Today marked my first ride in Tasmania and it was rather lovely except for the fifty mile an hour westerly wind!  Karl’s mom and dad live in the town of Ulverstone, Tasmania which is located on the northern coast of the island.  From their house I rode west for two hours through the towns of Penguin and Burnie…….flipped it……. and made it back in about fourty five minutes with the tail wind.  I guess I had good legs on the way home!

I managed to take some pictures along the way while I was at a standstill from the brutal headwind.  The views and the riding here in Tasmania are definitely much better than their coffee (instant coffee) that is for sure!

 Entering the town of Penguin about 10 K from Karl’s parents house.

 The road between Penguin and Burnie.

 A little overlook of the ocean from the coastal road.

Tomorrow I have to get up early so I can get in a little ride before heading to the zoo to check out some of Australias native animals with Karls little nephew Jack.  I am told I will be able to hold a koala which I think I am more excited to do than Jack is!  I am also hoping the zoo has peanuts because I think zoos have good peanuts if my memory serves me correctly?

On a completely different note I got a little update from the Pipster back in Boulder and it is snowing.

 Here is the Jeep earlier today with white stuff all over it.  Thanks for the photos Frank and keep them coming.  I wonder if Wes and Frank are snuggling to keep warm??? 

I am definitely getting a bit excited to do some xc-skiing when I get back to Colorado but first I have to freshen up my tan a bit down here in Oz!

Speaking of the Jeep……..I don’t want to go into to details or anything………but Hollywood always rips on it for being crap. However, after seeing his car I don’t think he will be making fun of the Jeep anymore!  Sorry I am not allowed to take pictures though so you will just have to take my word for it.

That is all for this evening.

later,g.

Quite a lot has happened since my last update so here is a quick recap of the past few days.  The final two stages of the Sun Tour (Friday and Saturday) were in and around Melbourne which allowed us to explore the city a bit which was really fun. 

 The Sun Tour set us up with four staff members (Nunny, Simmo, Fitzy, and Aiden) for the race and they were awesome….thanks Guys!  Simmo said he had good legs and was actually to ride the TT for Hollywood since he thought he could win!  I guess they look sort of similiar so it might have worked

 Nunny getting Hollywood ready for the start of his TT which he did well in.

 Here is a picture of the bike swap after the final crit on Saturday in downtown Melbourne.  I shit you not people will buy your sweaty clothes off your back after the race!  Most of the guys unloaded a lot of their HealthNet gear here while I still had to keep some of mine since I am doing Southland in a few weeks!  I did manage to sell my once white buy now grey and nasty HealthNet team polo for $25….who wants a dirty shirt…..honestly?

 After the final stage of the Sun Tour in downtown Melbourne we headed out on the town.

 Downtown Melbourne is very picturesque with the river and riverwalk which I am sitting by.

 I guess it is not a race if we don’t hit the pub afterwards.  Thanks to our waitress Amy who took an awesome picture of us (Hollywood, Hendy, Kirk, Kyle, Doug, John, Fitzy, Simmo and I).

 Like usual I got made fun of for ordering wine….

 However, Kirk did not seem to mind!

 Simmo, Fitzy, and our waitress whom they wanted me to take a picture of them with!

It ended up being a fun night on the town and was capped off with some authentic Australian meat pies from seven-eleven at 4AM.

The next morning all of the other boys had to catch their flight back home while Karl and I hung out and did a little more site seeing in Melbourne and spent one more evening in the city before heading off to Tasmania.

  Hollywood gave me a tour of all the Austalian sites in the city but the best I would have to say was the Starbucks we stopped at!  Seriously, though it was a good coffee and definitely beats the instant stuff they drink over here.  I am hoping instant coffee grows on me but I am begining to doubt it!

After another night in the city Hollywood and I were off to Tasmania where we will be staying at his parents house (Kevin and Leonie) for the next two weeks! I hope that they can put up with me???

 The airport that we landed at in Tasmania…..Devonport airport.

 And here is a nice view of the ocean from Mr. and Mrs. Menzies’ house in Elverstone, Tasmania.

 That brings me to today where Karl, Kevin (Karl’s dad), and I went and hiked at one of Tasmania’s main tourist attractions…..Cradle Mountain.  It was an awesome hike and I did not even get blisters on my feet like last time which was nice.

 The lake with Cradle Mountain in the background.  We were not able to hike to the top of the peak but we still hiked a long way….or at least that is what Hollywood told me……I really did not think we had hiked that far at all!  Okay, my legs are a bit sore…….

 A water fall on the hike which I named “little niagra”

 Yep, Hollywood is a big dude!

 Me in front of Cradle mountain.

 Karl and his pops.

 Last but not least here is a Wombat that we spotted at the end of the hike.  They seem like nice little critters.  Aside from the Wombat I even got to see a small Kangaroo the other night but I did not have my camera with me so hopefully I will see another one.

I think Karl mentioned something about eating fish & chips tonight so I had better go see what is up.

later,g.

To begin with I wanted to say sorry for my lack of udates lately but it totally is not my fault.  The fault lies in the in hands of the Aussies who seem to lack internet in their various hotel establishments!  Actually, I a not too disappointed for the lack of internet since I have been completely “fisted” after the past few stages and can barely muster up a shower let alone an update.

Things here at the Sun Tour have been going awesome.  Hollywood ended up winning the second stage of the tour and has been in yellow for the past three days.  The yellow jersey sounds all fine and dandy but that means we have been on the front for the past three days…..all of which have been 100+ mile road stages in the wind and heat.  Here is a picture before stage 4 before there was much pain to be had.

Speaking of the heat…..holy schnike it has been hot here.  Today the temp was 37 C……which is I think is around 105 F or thereabouts!  On top of that the the lack of ozone down here is really true.  I have been wearing heaps of sunscreen and I am still getting burned through the shit.   Here is Hollywood lathering up with some SPF 75 before the stage….no one actually told him he forgot to rub the stuff in  Here is Hollywood once again waving to everyone who reads the blog….or maybe he got sick of me taking pictures.

My back even got burned through my jersey leaving me some nice bib short tan lines on my back……I wonder if the ladies like those?  So everyone back in America help out the Australians……CFC’s are actually bad!  Oh, here is the new leg tan after I worked so hard to get rid of it

Today’s stage was a mountain top finish……meaning there was a nice 20 km climb to finish off a solid 180 km stage.  We did end up losing the yellow jersey……but it was to Simon Gerrans who is not too shabby of a climber.

Tomorrow is a 12 km time trial……meaning that everyone on the team except for Kirk and Karl get the day off.  Then there is the final stage which is a crit in downtown Melbourne followed the by the after party.

Before I sign off for the evening I thought I would post some interesting things I have learned since being Down Under:

- Instant coffee is complete shit and that is all they drink down here!

- There actually is no ozone but you can get a tan really quickly and look like a fast bike racer without actually being one.

- I can survive on strictly Gummy worms during a seven day stage race……especially the red ones but I have been eating a few of the green because they make me feel a little healthier.

- The outlets all have switches which must be turned on in order for them to work.

- Be careful when crossing the street because Australians drive on the other side of the road and you often look the opposite way that the cars are actually coming from.

- I have yet to see a Kangaroo, Koala, or Wombat but there are pictures of them on road signs everywhere.

- Lastly……Australia is not that much different than America and the people are really nice and I am happy to be here!

later, g.

Stage one of the Sun Tour is officially in the books and Hollywood rocked up for a third place in today’s sixty minute criterium!  I can’t believe I am going to admit this but each time I see Karl race I am thoroughly impressed….shit I will even go out on a limb and say that if I raced even half as well as him I would still be good!  Okay, I had better stop with that before I start tearing up!

Today’s crit was only a sixty minute affair just to get the tour rolling and to be totally honest I am pretty knackered!  It is pretty amazing how I can go from totally rested to pretty hosed in a matter of an hour!  Things only get harder from here on out with each of the next four stages over one hundred miles apiece and some big climbs thrown in there also!

Here are a few more pictures from this morning before the race.   Here is Kirk using my roomate Doug’s computer to make a few phone calls via Skype.   Doug’s computer has served as Skype central for the past few days with everyone on the team using it to make phone calls back home.  Thanks Doug!

Karl and Hendy are located next to Doug and I and here they are doing some serious preparation for today’s race

Speaking of Hollywood I had a special request from Ann to post some pictures of his legs on the site.  This is for you Ann……and no I did not kiss them……if I did I think people would start talking! I do see the resemblence between Karl’s legs and mine….don’t you?

later,g.

After what seemed like an ungodly number of hours of flying, plus a two hour van transfer and numerous time changes Doug, Kyle, Kirk, Jon, and I made to Shepparton, Australia today where we met our two other teamates…Hollywood and Hendy.

Shepparton which is located in the state (or maybe it is province I am not really sure) of Victoria is host to the first stage of the  Jayco Herald Sun Tour which starts on Sunday.  Well…….it starts on  Sunday here  but that means it will be Saturday back in the states since there is a seventeen hour time difference that I am trying to get used to!

Aside from being long the flight over was rather uneventful except for the fight I almost got into with the portly man sitting behind me.  Apparently I am suppose to accomodate large individuals and not recline my seat so he has enough room to sit down.  After a few choice works with him I made a comprimise and met him halfway…..but when he went to the bathroom my seat somehow fully reclined and stayed that way the rest of the flight.  A small victory but it felt good!

We did have a short layover in Auckland, NZ where I found out that New Zealanders really do have a different language than us.  Look at the directions on the coffee machine  No wonder why I can’t understand Hendy half of the time!

We eventually made it to the airport in Melbourne and then had to hop in a van and drive two hours to our hotel in Shepparton.  Yes, they do drive on the opposite side of the road here in Australia  which at times can make things very interesting!

After getting to the hotel we went out for a little spin and saw hoards of Kangaroos!  Actually we did not see any Kangaroo’s but hopefully I get to see one while I am down here!

After that Doug O. and I had a little party in our room which was pretty happening!

Okay it is time for bed and I think I am going to sleep for many many hours.

later,g.