ONLY TWO AUSSIES !

The Tour of Austria|s 1st etappe ,  masquerading as an alternative to the  " Le Tour " , is being run in the area of Innsbruck today . With 18 teams of 8  racers doing 3 circuits of what amounts to a Time Trial circuit , there was an immediate breakaway group formed  at the 0 km banner which was on the gradient leading towards the Brennero Pass and Italia .

Living 41 km from Innsbruck i was delighted to arrive at the Rummerhof , that houses BMC , Movistar and other teams in under the hour ! Guess a following wind helps , but i hope it has turned after the 3 circuits of the course i plan to ride , amounting to a day of 200 +kms  by the time i struggle home ! A circuit before the racers put in an appearance gave me the opportunity to select the vantage points for photos . As it turned out the local TV used the same vicinity , so i was told that the bike and Oz flag were televised . Following the racers over the route became quite hazardous since cars would pass me and then get stopped causing me to make emergency swerves ! One clown passed me as i was slowing for the stop sign , where was i supposed to go !

Yesterday i played tourist in that when i joined a trio of cyclists out of Innsbruck near Worgl , i decided to ride back to Innsbruck with them and scout out the course for today . Paceline was tight so we were averaging in the 40+kph , again with a following wind until the last 10km . At the main rail station there are new buildings so the old tourist office has dissappeared . Asking several taxi drivers the location proved to be a waste of time , god help the train passenger relying on them ! Next i tried the Old City and received the same attitude that " Georgethecyclist "referred to in Belgium ! The tourist Office had to go to the internet  to find any info , then they still could not locate the start area . Tried the bike shop Z , next , it was a few minutes to 12 noon but they were uninterested since i was not buying ! Can you believe they want to sell bikes but cannot be bothered with the Tour of Austria ! Guess there will be fewer clients buying with that attitude .

Along the road was the Polizei so they referred me to another station where they showed me on the map the area they would be cordonimg on Sunday .

After a circuit this morning i arrived back in time to get the Racers list and discovered Tim Roe and Ben Hall were listed to race . Had the chance to speak to both . Acqua and Sapone are fielding three heavyweights from earlier years , Stefano Garzelli , Massimo Codol ande Danilo Di Luca with whom i had a chat  at their team bus , after having greeting them at the sign on .

Having made two circuits i am now at the Ramada Inn having a short breaki before heading for the Ziel and no doubt will get to greet a few racers as they finish !

As it proved , the wind from the east turned into stormy conditions and the ride homeward turned into a nightmare . Even though there were flashes of lightning on the horizon i arrived home thanks to some help without getting a soaking . Salzburg area was reported to have been hit by " Golfball size Hailstones ", guess there will be a number of damaged cars on the market soon !

FACEBOOK USE

George Christensen rides the world as www.georgethecyclist.blogspot.com and I refer to him in my Blog posts as Georgethecyclist ! Reading of his recent exploits I found in the comments that he also is on “ face book ” so having the page constantly open I inserted his name in the “ search window “ and came up with the picture of him with “ El Diablo ” now it was clear that this was him . When I clicked onto the option “ Friend ” I found that I was told that I was “ Spamming” and I was suspended for 48hrs ! Another occasion comes to mind when I clicked on “ Jani Brankovich ” having ridden with him on many occasion at a variety of Pro Tour events it is quite conceivable that he has told “ face book” to refuse my application ! Does anyone believe that ? No way ! Fact is “ Facebook ” when I had less than 100 followers was of no value to me and at 2300 + it still provides me with NOTHING ! OK so occasionally I see a photo that I can use or an article that I will visit , but essentially face book is a waste of MB’s and I will now tell you WHY ! As people “ Request ” and you confirm there are usually 4 friends offered which I click on thinking that this could help my purpose to “ Help ” Para Athletes ! In June I wanted to give away some Tyres to “ Para Athletes “ and so ran a competition with some inner tubes going to the winning proposer as an incentive . Nobody complied with the request although about a dozen clicked onto the post . After my birthday greetings from about a hundred of the “ friends ” I put up a post as a way of thanking those that did this and referred them back to the Competition post . Several took a look and nobody commented . Mark Telford’s photo caught my attention in the earlier times and like other “ Wheelchair ” Athletes I clicked on the “ Request ”button . Later after the failure to get a response to the “ Comp. ” I sent him a message asking for his assessment . Still awaiting a reply ! Now if those I am trying to assist are uninterested in helping their community , WHY should I bother ? Facebook has given me a “ WAKE UP “ call and so I will find better ways of spending my resources from here on . Those who wish to follow my future activities can follow @Skippydetour on twitter or can sign on or bookmark my Blogs which probably will be canned also . No doubt there are some who will wish to add their comment privately on email : Skippi@ausi.com NOBODY is going to be able to tell “ face book ” that they make mistakes BUT do I care ? NO !