My first Eritrean race Home Eritrean cycling | Tour of Eritrea 2004 My first race in Eritrea came after a month of training, on the 25th Jan 2004. Something of a shock to the system after four months of (relative) inactivity. The race was a 100km criterium over 90 laps, guaranteed to be fast and furious.  Arriving at the circuit  in downtown Asmara with the Tele SC team the racing was already underway. A few thousand spectators, mainly young kids, lined the course, with soldiers to keep the crowd under control. Different from the one-man-and -his-dog watching races in the UK (or just the dog if you're unlucky). I thought I could see my race already started - That's my race I thought, looks just about hard enough to break sweat but I was confident I could give those guys a run for their money.  "They are the slow riders - Division 1b is for riders who do not train hard because they have other jobs" Said Matteus  "What, like me" I responded. "But you are strong  - you will race with us" So it transpired the Eritreans had put me in division 1a - racing against the professionals and full timers, Hmmm. The format of the race was explained to me - 15 free laps then "devil take the hindmost" with the last rider across the line eliminated on each subsequent lap, until 40 riders remained to take the race to the finish.  "How will we know which rider is last?" I asked "They will be eliminated. The soldiers will shoot them - they aim for the tyres but its difficult to be accurate at this speed"  I hoped he was joking. The VSO supporters club (Mick, Nadine, Sarah, Hugo and Susan) had come along to offer encouragement and vocal support. Having a coffee before the start I don't know who was more nervous, them or me.  "How will we be able to spot you" asked Nadine "Well I'll be the only white bloke there, start looking at the back" The start was furious and the racing fast straight away. I was encouraged by the shouts of "forza 'tilliano" or "Dia Tsada" (go whitey) from many of the spectators who obviously found me something of a novelty. Each time I passed the VSOs I could hear the cries of "go on Dave" spurring me on.  With the first 15 laps out of the way the top riders made their way to the front. I successfully held a good position in the middle of the 90 rider bunch for 10 laps but then found myself drifting dangerously towards the rear. From the turn at the palm tree the drag up to the line was a battle not to be eliminated. Sure enough I was pulled out after 32 laps. The pain over I collapsed next to Mick and the rest of the VSOs. "Are you OK Dave?" "legs are fine, but I think my heart and lungs have been amputated" I blame the altitude - oh and they all had better bikes than me (I was on my touring bike!!) The race was whittled down to a bunch of about 15 by the end. We transferred our support to the Tele team and Matteus, who took the sprint for first place. All in all I put in a respectable performance and didn't disgrace myself (at least I didn't bring the bunch down in a crash!). The Eritreans seemed to think so. "You must train, your condition will improve - you will race next week at Ghinda" Bring it on... I'm off to improve my condition. And thanks for all the support guys.