Craig Sheppard Photographer

Stage 3 was always going to be a big day in the saddle for the riders as it was the longest stage and had a lot of climbing along the out-and-back route.  My plan was to head out with the Open men to the top of the big climb and then follow the thirties men for the remainder of the race.  Due to the size of the climb and the fast pace it seemed like the whole race was blown apart and riders from different categories were all mixed together.  I ended up staying in one spot for too long and was worried I wouldn’t get to the front of the thirties category before the turn around.  Luckily, the turn around was a lot further than I remembered and with the skills of my moto driver ‘Valentino’ we caught up. It was very apparent that due to the undulating course – and ever-present heat – that there was alot of suffering going on across the numerous small groups that had spread out around the entire route around the resevoir.

The pace was high to the bottom of the big climb.

It wasn’t long before the climbers came to the fore.

The Women gave a lot of men a run for their money.

How to corner at speed while descending.

How not to corner at speed while descending.

The road around the reservoir, hilly and very hot!

The front of the thirties at the turn around.

Stage 2 of the Tour of Friendship was the first road stage, following the time trial of stage 1. We headed west towards Kanchanaburi Province along exposed two and three laned motorways.  The stage started with a 20km neutral zone to the official race start of which apparently I missed as all of a sudden the high pace got a lot faster and attacks were coming thick and fast.  I was accompanying the first group on the road which comprised of the Cat 1 Men, Women, Juniors and the Fifties men. It was the Cat 1 Men who got the ball rolling and it wasn’t long before one of the attacks got away.  Three riders were able to get up the road before they were slowly joined by a few riders bridging the gap in ones and twos.  The final breakaway ended up with about eleven riders.  It was interesting to watch as there seemed to be a big difference in strength across the group with a few riders doing the majority of the work and the weaker riders trying to hold the wheel at the rear of the pack.  It was hard to believe that with temperatures as high as 38 degrees some riders had  goose bumps on their arms and legs and a couple times I had to remind them to remember to drink to avoid getting dehydrated. In the end the break stayed away and Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) took an early flyer with 450m to go and held on for the win. It was a great first day of real racing and it left me really looking forward to the next few days ahead.

A busy morning for the riders before they set off. Getting all the gear in the correct support van, signing in and finally posing for photos.

Amazing infrastructure being built in Bangkok.  The riders ride beneath the recently constructed rail line as they head out of town.

The police did an amazing job stopping traffic for the peloton.

Riders from all over the world make up the peloton. The best beard in the peloton belonged to Nick Mahoney (Saint Cloud Racing) Australia.

As soon as the neutral zone finished the attacks started.

The pace was high in the break.

High temperatures and lots of sweat meant riders kept their salt tablets handy.

Exposed roads offered little protection from other road users and the sun.  Eri Yonamine and her Japanese counterpart Kyosuke Takei were two very strong riders.

And finally Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) out sprinted the break to take Stage 2.

 

Once again I had the privilege to go back and shoot the Tour of Friendship amateur road cycling race in Thailand.  I have now ridden the race once and shot it three times and each year I return it just gets better and better.  Khun Kai (Titaree Tanakorn) and her army of helpers are doing a great job and this would be one of the best value for money races I’ve been too, providing you can get yourself to Thailand.

It was a mixed bag in terms of teams this year and I didn’t really know who were the favourites.  The Specialized Mavericks brought along a big team which was spread out over the different categories and they looked strong in Cat 1.  Direct Asia had a solid lineup but I only knew of two riders who were potential podium finishers, however they had a experienced group of domestiques to help them.  The other team of note were Champion Systems.  In the womens category Eri Yonamine proved she was a force to be reckoned with when she produced a time in the individual time trial that many of the men would have been pleased to have.  I think she used the tour as a training camp as she rode the remainder of the race in the Open Mens cat and from what I saw she held her own.

For me, this year was hard work as I flew more or less straight to Thailand from the UK.  This put me on the back foot as I suffered from terrible jetlag during the first few days.  Once I got over that I started to enjoy it a lot more.  Being back on the back of the motorbike was also lots of fun and my driver (I called him ‘Valentino’) was just awesome.  I swear we had both our knees down on stage 3. Here are a few favorites from Stage 1. If you would like to purchase any images you can view them all on my website at www.craigsheppard.co.nz

The starting straight.

A few shots of the Cat 1 boys starting their race.

Uncle Pete (Direct Asia) mixing it with the Cat 1 boys. Great effort Pete!

John Bateman (Anza) starts his run!

Richard Paine (Specialized Mavericks) brings the bling with his gold chain on his Specialized SL4.

Tina Haugbro finishes a fast and furious lap of the course.  And some wheel trouble for one of the ladies.

Eri Yonamine (Forza) powers up the hill to the finish while Sarah Clark (Specialized Mavericks) crosses the line.