Tour Down Under
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Wednesday, January 18, 2005
Stage 2 - Salisbury to
Tanunda (150km)
by Emma Masters
When the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve just more than three weeks ago, I made a pact with myself that 2005 was going to be my Year of Fitness and Health. A year when I reclaimed the vibrant, youthful energy that used to fuel long rides through the streets and bushland of my home towns and ensure athletics and sport were a regular part of my life.
And so on the morning of January 18, 2005 I found myself in the Barossa Valley’s township of Angaston, about to embark about a 30km ride through to Tanunda. I signed up on a whim, only a week and a half before the event, and without any training I gained comfort in the advice from some of the Team UniSA riders that the 30km stretch was all downhill.
Myself and fellow UniSA employee Andrea Rankin were one of the last to leave Angaston, so we had some distance to gain to reach the main group. And with the forecast set at dry and hot with a top of 36 degrees for the day, the hot head wind we began riding into whispered cruelly in our ears that it was going to be a tough ride.
The first five kilometres weren’t too bad. We gained on a few riders, including two mothers and their children (who gained a lot of media attention from a passing Channel 9 car). But it was when we first saw that big, menacing hill in the distance that we realised that ‘it’s all downhill’ to professional riders meant that there is still some hill climbing involved!
And this is where the heat, a lack of training and exhaustion began to set in. Sure, once you reached the top of the hill and hit the downward slope, it was great! But there was a stage between 10 to 20 kilometres where as soon as you had conquered one slope, there was another waiting for you on the other side, or just around the corner.
During the hilly phase, words from a previous ride I did in high school (when I was fit and healthy) kept ringing in my ear, “Never get off the bike where climbing hills. Drop down to the lowest gear and keep peddling. It’s easier and better.” So while many were getting off their bike and walking, I stuck to my guns and managed to get some kilometres behind me.
We were cheered on by many Seppeltsfield workers who stood watching the Be Active riders pass them by, somewhat amused at the snaking flow of red faced, sweaty people riding by on a hot and sweltering day.
By this time, the riders who were doing the 100km and 120km rides were passing us. “Show offs” I thought to myself as a group of slim, strong looking men powered up a hill and passed me with ease. But I couldn’t help admire their endurance and obvious fitness.
But once we hit the 20km plus mark, things became a little easier and I began to enjoy the ride. It was at this point that I allowed myself to stop and take some photos and allow my feet to hit the dusty earth for long enough to regain my breath.
The last 10km was the most enjoyable. It was more downhill and flat than anything else, and being on the homeward stretch made it feel a lot easier. When we reached the railway track crossroad signalling the main turn off for Tanunda, Andrea, Melissa (who had travelled from Melbourne for TDU and Be Active) and I stopped and sat in the shade of a tree for a while, chatting and drinking copious amounts of water, pleased with ourselves that we’d got through the worst of it.
After a nice little break – we jumped back on our bikes and enjoyed the last few kilometres into the town centre, chatting, laughing and smiling all the way home. And as we got closer to the main arch, the cheers and clapping from the crowds egged us on. With pride and exhilaration, we raised our arms as we went under the arch, just like the pros! And I felt we had really achieved something special.
A small taste is all I needed to truly appreciate just what a professional road racer goes through on endurance rides like the Tour Down Under. I now have an even greater admiration for cyclists and the determination they need to not only ride such distances, but compete against the best in the field and do it at break-neck speed.
Tour Down Under - Team UniSA home
