Monday, Monday

Can't trust that day. Well, so someone said. But I guess it's ok if it's a rest day and you can get a nice long, if not hot, ride in.

Due to the heat and the late departure hour plans of going to the hills were abandoned and a route into town, then to Glenelg and north to Port Adelaide along the foreshore and finally a return to Panorama was the order of the day. Guess it was the right decision as I was able to hook up with a fast group for the trip from the city to Glenelg. Then, just as we were about to turn north, a couple of police motorcyles appeared from that direction, followed by team Astana with Lance firmly embedded, followed by a couple more police motos, and then a gaggle of hangers -on. As it turns out, my Perth compatriots and couriers of the infamous Kuota seat collar, Brett and Allan, were in that follow group. As it turns out, perhaps they deserved it -when Brett put his bike together in the morning he had discovered it had been damaged in shipping and Allans bike had a mysteriously loose headset, resulting in a trip to the bike shop after the ride.
Anyway, after that bit of excitement more of the teams were spotted along the route north. Cofidis, Columbia and Fuji were all out spinning out their legs, so I guess that the choice to head to the beach for the ride was the correct one. Remainder of the ride uneventful, but I was able to hook up with half a dozen riders from Townsville for the north leg into the wind, no effort expended whatsoever. They are going to ride every stage, starting about 3 hours before the race start. Sounds like a good idea - maybe next year.
Tomorrow AM things start in earnest. The plan is to park at the finish and then ride the 40 or so k's to the second KOM, then back to the end of the loop portion to see the peloton pass and follow them back to the finish. Will let you all know how it works tomorrow.

PS. Promise to get some pics tomorrow!