After training for several months I was finally ready to put in a strong performance for the one day stage ride of the Tour Down Under. I had put in the hours on the stationary bike, scheduled many early morning rides, endured a few impressive sunburns and even lost a good chunk of skin in preparation. A few days before the ride, Aiva found out that her uncle passed away and the funeral would be in Adelaide…at the same time as the race. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a decision to be made and I simply had to go to the funeral. At first I was disappointed but when I was at the church, trying to understand Greek, I realized that it was the right thing to do and I was glad to be there. These things happen.

I was keen to take in as much of the Tour as possible and eagerly anticipated getting a few pics of Lance Armstrong. I have never been star struck or overly excited to see a celebrity but watching Lance Armstrong ride was different. The first time he raced past me he looked lean and mean, just like in 2005 when he left the sport while standing on top of the podium of the Tour de France. I felt nervous but excited, inspired and motivated all at the same time. I guess that I was star stuck for the first time.

My brother and I managed to go see 3 different days of racing and each time I was amazing by both the quality of the racing and the throngs of fans that turned out to cheer the riders on. Over the week, an estimated one million fans lined the sides of the roads and it was infectious seeing painted faces, waving flags and chalk covered roads. I cheered for both known and unknown riders and was constantly amazed at the endurance and power these tiny athletes were able to produce. On the last day, Alan Davis, an Aussie on team Quick Step took the ochre jersey and won by a handful of seconds. Lance did exactly what he hoped to which was get familiarized with the pace of group riding again and test his legs. He made a few spectacular breakaways that made the peloton chase with reckless abandon and that was a great sign for July when he'll need that acceleration if he plans to contend in the Tour de France.

Somehow on Sunday night I ended up at a party for Team Saxo Bank. It's a favourite team for many because the most loved Aussie cyclist Stuart O'Grady rides on it. It was about 2AM and I had been into the sauce for most of the day when I realized how funny it was that I was in a room filled with pro riders who were all about 5'5 and 130lbs. It was like I was in a room filled with hobbits which was really, really funny at that hour and considering my condition. I woke up in the morning (afternoon) and it was the first time in a few months that I didn't feel like going for a ride.