I am a cycling fan. A keen one. Muzz and I followed Le Tour de France in 2004 after following the tour for years from the couch. This was where I first saw Tom Boonan. Imagine my delight when I learnt that many of my cycling heros were coming to Qatar. I missed the first stages as I had to work, what I was in Qatar for of course. I did catch the last day, a criterion around the Corniche as the original route was too dangerous because of the dust storm that was raging. It was a very unpleasant day.
I battled my way to the Corniche in the strong wind and found I wasn't allowed past the policeman. Another person came along as I was arguing with him. He was also a New Zealander, a small world. I had my camera and my TDF hat so told a porky to the policeman. I was after all and official photographer! My NZ companion flashed an ID, backed up my story and we were off. The poor policeman was left scratching his head and we had the whole route to ourselves. I took some great photos, the best of which are on Flickr.
I watched the end of the race and got very close to my hero Tom. It was a priceless day.
No comments:
Post a Comment