The Tour Down Under

Well its been a while since I last blogged but to be honest nothing interesting has happened up until today. Of course if you count, watching the tennis on tv or finding an echidna on the front porch or a snake in the house all in one day exciting!!! hahaha all of that was exciting... well except for maybe the tennis but that's fun too. NOTHING compares to the what I experienced today! I got to see Lance Armstrong and a pro cycling race! I was on cloud nine all day and still am! It has been an amazing day and I really can't put into words the excitment and adrenaline I experienced today so I've put a lot of pictures up to show you how cool it was.

I do apologize if this blog bores you as basically it is mainly for my friend Dail as I SO wish he could have been standing next to me the WHOLE TIME!

Miss you Dail!

This is us before the race! Two days before we went to Big W (the equivalent of our Walmart) and bought supplies for Lance Flags... Yes, I know they look very similar to that of our Texas flag but they were made with the motivation to get Lance's attention and hopfully a signature on the star... alas it did not happen. BUT no matter the day made up for it in full.

We woke up early to get a good spot on the barricade. We chose a very nice spot about 100 meters on the receiving end of the finish line... the idea to see the finish clearly looking straight at it. A very cool move on our part as we got to see a smooth start and finish as well as every lap in between a this race was a circuit and set up on a loop type system.

But first warm ups...

That's right! George Hincapie!!!! What a beautiful picture! I would marry him if he wasn't already married! Drat!
Micheal Rogers!

A great Aussie Rider!

Team Columbias whater station was right infront of where we were standing I didn't have to zoom in much for this picture. I have many pics of him and my husband... I mean George sitting and chilling before the race.

Like so... Love this one

Robbie McEwen!!!

Another great Aussie Bloke!

Stuart O'Grady!!!

The First winner of the Tour Down Under and one of the best Aussie riders out there!

And look who snuck in the other way! None other than the legend himself!

Lance Armstrong!!!!

That bike is AMAZING!!!!

He just smiled his sly smile as he rode past because it took everone by surprise as we all were expecting to see him come from the other direction.

Then!!!! Then George came over and signed my hat!!!!! So exciting! I wished him a very good ride and he just smiled and said thanks sheepishly.

What an amazing guy!

The greatest domestique EVER!!!

Right before the start! Everyone ready?!?!?!

They blew past but I managed a rough shot of Lance! Can you see him?

Get ready!

There he is going on the other side of the loop... I told you the best spot! Got to see him twice on each loop and there was 18 plus warm up! I'm just saying I got to see quite a lot of my pal Armstrong today.

So much later in the race as the peleton caught up with the break away group Quick Step controlled the peleton to help out the main man Allan Davis!
A closer shot of the line and you can make out Allan Davis in the orange or ochre jersey!

There he is again!!!!
And again! He's so fast he's blurry!!!

Ok this picture is just to give you an idea of how close the cyclists were to us. In no way could you stick anything over the barrier or you would have died! It was amazing! I could feel the wind they generated like it was going to blow me over and they all were litterally inches away from me. Especially since I was pushed up against the barrier and was resisting the crowds push to not interfear with the riders it was insane!!! But I loved every minute! I saw Lance this close but of course as luck would have it I was never lucky enough to actually snap that shot the below pictures give you an idea of what I could get of Lance during the race.

Can you spot him...? He's in this picture I promise.

Or this... I have so many rear shots of the man. His girlfriend is going to come hunt me down for all the bum shots I have of him. GO #11!!!!

Alas all fun must come to an end. Those 18 laps went far too fast for me. I could have stayed out there all day long. But the boys must have their rest. :(

Give the man some water he deserves it!!!
"Sign my flag Lance!!!!"

Just another pic of my new friend.

The only pic I will have with Lance unless of course our paths cross in the future... oh how I hope that happens... can you see me in the center of the pic? I have an orange sweat band on my wrist and a camera in my face!

"Don't go Lance! Please sign my flag!!!"

I sound like a psycho fan and really I'm not I just was really excited to see him. He is an amazing athlete and a hoss on the bike. But more importantly I respect what he is doing by coming out of retirement and making cancer such a huge awareness to people. Everyone knows about cancer but they don't pay attention until it happens to them or someone they love. Believe me I know! Lance has two numbers on his bike that mean something to him. 1274 representing the days in which he hasn't been off the bike since his 7th Tour de France in 2005 and the first day of the Tour down under. And 27.5 representing the 27.5 million people that have died from cancer during those 1274 days. My mother is apart of that number and that is why his cause is so important to me. I appreciate what he is accomplishing with his tenancity and boldness. Most people think he's crazy for coming out of retirement but I think he's an angel.

I have a goal to ride in the Livestrong Challenge so I too can help make a contribution to the fight against cancer.

After Lance left it was Allan Davis's turn to take the stage!!!

That's the boy wonder!

I'm really glad he won he deserved it!

Bodysurfing with the fans!

Brave man!

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Oui! Oui! Oui!