Well the tour has come and gone and I feel proud and honored to have taken part in the first major sporting event in this new country. There would be many things to talk about but I'll have to pick just a few.
Looking back now it feels very much like we were all cooperating , officials, cyclists, volunteers and the people of Timor, to make this special event a success. It was more than a race. It was also billed as Race for Peace as the President wanted to create something positive along with the race after many years of visitors coming for conflict resolution type reasons. As a race it was remarkably well run over 5 days of racing with some hard climbing over large and beautiful mountains. People lined the course everywhere and my arms were sore from waving. Actually they were more sore from all the potholes. This was a road race on mountainbikes over very patchy roads but that was part of the appeal for me. The bike was perfect for it and I only had one flat tyre and a broken chain on a really horrible downhill section on day 5. I finished 77th overall after a couple of bad days but I was rarely near the elite young men at the front who were hours faster over the 450klm.
Looking back now it feels very much like we were all cooperating , officials, cyclists, volunteers and the people of Timor, to make this special event a success. It was more than a race. It was also billed as Race for Peace as the President wanted to create something positive along with the race after many years of visitors coming for conflict resolution type reasons. As a race it was remarkably well run over 5 days of racing with some hard climbing over large and beautiful mountains. People lined the course everywhere and my arms were sore from waving. Actually they were more sore from all the potholes. This was a road race on mountainbikes over very patchy roads but that was part of the appeal for me. The bike was perfect for it and I only had one flat tyre and a broken chain on a really horrible downhill section on day 5. I finished 77th overall after a couple of bad days but I was rarely near the elite young men at the front who were hours faster over the 450klm.
A wonderful sense of place remains strong with me. The mountain villages , beautiful people and pretty views were worth the pain of day4.
Thank you Timor Leste. I hope to be back some time soon.
