Stage 6 (85kms), Friday, finishing back at Dili,

The final day of the 2011 event, covering 85 km, was no walk in the park. After only a few hours of interrupted sleep, lying on a concrete slab in a school classroom, the Ballarat riders were all running on a combination of adrenalin and sugary gels.

It was a sombre start at dawn with the riders led out in a neutral rolling start by team members of the international security force who had lost a colleague in the road accident the day before.

It wasn't long before the pace lifted and the top 60 riders scrambled for a place in the lead bunch to get a good draft to the first climb. Matt Turner describes how he 'had to burn a few remaining matches’ to bridge over to the next group and hang on the end of the pack until the road started to go skywards. Matt was quickly dropped and considered waiting for the guys behind, but decided to persevere and go it alone. Finally on the twisty coastal descent he caught a small group in front. There’s a bit of a trend here of the Ballarat guys making big gains on the long downhill runs.

Riders covered some similar roads to those used on the first day and Matt, now in a group of 20 riders, was able to settle in for a fast paced peloton ride for the next 50km. The infamous Timor potholes in otherwise undulating relatively smooth tarmac, made for some very amusing hand signals to warn rearward riders of oncoming hazards!

The next climb was a monster and was totally exposed to the burning sun. The group took it easy up the monolith with sweat filling their eye sockets. Matt went for it, and broke away from the group (attacking Contador-style) and dropped everyone in the group knowing that on the other side Dili awaited. Unfortunately by the time Matt caught some riders ahead, they were too blown to work and Matt, running on sheer willpower and hope of the finish line approaching, dug deep and bridged over to a local hotshot rider. They worked together until he fell off Matt’s wheel on a rutted back road through the ‘Wendouree West’ of Dili.

President Ramos-Horta had declared a complete shutdown of Dili for the morning of Friday 16 September. This helped to create a spectacle of peace and celebration for the entire city and all Tour de Timor riders, as they made their way through the suburbs of Dili.

The ‘highlight’ was a 6.5km downhill MTB gauntlet run through the dry Comoro River. The dry riverbed was described as ‘dusty loose hell hole’ by Matt who had maxed himself out. At this point Guy Falla came cruising past looking completely unphased, and enjoying the riverbed ride. And only minutes later another Ballarat rider, Shane Cody, came blasting past, popping another wheelie to rub it in, enjoying the riverbed as well. Matt struggled through to the finish, happy that he had emptied the tank on the final day.

The finish line was at the Palacio Presidente. There was a deafening, and quite overwhelming welcome from the local spectators. All six Ballarat riders finished pretty close together today, and no one bothered to check the results, just happy to have finished. All riders were ushered straight into the grounds of the presidential palace, to recover on the grass and exchange stories of fortunes and adventures for the day. And time for some humble luxuries and much needed physical and mental recovery. Yes, that means laying down drinking some Bintang beer and eating oreos.

Well done guys, six gruelling days, and a taste of the life of a cycling professional. Sounds like a lifestyle they could live with, if only someone was happy to pay them to do it.

Stage 6 Results (and Overall Result)

Phil Orr - 23 (16)

Jeremy Doolan - 39 (25)

Joel Hossack - 57 (92)

Guy Falla - 61 (54)

Shane Cody - 62 (53)

Matt Turner - 68 (50)

Tragedy at Tour De Timor: Aussie soldier dies

The News is reporting this morning that a member of the Australian Army reserve has been killed in a truck accident yesterday. Also 2 members of an ANZAC crew have been seriously injured.

We believe this is one of the support trucks for the Tour de Timor.

No further details on this incident or our Ballarat riders

Stage 5 (142km) - Longest stage and too knackered to call!

Stage 5 Update, our guys all made it through, well done.
Phil Orr 21st
Jeremy Doolan 27th
Matt Turner 39th
Joel Hossack 53rd
Guy Falla 57^th
Shane Cody 100th

Our guys are doing great, considering there are still around 300 competitors completing this stage. With 4.30 to 5.30 hrs in the saddle for our riders, it was another long day.

previous text;
Too knackered to call!
No word on how our riders went today, and the official website is also lacking info. Phil Orr and Jeremy Doolan were spotted during an early section, powering along in the second main group on the road. I assume our guys are just too knackered to call with an update today. NGE.

Today is the start of the return to Dili, along the North Coast, on mainly fast, flat roads. With a few bridges out and some long difficult mountain climbs, our riders will be kept on their toes.

The main climb of the day is a long, drawn out affair starting at 75km and goes on for about 20 km!! With weary legs, an ascent speed around 10 km/hr is expected, so that 2 hrs of climbing!

After this lazy 20km of climbs our riders finally take on the downhill, back to the coast. After all that, our riders still face the final 40km of the 2011 Tour de Timor’s longest day.

The route opens out so it will be hot, fast finish. The road heads inland temporarily, and goes through parched salt plains before leading riders back to the coast and to the finish at Manatuto town.

If I hear anymore, I'll update this post

Stage 4 (79kms) - Tonight we talk with Phil Orr about todays stage

Phil Orr, although finishing well yesterday on stage 3, was feeling quite drained, with no energy and power in his legs, (hopefully he hasn’t dug too deep in those early stages) and went to bed last night suffering with stomach cramps. So Stage 4 was going to be interesting, hopefully all those gains Phil has made over the last 3 days weren’t going to be lost today.

With all riders in the camp resting up for another long day on the bike, everyone was woken early with the chilling and echoing sounds of dogs fighting at 3am in the morning. (It was probably just monkeys playing.....I'm sure foreign tourists say similar things when they hear koalas for the first time screeching in the Aussie bush...'do you think someone was just murdered'?...) At this point everyone was awake, and before you knew it, everyone was up and about, packing up gear. So much for that thing called sleep, try again later tonight.

From the gun today, riders were straight into the action with a major climb to wake their legs for the 4^th consecutive day in the saddle. After a fairly flat stage yesterday, the organisers wanted to remind the riders this is what Tour de Timor is all about: mountain climbs, rough and uneven and rocky surfaces, and some fast descents.

After the ‘warm-up’ climb and long fast decent, the riders hit the first King of the Mountain (KOM) at the 21km mark. Phil Orr lost contact with the leaders on this first climb of the day and was happy to settle into his own tempo and ride into a good position.

The hilly roads were over after about 40kms, however our riders were then faced with open/exposed ‘wind swept’ roads. This went on for about 30 kms and Phil Orr found himself on his own. Phil had a plan to ride along at a decent pace, keeping a bit in reserve, just in case (fingers crossed) a group would come by, and Phil could hitch a ride through to the finish. Well…..with a few kms left, a group of 2 rides finally came by and 2 became 3.

The last 4 kms of the stage, can only be described as a viciously steep and hazardous downhill into the Com Resort on the NE coast. Phil knew this sort of section would suite him. On the way down one of the riders (fearing for his life no doubt) dropped off, leaving Phil and the other rider, Andrew Bell to race down toward the finish. Both riders (Phil and Andrew) ran wide on a loose sketchy bend and ran out of road. Andrew Bell went down, Phil somehow stayed up. They both got going again, however Andrew was a bit shaken up and lost some confidence, and fell again soon after. So at this point Phil had a comfortable gap, and was able to roll over the line in front of another huge crowd in 15^th place for today’s stage.

All our Ballarat riders made it through Stage 4, although not totally unscathed this time. Sounds like Guy Falla had a crash, but still got through in a competitive time. Shane Cody was spotted popping wheelies for the crowd, so those legs are still holding up OK, and Jeremy Doolan was spotted on camera at the start line, trying to psych out his competitors.

Phil Orr 15th
Jeremy Doolan 24th
Shane Cody 38th
Guy Falla 60^th and a crash
Matt Turner 71st
Joel Hossack 154th

Tomorrows Stage 5 is a giant 142km, hopefully knowing they will be heading back toward Dili now, will motivate them enough to keep on pedalling. Stay tuned for more updates

Stage 3 (67kms) – This area really is the back of beyond...

In preparing to write the Stage 3 report, I noted that our Ballarat riders are probably in the most remote part of the island, with tonight being the furthest distance from Dili. and on the opposite side of the island. I wasn't sure if our riders would be able to make contact tonight, as mobile phone coverage might be pretty poor.
Today's stage is the shortest of all 6, being only 67km. Two thirds of this stage is pretty flat along coastal roads, but the last third turns inland, and is pretty steep, rocky and loose. Bone jarring for riders on hard tail mountain bikes.

No official commentary from our troops, stay tuned, as stage 4 tomorrow heads back into civilization, when we'll no doubt receive lots of banter from our riders on their exploits from stages 3 and 4.

Results have been posted, and all 6 of our riders have made it through;
Today's Stage 3 results for our Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club riders
Phil Orr 20th
Jeremy Doolan 26th
Shane Cody 51st
Matt Turner 54th
Guy Falla 66th
Joel Hossack 90th

Here's a stage report from the official web site.
http://www.tourdetimor.com/?page_id=1776

I like this quote from MTB legend Tinker Juarez, it sums up the stage nicely;
“Scenery was awesome, it definitely made me want to just pull over to the side, it was amazing to see so much beach with no one there” he said. “This stage is so far my favorite one”.

Stage 2 (122kms) – One tough stage, a lot tougher than anyone expected

Stage 2 was described as an overall decent from the high mountain finish yesterday, back down to sea level.

The first 10 km was open bushland, which became increasingly dense, jungle vegetation as the riders ‘descended’ the mountain range. I say ‘descended’ as there were more uphill sections than what the riders had expected, with many steep pinches, making a tough first half of the stage. Added to this was the fact that many sections of road haven’t been maintained since Indonesian times, over 10 years ago. This combination lead to lots of carnage in the earlier descents.

The final 70 km was basically flat, but unrelentingly rough on the body. Riders on dual suspension mountain bikes were smiling at their hard-tail counterparts at this point. Among the many road obstacles encountered during today’s stage included rabid dogs, chickens, goats, sows and again hundreds of children along the streets and hanging from the trees

All our Ballarat riders are on hard-tail mountain bikes. They all made it through the stage today in around the same time as stage 1. Albeit, very stiff and sore. It’s hard to give up when you are being cheered by so many excited children. Jeremy Doolan made big gains for the day, finishing 23rd overall and beating some big names. Phil Orr did well again and came in 13^th, and should be nudging top 10 overall.

Full stage results have not been posted on the official website, it may have something to do with the fact Stage 1 had about 100 DNF’s (did not finish), and given the difficulty of today’s stage, many more DNF’s were expected.

Our guys decided to setup camp on the tranquil beach tonight, but have just been told to be aware of the huge crocodile that has been causing trouble for local fishermen. "So a post race ocean dip and cool down is out of the question I suppose", grumbled Shane Cody

Stage 1 Report - Tour de Timor

A nervous start to this 6 day event. A mass start saw lots of start - stop - braking – skidding. At about 6km into the stage saw the first steep pitch for the day which soon splintered the 400 nervous riders into groups. The first 50km was hilly but on bitumen roads running along the north coast. Riders averaged a blistering 40km/hr along this first section making for a quick morning ride.

However the first “monster” KOM (King Of the Mountain) started soon after the riders turned inland at about 65km into the stage. The roadie - group riding didn’t last long, as riders paced themselves up the long climb. While climbing, the riders had plenty of time to take in the eucalypt forest, reminding our riders of home.

With about 25km to go, the second KOM started, which was quite difficult technical climbing. At this point, it was pretty much up hill all the way to the finish, and gradually got steeper and steeper.

Although fatigued after over 100km of riding, the altitude gained returned some fantastic views back across the valley, where the riders had just come from. “The terrain was as brutal as it was beautiful” said Matt Turner. The final 5kms of the stage had lots of village kids lining the route, cheering on all the riders.

There were a number of casualties from the heat, like previous tour winner Neil Van der Ploeg, was seen vomiting in the first aid tent at the end of the stage, while chasing his brother Paul who ended the stage 2nd. All our Ballarat riders arrived safe and in good time, with Phil Orr 14th, Jeremy Doolan 40th, Matt Turner 62, Shane Cody 64, then Guy Falla and Joel Hosack (Official stage position unknown at writing).

The whole day was described as incredibly exciting and, particularly when our riders all met Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste outside the palace for the stage 1 start.

Tensions Rise - 12 hours before Stage 1

Tension is rising, as the Van der Ploeg's (from NE Victoria) are talking up the difficulty of stage one, and trying to unsettle our Ballarat riders. These tactics are mearly raising the confidence of our 6 riders, who have all arrived fit, healthy and ready to race, having trained on some of the roughest, wettest trails they could find.
Today (Saturday) was all about relaxing and preparing for the 6 days ahead, with a massage and pool time taking priority. "It's been a tough day preparing the body, we've been focusing on carb loading (pretty much eating as much food as we could find) and taking electrolyte's/salts" said Matt Turner.
"We've all had to make sacrifices to ensure we're in top condition for this gruelling event, like not drinking any beer tonight", said Matt Turner.
Racing (Stage 1) gets underway Sunday morning, a little over 12 hrs away.

Timor Pre Event – Write Up Ballarat

Keep your eye on this blog during the event, and we’ll bring you a daily wrap up of each stage, and how the Ballarat riders are going.

The Ballarat guys have been training hard, as evidenced in this blog, preparing for 6 consecutive days of racing. Can anything really prepare them for what lies ahead…..

The event has 6 stages (over the 6 days) ranging from 67km to 142km, with 4 days being over 100km long. These are mountain bikes and not skinny tyred road bikes, so 100km is a long way.

The combination of a poor country, lots of rainfall, and dirt roads, means conditions will be unpredictable, and nothing like the roads and tracks experienced back at home in the forests around Ballarat. In fact rumours have it cars have disappeared into pot holes in East Timor. Also many bridges are currently washed out, so after wading across swollen rivers, there may be stages ridden with soggy shoes, socks and possibly soggy shorts! Hopefully the tiger leeches only come out at night. (I hear the local crocodiles don’t like lycra, it gets stuck in their teeth, so they should be OK).

The forecast weather conditions in the week leading up to the Sunday 11 September start looks positive; we can expect about 31 degree maximum each day and each night to hit a 25 degree minimum. No rain is forecast at the moment, and humidity will be about 80% plus each day.

Lots of sweat, soggy clothes and hot over night temperatures, sound like ideal conditions for growing fungi, I hope the guys all packed enough tea tree oil to see them thru..

The roads will be pretty rough, and I expect the mountain climbs, although long and steep, will be a welcome relief from the heat of the coastal, lowland areas.

There will be many areas of jungle along the route, hopefully the local monkeys don’t gang up and take out any mtb riders, when they see the sweet gels come out of their jersey pockets! I'm picturing Phil Orr on the ground, surrounded/covered by monkeys fighting over Torq Gels, with Jeremy and Jedi coming to the rescue.

Good luck guys, hope you and your gear arrive in Dili in one piece, ready for action, and watch out for gecko's

Next report, evening of Sunday 11 September – Stage 1 wrap.