The yellow (ACC) jersey

[jptaberdo]

Hi all

I just thought I'd start a forum thread for people to post photos of them 'representing' the club in their favourite yellow jersey!

I managed to buy a new ACC jersey a couple of days before leaving the UK for a cycling trip around Europe and Southeast Asia (on the way home to Australia), and I couldn't resist taking some snaps of me in club colours on some significant cycling locations on my travels. I'm writing at the moment from Slovenia after over 2400km (1500 miles) riding in Northern England, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland and here over the last month (May 2012). Here's my Strava page for those who are interested [url]http://www.strava.com/athletes/jpcycling[/url]

If anyone else has some photos in club colours around the globe, post them up!

Here are a few of mine so far...


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7161220524/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7161220524_644e6ab629.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7161220524/]IMAG1825[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Me with the older fellas from Darlington Cycling Club on a Thursday CR. The average age of the group was about 65, but their average speed was 23km/h! Pretty inspiring I say.


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7161225604/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/7161225604_a1eb1ba3a2.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7161225604/]IMAG1826[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Here's the younger guys on a cafe stop during their Saturday CR. We had a good group of 30 guys from four local clubs in Northeast England. Pretty quick group, but some how I managed 5th in the final sprint into town without even knowing where the sprint line was! Considering I was in a good routine of getting regularly dropped by the ACC TG, I reckon our TG will have them for breakfast!


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7163586046/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7163586046_ee6452cdc3.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7163586046/]IMG_0724[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

A few days later I was off on a three day tour of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales with my mate from London - well recommended! The views and passes were spectacular, and the weather was awesome! I think I might have seen the best cycling in England out here.

[jptaberdo]

Onwards to mainland Europe...

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302374060/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7302374060_511db0357c.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302374060/]IMAG1830[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

I passed through Limburg in the Netherlands to check out some of the roads at Amstel Gold Race. Basically flat-hill-flat-hill-flat.... Good roads for riding though.


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302375252/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/7302375252_33e75341f1.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302375252/]IMAG1839[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

No jersey here, but the bottles saw some crazy 'roads' in Belgium. Don't trust their Fietsroute (cycle path) route planner to take you on a smooth spin in the countryside!

[jptaberdo]

To Italy and Switzerland...

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302377558/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7302377558_1a8da73440.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302377558/]IMAG1845[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

On the bottoms and tops of some of the local mountain passes in the Lombardia region there are these signs where you can register KOM's against other people apparentlz using electronic timing cards - awesome! The photo was taken by some German cyclists on top of Alpe Tedesco (German Alp)...


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302379274/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8005/7302379274_80797f44aa.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302379274/]IMAG1847[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

I didn't get anz decent photos of Lugano in Switzerland - a bit too cold and rainy for that... But I did find this little nugget. What's the man in the bottom right hand corner doing to that nice lady mum?


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302380844/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7302380844_1165bcd114.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302380844/]IMAG1865[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

While in Italy I watched some of the Giro d'Italia stages in the Alps. Awesome fun! Here's the top of Passo di Manghen, one of the Cat 1 passes on the 19th stage of this year's race. It took me over 2 hours to get to the top, but the main peleton took about 45 mins!


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302383230/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7302383230_0ca68af1ca.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302383230/]IMAG1872[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

I was pretty knackered on the top of this one too. I was carrying a bike bag, backpack and a giant saddle bag with all my kit on my way across to the Eastern Alps.


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302384572/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7218/7302384572_366395b588.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302384572/]IMAG1876[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Here's the top of Stella di Roa, a Cat 3 pass. The cycling fans were out en masse on this race day. Lots of pink balloons and stuff all over the place.


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302389664/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7221/7302389664_e17df75485.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7302389664/]IMAG1890[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Okay, no jersey here, but this was my last downhill out of Italy and it was stunning! There were 18 switchbacks down to the bottom, and four or five tunnels through the cliff face. Great fun!



Well, that's all I've got for now. There are more photos on my Flickr page. I'll post up some more here from Slovenia, Thailand, Laos Cambodia etc soon.

Cheers
jp

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

Dead jel -great photos! keep em coming!

[John G]

Cracking pics JP

Well done mate and keep em coming

Enjoy it geeeezaaaaaaaaaa

[Phil H]

Good stuff jp. Not sure where on your travels you'll find another breakfast like the Henfold Lakes café though.

Lake district from a few weeks ago (sorry for size):
[img]http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m569/SteppenHerring/Lake%20District%202012/20120505_130453.jpg[/img]

[Iliya]

Amazing photographs JP! Seems like you are having lots of fun. Enjoy and send more photos when you can!

[jptaberdo]

Hi all

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated this thread. I'm sure you've all been waiting in anticipation of photos of me in my Addiscombe jersey, and completely ignoring a couple of guys in a tour around France battling for another yellow jersey... Wiggo and Goon or something?

Anyway, I've been riding with my partner Kim around Slovenia, Thailand and Laos over the last few weeks. Kim tried her first proper road bike in Slovenia, and we did a little mountain bike ride up in the Julian Alps there too.

For those that are really keen to follow our travels, I've started writing a Crazyguyonabike journal: [url]http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/homeward2012[/url]. Hope you enjoy!

We've just finished a 24 day tour of Northern Thailand and Northern Laos, and now we're heading into Eastern Thailand. We've climbed to a few mountain passes (c.1400m) and ploughed through a few dirt roads on our trusty - yet bloody heavy - mountain bikes. Here's a few pics...

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372354322/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7372354322_c13866a83a.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372354322/]IMAG1959[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Kim and I in Slovenia - the start of our first cycling holiday together. Let's see how it goes

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372346818/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8159/7372346818_e68af067bb.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372346818/]Slovenia 2012 152[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

A note to those visiting Slovenia... It's beautiful there, no doubt about it. But there's not enough asphalt roads! This is a country for mountain bikers, and it might take a few more years until it's a proper road cycling venue. They don't even allow you to ride on main roads there!

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372350046/][img]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5342/7372350046_fa96a8a26c.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7372350046/]Slovenia 2012 153[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Kim tried out road cycling - she loved it

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7187125477/][img]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5341/7187125477_1e71a15b2d.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7187125477/]IMAG1945[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Looking over the Slovenian coastline from a nice little town called Izola.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7187118411/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7187118411_2e65ae8428.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7187118411/]IMAG1958[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Just for fun, we crossed the border into Croatia - tick!

[jptaberdo]

Onto Thailand and Laos...

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575167512/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8283/7575167512_05e2d3016a.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575167512/]54[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

There's some beautiful country to visit out here. Our plan is to ride from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand down to Bangkok via Northern Laos, Ko Chang island (Thailand) and back up to Bangkok along the coast. That's two months of cycling fun

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575046730/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7575046730_d6955c9036.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575046730/]62 (3)[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

The roads up in the north of these countries are rough and mountainous. No place for road bikes unless they are steel, have 36+ spoked wheels, and tires with tread! We oped for mountain bikes, which we bought in a local shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575048128/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7575048128_6de72202a0.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575048128/]57[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Our two trusty steeds crossing the border from Thailand to Laos on a little boat!

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575047676/][img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7575047676_73d336b9a9.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575047676/]57 (2)[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Kim has found it pretty challenging so far, but she's made it through the toughest days that saw us climbing over 2200m on dirt roads.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575048622/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7575048622_aebf36a83c.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/7575048622/]54 (1)[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

It's not all hard work though... Here's a banoffee pie Thai style!

All our cycling adventures are recorded in [url]http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/homeward2012[/url].

[jon avery]

Great pics, looks like a great trip! Enjoy!!

[Amy]

Saw you lurking on the forum yesterday - good to see your trip going well

[Andrew G]

Good to hear from you JP. Looks and sounds like a great way to get home, will keep tabs on the blog.

[John G]

Great work JP! Keep it up geezaaaaaa! Shout out to Kim!

Stay safe

John

[jptaberdo]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Amy, it's difficult to lurk in private when your all seeing eye is on the forum 24/7

Safe cycling everyone - don't forget to wear your helmets

[jptaberdo]

Hi all

I just thought I'd cap off this thread that I started a few months ago... On Saturday just passed I signed up for membership with my local Macarthur Cycling Club, but a couple of weeks ago I was still a strait-up ACC member, so I decided to don the yellow jersey one last time for a sportive

My partner and I rode the Goulburn Grand Prix - an 85km sportive with a mass start. An awesome event! I ended up in 6th place! Considering that I had a fall on the second-last major hill 20km from the finish (which led to the rear mech getting stuck in a high gear, and me getting all bloodied up ), and at least five of the riders were racers in the Australian National Racing Series (NRS), I felt quite good about the result!

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/8068753889/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8039/8068753889_f0b5240cde.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/78142386@N07/8068753889/]IMG_20120923_085258[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/78142386@N07/]JPCycling[/url], on Flickr

Unlike John G I won't post of photos of my own body after being ripped up by tarmac

Just in case you were wondering, my 'grand prix' was a free jersey, BBQ lunch and a coffee at the local bike/coffee shop. Unfortunately GreenEDGE weren't around to see the talent fest...

Happy riding everyone
jp