Santos Tour Down Under

The annual Santos Tour Down Under in South Australia is a pretty big event.   And I am sure that the other Australian states, especially Victoria, would love to have the honour of holding it.  I remember when the Grand Prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne.  But no, the Tour Down Under is definitely staying in South Australia. That is good news.   

As we were a trifle busy this year, we only saw the riders leave Glenelg on the 3rd day of the tour.  Donna and Patrick live on Brighton Road so we walked for five minutes, and watched from the footpath opposite Jetty Road.  

For the more aware we were standing on the tramlines, but luckily the trams stopped at Brighton Road on this particular day.  Thank goodness.  They are big, silent brutes.

A very impressive line up of police motor cycle officers.  They must have been all on duty during the races.  Keeps them out of mischief no doubt.

The peloton being marshalled slowly along Jetty Road.

Once around the corner onto Brighton Road they started to speed up.

The last vehicle to leave the procession of support vehicles was the truck towing a trailor with two portaloos on it.  It went the opposite way, probably heading for the finish line.  One forgets that sports people need to use the toilet too.

We also visited the centre of Tour Down Under activities in Victoria Square.  Very interesting.

We were impressed with this bicycle rack as it had hinges and swung both ways so that the bicycle could be pushed flat against a wall.

I was fascinated by the large numbers of men wearing lycra, sometimes riding bikes, but often walking around in the vicinity of their parked bikes.  I am not sure how much serious bike riding they do, but lets say, they should not be wearing lycra, which certainly accentuates the rolls of fat.   A woman on the tram rather facetiously referred to them as MAMILS (middle aged men in lycra).

But then lycra appears to be also the favourite Saturday apparel for many Adelaide women too.  They dress for a gym session, with top brand footwear on, or sometimes rubber flip flops, and then go shopping or drink coffee at the many cafes.  I don't think exercise is high on their priorities either.

There are some men in lycra in the distance in this photograph, but I thought it a little rude to zoom in on them.

The Tour Down Under is now finished for another year.  Looking forward to being there for the next tour.