Phnom Penh!

After somewhat of a large hiatus, the weekly cycle is back. I've been busy packing up a house, watching the Tour de France, and moving overseas.

Since I last wrote, Cadel Evans won the Tour de France. It would be remiss and dishonest of me if I didn't admit I was surprised. I thought his age and the quality of his opponents ensured that 23 seconds would be the closest he ever got to the top step on the Champs Élysées. All I can say is sorry for doubting you Cadel and I'm really happy you won.

Anyway, enough of that for I have nothing more to add to what's already been said. For now, the flavour of the weekly cycle will be different as, for the next twelve months, Phnom Penh, and not Melbourne, will be where I call home.

What I've noticed so far is while Phnom Penh is far from a bike-friendly city, it is a bloody fun place to ride. It's also hot, which I'll hopefully get used to. I've been here a little over a week and have found the local bike shop and some people to ride with.

I don't know what I expect out of the next year in terms of bicycles, but I'm here armed with mine and plan to make the most of it. Coming up for me are the Tour de Timor, a few races of the local MTB series and a race around Angkor Wat (the famous temples of Cambodia). No doubt, there'll be much more.

For now, here's a little video of a cruise through Phnom Penh. The traffic here is different to what I'm used to but it seems to work. There are few traffic lights and no stop or give way signs. Groups of motos, tuk-tuks and cars just seem to amass at an intersection until they have sufficient numbers to overcome the traffic travelling in the perpendicular direction. It's all very polite and I'm not convinced it's any slower than our more rigid system.