Etape de Tour of Oman

[Bianchisti]

Tour of where???? (I hear you ask). Well you lot generally have your fun, or shall I say your cake, and get to eat it too with the abundance of races to choose from, while I have 2 for my entire year so I want to show off.

 

I'm turning this into a training weekend and we're riding one of the stages the Pro's will be doing. It's a "small race" and the riders probably won't be inundated by fans so hopefully I have a chance to get close to the likes of Cav, Cancellara and baby Schelk who's all confirmed their attendance.

 

I'm a little bit worried about the ride we'll be doing though. The stage of 157kms at Jabal Al Akhdar with a final climb of 5.8 km at an average gradient of 10.3 percent, reaching up to 13.5 percent over the last two kilometres. That's gonna be a killer for "my legs"

 

http://www.bikemap.net/route/1375351

[Bianchisti]

Some pics

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Last year the tour of Oman was quite exciting, its small but I still enjoyed watching it. The TT up that hill was great.

 

To be honest, I enjoy the smaller tours, the racing is more "by the seat of your pants" and to me anyway, not so orchestrated.

 

Great scenery as well, never been to Oman, but it looked like a place I could easily spend a few days.

[Bianchisti]

^{Yeah its not the sort of destination most people will plan a holiday to but its a lovely place. Tranquil almost surreal. Lots to offer in terms of preserved culture and heriratge (if that floats your boat). You call yourself old so I'm guessing it might. Great people and amazing scenery. You're a diver right Grumps? Great diving and the biggest whaleshark I've ever seen was in their waters. And the water is "warm" all year round.}

Edited January 29, 2012 by TMobile

[GrumpyOldGuy]

^{Yeah its not the sort of destination most people will plan a holiday to but its a lovely place. Tranquil almost surreal. Lots to offer in terms of preserved culture and heriratge (if that floats your boat). You call yourself old so I'm guessing it might. Great people and amazing scenery. You're a diver right Grumps? Great diving and the biggest whaleshark I've ever seen was in their waters. And the water is "warm" all year round.}

 

Yeah, VERY keen diver, and that kind of makes it even more appealing.

 

I have been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi so I sort of know what to expect, but I understand Oman is very much more cultural, which I enjoy. How long would one need to see all the main attractions and do a dive or two, .....three, maybe four days.?

[Bianchisti]

You’ll probably be a bit surprised by Oman if you go there knowing “what to expect” with Dubai/Abu Dhabi as your indicative referance(if you don’t mind me saying so). And yeah very much more cultural (slow) as you say.

 

I might bore you with this but I was reading someone’s thesis a while ago; about supplying clean water and alternative energy to people living in a very remote mountainous area of Oman. I mention it because it was interesting the extent they went to in order to provide people basic human needs while preserving the way-of-life these people have been observing for centuries.

 

You’ll go to Oman if you want to watch sea turtles laying eggs on beaches and swim in natural rock pools (wadi’s) rather than indoor skiing or fancy wining and dining. I’d think 4-5 days would be to little as the towns are quite stretched out. Diving at Musandam (way up north) for example is nicely accessible from Dubai but far removed from Muscat (capital of Oman). But then you’ll probably dive around the many little island off the Sur coast.

Edited January 30, 2012 by TMobile

[Bianchisti]

Well this years addition is almost over but I’m already looking forward to next year. It amazing the amount of access we had to this cycling royalty. I still felt bad sticking a camera in their faces but how was I going to sleep if I let the opportunity slip? So I got my souvenirs!

[Bianchisti]

M

[Bianchisti]

Its been a really great experience! Obviously wayyyy different then visiting say The Tour but this was amazing!

[Bianchisti]

.

[Slowbee]

so how was the ride ?

[Bianchisti]

so how was the ride ?

 

What ride? Oh that one! We never managed to secure permission from the Omani authorities to ride the full stage so the Green Mountain never happened, but we hooked up with some locals who took us over the climb of Hamriya and what they call their TT loop for a 90 km ride. The climb wasn’t too bad, 7 kms long going up around 400 metres with a few steep sections up to 18%. I know Cav and Tyler got dropped when the pros did it later that day so it’s definitely a climb.

['Dale]

Just saw Stage 5 on highlights reel.

Green Mountain is quite a climb! What's the total ascent on that baby?

 

Agreed. Stunning scenery.

Nice to see racing here.

 

China has another World Tour event too.

 

Cool pics, Tmobile!

[Bianchisti]

Just saw Stage 5 on highlights reel.

Green Mountain is quite a climb! What's the total ascent on that baby?

 

Final climb is 5.8 km at an average gradient of 10.3 percent, reaching up to 13.5 percent over the last two kilometers. 2400m for the hole stage! The one we were meant to do alas, hopefully next year.

Edited February 20, 2012 by TMobile