Well, just got back from East Timor... wow, what an incredible experience. I had an amazing time and was blown away from the moment I got there. While there was a definite sense of worry, I can assure you, we didn't have any problems over there. Even if something were to happen like that, there are more military and police over there than there is drunken backpackers in Australia. It's a country on the move and they are trying very hard to build it into the adventure sports capitol of the world. They had the Tour de Timor recently (a 400km MTB race around the island) and are looking at Adventure events and more and more MX. There's shitloads of hills and trailriding around the place, and the locals were all extremely accepting of what we were doing. Anyway, stay tuned for a full run down next issue, till then, here's some images from my travels.
The local kids loved the bikes. As we rode through town they'd come running out of their houses (read - tin sheds) to slap your hand or get a glimpse of the bikes. It was pretty cool. We all flicked them some stickers, food, fresh water etc when we could.
There was numerous occasions where we were allowed to just ride about town on the roads. With little to no road rules in Dili, it made for some interesting trips. I swear we didn't do burnouts around the police cars... OK, maybe we did, but man it was fun.
As I said, no road rules. So with the temps in the high 30's low 40's range, it was a fight for who got to ride in the back of the utes. This is on the way into one of the local children's hospitals where we did a riding demo and handed out food and drinks.
Isac Elliot (guy in the purple shift gear) is my new hero. The guy has no feeling from the waist down after a motorcycle crash, yet still rides his arse off... and is frigging quick too! He's taken out numerous MX titles in NT, ridden Finke twice and a whole lot more. Stay tuned for more on the guy. Here he gives some words of encouragment to the kids in chairs in Timor.
As Isac finished his speech, this local dude busted out of the crowd on this crazy three-wheeled contraption. The cranks weren't off-set like a normal pushy, so his arms were working like windmills. he was showing off to the crowd with good response, but when he threw a chain and nearly ate shit, the crowd went banana's. One of the funniest things I have ever seen.
The coastline along Dili is pretty amazing. There's reef within about 20m of the beach keeps the bays and water calm pretty much all the time. The water is toasty warm and clear as crystal.
You can buy just about anything on the side of the road in Dili. Fish, like this guy has are the most common, but I saw Fuel in water bottles (which looked more like piss than fuel), phone cards, coke, lollies and everything inbetween. It's amazing. A little hut like this will be stacked to the roof with Coke and lollies and then the hut 3m along will be exactlly the same. makes you wonder how they make money?
Me (left) chilling with the presidents private guards,
The president invited us up to his personal house (unheard of for over there). It was pretty mental, the tough bastard was gunned down in the exact same spot not so long ago. he was a legend though, and very welcoming of us all. He actually rides. Got a "Fake Harley" but "loves nothing more than cruising the roads in the heat!"..... Legend.
This is the El Presidente's pet monkey. I dubbed him with the name "Cods"... I think you can see why. he was a funny bugger.. even more so when he crapped in his own hand and flung it at Lindores!
The traffic in Dili was nuts. If your horn was louder, or your car was bigger you seemed to have right of way. The scooters... well, they just go where ever the hell they want.
The Timorese people are nuts about their soccer. Just about every afternoon, they were on the pitch, even know it was 40 degrees!
The beaches at the eastern end of the island were straight out of a postcard. Nice, warm sunsets, clear water.... and a US war ship in the background!
This 60 foot Jesus statue is right at the Eastern tip of the island. 3000 stairs later and you're right at his feet. It's an amazing view from up there though, and the statue is pretty damn cool.
Believe it or not, I actually did go over there for the riding. We were in the international class, while the locals duked it out in an array of classes. Some of the little buggers were REALLY quick. Most of them though were riding these crazy bitsa bikes. So cool.
The track was super fun. It was a mix of MX and small SX... I guees a stadium X kinda track back home. There was 2 ryhthm lanes, a big 80-90foot double in the middle and mix of flat and bermed corners.... the crowd was nuts, all 23,000 of them. They were 20 deep around the outside (like you can see here) and sitting on the barbed wire fence, swinging from trees... just to catch a glimpse.
Joe Sheppard was the man behind organising the RFDmx Underground Freestyle Tour (which this was the final event for). He's done a stellar job of offering our underground FMX riders in Aus an option to compete. To top things off, he also won the event and championship! He's got an unbelievable style and the boy can cut some fast laps around a MX track too!
Matt Lindores is one of the funniest blokes I've ever met. Made me laugh with just about every word that came out of his mouth.. to top it off, he can bloody ride a dirt bike. He's got MASSIVE whips (either turndown or conventional) and was easily the crowd favourite. With strong winds, the comp was delayed heavily, but Matty spent hours out riding along the edge of the crowd, doing burn outs and wheelies.. you should have heard them going nuts. I think they've actually voted him as the next president.
The energy drink craze is a global thing... even the young Timorese brats wanted caffiene hit..
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