Tour of Qinghai Lake, China

Well, im back from China, the longest tour i've done so far and what a experience it was.

It all started on July 10 when we piled into 3 vechiles and made our way to Paris to catch our 7 o'clock flight to Beijing. After getting up at 7;30 on the Tuesday it was just before lunch Wednesday when we arrived in Beijing, so it was a long day and i cant recall seeing the night sky in that time, it was just one 24 hour day.
We had a stop over in Bejing so myself, Eddy, Gil and Stefan headed into the city to check out a place called the Silk Market. Its a place that is made up of 5 floors with little stalls each selling big brand rip offs, but really cheap if you know how to bargin, and the price you pay, who cares that there fakes. I ended up with a ipod for 20 euro, its not a real ipod [it has all the ipod logos], but for 20 euro who cares. This place is surely worth a vist if your ever in Beijing, but after almost 2 hours i had to get out of there. From first walking in i was hasseled to buy something and it was like that with every stall you walk past. I almost lost my Livestrong wrist band just to get out of a shoe stall. In the end i gave up my Litespeed band to avoid buying a pair of shoes i didnt need.



The next morning we were on the 2n1/2 flight to Xining where the race would start. It was a quiet flight as i was seated on my own with a dodgy looking chinese man [that stole my gross looking lunch pack while i had some shut eye]on one side and a guy that was dressed like he belonged in the cockpit on the other. We arrived at the airport greeted by tour staff that loaded all our gear into a truck then took us to the hotel. Once there, each team were given a room in which they could work from and store all their gear. Eddy and I quickly got the bikes together so the riders could start turning the legs over.

The Friday was a bit of a free day while the guys were out riding, so i took the time to relax a little and chat to the Discovery mechanic about the new Madones [Nice]. Later on we were given the team cars which we had to work out where to put everything, like the best place for the cooler, best way to stack the wheels in, how the roof racks work, and like every new car you get, work out what all the buttons do. Night fall came and it was time to head up to the opening parade. I could'nt get over the crowd at this place, the streets were packed with people 5 deep behind taped off areas that only tour people had access to. Then when we were leaving,the crowd broke lose, all of a sudden there was 30,000 chinese running towards us. Crazy.

Well the race eventully started and the first stage took us to the Qinghai lake at a level of 3200m, so the field had split as most guys struggled with the altitude. After each stage, there was a wash area that the hotels provided, but only had 3 or 4 taps to share between 20 team mechanics. So it was a bit hetic in the wash area the first day, soon everyone found a routine that made it easier for themselves. Our routine was that after each stage, i would gather up the bikes while Eddy started washing. As we only had the one workstand, i would go have lunch while Eddy washed then he would eat while i checked them over. Not quite as efficent as having two stands but it worked well, and we were still finished work around 4 every day.

So the afternoons were spent chilling out. Dinner was in a resturant away from the hotel each day, where everyone would go to eat at their own liesure. Every hotel was the same, just a huge buffet of dishes. Some were ok and some i would'nt even touch, you had to choose wisely. Breakfast was the same. Where stage 2 finished was a place called Bird Island, its the very town the bird flew started, so i was very careful in what i ate. The stop over after stage 3 was proberly the worst, a town called Xihaizhen, although the rooms were clean, the place had a dirty feel to it, then again the whole town was like that. As we walked thru town to go eat at the resturant, passing the shops that were small and stocking a range of products with the owner sometimes living out the back of the shop. There was poo on the street and butchers selling carcusses of meat on the street front, not a fridge in sight. The food was not inviting, so i was limited in what to eat.By stage 4, i wasnt feeling well and had to get Eric to pull over so i could do a number 2 on the roadside. A few riders had to do the same thing, including Cam. It was clearly the food the night before.


Here's Eddy, Gil, Eric and Stefan walking through the VIP area.

This stage of the race we were at a level of 3900m and it felt like i had a constant headache. Still, the race for us was getting interesting with Lloyd claiming the yellow and the scenery we were passing was breath taking. On stage 5 we were in a area where the hills were just like a huge mud pile and the houses were made from mud slabs that were built into the mountianside and rivers that were flowing brown from all the mud. Eric and i dared eachother to go swim in it. As it was a wet stage, the roads were just a coating of mud, Eddy had his work cut out that afternoon.

By stage 6 we were back at Xining, still the rock hard bed [which was a standard issue in all the hotels] but we had decent water pressure and food, although the food i wasnt sure about anymore, it seemed to be getting worse. The 7th stage took us back up to 3800m and the boys were having a ripper of a race and looked like we would regain the yellow with the leader hanging off, but as i witnessed with my own two eyes, the only hanging he was doing was onto his team car getting back to the bunch. What looked to be our race, was now over, and i blame the judges for that, but what can ya do.

Stage 8 was the last mountain stage and the last day to do some damage to get back yellow. The boys lifted the pace at the base of the climb and reduced the peloton quite considerbly. From the top they froze on the windy and wet decent. Once at the bottom they were quickly escorted into a shop front kindly provided by the owner [proberly in exchange for a race cap] where they could change, then put in the mini bus for the transfer home. What we thought would be a high speed dash back to the hotel turned out to be a slow tour convoy for the public to watch, so the highway was lined with people that seemed to be in the middle of no-where watching the tour convoy go past.

The last stage was a nail biter with Lloydy trying to pick up every bonus he could, but falling short by 1 second. After the race i jumped on a spare bike and rode back to the hotel, which was a brave thing to do, but i managed to weave in and out the traffic and make it in one piece. Then it was time to pack every thing up for the trip home. That night was the presentation dinner, then we all headed off to a bar followed by the local night club, which was pretty ordinary. I was done by midnight.

The next day we were back in Beijing by early afternoon, so a few of us headed back into the Silk Market. This time i was wiser. I picked up some good buys by putting most of my money in my pocket so i didnt have as much in my wallet. I ended up with a leather bag for Lindsay that started at 950 yuan which i got for 200 [as thats all i had,NOT], thats 20 euros, BARGIN. This time i knew what i wanted to get also, so i went directly there, did my bargining, and walked on, going straight to the next stall i needed without looking twice at any other stall owner. After an hour i was done, so i waited for the other guys out front while i had some McDonalds [just to see what it was like] and gee it was good to eat some semi real food.

So in all, it was a good experince and about 1000 chinese now have my autograph or photo.If anyone whats to see the real China, go to the places i did, like Bird Island, Guide and Menyuan, the places where they live with what they have. And despite the hard beds, lack of water pressure, the same choice of food every day and having the shits, i really enjoyed the trip, but it was time to go back to Booischot and the journey back seemed to take forever.

The last couple of days i've spent riding my bike, im yet to put the bikes back together after China. But i cant put it off any longer as i need to get things ready for the tour of Denmark, so im away for another 5 days, dont think ive been to Denmark yet.

Keep pedaling

Funky
P.S. thanks to our interpreter Knight for all his work.

Two races and great results.

Just a quick update of the last two races before i go to China, which i've been very busy getting ready for, but more on that later.
While last week i enjoyed some training, it was time to get back on the tools.
Thursday i headed off to a kermesse over in Melle, situated just below Gent. I was up at 7 to load the bikes, wheels were already in the truck [as thats where i am storing them due to the lack of space in my house], but i now am out of bed a little earlier as thats when Lindsay leaves for work. So with everthing in we headed off at 11 for a 2pm start. We plan to get to a kermesse 2 hours before the start, because of Belgiums huge freeway network its only about a hour and a half to get anywhere, but at these races there is no allocated parking and no signs telling you where the start is, so that always takes time, and i usually am on my own [as i found out].So with 15-20 minutes spent looking for the best place to park i could get things ready. The last kermesse i did i had 10 bikes to get ready but this time i only had 8, and i was prepared a bit more knowing i was on my own, i even had 10min to spare.
The race got under way, with not too many big names in the bunch we were down for a good result. For me these races can be a bit boring in the car for 15 or so laps. With the races in a built up area your twisting and turning all the time, so you dont get to see much. This race, Rudy [assistant team manager] was the DS for the day, and his driving is a little different than Eric's. At one point i was searching around in Rudy's bag looking for his wallet and i think not having my eyes on the road made me a little dizzy. It was that or the weather, it was a strange day with sun for little while then it would cloud over and rain for 20mins, then be sunny again.
Our race was going well, we had Hamish in a break of 6 with a good gap. It was the second race the Aussie based team of Drapac had turned up to, and with two guys in the break, it was a good move for Hamish. Then we heard crash over the race radio. Three riders were down, Pablo one of them, quite hard, or atleast his bike did. My job in this situation is to jump out of the car with a front and rear wheel, quickly check the bike over, change wheels if needed and send the rider on his way. But as Rudy drove the car up onto the footpath, i could see Pablo was in no hurry to go anywhere. So i collect the broken bike, force the buckled front wheel out of the forks and mount it to the roof. While Rudy attends to the rider, i will also collect things like helmet, gloves, sunnies etc, anything left by the rider on the roadside. Pablo takes the ambulance to hospital for a check up.




Meanwhile, the race was heating up. Not long after Pablo's crash, the break was coming back together. Guys dropped of the break while others were jumping across. Hamish stayed out there a little longer, but now Kane was up there. With a lap to go Kane was off the front with Lapthorne, two Aussies fighting it out. But it was going to be tough to beat the current national champ, Kane was second by half a wheel. The other guys finished well after blocking at the front for most of the day. So a good result, but Pablo was bit sore, he was ok and would race again on Saturday.

Saturday's race would start in Strombeek, only about a 40min drive for us. So we left the house not long after 11, drove into Leuven to pick up Cam and Bernie and arrived at the race at about 12:30, just enough time to get everthing ready.
The race was 16 laps of a 10k circuit, and i think the break was away by lap 3 or 4. Again we had Hamish and Kane in the break. With the break up the road Rudy and i were back with the peleton. We can go to the front once the gap is over a minute, but in a kermesse [because of all the corners] it will depend on how many teams are in the break,[otherwise you have too many team cars up there which can sometimes form a line back to the chasers] in this case it was too many. But the break was soon out to 2mins. The peleton had soon split with a chase group of 10. In this were Rhys and Cam, but with the same teams in this break as the one further up the road, there was'nt too much chasing. Rhys eventully made it across with 3 other riders much to his frustration as two of the riders [from the same team] he was with were told to stop working when they almost made contact, why i dont know cos they had 3 guys in the front and could of made it 5, which means they can control the break alot more. Anyway, they bridged the gap but 2 laps later Rhys was the only one to survive from that 4. Hamish was on the attack, then it was Kane's turn, this forced the break to split with Rhys in the back half. With the final lap to go kane was off the front with another rider but was reeled in. Then two riders went off the front in the last 2km, we thought our race was over, but Kane hit the front and dragged it all back together while Hamish hung on at the back. With Kane at full speed he quickly went around the two out front and set Hamish up for the perfect leadout. With the pace high, Hamish came from the back to cross the line in first place. A well deserved win for the whole team.
For me, i sat on the edge of my seat the whole race, one of the more exciting races i've been in, well done boys.

Yesterday i spent the day working in the back yard cleaning up all the cardboard from when i built the bikes sorting it all out to make sure it was all just cardboard, otherwise they dont accept it at the recycling plant. Then i cleaned up all the bikes from the race which took me through til the end of the day.






Today as i finish this post, i'am half way through packing for China. I've just packed 8 bikes into bike bags with 2 sets of wheels to put in each, but im fitting new tyres to them before i do. Then i have to pack in all the spare parts that we take into the bags [a little bit in each] as well as my tools and proberly a bag with just wheels in it and another with just bidons, but i think the bidons will end up distributed amongst the bikes. Its going to be an effort.
Well my lunch is over and i must get back to the packing. So until i return from China....Keep riding

Funky

2 weeks of one day races.

Now i know i said i would give you a report on activity inside the teamhouse, but there aint much happening across the road. Its a slow period for us and most of the boys are away with parents or girlfriends, but things should be busy at the by the end of the week.
Since Luxembourg, ive had some time off. There has been a few single day races ive been to and a couple of pro kermesses. The single day races were all in Holland. The first called Venendaal, which we stayed in a motel the night before as it was about a 3 hour drive, and mind you we were lucky to get our rooms as the hotel didnt have the teams reservation in their books, but Rocco [Eric]fixed it, must be the hairstyle. So it was the standard routine, not much to do as the bikes are all ready clean, but i did have some wheels to wash, luckily i had my mate Camels to do the washing.
I remember this hotel looking like not much on the outside, but it was quite nice on the inside. The food was nice, but took a little long between course's, I ended up having 3 beef stakes, it was one of those places where they give you a massive plate with a tiny meal in the middle.
Anyway, i was up early, [7am's early enough for me] to load up the race car with the spare bikes so Rocco could head off to the team managers meeting. We do this so he does'nt have to come back to the hotel, sometimes the meeting might not finish til an hour before the start, but you could be an hour from the hotel, so i load up the car with bikes and wheels so its ready to go, so Eric goes directly to the start.
So i had an hour to sit around and read a book before we left for the race.

The second race was just over a hours drive away in a place called Middleberg.
Now i thought Eric said i would be on my own for this race, so when Wim turned up i was surprised, but two mechanics is better than one. It turned out that Wim had alot to do at home, so he decided not to come, now Jos had already left with the riders in the camper, so i now had to find my own way there. Luckily i had Lindsay with me to read the map. As it turned out, Wim was susposed to come to the race cos Lindsay now had to drive my truck from the start to the finish [about 10k away] and couldnt sit in the VIP seat for the race. A second mechanic would have been easier too, as you only have 2hours to get everything ready, so i was a bit run off my feet. I got everthing done with the help of Lindsay putting on the frame numbers, but you dont want to do things in a rush, you take your time to do everthing properly.
As for the race, it was crap weather, but no flats, just a wheel change for Matti after he crashed. After climbing his way out of the ditch, Eric told him to call it a day as he had his national champs coming up, and with a chance of winning the national jersey it was better to pull out and rest up.

Now im sure i had another race a few days after Middelberg, but i cant be sure, the weeks go by so quick. But i did have a kermesse which 10 of the guys started. At these races you enter has a individual, so anyone with a contract can enter. This race i was also on my own and had 10 race bikes and 6 spare bikes to prepare, busy. I had two flats to change and a gear adjustment to out the window, which i hate cos the windows on our cars dont go all the way down, so reaching down to the rear mech can hurt, but it was Eric's son Michael that needed the adjustment so i thought i better.
I had a day to clean up all the bikes before i headed to Holland again for a race called the Nord Holland Tour. We left early that Tuesday morning as it was a 5 hour drive, so the riders would go for a ride up there. It was crap weather and i had to stand out in it. Again i had Cammels with me on this trip, sometimes it gets frustrating with him cos he doesnt understand english, but that just means i need to learn more flemish. It was at this race, for the first time i didnt really enjoy what i was doing. Maybe it was working in the crap weather.
The weekend was coming and i was due to go to the Britsh Nationals, but they were cancelled due to all the flooding. So i have had the last week off to do some training. Saturday i headed off with the boys down to the Ardennes [hilly region of Belgium] to do some hills, so i got to climb to the highest point of Belgium and saw one of their only waterfalls. a good 166km later, we were in the car for home.
The next day the legs were a little tender, so 25km was all i managed, then spent the rest of the day at a famous waterski race with Lindsay. Monday i was back on the bike as Lindsay was Finally back at work after a huge visa drama, dont go there. So i was able to get in a good 110km. Yesterday and even today is really crap weather, even as i look out the window now, i can see blue sky, but in 30 seconds it could be pissing down, its meant to be summer here now, but thats Belgium. I did erins all day yesterday trying to dodge the rain to go for a ride, soon as my erins were done and about to get changed, it bucketed down, motovation zero. Lets hope i have better luck today.

Thats been me for the last couple of weeks. This weekend i get ready to go to China for 15 days, but have two kermesses before that, so my relaxing time has to end. Anyway the suns out and i must go.

Keep riding
Funky