Gallery: Were you spotted in the TDU Community Challenge ride?
Three huge climbs – Norton Summit, Checker Hill and the notorious Corkscrew. Check out our pics from the day.
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The average footy player will never get a kick on the MCG.
Likewise, a suburban tennis fan is probably unlikely to ever have a hit at Wimbledon.
Everyday cyclists, however, can test their mettle on the very roads that their professional idols race on and yesterday that’s exactly what 2000 of them did.
But yesterday’s Tour Down Under Challenge Tour took things to a new level, with a gruelling 123.5km course (or 83km for those not up to the whole thing), taking in three huge climbs ¬– Norton Summit, Checker Hill and the notorious Corkscrew.
A number of women’s professional teams – still in town after their event wrapped on Tuesday – joined the amateurs who had come from all over the country for a chance to ride the iconic roads without cars.
Riders like Brad Slade and Cam Scott, who bucked the trend and tackled the challenge on mountain bikes instead of the usual lightweight road machines.
And how was it riding such a steep course on a heavy, fat-tyred bike?
“It was actually absolutely shithouse,” Brad, 62, laughed.
“But I’ve done it 16 times on a road bike so I thought I’d try something different this time. I had to walk a bit up the Corkscrew, but Cam rode it all. It was pretty tough going. You run out of gears.”
Another rider on a bike that broke the mould was Katey Elding, who rode the course on her steel-framed Marin gravel bike.
The Adelaide mum is a recent convert to the sport, coming into it in rather unusual circumstances.
“In 2021 I was having a 30 year high school reunion, and one of my friends set up a Facebook page,” Ms Elding said.
“A guy’s name popped up on the page, and he was my first-ever boyfriend. We went on a date together when I was 12 and he was 13. Then we dated for two weeks in Year 9 and two weeks in Year 10, and he dumped me both times, so I didn’t talk to him again for 30 years.”
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Long story short, the school reunion went quiet well. Very well, in fact. Now Ms Elding is married to the cycling-mad former classmate, and said she had little choice but to take up the sport.
“I’m flying over to Melbourne tonight to see him, and I have another bike there to ride,” she said.
“I absolutely love it. Today my aim was to finish the course and be done by 11, and I’ve done it.”
Bill Elliot, 70, used to ride to work and back every day, 250km a week from North Haven to the city.
When he retired the cycling fell by the wayside – until granddaughter Aeisha, 14, discovered her own passion for riding.
Yesterday the pair completed the TDU Challenge together, their team of two ticking boxes at the both extremes of the age groups riding.
“Once I got a mountain bike I got back into it, and now I ride with Aeisha,” Mr Elliot said.
“She’s mad.”
Perhaps, but also very talented, with the teenager taking part in a SASI talent identification scheme and aiming for big things.
“I’ve just joined a girls’ development team with PMA GUESTPIX, run by David Hartland, and it’s been really good. I hope to do some interstate races and, one day, Commonwealth Games or the Olympics.”
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