Sunscreen! Holy melanoma Batman! I had a mouth full of sunscreen. Now, before you all jump up and down calling me a fool, check out this photo. (Edit : Also, I didnt realise I had grabbed the sunscreen, I thought I had 3 satchels of Honey)

There is a stuck match between them in size.

A coughing/vomitting fit ensued. Rinsing my mouth out with warm grape flavoured water didn’t help a great deal. I can still taste it 4 days later.

I carried on, the eagle still tailing me. About 4kms from town, I looked over my left shoulder just in time to see the eagle spearing towards the ground like a missile. I will admit, I rode off the road and into the gravel watching the eagle swoop down and grab a rather sizable lizard. Wow. I think he must have been following me waiting for an animal to be startled.

As he flew off into the distance, I rolled back to the motel and the first thing I did after plunging into the pool with my knicks on, was skull a few good mouth fulls of Fanta from the fridge.

Ride data is as follows.

Posted in General Cycling Info | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

My Ten Favourite Photos from the 2013 Tour Down Under.

Posted on January 30, 2013 by norbs

I have finished uploading the final lot of photos to the Tour Down Under set on Flicker. You can see all 301 of them here.

My favourite 10 are as follows.

103A6401

103A6428

103A7052.jpg

103A8275.jpg

103A7527.jpg

103A7301.jpg

103A7750.jpg

103A8557.jpg

103A0273

Thanks for all the kind words during the time I was away.

Posted in Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tour Down Under – Stage 6 Report – Cracked, Boxed and Buried!

Posted on January 27, 2013 by norbs

I can’t believe it is over!

Actually, I can. I am stuffed. I am not used to being out in the sun for hours a day, day after day. I’m not used to walking so far with a 10kg backpack on my back. I am tired, but very happy.

Two weeks ago I didn’t even know I would be having this experience. It has been a whirlwind of new people and new experiences. I have loved it. Even the times when i got frustrated with arsehats barging their way in front of me or my camera lens, I didn’t experience the feelings of wanting to tear them a new one for more than a minute or 2. I was just too busy to give a shit.

On to todays adventure. For my Twitter and FaceBook followers, you would have seen an angst ridden post earlier this morning. Here is the story.

I had a bit of a sleep in today. I decided not to ride because my legs are dead from walking Willunga Hill plus a few more kilometres this week than normal. So the alarm went off at 7:30am and it felt like I had just put my head on the pillow. I decided another 30 minutes wouldn’t hurt. A nanosecond later the alarm sounded again. Well it was actually 30 minutes, but it went awfully fast. My assignment today was to get some photos of my wonderful hosts, Carl and V, racing cyclocross in the morning in a park that todays stage 6 would ride by. Excellent.

Once again my digital map reading lady dent me straight into a closed road that Mr Policeman wasn’t too happy that I tried to turn in. I know he wasn’t happy because of the directions he gave me to Frome Road. Once again I was like a kid about to have a swing at a piñata. Completely directionally disabled. Before I knew it I was in the city. I am sure there are portals all over Adelaide that take you to a parallel universe.

I saw a cheap parking station and out of complete lack of confidence in my ability, or the stupid GPS’s ability, to find my way to the place Carl told me to park, I drove in there, just to be safe.

According to good old Google maps, I was 1.8km from where I should be. A walk wont hurt, surely. It was a beautiful day and the re were people everywhere.

I kept walking, across the River Torrens and into the park they were racing at. I managed to find them easily enough, and got told to go down to a culvert to get the best shots of people flying off their bikes. I can do that. I walked back to the area they suggested. Got the camera out. All ready to go. Switch camera on. “NO CARD” error comes up. oh for the love of all things holy. I flip the memory card holder open. No SD card but the trusty old 8gig CF card is there. I am saved!

Go to the menu and try and format it. Nope. Same error. “NO CARD”. Ohoh. I am developing a slight sheen on my forehead. I see another guy with an old Canon 5D. I ask him to see if he can format it. Nope. Excellent start to the day. I rummage through my camera bag. Nothing. Oh, this is bad.

Back on Shanks’s pony. All the way back to Rundle mall. It is about 10:00am. It is a Sunday morning in Adelaide, which everyone knows is stuck in 1979! I get approached by a young women who says this. “hi, I’m homeless, hungry and pregnant, you got any change?” My internal monologue went berserk. Luckily the “mother-in-law” filter kicked in just in time and she didn’t get the normal Norbury charm. I gave her a couple of coins and told her to have a good day. Considering the mood I was in, I demand a Nobel Peace prize, pronto.

I spied a Harvey Norman (electrical good store for the overseas folk) and saw it opened at 11:00am. I bought a coffee and waited it out. The door rolled up and I rolled in. Straight to the bargain bins first and bingo. An SD card for only three times the online price instead of their normal “over the barrel” price they sting you with. Shiny new SD card in camera, I leg it back to Carl and V.

Sadly, their race had long since finished. Todays first assignment was a massive fail. Sorry Carl. Sorry V.

We had a bit of a chat before the race started. I was impressed with Carl’s choice of a frothy chop for lunch. What a guy

A Frothy Chop

It was about this time we heard the race caravan coming up the road. They were throwing out all the usual free stuff. Old mate sitting next to us got a water bottle that he didn’t want so he handed it to me. A nice gesture. Sadly, when the flung the tiny satchels of sunscreen out of the car, charity was over. I am pretty sure he tore one out of my hand. You win some, you lose some.

The riders were now doing warm up laps, so I positioned myself on the outside of a corner and got this lot of photos.

The riders got called in and it was race time. The shots from the first lap ended up a bit ordinary due to me being more than optimistic with my ability. As they went by I decided to have some breakfast. On the inside of the track the Port Adelaide Cycle Club were selling sausage sandwiches and bacon and egg sandwiches. One of each was within budget, so I grabbed them just as the race went past for the second lap. These few shots were taken whilst holding a sandwich in one hand and using the camera in the other.

I then got my act together and started to walk the track. On my first leg I ran in to Tony Peach. We had a quick chat and I was off again.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. The only real thing of note was an indicator I was tired. I stumbled on the step up to the urinal and nearly ate some urinal candy. Nothing to see here. Check out the rest of the photos.

Once again the Lotto train got Greipel home, but not before a Renshaw jab that got the crowd all excited.

I walked back to Carl and V. I got this shot of V before I left on the long walk to the car.

It was then a soul destroying march back to the car. Actually, it wasn’t that bad. I chatted to a few people, saw a drunk guy fall off his bike and actually enjoyed the last of the race. It was all over.

And for now, so is this blog post. It is heading towards midnight and I have yet to pack my stuff up. So much for an early start tomorrow. And please, excuse any typos or other mistakes, I’m knackered. 🙂

Thanks for reading and thank you for all the kind words either in cyberspace or in real life. It means a lot.

Posted in Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Tour Down Under – Stage 5 Report – Hanging with the Media

Posted on January 26, 2013 by norbs

Well that was a long and extremely enjoyable day. Stage 5 up Old Willunga Hill didn’t disappoint.

Late last night I sent a few people in the media a message wondering if I could somehow get a lift up to Willunga Hill with them. I had a few replies saying they would see what they could do. Most told me to call them at 9am to see where we were at.

I left about 7:30 to get me into Adelaide city in time to find parking and get some breakfast. Being a Saturday there was little traffic and I found all day parking for $10. Nice.

I then walked to Adelaide’s famous markets for breakfast. I love going in there. So much great produce. I spotted Matty Lloyd wandering about. I grabbed some fruit and a chocolate croissant and headed back to the Hilton to see if any of the media folk could help me out.

It was about 8:45am when I heard the first “norbs!”. Mr Owen Bentley was todays first meeting.

Excellent. Just as we were saying our farewells, Andre Greipel walked past looking as fit as a fiddle.

Just on 9am and Rob Arnold from RIDE calls me to say get over to the village, he has a spot in Media car #2 for me. Excellent. Thanks a lot Rob.

I get over there and jump in the car driven by Ian Hanson, former media manager of swimming Australia, and also contained Rob from RIDE and Sophie Smith, now working for Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport magazines in the UK. Sadly I have forgotten the name of the other journo in the front of the car. My apologies to her.

We headed of to Mclaren Vale in the media car. What a ride. No driving, no stop lights and a police escort. That is another first for me this week. We pulled up at McLaren Vale and hopped out. We arranged to meet Ian at 10:45am to head out to Willunga Hill.

Rob hopped over the barriers like his feet were on fire. “It’s easy Todd” he said and then explained the easiest way to do it. I was thinking the easiest way to do it would be pull the barrier up and swing it out and walk through. Nope, I would give it a go over.

Up, up, right foot clear, up, arse is over, heading down now. Ohoh, left foot clips the barrier and I begin a rather rapid and altogether undignified dismount, ending up on my arse in front of a fair few people.

Rob told me how funny it was. I bet it bloody was from his point of view. Oh well, nothing broken except my pride. Off we go. Here are a few photos from the start line.

It is Australia Day, so lets start with an Aussie team.

Happy GreenEDGE Day

Rob Arnold and Luke Durbridge Share a Joke

Rob Arnold Interviewing Tyler Farrah

Sophie Smith Interviews Race Leader Geraint Thomas

Bora Bora

Matty Lloyd’s Bike

Pinarello on the Donkey

EBH’s Lid

I got back to the car at 10:45am as planned. No Rob. 10:40. No Rob. Then Ian walked over and told me to get in, they are leaving soon. No more vaulting over the barriers, this time, move them and walk through.

A few minutes later we were off. It is strange being in a car you have watched zoom by for the past 4 days. Seeing the huge crowd lining the route was great. People waving, blowing horns, smiling and generally enjoying the event.

We have to double back to the start line to pick up a missing journo, so we take the opportunity to watch the peloton going blasting past on their way to Willunga for the first time.

Race Directors car

Hauling Arse

Flying

A Chopper and the Peloton

Then, back in the car and back to the start line. Despite a bit of a look around, we can’t find the extra passenger and before an extensive search can be launched, we get a hurry up to get out of there. We are on the go again. A brief pause to let the tour caravan get their act together and it is up to the finish on the back roads.

We arrived at the top in plenty of time for me to walk down Willunga Hill and look at the crowd. A meet up time is discussed which means I have to be back on top of the hill for the finish or I will be walking home.

Finish Line from Media Car #2

I start the trek down the hill. All 5kms of it.

150m From the Line

King of the Hill

Local Support

Rapha Flag

Water Views

Adelaide’s Rolling Hills

Woof

It then occurs to me that if I am to get to the top of the hill before the end of the race, I better station myself a lot closer to the top that I am now. After the last 4 days walking a lot and carrying a 10kg back pack, I was starting to feel the pinch. The walk up the hill was hard graft. I decided to stop at the flam rouge, meaning I only had to go up 1km to get to the finish. Hopefully that would be plenty of time given the peloton would have to do a lap of Willunga Hill.

Flam Rogue

 

There were hundreds if not thousands of cyclists going by. It was great to see all these people tackling the climb the pros would be on later that day.

Punter #1

Punter #2 Pushing Punter #3

I hope this bloke had used some anti chaff cream.

King of the Speedo

I was admiring the bikes going by when I heard a funny pop sound. I looked around and could see some smoke coming out of a car on the hill. Then I noticed the flam rouge arch. It was getting saggy. Then it was drooping badly. Before too long it was on the road, blocking all passage up the hill.

Smoke

Deflated

Oh the Irony. We Have The Energy Indeed.

They managed to get it off the road and cleaned up before the riders came through for the first time.

Why So Serious Rob?

Browny Was Hurting

Once the peloton had gone through, I headed off to the top of the hill for the finish. Along the way I got a few photos.

Australia Day

Aussie’s

Once I got to the top, I could see just how large the crowd was.

The Crowd

And how many of them weren’t eating lamb or pork rolls!

Captive Audience

“norbs?” I was lucky I heard this one. I turned around and there was Steve McKiernan, another Twitter friend. He was good enough to take this photo.

Happy head

I then spied a position that I thought I could get a reasonable shot of the finishers as they crossed the line.

More Flags

Listening

As it turned out, when people thought Gerro was a chance they flooded in to the sot in front of me and the best I could manage of him at the finish was this shot.

Gerro Goes 1 better Than Last Year

The place went up as one. An Aussie winning the stage on Australia Day. You beauty.

I have to mention Tom-Jelte Slagter. What a week he is having. Did anyone pick him to have any chance this week?

What a Future

The riders filed past and I saw Kimberly Wells doing and interview with the ABCs Peter Walsh.

ABC Grandstand

Some more photos of riders before heading back to the car to meet Ian, Rob and Sophie.

KOM

Andy

 

Browny Again

Sophie and I had a while to wait, so she thought she would do some work on here reports for the day.

Sophie Reporting

It was then back into the car for the trip back to Adelaide.

When we got back, Rob invited me in to the Hilton for a beer. It was great to finally have a chat with him. Whilst we were in the bar having a beer, he spoke to, and introduced me to Shane Bannon (GreenEDGE manager), Matt Lloyd, Jonathon Cantwell, Serge Pauwels and Roger Vaughan. It was an interesting way to end a terrific day.

I would like to thank Rob for the opportunity and hope the articles I write for his magazine make people as happy as I was today.

Tomorrow is the final day. I cant wait.

Posted in General Cycling Info, Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Tour Down Under – Stage 5 Report – Hanging with the Media

Tour Down Under – Stage 4 Report – Meeting Real People

Posted on January 25, 2013 by norbs

Brisk, that was the first thing I thought this morning when I rolled out of bed. I looked out the window and it was indeed overcast. I ventured out the front and it was cool. Well this is a nice change from the bollock melting weather of the last few days.

I headed over to the start early as I was home on my lonesome. Carl and V had left earlier to ride the stage themselves with thousands of others in the Bupa Community Challenge ride. What a terrific idea. Riding the same stage as the pros do.

I arrived at Modbury, the start point, very early, but there was already a group of hardcore fans claiming their spots right at the start line. The start line was on the grass.

I had a quick wander about, and with nothing doing, I walked over to the supermarket and grabbed some breakfast.

I scoffed that down and then went searching for photo opportunities.

103A8885

103A8891

The team cars and buses hadn’t arrived yet, so I was standing around doing nothing when I hear, and not for the first time today, “norbs?”

Ah, finally, I meet up with Tony Corbett, a Twitter buddy, and Tara. We had a quick chat before he met up with some other people and I wandered off. I think I was sending an SMS when he snapped this shot of me looking truly magnificent as usual.

I then spotted SBS cycling megastar Mr Mike Tomalaris. I called out to grab his attention. He looked up and said “norbs!” and gave me a great photo op. A very quick chat and he was off to fulfill his tasks for the day.

103A8897

A few minutes later i see Mark Gunter, renowned aussie cycling photographer coming by. I said hi to him and had a chat. He is a top bloke.

103A8901

The team cars started arriving so I walked around to the other side of the barriers. I ran into Marty and his dad from Stage 2. The young bloke seemed very happy that I remembered his name, pity I still can’t remember his dads name. And, he had his cow bell, apparently, only to be used at the cycling.

I also bumped into Rob Arnold from RIDE magazine and had a quick chat with him. He told me he was in the Garmin Sharp car again today.

Here are a selection of shots from the start.

103A8908

Mr Schleck seemed reluctant to get out of his team car.

103A8910

103A8915

103A8917

103A8922

103A8924

103A8930

103A8932

103A8934

103A8937

103A8941

103A8950

103A8951

103A8953

103A8963

A couple of shots of Serge Puawels for Toby at RIDE.

103A8972

103A8981

I heard the call for 5 minutes til the start and did my fastest walk a to a spot I thought would give me a good view of them as they passed.

103A9005

103A9013

103A9032

With the riders heading into the hills, it was time for em to do the same. Luckily, I managed to pick up a media car just in front and followed that all the way to Tanunda. Then, I parked about a 25 minute walk away from the finish line. Luckily it wasn’t too hot.

Wandering around Tanunda sizing the situation up, I ran into Tony and Wendy. They had organised the Adelaide to Geelong charity ride last year. We had a brief chat before I headed off to my spot about 20mm from the finish.

Whilst I sat in th sun going through my photos from this morning there was another “norbs?” Terry and Jen, from Victoria this time. Terry reads the blog and knew to look for a guy in Hawaiian shirt and straw hat. We had a chat until his lovely wife suggested they get a spot soon. Back to the photos and about 1 minute later, “norbs?” Mick and Shelly. Sadly, i can’t remember where they were from. My apologies Mick and Shelly. It was great to meet you though. Shelly’s story of Mick’s knicks was hilarious, but not for the general public. 🙂

For the people that know me well, you are probably wondering how I remembered all the names. An Android app called Evernote. 🙂

It was a long wait, but soon the on course commentator was going crazy describing falls and crashes everywhere. Once again, the people who couldn’t see made a point of cramming into any spot, available or not. My finish photos reflect that.

103A9063

Greipel again. Breaking Robbie McEwen’s stage win record as a bonus. Here is part of his happy lead out train.

103A9083

Then there were a few shots of riders as they rolled past to get drinks.

103A9092

103A9102

103A9114

103A9121

103A9274

So that is day 4. Another good day, albeit a long day. There are some issues with the photos formatting, please forgive me for that. My website host is playing up and editing the post is laborious. Back to my usual high quality content tomorrow. 🙂

PS : All the photos, including some not on the blog can be found here.

Posted in Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tour Down Under – Stage 3 Report – Jens, Jens and More Jens

Posted on January 24, 2013 by norbs

This morning, one of my terrific hosts took me out for a ride and put me right into the hurtbox. He showed absolutely no respect for my “Norton Legs”, as I kept yelling at him. Tonight, my legs are shot. No ride for me tomorrow. Yes, that’s right, get it out of your system, I’m soft!

Now, onto todays stage. I decided that I was going to the start again as it provides the best opportunity to get up close to the riders. There were people 5 deep at some points, so it didn’t prove to be as easy as stage 1 for some reason.

There was one person that stood out as I passed all the teams. Julian Kern from AG2R La Mondiale. He hit the deck yesterday and it looked like the first thing to donate some skin to the gravel gods was his face.

Ouch!

I kept walking and got the following photos.

More Sky

Question?

Zoning Out

That Grin

Chatting to Chicks

I then saw a throng of people at the RST team mini bus. It could only be one person. The Jensie was sitting in the front seat, chatting away to his team mates and looking like he didn’t have a worry in the world. As I approached the bus a lady bought over a cup of coffee.

A Caffeinated Jens is a Happy Jens

He called out “I want to marry you”, which went down a treat with the crowd.

I got a closer look at his bike.

Madone

Jens By Numbers

That is a little hard to read, so from what I can make out of it zoomed in…

Shut Up Legs.
805,000 km
3,100 kg of pasta consumed
110 stitches
100 crashes
64 wins
40 years
25 screws
16 times around the world
11 broken bones
1 Jens!

Nice. I think at one point he was asked by a punter how many coffees he had had.

Caption This

As much as I was enjoying the Jensfest, I wandered off and struggled through the crowds. The start was only minutes away, and some riders were in a hurry back from their warm ups.

Hurry Hurry

The choppers were all over head.

Chopper Chopper

The count down began. Well I assume it did, those bloody helicopters are noisy.

They rolled out.

Sharing a Joke

Matty Wrapped

GreenEDGE

I did my power walk back to the car and jumped in to head to Stirling. After getting to Stirling, Mr Policeman pointed me down a road and because my bearings were shot, I expected it to take me where Carl and V were, somewhere in Stirling. Honestly, when I am in Adelaide, it feels like I have been spun around 100 times and told to walk a straight line. I fly off at tangents and the bloody GPS on my phone seems to have gone out in sympathy. I was sitting on 110kph on the freeway and the stupid thing told me to do a U turn in 100 metres. Imagine the carnage?

Anyway, this narrative is going about as well as my orienteering, so back to the story.

I was driving around, getting some generous applause from fans at times, when a police bike comes screaming up behind me waving his hands around like a Muppet on crack. I went around a corner and parked. As it turned out, it was a terrific spot. At the top of a pretty long climb. Before I knew it, a pair of Clarkes appeared. Simon Clarke (Orica GreenEdge) and Will Clarke (Argos-Shimano) were in the break and coming towards me. I didn’t have much time to get composed before they had gone past me. I managed this shot, with a few others that didnt quite make the cut.

Clarke Break Away

Not too far behind was the peloton. I love this first shot of Matty Lloyd.

A Man on a Mission

Not Happy with Said Mission

The Ladies Favourite, EBH

The peloton passed and I basically followed them until I got to another point of no go for cars. I hooked a left, then a right and somehow guided myself to another road block. God almighty. I told the guy at the barrier I had dropped my press pass, showed him my “Photographer” safety vest and carried on like I owned the place. He let me through but told me not to drive right down the street. I decided to park just up the road and started on the 200m walk he told it was to the finish line. What a load of Lance Armstrong that was. I walked for a good 15 minutes. Karma I think.

Eventually I got to the course proper just in time to see the peloton roll through.

Waiting

The Clarkes

I wont be needing this.

Now I have seen fans wearing their favourite riders jersey, knicks and caps. Even ride their bikes. But this George Hincapie fan has taken it too far in my humble opinion.

Hincapie Calf

Egads!

The peloton passed through and I wandered off down the road towards the finish line. Another long stroll. I managed to pick a spot that would mean I was too far from the finish to get a good shot of the winner, but it was jam packed, so I had to settle for a spot about 300m from the finish line. Given it was a nasty uphill finish, there was no way I would get the winner, arms raised, like I wanted.

As it turned out, I was at the end of the feed zone, so it promised to have potential.

Lotto Bags

Miss GreenEDGE

Old Mate Lampre

Innovative use of stockings.

Ice Hose

Then the peloton came through for the bell lap. There was a bit of time to get some shots off as they had slowed to pick up musettes.

The Grab

Mine Mine Mine Mine

Coca Cola Red

More Tongue Work from Stannard

And for good measure, more Jens.

They Are Some Quiet Legs

It was then another wait as they lapped for the last time. There was some jostling at the barriers as the late comers and people up the road tried to get a spot. It is pretty surprising just how pushy some people can get. Thankfully today, I didn’t have to reach for the Book of Nasty Norbisms.

And here they come. First home, Tom-Jelte Slagter (Blanco). Well, who the hell picked that?

Winner!

 

Matt Goss (Orica GreenEDGE) came in second looking completely stuffed.

Second for Gossy

Third home was current world champ, Philippe Gilbert (BMC).

And Third for Gilbert

So that was it, stage 3 done and dusted with a roughy taking the box of chocolates. Geraint Thomas (Sky) was still in the leaders jersey. A good days racing.

One thing that I still have a chuckle about. The riders have a drink, grab a snack, and then hop back on their bikes to ride back to the hotel. What is even better is that the punters get to ride with them. Here are a couple of photos of the pros riding home.

Tyler and Robbie Lead the Race Home from School

Nom Nom

And, sticking with The Jens theme, here he is towing a peloton of nobodies up the hill.

Jens Off the Front

Got a Coffee?

Hey Norbs

So there you have it. My stage 3 report. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

Posted in General Cycling Info, Pro Cycling | 2 Comments

Caption The Jensie!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by norbs

Add your captions to the comments below. Best one wins a virtual high five from me.  🙂

Shut Up Hand!

Posted in Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Tour Down Under – Stage 2 Report

Posted on January 23, 2013 by norbs

A change of strategy today. I didn’t go to the start line, instead, I followed my intrepid hosts out into the Adelaide Hills to a spot that V thought would make good viewing. It was a fair drive, but well worth it. The climb was steep.

Take that sprinters

The Road Ahead

Whilst we stood and sat around waiting, I asked V if she could take a photo of me. How could she say no?

Handsome Bugger

It is like they merged Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Patrick Dempsey into one humble superb looking bastard!

I even managed one of myself at 12mm. I think that hat makes my nose look big.

What a Snozz

The road taken by the peloton.

White Line Fever

Eventually, the break away group arrived. 4 in total. Calvin Watson (UniSA – Australia), Christopher Juul Jensen (Saxo – Tinkoff), Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R) and Will Clarke (Argos – Shimano).

The Break

Zoom

Zoom Sans Colour

There They Go

It was back to waiting as the peloton was hardly putting their collective foot down. There was still a long way to go however, with the Corkscrew at the end before a daredevil descent into Campbelltown.

We could see the kids way down the road jumping out of their skin, so we knew the peloton was close. The choppers are also a give away. Cav’s old mate Bernie was leading them this climb looking very Euro Pro in his Sky Rapha gear.

Bernard

Rocking The Rapha

On the back we had Ian Stannard and Andrew Fenn, looking like they were having fun.

Happy Champ

Chanelling Voeckler

It was then back in the car and off we went. Apparently the plan was to get in front of the peloton and go to a point where we could get some more shots, and then off to the finish. Well you know what they say about plans. As we headed towards an intersection I could see helicopters directly above. Oh oh. We were behind the main field. Bugger. Next thing I know Carl has his car all but up on 2 wheels as he hooks it around a corner and we are now flying along dirt roads. This is nothing if not interesting. We are zigging and zagging and it seems like the whole time the helicopters aren’t far away.

We come up on another intersection. Traffic is held up. Somehow we have ended up behind the peloton again after they had gone through the feed zone. Sweet percolated Merckx!

Eventually we get clear of all the traffic and it is a mad dash for the finish. I was keen to get there early, knowing there would be a crowd. I have blog fans to keep happy, so i want the best spot possible.

They drop me off not far from the finish and they head off to watch the final climb up Corkscrew on the TV live. I don my trusty hat, grab my 10kg camera bag and hot foot it to the finish. It is then the hunger pains hit. Hmm, forgot about breakfast after the 5am get up to ride Norton this morning.

As it happened, a pizza shop was giving out free samples. I had a crack at 2 different pizzas that were both superb. I then scouted out my spot for the finish. I found a possie just in front of a TV camera, plonked my kit down and then surveyed the area. Should be able to get a shot of the winner with any luck.

I then spent a good 15 minutes talking to a young bloke called Marty and his dad. Marty, 6 years old, had Downs Syndrome, but was a curious little bugger. We chatted about cycling and photography. It was a great passage of time as he got cheekier as we talked. His dad seemed happy that I was showing him the camera, but warned me not to take his photo, as he would probably get upset. He took some photos with my DSLR and giggle when he saw the image on the back. Just before they left, his dad, who’s name escapes me, asked Marty what he would like to be when he grew up?

“A cameraman dad!” was his reply. I shook his hand, gave him my free cow bell, to rolled eyes from his old man, and they were off.

Their timing was perfect. The street crossings had been closed, the commentator, who was telling us that Garoint Thomas (his pronunciation) was leading coming into the finish.

I could see them about 300m away, flying towards me. I had focus lock on Thomas just after he crossed the line and then everything went white and green. Some arsehat wearing a Skda KOM hat had stuck his fat bonce in front of my lens and completely blocked my view. I spun just in time to get 1 shot off.

Thank You Arsehat

As expected, some words were exchanged. I may have been a bit harsh judging by the look I got and the fact he just walked away. Actually, a few people were looking at me. The mood lightened when I exclaimed “F#&*ing tourists!”

I managed a better shot of Geraint on his way back to the finish line.

Straw Hats Are for Good Lokking Bastards

From then it was just snap snap snap until all the riders rode of into the distance. Here are some examples of what I managed.

More Sky

The Ice Cream Man

Steele Von Hoff

Hey Phil, Here Comes Lance!

American Champ, Mr Duggan

Koen de Kort, One Cool Dude.

Check the Good Looking Photographer in his Glasses

And, to round off the days post, stay classy Adelaide!

Don’t Drive Like a Chook? Wha?

Posted in Pro Cycling | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Norton Summit, Going Down

Posted on January 23, 2013 by norbs

This morning I had another crack at Norton Summit to try and beat my time from last September. Sadly, the wind had a say in that. Also, I didn’t my buddy Carl pacing me up. Also, I am just a fat slob.

I wont bore you with the slow trip up, so here is the low trip down.

Posted in General Cycling Info | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment