It was strange leaving Europe's early fall cloudy skies and 65F where the young lambs had had a summer to grow, and coming to Australia's early spring clear skies and 65F where baby baabaabaas bound about. The wildlife I hoped to see, kangaroos, I only saw as roadkill. Not fun.
After a 21-1/2 hour flight, it took a week to get back to a regular sleep schedule. The first days I was getting only 3-4hrs a night - not enough to pedal 100 hilly miles. I had to sag for the first time since Ireland 2-1/2 months ago.
It took awhile also to get used to the idea that people in Australia speak an almost intelligible form of English. I still can't get used to cars being on the wrong side of the street. I keep looking the wrong way. Fortunately, Woolworth's (here it's a grocery store, not department store) carries Guylian Belgian chocolates at a reasonable price.
Because I've already done nine months of sightseeing, I wasn't excited about joining the crowds and paying exorbitant prices to see Olympic events. I did go to the women's mountain bike race which was only $A19 (about $10US). The course and spectators were spread out enough so that my group could view the race from several different vantage points and not be blocked by large crowds. I was able to position myself at the end of the start/finish straight for the end of the race and hope I took good pictures of the medal winners crossing the line. I had snapped close-up photos of each lead riders out on the course. I hope I got a decent photo of the Italian winner's incredible iridescent lycra shorts. I want a pair. While I still shouldn't wear a lycra jersey, my shorts don't come under the "X" rule for lycra - "If your lycra has more than one X in the size, you shouldn't be wearing lycra." (Chocolates!)
From my limited experience getting to and from the mountain biking venue, I can say the Sydney2000 people have done a fantastic job getting people around via buses and trains. Lots of volunteers are around to direct people and/or answer questions. The crowds are another matter. Way too many people and too many drunken louts acting like jerks. I'd like to see Sydney when it isn't packed. Part of the problem is that after nine months, I've seen enough cities to consider myself about "sightseed" out.
When we leave tropical northern Australia for Japan, I'll start to see very different cultures. Then it will be 46 days in a row of beds and no camping through China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia to Singapore. I hope it will be as pleasurable as it will be memorable.
One of the most frequent questions I get revolves around the group's dynamics. Because the group is so large - 237 still officially registered plus 24 staff - so many people are off-route on a regular basis - the start times and speeds of the riders are so widely varied - that many people are virtual strangers. There are a lot of people I've rarely, if ever, had occasion, and in a few cases the desire, to talk to.
The off-routers are going to have a more difficult time in China. A group of 30 has been trying to skip the first part to go to Beijing and the Great Wall. They can't determine how to get the bikes down the road. A lot of the regular riders and some staff hope they solve their problem and go away for awhile. Some are whiners, but, mainly, "riders" want them off-route because the fewer people on-route, the shorter the lines for meals and showers, and camping is less crowded. The ride in 2003 with only 100 riders, shorter mileage and more rest days should be fantastic.
A lot of people's feelings about Odyssey2000 are a result of their own attitudes and expectations. If I focused on what others saw that I didn't rather than all the fantastic things I've seen and experienced thus far this year, I could become a "power whiners" instead of the person I am, having the best year of my life!
Happy Trails,
Bruce