12-16th September
I first heard of the Tour de Timor from Cory Wallace on the way home from Canada. He mentioned it was near Singapore and the dates were just before I was going to be there on holiday with Rob staying with some good friends. Numerous emails and bookings later and thanks to a free entry from the organisers and a flight there with Air Timor I found myself walking into a tiny airport terminal no bigger than a shed with the sea a hundred meters away. Cory was on the same flight as were 2 Malaysian guys and they suggested we form a Commonwealth Team to compete in. We were then picked up by Edson, one of the organisers and a great person who was to help us massively all week. He took us through the crazy streets of Dili to our hotel, a basic room with no window but with a fridge and air con and a bed. After 3 days of travelling I was keen to ride and we caught the last bit of daylight spinning along the coast road to a massive statue of Jesus perched precariously on the rocks. Initial impressions of Dili were of fascination, I've never been anywhere quite like it, scooters everywhere, cars honking their horns constantly, men carrying fish on long poles over their shoulders and a sun which literally fell out of the sky. Before we were back it was pretty dark, we grabbed some good food from a busy Chinese "Burger" restaurant following a fresh coconut juice, laughed at a mouse running across the floor under the tables and left having had the tastiest smoothie ever- Avocado with chocolate sauce.
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| Sunset in Dili |
The hotel was noisy and I slept badly from 3am, since changing time zones I've struggled to sleep after 3 but still felt ok getting up the next morning. We rode through the city this time, alternating between staring at everything around us like a cockerel fight on the road side and keeping an eye on the traffic and trying to figure out the one way system which wasn't really a system at all. Rather you realised it was one way when three rows of cars were heading your way!!! That evening we had the briefing, and was warned about 'the existence of big holes' and that 'there is a cut off because we want riders to ride fast'. Following which we ate at the same restaurant as neither of us had got sick so we figured it was a safe option and again I laid awake most of the night. Awake by 1.30 this time and I laid there stressing about getting back to sleep until it was time to get up at 5.30.
Stage One
With no coffee shops open that time of morning I set off a little lethargic and was happy we had a flat ride out of town where we were entertained by a number of Timor riders sprinting off the front, some only in trainers, most on bikes you'd class as a bike fit enough to get to the shops on, and one guy with only one functioning leg, the other having wasted away with an infection. Once we hit the first climb the bunch split to pieces, Cory took off with a group of 8 or so able to hang on, I settled into my own pace feeling not the best but gradually getting going. It helped that Cory's hanger on'ers were dropping away at a pretty rapid rate and so I was nicely passing up through the field. We descended down the climbed again, another long climb of over 30 minutes before a quick descent and up again. The final climb was more my kind of climb, steep in parts then flattening a little before hitching up again and mainly under the cover of rain forest. I had some company for a while before riding over the last climb, along a spectacular ridge line and a long descent on a really rough and bumpy road through the finish lined with locals as had most of the course been. Apart from Leadville I've never seen so many spectators cheering us on, it really was amazing support even if they did think I was Australian.
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| Downhill to the finish line past the crowds of locals |
Having cooled off, weighed in and given some electroytes Edson pointed me in the direction of the showers only there weren't any. I was about to get used to washing Timor style: a concrete basin filled with water next to a squatting toilet. The idea was you stood over the toilet and scooped up cold water from the basin over your head. It works in a fashion, I was very glad for my flip flops but in the hot weather we were at least dust free and clean. As with everything here, accept it, embrace it and it becomes part of the unique experience. Lunch was tasty, very fresh beef (the head was still out back on the kitchen table), chicken pieces, rice and some salad with dinner pretty much the same after the presentation where myself and Cory were awarded the leaders jerseys. Camp was on concrete under a spot light I managed to just avoid and apart from the local dogs and cockerels first thing I slept pretty well.
Stage Two
Breakfast was pretty good: two jam and banana sandwiches in fresh white bread and these delicious purple sweet potatoes that came with me for the ride. Boiled eggs were also on offer but I've never been able to have eggs before a hard race. The stage started with a long descent on a rough unmade road. With only 80 riders it was all pretty safe and once down I sat on a strong rider form Portugal until we caught up the lead group where we both had a chat and rode hard at the front, perfect for the 40km of flat roads. After that we turned off into a complete contrast: slow going loose steep climbs and descents, a few walking ones but the rest a hard push. It was extremely hot but I felt good and as our group split apart I rode alone in 4th place. I caught the two riders in front at one point but lost them again when I was expecting the finish nearby and came across the final feed with another 12km to go. I picked my head up off the floor, eased the pace, ate some 32Gi tabs and rode on, finishing in 4th place and extending my lead in the woman's category. Today camp was in Balibo, a famous village as it was where 5 Australian journalists were murdered by the Indonesians during the conflict and a film was made from the event. Edson took myself, Cory and Naomi down to the beach to see the Indonesian border, eat the most appreciated Magnum ever and paddle in the sea briefly as a croc had been spotted nearby that morning, hence we left the costumes in the car!!
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| Making friends at the Indonesian - Timor Leiste border |
Stage Three
The day began with a brand new road that descended forever followed by a conversational group ride leading up to the climbs of the day. After the hard day yesterday this was good for everyone, some riders had been out there for 10 hours yesterday and today even through the race got pretty intense in terrain it was a much shorter day. The climbs began and were steep and long with a few recovery bits in between. I much prefer these to the gradual inclines and while riding hard amongst the riders I've been around all the time I also took in some of the amazing views. The mountains are like ones I've never seen, dramatic jagged tops, vertical walls, its hard to describe but to say they were very impressive!! The last climb passing the 'Finish Ahead' sign three of us were together and we sprinted up, turned a corner and climbed, turned another corner and climbed, gradually getting slower as for another 15 minutes or so we climbed till finally the actual finish came into sight. The other two got the better of me and I came in 5th today. The skies became overcast a little later luckily after everyone was in and cold showers had been taken before it started raining. The streets turned muddy and being at over 1000m high it was pretty chilly too. Luckily we have learnt what the others were doing and rented a floor of a room in a house so we laid in there trying to nap while the Timor guys were their usually chatty selves outside with the massage ladies, the children from the house were charging around and the rain was battering down on the tin shed. Later I had a lovely cup of tea and biscuits up with Susan from South Africa and her group of friends.
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| Loads of support along the way |
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| Amazing mountains |
Stage Four
The skies cleared overnight and walking down to breakfast it was nice to see stars in the sky. The start was straight up a cobbled street out of the village and we stayed up for most of the day. Cory disappeared up the road and a group of 6 of us formed pushing each other all the time on the short climbs and descents along this amazing high road, at one point I'm sure I saw the sea. With three of us there from our 'Commonwealth Team' we looked out for each other, I nick named Shahrin our 'Guard Dog' because he guarded us from the dogs as he was usually first down the descents. On top of dogs there was also the unpredictable chickens that wandered around, the pigs who didn't ever hesitate and walked straight out and the goats who were less of a threat been much more timid. From the top of GPM 2 was a 18km descent mainly downhill right into the finish where we finished pretty much together, Cory been 15 minutes up front. Dinner was beef again, I'm not a big fan of beef at the best of times so have now switched mainly to the green veg it come with, rice which is always cooked perfectly and the last few days we've also had a clear pasta soup. Many of the medics left today, they had been an amazing team, following us on the stages, weighing us at the end and providing electrolytes and cool fans, they were also always so upbeat and chatty despite the long days they had.
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| My other team mates minus Cory who was already finished |
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| Chatting with the medics |
Stage Five
There was the usual air of excitement riding away this morning out of the mist of the valley towards the finish line and a few attacks off the start line. Once climbing we formed the usual groups for the long climb of the day during which I saw one of the Timor riders get a bottle of baby oil out his back pocket and squirted it on his cogs to lube it. Once at the top it was downhill for ages. I was at the back of the group and dropped off as we turned onto a really sandy road and couldn't see a thing in front. Last thing I wanted was to crash so I eased off and enjoyed the last few miles before hitting the outskirts of the city. We were sent through a dry river that was also a quarry with tracks all over and it was comic as there were no directions and many ways through with locals pointing in all directions. Finally myself and Malcolm, who had joined me through the river crossings beforehand, got on the seafront and we rode along the closed roads of Dili into the finish. I finished 1st woman and held onto 3rd overall by a few seconds and we won the team category.
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| Top three woman |
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| Back in Dili after 5 days hard racing |
That evening was a great final banquet in the centre of Dili with a huge effort having gone into it. We sprayed champagne, ate a delicious buffet and received some very generous prize money before saying farewell to new made friends.
The week had been a fantastic experience, the local support had been unbelievable and the routes have varied every day with plenty of climbing in. The medic team from Australia were excellent both out on the course and at the finish to weigh us and make sure we weren't dehydrated. They gave us all peace of mind that if things did go wrong we were in good hands. The food was basic but in villages where there are very few fridges around all was fresh and it was such a detox to get away from processed rubbish (apart from the afternoon nibbles of crisps and biscuits!!) Once adjusted to the different way of living Tour de Timor was about embracing the culture and running with it.
Huge thank you to the organisers for a memorable week, to Edson in particular for taking me and Cory, the newbies to this culture, under his wing and looking after us, to Cyclefunatics of Durbanville for my Specialized Epic... another week with no mechanical issues and a fast, comfy ride, to Arsin for the continued support and 32Gi for the supplements.
