Tour of Timor 2010

Flying over East Timor in the plane was a harsh wake up call for what the following week was going to involve. I peered out the window and down to the spectacular and severe mountains below, it was beautiful and harsh, my legs began to ache in anticipation!!

On arrival we were greeted by the official welcoming party they were all very excited to see us and had huge happy toothy grins! We were all processed in the VIP lounge and amongst other things we were issued a waiver to sign so we could travel in UN vehicles, these would be used throughout the tour to transport us and our gear, bit different!

Once we had checked in to our accommodation Jen and I decided to head for a spin to stretch the legs and make an attempt at acclimatising to the oppressive heat and humidity. Coming from one of the coldest and wettest winters in Victoria certainly was a shock to the system; Dili was a hot and sticky 36 degrees!!

The road code in Dili is quite interesting, anything seems to go, overtake on the left, right, gutter, any side of the road will generally do and it seems that you don’t need any reason at all to use your horn!!

The animals are actually the main hazard on the road, all villages on the tour route were asked to keep all livestock locked up (most cases this meant in their houses!) so as not to cause accidents to bunches of riders during the race.

The early morning ride down Dili's main street to the race start at the presidential palace.

It was an early start each morning, we had to have bags packed and loaded on the gear trucks by 6am each morning. It was essential that the front gear trucks start at least 2 hrs before we did as they needed to get to the next nights camp before us. Due to the conditions of the roads and the terrain they traveled at a much slower average speed than what we did on the bikes!

The talk of the road conditions had everyone quite intimidated, mainly because the racing would be done In bunches and when in the bunch you have a great view of the wheel in front of you and that is all. The frequency of massive potholes, animals, washouts and land slips put everyone on edge. Some of the potholes we came across were deep enough to stand up in, luckily these were marked with a couple of random rocks placed round the outside of the hole! Never seen anything like it!

Before the race start outside the Presidential Palace.

The tour had 350 riders, so jostling for a good start position was always a good idea.

Day one went from Dili to Balibo, it was the longest day at 123km but considered the easiest due to the profile, it was mainly flat, following the coast line and then climbed up to the Village of Balibo in the last 20km. I found day one really tough, mainly due to the heat and humidity, it was always going to be a day of adjustment, getting the legs going and sorting out adequate hydration. I found the flatter stages along the coast some of the hardest days , the humidity was oppressive, any gain in altitude away from the coast seemed to be much better!

The school kids were ecstatic and no doubt were happy to have the opportunity to get out of the classroom cheer us on (it would have taken all day for the entire field to pass through!)

The energy gained form the locals was AMAZING! Every village we passed through pretty much had the entire population lining the road, cheering , smiling and enjoying what must be a very strange and new spectacle for them. Each village that we stayed in for the night had declared a public holiday for the region as the road had to be completely closed to all traffic and we were pretty much eating and sleeping in the schools classrooms!

It was a real treat to find some tables and chairs to consume our dinner, very civilised!!

Crossing the finish line in Balibo was a huge relief, some serious rest, recovery and chillaxing was required! Just trying to replensidh the energy stores ready to do it all again the next day!

Travelling through Timor we were constantly reminded of the horrific and reccent history that has taken place in this small country. Riding up to Balibo thoughts were of the 5 Australian journalists who were held captive and murdered in the 70's. Throughout many other villages there were carcasses of buildings left in ruin from bombings and just never been repaired or rebuilt. For what these people must been through they are an amazingly peaceful, gentle, shy and most of all a very happy people

This was the sag wagon! They were kept very busy picking up the stragglers and their bikes and giving them a much needed lift to the finishline! The medics dealt with 32 cases of severe dehydration on day one and a couple had to be airlifted back to Dili, pays to look after yourself!

Everywhere we went there was always an audience, the villagers thought of us as great entertainment, they simply stood and stared, it was never intimidating but quite humbling! This bloke was very happy to show off his prize rooster! The people in the background thought the massage tent was very interesting!

While we were waiting for the gear trucks to arrive there was a massive downpour, very unseasonal apparently in the dry season! We all huddled with the locals under the huge banyan tree.

The unseasonal rain caught many people out. Most riders had pre-purchased the camping package which consisted of a roll mat and a mosquito net, three out of the five nights we had rain so it was manic with the organizers sourcing free verandah space, and empty classrooms for people to sleep in, some people were even taken in by some of the locals, lovely people!

I collected 50ml in my drink bottle in only half an hour

The showers were interesting! They were pretty much made out of palm fronds on the ground and walls, then there was a big barrel of water with a scoop to pour water over yourself, sounds quite rudimentary, but to be able to wash away the sweat and pain of the long day was great!

The president made an appearance at most of the villages we stayed at. It is ‘The Presidents Race’ he is passionate about rebuilding Timor and the Tour is just one of many incentives aimed at harboring trust, promoting peace and making vital connections and building positive relationships with other nations. He considers sport to be a great way to promote these values and to showcase Timor as a peaceful, safe and absolutely stunning country. As Timor has been ravaged by war for so long they have not really experienced any forms of tourism. It was an amazing opportunity to see Timor before the people and the places become influenced by many foreign visitors.

Day two was said to be the toughest day of the tour due to the hills, from memory it was 93km but with some massive and very steep climbs. We descended from Balibo which was quite hairy in the big bunch lots of potholes and sweeping half gravel half bitumen corners.

The main climb went for 30km with two ‘King of the Mountain’ sprints in the space of 10km… it was steep, open, exposed and so so hot. But the scenery was amazing When we got to Maliana we travelled along the most spectacular ridge line through many remote little villages, unfortunately I had substituted the space in my pockets for food in place of the camera, so I didn’t capture any of it but I was very happy to have the food that day.

We had a beautiful decent down in to the town of Suia which was just off the south coast, we had crossed East Timor in a day!
Unfortunately one of our team mates Gracie came down really hard on the descent and managed to dislocate her shoulder, so out team was down to 3. On the up side she got be chaperoned by the president himself in his private chopper back to Dili

These boys were very happy that our camp was set up in their school, they got to have two days off school!

This Timorese rider was part of the PNTL (National Police) he explained that this bullet proof looking vest was great for carrying all the food he needed for the day “I get so so so hungry…!!” He just couldn’t fit enough food in his jersey pockets. When I asked if he got hot wearing it he said “It great, it is no problem!”
The Timorese riders had absolutely no idea about race nutrition, I would come across riders who had no water and no food, I gave one guy a caffine gel and 5 minutes later I was left in his dust!!

The start line for Day 3. In the background a new church was in the process of being constructed.

Day 3 was written up as a ‘rest ‘day, being only 67km and 50km of it being flat. I found day 3 the hardest. We were back on the coast so the humidity was unbearable and the road conditions were the worst yet. At one stage it had been sealed as there were the token patches of asphalt but the rest of the road was a myriad of potholes.

As it was flat the pace was being driven and everyone was trying to ride as a big bunch and get a good sit, but the potholes made the bunch really erratic, as the front guys were accelerating out of potholes we were just hitting them so it was like a huge elastic band trying to hold the wheel in front of you and not loose the bunch to be left by yourself.

After 40km of this we then hit the ‘best’ section of sealed road in the whole of East Timor, pretty much smooth hotmix asphalt, beautiful! From here we climbed up to the beautiful village of Ainaro.

Quite a reception on the finish line at Ainaro, having a Timorese commentator had the crowds in!

The local Gals!

Ainaro had many ruins of 16th century ornate Portugese buildings left over from the Portugese occupation. Many of them had been bombed during the more recent indonesian invasions.

The queue for dinner, it was well and truly worth it!

Presentations before the start of day 4. Steele was thinking ahead when he packed all his jerseys in the gear truck and waited bare chested to be awarded the under 23 leaders jersey for the days ride (hope he had sunscreen on)!

The start grid with the top 20 riders ditching their bikes and seeking shade while the role call for the other 320 riders is completed!

Day four was another spectacular hill climbing day. We started climbing immediately out of Ainaro for about 30km then had a series of smooth fast descents down to the village of Aileu.

You can see the road below that I have just ridden up, it winds up, up and more up!

Finally the KOM (King of the Mountain) signifying the top of the climb and the oncoming descent! I actually had to zip my jersey up for the descent, we had gained quite a bit of altitude today, reaching the highest point on the tour at 1900m.

The down begins!

Finally day five! We all had a smile on our dials today, as we were descending back down to the coast and finishing the tour in Dili!

Ahhh the north coast again!

This was the start of the much talked and warned about loose singletrack descent!

Looking back at the last climb on the coast road into Dili, happy to see the back of it!

From this point I could make out Dili in the distance… a very welcome sight to my very sweaty eyes!

The streets of Dili were lined with people like this for many kilometers, as close to the Tour De France as I’ll ever get!

The women’s Teams podium at the final presentations with poor Gracie all stitched up!

The last supper, it was huge, could have fed 3 people easily with my stirfry!

Finish the night off with a very entertaining taxi ride, the most laughs I’ve had for 2 dollars!!