China part two, the race.

Well with the team arriving late and missing stage one, we would start the second stage with approval of the race organisers despite the jokes about that we came by boat.
Along with myself the team consisted of Brian O'Loughlin as the DS, taking care of the rubs was Sile [pronounced Shiela] with the assistance of Allan and assisting me with the bikes was Aiden. It was the first ever race for Sile and the first real tour for Allan, so we would all have to help out each other. The riders consisted of Cam Jennings, Kieren page, Ciaran Power, Derek Burke, William Connolly, Martyn Irvine and Morgan Fox.



After the late night it was a early start as there was still alot to do, but i knew things wouldnt go super smooth due to the rush start. My first job was to make the car ready by removing all the unwanted things like the headrest and the parcel shelf so i had easy access to the wheels in the back. Once our bike room was open it was straight onto pumping all the wheels, putting the spare bikes on the roof of the team car then getting all my tools together and making sure we have everything we need for the next 5 days. Once we were at the start things started to calm down, and once Aiden and Sile were on the refreshment bus which they almost missed. As for the riders it would be a settle in day as they first cope with the altitude and the jet lag.
The hotels were the same as last year so i knew you had to be quickly organised to get into the wash area early, but i opted to have lunch first and work once the wash area was a little less busy. As the stages finished early there was plenty of light in the day, but i always aimed to be finished by dinner. Our first mishap this day was we somehow left some bags behind, but they arrived later that night. So not a smooth start but considering our circumstances it wasnt major.

Stage 3 was very wet and wasnt fun getting all the bikes ready in the rain. At the start the riders were coming back to put on more clothing as they could feel the cold. It was lucky their bags were in the team car as they were normally meant to go in the minibus, but that had left to the hotel way too early for the riders to put their bags in. Then the mistake was made of not realising there was no feed zone this day, so Aiden and Sile were left behind. So a quick reshuffle of the car and we managed to squeeze in Sile, but Aiden had to jump in the broom wagon. So ther was a few minor mishaps in the first couple of days. I settled into the same routine as last year by having lunch first and getting all the bikes washed and checked by dinner, and just in time before the rain came.

Stage 4 was another wet day to get everything ready, the previous day i spent sitting in the car in damp clothes, not ideal. Again the minibus left early so i had the car full of bags again and Sile and Aiden missed the refreshment bus again. Aiden went up in time but it had gone early apparently, so he jumped in the broom wagon while Sile hitched a ride with the leading police car.
Our day was going ok thou, then Morgan had a rear flat. A quick change and he was back on the bike before stopping again to fix his brake, which i normally take care of out the window so they can get a little assistance from the car. But the judges are red hot here in China and dont allow you to even pace the rider back to the convoy after a wheel change, which is stupid. So eventully they allowed us to pace 10 meters in front of him, but then thats not pacing. Morgan eventually got back on, and then 5 minutes after he did there was a massive crash which bought him down along with Willy and Derek. There was riders everywhere and our guys were the worst hit. Willy had snapped his frame in two from the impact and thought he had busted his collarbone. Derek i think had the wind knocked out of him, but the two managed to continue once Willy was on the spare bike. But Morgan was not good and went to Hospital.



That night the work load was on with extra work on as a result of the crash. I was sticking to my routine thou by having lunch first, but i skipped dinner and worked straight through and was done by 8:30. But i did grab something later as Sile and i headed up to the local corner shop and picked up some noodles, cant go to bed on an empty stomach. Morgan was out of hospital after having a lung reinflated but was soon transported back to Xining where they could examin him further as he was in alot of pain. So we lost Allan here as he had to be with Morgan to help him move, and we also lost Donna as she had to translate. This all meant that we were a man down so Aiden had to take care of the washing and the bidons. As for me things would be normal, i had a good routine going and it was nothing i couldnt handle.

Stage 5 was no dramas but it was the first real climbing day and Willy was feeling the pains from the crash the day before, and Derek as well. They both finished the stage but Willy had missed the time cut.
Stage 6 was another wet day, but my mornings were getting easier and Sile and Aiden were making it to the bus. Willy set out early to ride the stage ahead of us but only got 30km in befor having a bad case of the shits and ended up in hospital dehydrated. The rest of the guys pushed on up the 60km climb to finish the 115km stage that was a real test at just under 4000m.

Stage 7 was a flat day but it was a distance of 214km, a day we thought might be for the Power Man, but it wasnt to be. Martyn was in a early break but it didnt stick. Derek had the shits and dropped out of the race. But he wasnt the only one this day as alot of riders were stopping by the roadside. This day was a long one for me as i was working til 11 fitting some new chains and cables to some of the bikes. Then there was some tyres to glue on and wheels to true, so a busy night. Atleast i didnt have the runs.

Stage 8 was back into the hills and was a survival day for the remaining four guys. When we arrived at the hotel this day it took some time to start work as we were undecided as to whether we would stay there. Along with two other team we discussed with the organisers to do something about the condtition of the hotel. No hot water and dirty bed sheets was the major problem along with a list of other things. In the end the race organisers agreed with us and decided the hotel was'nt up to scratch. We compromised with them but they could'nt meet us in the middle. Now while all this was going on i could have had the bikes washed but my gear was left in the mini bus which had taken the riders to lunch and then was gone immeaditly again when the driver himself went to lunch, oh well. So there was 3 teams that made the 150km trip back to Xining for a decent hotel. I ended up putting the 4 race bikes into the mini bus and taking them back to service, which the washing was done in the dark.



The next day we were on the bus at 8am for the 150km trip back for the now delayed start for stage 9. It was a sunny day and would be nice along the river, but i remember from last year it was freezing cold at the finish. but it wasnt to be this year, all the four guys made it to the finish where it was a nice 30 degrees. We had a 40km transfer back to Xining and were back early enough to get the work done. After a bite to eat it was up to the local bar for a beer or two with guys from other teams, mainly with the FRF guys.

The last stage was the usual 10am start with only a 18 lap circuit race. We finally had Donna and Allan back with us after the week in hospital, but more importantly Morgan was also out and walking around. The afternoon would be a busy day with the bikes firstly being cleaned then packed, but i got the riders to help with that as i was'nt sure what had to go with who. So the work was all done and packed just before the presentation dinner, then is was back to the local bar where everyone lets loose. I did a late one last year and didnt fancy getting on a plane feeling crap like that again so i had an early one and hit the pillow around midnight.

So in all it was a good tour second time round and was an experience working with another team. I flew into Amsterdam just before 11pm where Linds had drove up to meet me, it was a late night but unlike Linds i had the day off before going to do a pro kermesse race with the cyclingnews boys. I now have a few single day races with cyclingnews before joining up with the Pezula team again for the tour of Ireland at the end of August.

Cheers
Funky

China. part one - getting there.

It was a Friday when i got the 100% confirmation i would be going to China with the Irish Pezula Racing team, only a week to get flights, visas and the likes all sorted before the race would start.

There was not much i could do as i had to wait for information from the team to apply for my Chinese visa, i soon realised they were in the same situation and as it was the weekend we would lose 2 days plus the 7 hour time differece. We were waiting on certian information from the Chinese cycling federation that would help with the visa application. In the meantime Linds booked me a flight on Wednesday afternoon from Amsterdam hoping i would have my visa in time to pick up on the way, it took some planning. The team were able to apply for their visas in Dublin on the Monday but i would have to wait until Tuesday when i had all the right paperwork. So i drove the 3 hours to Den Haag in peak hour traffic that morning. It was pissing rain as i walked around looking for the embassy not realising i walked passed it as i was sheltering under my umbrella. So i sat in there for about 2 hours slightly damp waiting for my number to be called. I had all my correct paper work [you must supply flight, hotel and invitation details with phone numbers and addresses] so the process was done in 5 minutes, then i drove all the way home with the only thing left to do was pack. That may be easier said then done. For a mechanic its the tools that are the hard thing to take as they have a bit of wieght in them, and when i was only allowed 20kg and 5kg carry on, the packing would be light. As i was traveling on my own i could only take the essential tools rather than spreading some out into the bike bags.
Linds had taken the day off work to drive me up to Amsterdam, but we had to stop off to pick up my visa, there was no problems so it was in and out. After checking in and a lengthy goodbye, Linds headed home and I had almost a 3 hour wait for my flight only to hear it was delayed an hour because of a severe thunder storm over Heathrow airport. Finally at Heathrow i had to find my way from terminal 4 to terminal 3, which takes some walking and a train ride. Before checking in for Beijing I thought it was a good time to call Cam and see how they were travelling as they were due in from Dublin some time after me and as the flights were booked as a group [which the Qinghai Lake tour organisation provides] i thought i would wait. But the news was'nt good. All flights at Dublin were grounded as the airports control tower radar was down, nothing coming in or out all day. We quickly decided i had to go on alone and the team would have to arrange a flight the next day, and then try to change the flights to Beijing again. The original plan was we would all be in Xinging by Wednesday, but as we had to wait for visas we could not fly out of London until Wednesday. So the flights were changed once already and would take some convincing to the organisers to change them again and make it possible for the team to miss the prologue and start stage two all in last place. But for me, i had to fly on alone and wait until i landed in Beijing to see the outcome. So after sitting in the terminal for about 4 hours, i jumped on the plane and headed to the unknown.

I arrived in Beijing on Thursday [slept all the way too] around 1pm China time where i met Kevin, the tours flight organiser. He was surprised just to see me and me alone. I explained to him the situation at Dublin and he was quickly onto the organisation to sort it all out. I was not sure what was going to happen, maybe i would have to turn around and go back and the team would miss the tour. After a few minutes we got the go ahead to miss stage one and the team could fly on, but Kevin first had to rearrange their flights at Heathrow for them to do that. So i made a call to Cam in which i ended up speaking to Morgan Fox. They were just about to catch a flight out of Dublin but did not know what would happen with flights once at Heathrow, so i said "my mate Kevin here as it all sorted". I told Morgan the race organisers would allow the team to miss stage one and Kevin would arrange new flights so they could make it to Xinging late Friday. With that he was pleased. So i left Kevin to do what he does best and i went on to Xinging, i was the only non Chinese on the whole plane too.

I arrived in Xinging where i met... no-one, not good. I looked around and found nobody so i decided to sit and wait, taking note of a siutable sleeping place if i needed it. Within a couple of minutes i saw a girl walk in holding a sign that read Chinese but at the bottom said 'PZR-IRL'. I quickly jumped up "hello, i think your looking for me" i said. Her english name was Donna and she was very applogetic that she was late and that i had to wait. Donna knew i would be on my own as she was updated of the situation during my flight there, she then updated me on the situation on what was organised for the race and what still had to be done. Luckily i did this race last year and the routine was the same, so i knew what had to be done and what i needed for the race. Donna had done a fantastic job at getting as much ready as possible, so after a good nights sleep on those rock hard hotel beds we had all day Friday to sort things out. While teams were getting ready for the mornings prologue, Donna and i headed out to get a few things i needed. The rest of the day was quiet, i spent it laying out my tools ready to put the bikes together and catching up with the likes of Rhys at Marco Polo and the FRF guys before going to pick up the team from the airport. Working with a new team was going to be interesting, i knew no-one except Cam and had met Derek on our Houfalize training ride, i was'nt sure what to expect but atleast i knew what i had to do to get the job done. Cam and i had a slight upper hand as we were the only two that had done the race before.

That evening after dinner Donna and I headed to the airport along with our driver Dong, to pick up the guys . They came in looking very excited to be in China but very tired from the hassels of getting there. Once back at the hotel we threw the bags in the room and i got to work putting together the bikes while everyone else went and had a bite to eat. I had some help to build up the bikes and got almost everything done before we were kicked out of the bike room at midnight, the rest would have to wait til morning and with a 10am start it was going to be an early one.

It wouldn't be a bike race without a little bit of stress!

(By Linds)

Hi everyone, I'm writing this blog today because Mark hasn't had time in the last few days to do anything, let alone fill you in about why!

On thursday night, very late, he got a call from Cam Jennings who rode with DFL-cyclingnews last year, "Mate, we're going to China and need a mechanic, you wanna come?"

Somehow late last week Cam's team, Pezula Racing from Ireland realised they'd better get organised if they actually were going to go to Tour of Qinghai Lake. That meant they'd have exactly 2 working days to organise visas and equipment. Luckily for the equipment they also had the weekend, but it took some very good organisation to obtain the visas. And with Mark located in Holland, 2 hours drive away from the Embassy which is only open 9am to 12 noon anyway, then Holland being and hour ahead of Ireland, time was of the essence. The papers didn't come in in time for Mark to apply on Monday, so he had to go up Tuesday (yesterday). Luckily he was able to have it back this morning, and the team was able to delay the flights by a day, so Mark picked up the visa on the way to the airport! They'll arrive in Xining late Thursday evening, and the race starts on Friday morning with a prologue.

As Cam said, "It wouldn't be a bike race without a bit of stress!"

So keep an eye out for the results and follow the Chinese version of the Tour!

Linds