The picture linked here (warning, it's not pretty) was run on the inside back cover of the Herald Sun, a paper with a claimed circulation of 1 million. As a result, I've gotten a little more attention than I've been comfortable with. Let me explain:

Coming into the finish of stage 2, I was part of the field almost 30 minutes behind the lead group of 16. Trying to stay out of trouble, I had kept myself near the front on the finishing circuits and followed a rider who was clearly motivated for that 17th place. I, however, felt it'd be a little difficult to explain why I was sprinting for 17th, so I decided to stay behind him in the sprint. A Portugese rider behind me clearly didn't share my lack of enthusiasm though, and ended up sprinting directly into the back of me. So then, I discovered one thing more embarrassing than trying to win a bunch sprint for 17th; crashing in a bunch sprint for 17th. And, following that, I experienced the only possible thing that could make it worse: having 3/4 page, full color photograph of the aftermath printed in the Herald Sun. Damn it. Now, I will take responsibility for a couple of the crashes I've had this season, but beyond admitting that I shouldn't have been anywhere near the front, I refuse to accept any blame for this one. The video is posted here (the long version shows it in slow motion), judge for yourself. And yeah, it hurt about as much as you'd expect.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a photo of my naked, shredded ass in a large newspaper did not go unnoticed by many. The next morning, I did a phone interview with some Melbourne based Wacky Morning DJs, a television interview for Channel 10 (it probably shows up in the stage 3 coverage in the above link), and an interview with the Sun to provide them with a follow up story for the next day's paper, which received just as much space as the story about the race itself. I also autographed a copy of my photo in the Sun for some spectators at the stage 3 finish. And just today, while struggling up the finishing climb, someone at the roadside cheered me on by name, then enquired about the status of my "bum." It's been very strange.

Of course, there was actually a race that went on 29 minutes up the road in front of us that day. My teammate Karl Menzies won, meaning that my teammates and I have spent the last 3 days riding on the front defending his lead. It's been a very, very long 3 days. 158km, 178km, then 182km. It wasn't until today's stage 5 mountain top finish that Karl finally succumbed, slipping back to 8th. Today, I ended up getting dropped about 35km from the finish line with a 20km mountain top finish still in front of me. I ended up riding the last 15km of the climb with TdF green jersey winner Robbie Mcewen and my teammate Greg Henderson. I figured as long as I finished with Mcewen, I was sure not to be time cut. It worked.

So this trip has been anything but a vacation. But only a short time trial and a criterium now stand between me and a night out in Melbourne. Then a 16 hour plane ride home. And after that, no bike riding for a good little while.

More later.