Hey Keith (or Al), maybe you should be looking at something like this?

I love the mudguard.

I’m back, Baby.

Packed our Adelaide place from the weekend before and all through the past week. Took ages to do.

Ash and I drove off from Adelaide Saturday afternoon and stopped overnight at Coonawarra, South Australian wine country. Finished the rest of our leg Sunday afternoon to watch the Australian Open Final.

I’ve got time off this week to settle back in and unpack things. Gotta stay at parents’ place while waiting for Carnegie house to be vacated.

Adelaide was a good place to work and we bought a great place there. However, socially it was a little sleepy.

It’s good to be back home…

I’ve just put a deposit down for the London to Paris 2008….

2008 – A Quick Glimpse

Just when you were wondering what goal to set yourself for 2008, a dramatic new route is announced for the 3 day, 600km London-Paris Cycle Tour! If you need a new challenge, try this. Every year we introduce something new. Special for 2008 it is a “Classics” style route. Ever done a 200km stage, you have – good, so now try a 230 km stage, add some Paris-Roubaix cobbles and some steep gradients and you begin to get the picture.

Sound too hard core? Every year we have riders who push the boundaries far further than they believed possible. The satisfaction of achieving the impossible with friends that you have trained with for many months is indescribable, you may not be Nicole Cook or a TdF Pro but you sure get to know that great feeling of satisfaction and achievement. You will ride in a seeded group to match your ability.

Still not sure? Imagine riding like a Pro in the Tour de France, with rolling road closures, full service and mechanical support and your every need looked after. Just concentrate on the riding. No other amateur gets to experience this.This is a chance to meet other like minded riders from all over the world. The event is extremely sociable with 4 previous years of established camaraderie you will find riders who have completed every event and come back for more!

If 600km in three days sounds easy then riding in Group 1 will be right for you. Sean Kelly and Johan Museeuw thought it was hard! Think what it’s like whilst riding flat out on the Yellow Sections (GC Classification), Sprinter Teams leading out in the Green sections and the Mountain Goats ripping the legs on the Red Sections…..and well in between its pretty social!

The Facts

• The 5th Edition of the London-Paris Cycle Tour takes place from the 26-29 June 2008
• Cost of Entry is £649 (Food, Accommodation, Support, Ferry to France). Excluded is the Eurostar Return and bike repatriation to London which can be purchased separately.
• Registration Deposit is a £99 (non refundable).
• 2007 Riders get guaranteed entry whilst places are available (Mid November).
• Registration takes place late November.

P.S. Mr Admin, I need a new category… I will be living, breathing and sleeping in prep for this ride.

As per the service status page at AussieHQ, qweop.net’s web server will be undergoing upgrade and relocation at 0900 AEST 23/01/2008. Don’t post anything on that day unless you don’t mind losing it.

Mr T didn’t have his way with me. I’m just sore from taking a few tumbles at the rock garden.

Five of us met up for the usual ride at Lysterfield. Andrew L, Matt, Keith, HYG and I made it for this ride. As always, it’s a surprise to see what bike Andrew the GT whore will pull out from his stable of GT rides. Today it was the Zaskar. I think he’d had enough of the old steel full stiffy on the previous ride – Lysterfield is a pretty bumpy course and 2 hours of no suspension probably isn’t much fun.

At some point today, Matt decided to get his belly up close and personal with his saddle. I missed the spectacle but he was looking a little sore after that. Other than that, I don’t think anyone had any stacks for a change. That is, until we hit the rock garden. I had three attempts at it and dismounted very ungracefully twice. Had enough after that end figured I’d better quit for the day while my bones were still intact. Matt had a nice run on his Rush. Video below – no sound for some reason.