Yesterday I rode in the 2010 Tour Down Under Mutual Community Challenge Tour.  This recreational tour followed the same 160.5km route as stage 4 of the 2010 Tour Down Under.

I started from our home in Glenelg at 5:05AM, and rode about 16.5km to the start in Norwood. The challenge tour started around 6:25AM, and I arrived in Goolwa a little after 1:00pm. In total, I rode 177.6km, with a moving average speed of just under 28kph, and a ride time of about 6:40.  For comparison, Andre Greipel (Team HTC-Columbia), finished the timed 149.5km route first with a time of 3:30:29.

Here you can see my modified Stage 4 route map with the extra leg from Glenelg to Norwood.

I rode with some fellow mountain bikers for most of the 160.5km.  Riding in a group certainly helped the miles (kilometers?) go by faster, and really helped in the strong crosswinds and headwinds north of Goolwa.

Somewhere on the road outside of Goolwa.

Recovering in the car park outside of a bottle shop near the finish.

This is as much of the pro-tour finish as I saw.  More photos and video are available from AdelaideNow.

The second stage of the 2010 Tour Down Under was from Gawler to Hahndorf.  I was in Hahndorf at the 200M mark for the finish.  The route was crowded, so my photos aren’t the best.  Here is what I did get:

Video and coverage of the race is at SBS Cycling Central.

The opening race for the 2010 Tour Down Under was the Cancer Council Helpline Classic in the Adelaide Parklands on Sunday 17 January, 2010.

The peloton coming up Bartons Road

The peloton at corner one

Riders from Team Astana and Team RadioShack

Gregory Henderson, Team Sky (winner of the 2010 Cancer Council Helpline Classic)

Lance Armstrong, Team RadioShack