The Bupa Challenge

Today, the pros rode 138 km from Norwood, just outside of Adelaide, to Taununda, which is northeast of here in the Barossa Valley, one of the premier wine-producing areas of Australia. They left Norwood at 11 a.m., but at 7 a.m. we rode out of Gumeracha, just a bit along the course, for the Bupa Challenge. This is an annual event where the public gets to ride the same stage as the pros, just a few hours before the peleton. It's much like an MS150 ride – there were some 6,700 registered riders, all outfitted in the same red jerseys.

The course was hilly throughout, with some really nice, long, fast descents. It also featured the climb of Menglers Hill near the finish, which followed about 72 km of riding and was a designated "King of the Mountain" climb in the Tour. It was every bit as steep as some of the Alpine and Pyrennean climbs, but at 4 km it was much shorter. After that, it was a scorchingly fast ride into Tanunda. We hooked onto a paceline about 6 or 7 km from the end and cruised into the finish really fast. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to draft on those long descents – these were fairly straight so it was possible to get right behind another rider – not possible on the really twisty Alpine descents. There's a point, when you're going about 35 mph, where the draft becomes more of a suction just pulling you along. Really fun.

Anyway, after the finish we were directed into a park, where we got lunch, relaxed on the grass for a while, and finally met up with the others, who had driven up from Adelaide. They were in a restaurant just past the finish line, so we joined them there, then went out and saw the finish, although it was very crowded and nearly impossible to get any good photos.

A 90-minute drive back to Adelaide, followed by a two-hour nap, then cocktails and dinner near the hotel capped a long day. The menu at dinner was fabulous – I wanted to try EVERYTHING. The side street where the restaurant is located was closed, so tables spilled out onto the sidewalk and the street. It was a delightful evening, and so nice to be outside for dinner.

Here are some photos from the ride: