Tour Manager - Brendon McDermott

Wednesday 4th November
Another very windy day – morning stage we sat in and made sure no time was lost on GC – Jack stormed in for 8th and Romain not far behind – great to have all the guys come in together.
As we drove 10 min down the road to my sister-in-laws house we saw how windy it was about the coast and knew this was definitely going to be the stage where the fireworks would happen. Jack and Romain got away with 16 and when Heath dropped off in the cross winds it was time for Jack to put the hammer down. Romain marked Heath back in the second group and we grabbed YELLOW. As far as I know this is a first for the Share the Road team, awesome for the team and great for the message.

Tomorrow off to Queenstown and a yellow jersey to defend. Bring it on!

Tuesday 5th November
What a contrast to yesterday!
Fine weather with little wind, riders even improving their tan lines. More of a "normal" days racing and not much changed for us - still sitting 2nd although Romain has moved up one to 5th. Two in the top 5 is fantastic. Karl and Matt did a power of work on the front with the Zoo team today and looked after our other two well.
Tomorrow two stages (two tough stages if the wind and rain come).

Monday 4th November
Well a normal sort of start to the day - Team trial where the boys rode really well on the windy circuit - Matt struggled a little to stay with the power of Ryan and Jack but hung in there until about 1.5km to go. We had 4 cross together and given this was their first ride together it was pretty good. Just how good we didn't know until we came in and heard we had the best time thus far. With a number of good teams still to go we watched the internet with interest back at the house to finally find out we had finished 6th - a good result for us.

Going in to the afternoon stage from Invercargill to Bluff the wind was certainly stronger than the morning. As the race began we had no idea what was happening ahead because our race radio wasn't working very well. Ryan had got off the front with 4 guys early on but then punctured only 15km into the race. As the race turned into Flora Road into the head wind the bunch slowed right up and Ryan managed to get back on. Into Wallacetown and the side winds were very strong and I told the guys over radio to watch out as the go left with the tail winds. As we rounded the corner and come down toward the bridge across the Makerewa river it was carnage. Rider and bikes everywhere as a big crash had occurred. A couple of guys were over the side rails and probably lucky not to be taking a swim. As myself and team mechanic went to have a look it looked like a war zone....broken wheels, broken bikes and a few broken people. As I looked around only one of our team was there and in serious pain with a broken wrist which was already broken coming in to the tour - although he thought he would carry on and reassess that night. Our other guys had made it through unscathed. It was decided that the race would be restarted and eventually happened outside Green acres golf course. We only got 2 or 3km down the road and Ryan was off his bike and it was the end of his 2009 tour. The rest of the day was winds and lots of split bunches on the road. Going up Bluff hill we passed Karl and Matt and then parked near the top of the hill - as we supported the two we had passed earlier I walked up to the top to check on the other guys - as I approached the top I had heard Jack had won - an awesome effort. Our Frenchman Romain had also got 4th so a great result for us although disappointing to lose Ryan so early. Jack has been down for a week in Invercargill helping with the school visits and spreading the Share the Road message. He managed to ride up Bluff hill twice during the week, the fear of Bluff was gone and today it was all about attack.

As manager of the team my first stage win in four years and hopefully one of many to come.

Just back from a meal with the boys and the Share the Road Roadshow team which was great and to congratulate Jack on his win and the other guys on a very good day. We go into tomorrow 2nd and 6th on general classification so a few tactics need to be talked about to keep us there.

Cheers for the support and txt messages and I might see some of you out there tomorrow.