Blather on Bicycling

When I first arrived in Australia, I was expecting to come to some type of new and different place, but as I drove to Canberra I thought I was back in Texas again, where I lived for 3 years. For starters, the language barrier has been a bit difficult to overcome, but not as difficult as the language barrier in Texas. The landscape is surprisingly like Texas, which reminded me of northern California. So I guess this part of Australia reminds me of NoCal. But then again, while driving toward the Outback, the scenery change was reminding me of of the landscape transition from north Texas driving toward west Texas. So I guess Australia reminds me more of WesTex. But then again, Canberra reminds me of another capital I’m familiar with, Boise. It has a similar population and a similar climate with heaps of rednecks (er…bushmen) drivers that barrel by you at high speed, which reminds me of drivers in Texas and California. Plus, the roads are littered with trash, glass, and odd debris, which reminds me of Boise, Texas, and California. My increasingly obvious point is that I have come to a vacation (err. . .”holiday”) place that reminds me of back home in The States, except that it is a bizarro world. I’ll explain.

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Never mind that I don’t have any notable race results this year, I’ve bookended the year by trouncing 2 different world champions. When my alarm wakes me at 4:10, the urge to go back to sleep is extremely powerful, but early on I discovered that it is always worth it to show up for a morning ride in Canberra. Each ride has offered something new and exciting for me. This morning, out from the 6 am dawn rolled a High Road kit. The chatter of the other riders suddenly went quiet, and I heard someone mutter, “Bloody hell.”

As a reminder, my first triumph came earlier in 2009 against the reigning gold medalist and former world champion time trialist. She seemed unaware that I beat her. This morning, I was up against a multi-world champion time trialist and Tour contender. I had met up with him earlier in the year on the slopes of Mt. Palomar while he was throwing down on spectators. I discussed the full incident in more detail after the race. This time I was on my bike and started the major climb right on his wheel. Read more