Aftermath Tour de France Stage 15

Written by Paul Birt | 20 July 2010

My sleepless nights just got sleepless...er (?).

I should begin by stating that I am not a huge Alberto Contador aka "Pistolero" fan... and last night confirmed why.

For those who didn't catch it, yawn...tired, last night on SBS... Andy Schleck's Saxo Bank team led by Adelaide's own Stuart O'Grady fired up the final climb of the day the 1755m high Port de Bales putting pressure on all other riders behind them. When it came time for Andy Schleck to lead the peleton he did so strongly and eventually launched attack that seemed to catch Contador off his guard and looking wanting, but then a few seconds later Schleck lost the chain off the bike and was forced to stop and try a couple of times to fix it himself. When he eventually got rolling again, Contador and a band of other contenders had passed him and raced at top speed up the road to gain as much time as possible. 

One view has it that they should wait, as no cyclist wants to rely on beating an opponent by chance, but rather by greater capability. The other, that this is racing and you take every advantage handed to you.

I am not sure which I believe in... but I do believe in speaking the truth... and for Contador to say he didn't know Schleck had a "mechanical incident" as he glided past and upped his work rate to clear him in his trail is disingenuous at best. If you don't wait, and you subscribe to the "it's all racing" theory then say so and hold your head high. 

Two more late nights in the Pyrenees then one into the Champs-Elysees and it's back to a snuggly eight hours a night, but it is all worth it.

Aftermath from TDF Stage 8

Written by Paul Birt | 12 July 2010

What a night... we saw some super fast racing up some steep climbs that really fractured the main peleton and the aftermath was triumphant and disappointing at the same time.

Triumphant

Cadel Evans now wears the yellow jersey as the current leader of the tour and so now comes his moments of truth and many moments for his new BMC team. Can they keep Cadel up the front and alongside the rest of his General Classification rivals with 1 more big day in the Alps and the Pyrenees still to come? 2010 could be the little man's year!

Disappointing

A disastrous day out for Lance. the 7 time winner lost over 12 minutes to the rest of the leaders and is now in 39th position and out of contention for this years title. But this is Lance's final tour, and if the injuries he sustained in the numerous stage 8 crashes don't see him abandon the tour, will we see Lance going for some outrageous stage victories? Maybe, but he probably should now play the team "domestique"  role and help teammate Levi  rise up to Yellow Jersey contention. So after 13 TDFs and a record 7 wins, Lance Armstrong's time as a major rival is now over, and that is disappointing.

Rest day today which means a good night's sleep before a cracker of a stage, stage 9.

artofnature.sa.gov.au

Written by Paul Birt | 28 June 2010

My wife recently received a digital SLR camera for her birthday, lucky girl. She loves it and has been snapping away madly. So it was fantastic timing that we saw a TV ad for Art Of Nature competition. The Department for Environment and Heritage is running this photography contest to rustle up the best shot of South Australian nature captured in one of our National Parks.

There are prizes and no doubt some esteem for winning but there are some serious rewards for getting out there no matter how well you shoot. My wife and our two daughters have bush walked through the Mark Oliphant Conservation Park in the hills one weekend and scampered through the Hallet Cove Conservation Park last weekend just before sunset. Both days lived up to Adelaide winter standards as neither were that warm, but rugged up, out we went and had a ball.

A great plan to have people engage with the beautiful parts of our state at a time of year that offer peace and quiet, is not too hot to entertain a long bush walk, and at a time when there may actually be some water flowing over the waterfalls... you never know your luck.

If you have a camera, any sort of camera, get out there and start snapping because the least you will end up with is a great day and heap of snaps to remember it by.

I hope to have the photos posted here soon, so come back and check them out.