Cadel Evans part 1
Bikes are not one of the things I have a dedicated page for on this website. Maybe I should. Afterall, they are pretty awesome.
My first bike was a hand-me-down. A tough as nails BMX that could even handle my dad riding it (see the proof of this right at the bottom of my post on the IIRB congress). The first bike I bought was a 18 speed Repco mountain bike. It was white and the only natural choice for me given my brother had bought the exact same one in yellow a year or so earlier – I was an annoying little brother. I bought my first road bike in 2003: a second hand Giant TCR. It was a great bike, surviving a couple of Bay-in-a-Days, taxis and drivers in general in Melbourne, and my general lack of proper maintenance. In the end, it couldn’t escape the inevitable, and was stolen.
The early 2000s was also when I started to get into following pro cycling and in particular Le Tour. Stewy O’Grady was the man then, with his slew of seconds and an occasional Olympic goal medal. He was also just a likable figure. Sir Oppy was unfortunately dead, Phil Anderson well retired, Kathy Watt was in decline, Robbie McEwan was a typical sprinter/ Queenslander, and the likes of Simon Gerrans and Richie Porte were still riding amateurs. There are of course many other big names of Australian cycling that could be mentioned here. I will, however, only mention one.
Cadel Evans.
His CV doesn’t include an Australian National Road Race Championship. There is a second to Simon Gerrans in 2014. I think that common consensus on this omission is that it didn’t fit well with his professional schedule. Maybe he just couldn’t handle the lung busting climb of Bunninyong… Whatever. His CV does include the 2007 UCI Pro Tour, the 2009 UCI World Road Championships, and of course, the 2011 Tour de France. I’m pretty sure he’s the only Aussie to do any of those, let alone all three.
This is why I’m so very excited about getting to hang out with him for the day when he comes to Malmö in early August. Yes, I will only be one of a crowd of people, and yes, it’s his job to do rides like this, and yes, I’ll want to play it cool, but, I get to go riding with Cadel Evans!
He’s coming to Malmö as I think that there’s a connection between him and his previous team, BMC, and one of the guys who owns/ works at Malmö’s best bike store, Musette. Again, whatever, I get to go riding with Cadel Evans! But why me? I’m not exactly sure why, but I entered the competition to ride with him and my entry was a winner. So I also get to test a brand new BMC bike, in brand new BMC gear, and I get to keep the gear. Might just be the highlight of the year.
I hope I can keep up…