Sun Tour turned Rain Tour.

The Sun Tour this year should have been called the Rain Tour, apart from the first days racing it was a week of rain, wind and crashes.

After my last post the tour for me had started with picking up the team vehicles and other stuff later that day and then driving to Ballarat the next morning. There was not too much to pack as we were here with two riders less and some of the team were meeting us up there. The first day was just to unpack the wheels and get them ready, the riders bikes were ready. Matt [soigneur friend of Aaron] and my sisters partner John were the two swannies and they helped get the wheels ready. Later on my co mechanic Troy arrived to give the bikes a clean after the training ride the guys went for.

The first days race was the circuit race around the Ballarat city center, so that was a day of standing in the pit area, no flats so a easy day. The opening road stage was ok weather wise but alot of wind which made the race a crash fest. Sando and Ivan had flatted in the early part of the race but rejoined the field, even after the change for Sando was a little slower than I normally do for those bikes. But sometimes that happens where it just wont go in as easy as what it should.
By the end of the day Kemps and Tanner finished in the front group and were looking good for the rest of the tour. Now we started with only 5 due to last minute [very last minute] changes to the team roster as the team also had Mexico on at the same time and then Justin was out on the first day, so defending positions would be tough for the guys.
As we were in Ballarat who are on stage four water resrictions, meant no usual washing of the bikes. So with no hose or pressure washer allowed and the weather turned from nice to wet, Troy and I headed to the car wash. One we were under cover and two we could give the bikes a proper wash. From here on the tour had terrible weather, the worst I've seen for the Sun Tour in a while. I knew the stages to and from Warrnambool would be tough with crosswinds as it was on roads I spent many hours on as a teenager riding on. It was also great to do the tour as a professional mechanic in my hometown, something that might not happen again for a while if at all. It was much better for accomadation on this tour than I have seen in previous years I have done when the tour was up north. This year the hotels in all towns were top notch.

As the tour went on we had lost Ivan also, and Sando was hanging in there doing what he could for the other two. The work to stay up front was tough for David and Aaron competing against guys with a full team and the non use of radios. Laurenzo was not allowed to bring the ones from Europe as they are illegal to use here. So Teri had hired some but they were like bricks in the riders jersey pockets. So they had to think for themselves and stay on the ball, in which David admitted to been very tough as you tend to get lazy with the radio. But Im not about to say get rid of the race radio, I think these days with more traffic and more obsticles on the road they are an important saftey device for the riders. So with the consistant riding of David and Aaron, Laurenzo and I had a car convoy posistion of car 4 on the last road stage, not bad for a team of 3 riders.

As tradition continues, the mega team gear sale was on. We got to Lygon street a little later than what I was hoping for and the crowd was already big. I had barely put four things on the table and people were keen to buy. I handed the pit area over to Troy [as he had done hotel run all week] while I stayed at the tent to sell. All the small parts I had sold along with two pair of wheels and one bike. But I still have one bike and 7 wheelsets to sell in the week I am here before heading back to Europe, and I really don't want to lugg it to the airport. I hear they plan to move the Sun Tour to Febuary sometime for 2011, which I think will be a good move if they really want to lift the profile of the race. Alot of big teams would then have their training camps here doing the TDU and the JHST for pre-season training, but it might mean there would not be the mega barginns to buy at the end of the tour as it would be the start of the season. But it's a good move I think, the profile of racing in Australia really needs a major lift which I believe is long overdue.

So now its time to catch up with family, have some good Aussie food [meat pie and fish n chips] and chill out before the season is finally over with my last unofficial race in where I will do the feed for my brother Peter in the Warnie.

Cheers
Funky.

Down Under.

With Franco Belge run and won I am now back home in Melbourne for the start of the Sun Tour.

Franco belge was a four day race that started last Thursday. I was at the hotel late Wednesday due to other appointments, so it was up to Jean Maree to get the bikes organised. There wasn't too much to do and he had most of it all done when I arrived.
The first day was an early start getting out of bed at 6:30, something I haven't done for a while. That day would be a 10pm finish. The thing about this race is the sart times are mid-day so the finish time is around 5, then by the time the bikes are loaded and your back at the hotel it is 6 or 7. Then you have to set up and start work. The first couple of nights the dinner was arranged early so we had to down tools and go eat before it got too cold, the dinner that is. Otherwise you get nothing. Jean Maree loves to chat as well so I have to keep him focused, but he's one of the best bike washers I've seen, so good you would think your chain was brand new.

I spent 3 of the 4 days doing the second car with Gil, which was rather easy as you don't get to do too much in the second car unless you have someone in a break or someone out the back. So it can be very boring at times, more so when the race gives a break almost 10 minutes lead, ride at an average of 36 and the stage is 227km, it's a long long day in the car. It does not make sense for that race to have such long stages at that time of the season, no one can be bothered racing too hard for that long. And with us staff, with the transfers it turns out to be a long day.

So with that tour over I had two days off to get ready for the next. Monday I had to drive across Belgium to the Rock service course to pack bikes and wheels for the Sun Tour. Two spare bikes and 12 pairs of wheels is all we were taking, so a 2 hour drive there, 3 hours work packing and 2 hours home again and day done, thou I did have to stop in Lueven and check out Lindsay's big project she has been so busy working on. Tuesday was just a day to pack my tools [trying to get the toolbox as light as possible by not bringing all the tools] and clothes and run around and do some things, like the groceries for Lindsay.
At the airport Laurenzo and I had just the 4 bike bags and our suitcases to check in, soon as Robbie McEwen was finished checking in. Laurenzo paid the 950 euro overwieght [and two bags were just wheels] and we were off.

After arriving Thursday night we were taken to the hotel, had a much needed decent meal and then a good nights sleep. And now today as I write this post in the lobby I have a little spare time to rid the jet lag before picking up the team vehicles and the like.
So until later in the week, thats about it.

cheers
Funky

Season coming to an end.

Time is sure flying by as my season is nearly over. I have been rather busy going back and forth as it is the time of season when all the single day races are on, well for the Cinelli team that is. There was a budget for only so many tours and they have been and gone. Since the start of August I have had 11 races, not as many as what I'd like but it's better than nothing. I still continue the search for a team that can give me a contract for a full season, that is the ideal situation for me. The start of this season was good when I picked up the work with Rock, that was a good 3 months of locked in work, then in between I did some races with Cinelli including China. But from there things have been a little more quieter. If the last half the season could be like those first 3 months then that would be great.

Mind you I have had some time off also, something which I'll save for another post.
Then I did it easy for a couple of weeks by not doing the car and doing the feedzone instead. It makes a good change to do something different and I enjoyed the time out of the car. Thou the feed can get scary when there is 250 odd riders coming towards you at race speed, it's something that takes some courage and practice. When I first started working with JM he wasn't that keen to do the car, but now he has done a few more races he is getting used to it, but there's no way he will do the feed.

I have about 5 more single day races left, then four days for the Franco Belge tour and then 2 days after that Im off back to Oz for the Sun Tour. Then it will be back home to Eersel where I will probably be making some trips to the Booischot house to clean up the Cinelli bikes. So it might be enough to keep me busy I hope, and we will see what happens to the team from Booischot next year. At this stage I'm not sure what is going to happen with that team, there has been many meetings and things been said by one person and something different by another. If the team goes on some of the guys may return but some I think will not, and some will for sure not because of their own actions. But I think the outcome will be known very soon.

But for now I go on with trying to find secure work for the next season, if it means going to another team then so be it. Even thou I am freelance which can have some benefit, for example when I did those trips to Spain, I earnt in one two weeks work what Lindsay earns in a month. But then another month might be half that pay cheque. So it sounds better to work for one team all year getting paid the same every month as it's more of a routine and financially better, but if I can get enough work for different teams freelancing then that would be good. But then that's something not in my favour right now. As glamorous as this job sounds [don't get me wrong because it is] it does have down sides, and the down side of freelancing is chasing the work all the time. Like I said, if my whole season was like those first 3 months the that woul be ideal. The main issue for me is I'm probably still on the outter circle as far as mechanics go here in Europe, I just need to get inside that circle, and a very small circle it is that from what I see happens to be quite full. Even with new teams starting, and big teams, there is also teams stopping. So it is never an easy task to get in the circle.

Thanks to Linds here are some rare picture's of what I do, it's not often you see photo's of me doing what is really the work I do.
Eddy and I make ready the bikes for a race in Antwerp.

Nico and I load the car with spares for the race.

wade gets a flat

and is helped back to the race with a brake check

Nicholas gets a flat

And then also needs a brake check

Then Wade gets a second flat

Cheers
Funky.