Liam Phillips

WITH the state buzzing as the Tour Down Under, the first event on the professional cycling calendar, rolls through town, the Gawler Wheelers cycling club is making the most of its favourite time of year.
Spokeswoman for the Wheelers, Linda Hall, said she even took the week off work to maximise the amount of ways she can stay involved, especially in supporting the women’s races in the lead-up to the men’s series.
“The Gawler Wheelers has always been big on encouraging and supporting women, even the men in the group love the women’s races, so it’s good to be able to go show our support,” Hall said.
“On Friday we went from Lyndoch to Birdwood (finish line of stage two), some did a little more than 60km, and we watched the winners come through there and returned home the same way.
“On Sunday we rode with (former Australian representative) Patrick Jonker and Holly Takos, who is on the Australian Olympic track team, Monday is the Santini women’s group ride, so there’s plenty to do.”
As much as the Wheelers enjoy getting out and doing their own riding, Hall admits that this time of year is special with how many world-class athletes are roaring through our backyard.
“We’re just all little groupies at this time of the year following them around,” Hall joked.
“It’s lovely for our state to be on show like this.
“It’s nice to see the town abuzz, and it brings money.
“You’ll always stop, like when we went up to Birdwood and we had lunch and coffee in the bakery, and we’ll do the same in the Barossa at the RedHeads winery where we’ll watch them go around a few times and plod around to different locations.
“It’s healthy tourism.”
The Wheelers will be out and about all week, so if you would like more information about where they will be, and how you can potentially join them, search ‘Gawler Wheelers Cycling Group’ on Facebook.