Stage 7 - Te Anau

Riders keep melting away in the climbs and crosswinds. All four of our guys stayed in the first chase group in the stage, finishing 20, 21, 22, 23 on the day. One of the race favorites blogged about not doing well because of lactic acid build up . . . well, that's what happens. He went backwards on the climb and fell down to forty-something overall.

Te Anau is a lovely little backpacker outpost. I took a run along the shore of the lake after the stage was done to stretch the legs out. I seem to be healing up quickly, but my shoulders are still really sore post crash.

Tomorrow is the last day of racing with two stages taking us back to Invercargill for the finish. More to follow . . .

Real Quick

I put a few more pictures up on the album for the trip, check it out here. The last few look somewhat repetitive . . . seam them together if you want the 360 degree view from the top.

Stage 6 - Crown Range

Today was some what more relaxed in the caravan with a distinct lack of crosswinds. The stage was generally uphill with a good number of rollers and little climbs on the way to the final climbs of the day. We tried to get a couple guys up the road, but nothing doing. There was a strong break up the road all day that stayed away to the finish, but the guys did a great job staying out of trouble and getting up the hill better than those whose strength is riding in the gutter, in the wind, on the flats.

A few quick pictures before bed . . . getting to the top.


The view from the top . . .


The weather took a turn for the worse as soon as we got close to Invercargill.


The good news is that Mike has moved himself up into 15th on GC after his 7th place finish today.

Stages 4/5

Today was windy, no two ways about it. The first of the two stages started out in town and had the requisite sprints within the first 5k. As soon as the race got out of town, the wind started splitting the field. Over the course of the stage, things came back together a number of times. The view from the van was interesting at times, but at other times we were so far back in the caravan that we couldn't see much of what was going on. Most of the main field came back together to finish just off the back of a group of four, by 32 seconds. Post stage, it was time for quick recovery since there was about a two hour turn around time.

The second stage of the day had some hideous winds with crosswinds that really split the field quickly. A group of the main GC contenders got off the front in the first windy section and built a lead quickly. The second group on the road never made up much time on the leaders and really lost time in the last 20k when they stopped working. That enabled the third group (including Greg and celebrity rider, Floyd Landis) to catch back on. There was definitely a shake up in the GC, check it out online.

I have some pictures, but I'll wait until later to dump them . . .

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.

Stage 2 - Bluff Hill

It was windy as a mofo this afternoon, even more so than this morning. We headed through town on a ceremonial, parade tour past all of the cheering school children. After a quick pause at the end of the neutral section, we got going full bore as guys went after the early sprint points. There was an early crash that I worked my way around and then a few kilometers where guys were trying to shake it loose in the crosswind. The first few efforts didn't really feel so good, but I stayed tucked away as best as possible, switching to the second echelon when necessary to get back in to the group.

Robert was doing his best imitation of onboard navigation, telling us how far out turns were and what to expect. A group of three got off the front fairly early on and were followed by a group of four. I got to the front of the race to stay out of trouble and decided to put in an effort to bridge to the group of four. I spent some time in no man's land before deciding that braving it in the wind alone so early on wasn't the best idea. We made it through one of the many, short crosswind sections and made the turn to a stretch with the wind at our back. I was sitting pretty much smack in the middle of the group when somebody up front stacked it up. Apparently he hit a bump on a bridge and lost control. Everybody else around locked it up, some guys blew tires, and lots of guys fell down in front of me. I thought I was going to be able to stop, but there were enough guys falling just in front of me that I hit the stack, went over the bars, hit pavement pretty much face first.

Given the circumstance, it could have been far worse. I knew as I hit that my nose was not going to be in good shape. I felt the snap and knew the blood was flowing. I was surprised that I hadn't scraped my face on the cheese grater, chip seal surface. I hit the ground and did my best turtle impression as guys and bikes piled on top of me. I got up, spit out some blood and radioed the team car. I got back to the car, switched to the spare bike and rode to the ambulance to see if the race doctor wanted to say anything.

The race was neutralized because of the sheer numbers of guys involved in the crash. Almost half the field was up the road, with half stuck at the crash scene. We rode back up to the rest of the race. The combination of my crash and the increasing wind speed (up to 85kph/52mph gusts) really didn't inspire any semblance of confidence. If you can't hold a wheel and ride in the gutter at sub race pace, you are going to have issues at speed. Under conditions with lesser winds, I probably would have been fine riding. I would have lost time for sure, but I would have been able to race another day. Unfortunately my race was done.

My teammates did well staying out of trouble for the most part. Mike and Stefan hit the climb with the main chase group, Greg got caught out in the wind on one of the more aggressive sections that split the remaining field. Kevin had bike issues after the crash and couldn't get into his biggest gears to keep up speed in the tailwind sections. Mike was our top finisher at 20th place, but with plenty of racing to go, everybody is still in it. Tomorrow is one of the long stages, I'll be in the team car helping out.

Stage 1 - TTT

After a beautiful morning with sunshine and all, the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in just in time for the start of the team time trial. Not a bad effort for a bunch of guys who have never ridden together. We had a couple surges and mishaps. I made a mess of one of the corners and spit myself out the back and just pedaled in. After 15 teams, we are sitting in 7th place. The weather keeps changing and winds shifting so who know how the final results will shape up.