Stage 3 - Gore

Today was actually a perfect day for racing bikes. The sun was shining and the breeze wasn't anywhere near what it was yesterday. I got a shot of Kevin's wheels from yesterday and he was lucky to have escaped with the minimal scrapes he had.


But everybody got off to a good start from the velodrome this morning. There is a trust that taxes all liquor sales in Invercargill and the proceeds have to go back into the community which results in projects like the velodrome, the olympic sized pool, and some other great facilities that you would not expect in a small town at the bottom of the world.


There was another hectic spin through town with some early sprints that got things going. We only say one guy fly off the bike on his own without taking anybody else out. It seems silly to go that nuts when you have 165 km to race. The view from the van was somewhat limited but on occasion you could see more of the race than the van in front of you.


I did get the opportunity to take some other pictures of scenery and whatnot. You can check out the photo dump here. It really was pretty riding through the country side on the way to/past/back to Gore.


The hills really remind me of what we saw in Austria, minus the Alps in the background. There are some mountains we will head towards in a couple days that are more rugged than rolling. Obviously there are sheep all over the place, but there are a lot of cattle, horses, and other. The most impressive sight is the massive hedges that are planted along property lines and other spots for a wind break. There are the usual Lombardy Poplars that you see at home and there are evergreen trees that get cut so aggressively that they form a dense hedge that would block even the stiffest wind.

On the racing front, everybody got in on the action today. Mike went for the early move about 24 km in, but unfortunately nobody wanted to play. There was a break of four that stayed away for a good portion of the race, but in the last 20 km, they were brought back. Kevin and Stefan gave it a go in the last part of the race, but again, nobody really wanted to let things get away. In the end, a group of 5 did slip off the front with 4 of they staying away until the end. Mike moved up a spot overall (assuming they correct the results) into 20th.


A random parting shot . . . that was the turbo egg beater we made the final hop on, the one that didn't have enough room for all of the bikes that were supposed to come with us. Tomorrow is another double stage, reports to follow.