Thursday, June 27, 2013

2013 Tour de Singkarak - pre race

After coming out of the AnPost Ras in much better shape than I went into it, I had one day to packup and fly to Padang in Indonesia for the UCI 2.2 Tour de Singkarak. Similar to the Ras, it is a stage race ran over eight days (although only seven stages, we have one rest day) - different from the Ras though, it was going to be hot, very very hot!

Recovery ride on arrival in Padang

Outside the city of Padang
Travels went well (four seats free for me to lie on in an Airbus A380) and I arrived in Indonesia feeling good considering the last ten days. I had one extra day to acclimatise before the rest of the team arrived from Surabaya (a few hour flight to Padang) and get used to the dramatic change in climate.


View from the hotel in Bukittinggi
With the team all together, we travelled up to Bukittinggi where the first stage would start. More easy spins and we really got to marvel at this stunning country.

Stopping for a pee :)


Our hotel for the first few nights
The heat was initially a shock to the system, but I hoped it would remember my months in Indonesia already spent before the racing would start.

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