Phil Gallant's Blog

Done! Wow, wow, wow! That was one amazing day on a bike … on a par with anything I’ve ridden before. The bald facts are that we rode 165km from Albury to Kancoban, and climbed just over 2,000 meters. That really doesn’t begin to tell the story as we rode through pristine Australian alpine country under perfect blue skies. I wasn’t able to take the pictures to do it justice but will post some at a later date. The fun started with our Sunrise film crew arrived in a chopper to film us as we rode around and across the beautiful Lake Hume. Quite a buzz as the chopper swooped low with the cameraman hanging out of the side as we rode the undulating road along the foreshore … all I could think about was not touching the wheel in front of me, that would not have been quite the footage Channel 7 were looking for!

Later in the morning the Sunrise crew swopped the chopper for a car and began to shoot footage of us from the road as they drove alongside or ahead. It’s quite funny trying to ride correctly and not smile or grimace at the camera as the crew ride alongside … half the time I end up not breathing properly which makes it a big relief when the crew zoom off to find the next location.

I did a few turns on the front of the group … a total pleasure given the terrain we were passing through. Riding on the front is the hardest position in the peloton, and quite often people avoid it for that reason – however today there was no shortage of willing volunteers!

For the first time we had some decent climbs to negotiate … can’t believe I’m writing this, but they were actually a pleasant change after seven days riding on the flats. None of the climbs were as severe as the ones that are in store for us tomorrow – however they were enough to get the heart rate up to some pretty uncomfortable levels, and to make us realise that tomorrow is indeed going to be a tough day.

The whole group made it through safely before dark – thanks to some great riding and the work of our amazing support crew.

The Muppet award was deservedly won by Kathy Mason today. Kathy turned up as a guest rider for stages 8&9, and managed to fall off her bike, whilst standing still, in front of the school kids lined up to watch us roll out this morning … so at this point Kathy hadn’t cycled a meter of this year’s Tour. The kids were very concerned but understood that someone so small might have a problem staying upright on a bike! A very well deserved award I’m sure you’ll agree. Your mate Mr Salmon tried hard to steal the award by driving off from morning tea with the Lexus tailgate open … but in the end it was Ms Mason’s day!

Big day tomorrow … the day I put in all the hill training for – so now it’s compression and sleep time! Wish me luck; amongst other things, tomorrow we’ll climb Dead Horse Gap … an 18km climb with long stretches between 12 & 16% gradient. That’s long and steep; it’s going to be a big day!