Meanwhile, somewhere in Malaysia...

Jing has been busy getting up close and personal with the race circuit in Putrajaya.  Here's her report of the first couple of days -

"Went with the Singapore team to check out the course. Very nice, Putrajaya that is, good course. For the Canberrans who might be reading this, its like Parkes Way but no u-turns, just a loop, a rectangle, with the shorter ends over two short bridges. Nice buildings all around.

We had two local vans, front and back, along with us.  One of the bridges - exposed, over a lake, there was a little headwind."

They managed three laps before someone on a motor bike 'ushered' them off the course because it was apparently too dangerous with all the traffic. At this point a lapse in concentration saw Jing join the "friends of the earth society" after getting her front wheel stuck in a crack in the pave. Only damage was to elbows and pride, so no great harm done!

Today Putrajaya was closed for a religious festival, so the only time available for teams to go out and ride on the course is 6pm tonight, so Jing rode with the Malaysian team - some motor pacing with tandems and single bikes.  Sounds like fun!

The traffic is obviously of some concern - Jing says "these guys must be used to riding in the traffic, of course they always have the van following them but still....it was quite interesting/exciting."

Tuesday is Thaipusam, another festival, hence a four day long weekend in Malaysia.

It seems the female ranks have swelled a bit, with the addition of three hand cyclists, but still very under-represented.

So with everyone doing their thing in the far flung corners of the globe, I'll leave it at that for now.