Tour Down Under...

[triway]

LA didn't just have it in the jewels though. Multiple golf ball size tumors in his lungs as well as other places.....

Dead set legend in the making before cancer, dead set legend after it.

But shocking taste in women!

[aardvark]

Great experience Ardy . How cool is Stewy , right up there , in my opinion with Troy Bayliss as great Aussie sports stars with their feet firmly planted .

Agreed. Having said that though, all of the riders were very gracious. When our blokes were thanked in the organisers speech, a lot of the riders stood and applauded.

LA didn't just have it in the jewels though. Multiple golf ball size tumors in his lungs as well as other places.....

Yep - it spread to his brains and lungs. The simple "removal of one nut" wasn't all he had to undergo. He also had brain surgery and huge amounts of chemo.

[MickLC]

Ardy, who's the guy in the third pic, far left? I swear I know him from somewhere

[aardvark]

Ardy, who's the guy in the third pic, far left? I swear I know him from somewhere

We call him Maverick. His mother calls him Gary Rutherford.

[MickLC]

hmmm doesn't ring a bell

[Disco]

hmmm doesn't ring a bell

At fist glance I thought it was Cadel Evans ....

[the kid]

hmmm doesn't ring a bell

Of course not Mick , dey only have bells on kiddies bikes

[large]

As most of you know, I spend most of my work days riding around upsetting people. This requires the removal of the nice, polite, friendly part of my demeanour. Sure, it's not a very big operation, but it has to be done.

So, when it comes time to work events like the Tour Down Under, it's good to be able to put on the happy face for a while.

I've just finished working 9 days straight and am thankful that I've got the next 4 days off because I am seriously worn out. During the last 9 days I've done escort and protection duties for Mr. Armstrong (Lance, not Neil) and then performed escort duties during the race for the pelaton. All in all, it's been a great week.

Sunday night we attended at the after race party. Motorcycle cops and free grog.... it might sound suprising but it's a combination fraught with hilarity! Not all of us involved with the Tour attended at the party, but those of us that did had a great time. I thought I'd share a few photos from last night of the boys with a few of the stars of cycling.

The cycling guys are approachable, happy to have a chat and more than happy to have a million photos taken of them.


The boys and Mike Rann - thanking us for bringing in millions of dollars of revenue.... maybe.


Robbie Mcewen


Phil Liggett - the voice of cycling and an absolute gentlemen.


Allan Davis - Tour winner


Stuart O'Grady


Now this is a serious bottle of plonk!!

Tell George I said hello.

Pity you have to work for let alone have a beer with Mike dickhead Rann.

[funky]

rode over there myself to watch the final stage.
jsut happened to luck meeting the great man on his way out of the hilton.
damn you guys must have been hot, the ride home was almost unbearable.
how do i sign on?

[aardvark]

damn you guys must have been hot, the ride home was almost unbearable.

I was a tad hot - as you can probably tell by the lovely fluro-red sunburn I have in a few photos. We wear evaporative cool vests and drink plenty of fluids to help keep cool. We have 60 bikes here in SA and the best 18 get to do the TDU.

[robracer]

We have 60 bikes here in SA and the best 18 get to do the TDU.

How are the best picked?

[aardvark]

We have 60 bikes here in SA and the best 18 get to do the TDU.

How are the best picked?

Well, obviously the just take the best looking.

Seriously tho, there isn't any test - if it was the above test, I'd always be a shoe in.

It's more to do with your reputation as a rider and your ability to make decisions on the run. From the outside, we make the job look very easy. But, ask any of those whom we escort and it simply looks like chaos and a fatality waiting to happen. It all comes down to everyone having the exact same traininh and trust.

For example, I can happily ride along the road, having a conversation with most of my work mates whilst our panniers are touching. I've ridden with other people, privately, who I wouldn't ride within 100m of!

[the kid]

We have 60 bikes here in SA and the best 18 get to do the TDU.

How are the best picked?

You have to be able to park your Bimmer with the most style and grace ! Ardy wins that one hands down , or is that bars down .

[aardvark]

We have 60 bikes here in SA and the best 18 get to do the TDU.

How are the best picked?

You have to be able to park your Bimmer with the most style and grace ! Ardy wins that one hands down , or is that bars down .

And I got 4.7 points for difficulty.

[z900/zx9]

Well i did my own little bicycle round up last weekend On our way back from tallangatta over the mt beauty (tawonga gap rd)road there must have been a couple of hundred cyclists doing the alpine classic or something like that and i had no problems keeping a good pace without sending anyone into the bushes In fact it was that much fun i wanted to go and do it again