Tour DownUnder 2020 - Should I stay or Should I go?

[SuperColnago]

Just my luck I picked this year to attend 2020 Tour DownUnder, from Canada.
So disheartening to see and hear about all the bushfire carnage, worldwide news coverage now, it is really bad, according to my mates there....
Praying for some Aussie rain to help their recovery efforts, TDU secondary at this point in my mind, kind of wondering if I should go?

[prototoast]

I would go, unless there are specific advisories that tourists will inhibit the firefighting efforts. I haven't seen any estimates of the economic consequences of the wildfires, but for the people living and working there, a little outside money might be welcome.

[Llewellyn]

Well, the local economy could certainly use your dollars. I'd say go.

[SuperColnago]

Yes the Santos TDU website is encouraging attendance for the reasons you noted, Thanks.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...ian-bushfires/

[Elefantino]

Enjoy. Not much racing in North America to speak of anymore.

[robertbb]

Originally Posted by SuperColnago

Just my luck I picked this year to attend 2020 Tour DownUnder, from Canada.
So disheartening to see and hear about all the bushfire carnage, worldwide news coverage now, it is really bad, according to my mates there....
Praying for some Aussie rain to help their recovery efforts, TDU secondary at this point in my mind, kind of wondering if I should go?

We had some rain here in Melbourne yesterday, and to be honest I wonder if the cloud cover is actually keeping the smoke in. I'm still coughing this morning from yesterday's haze. And I was outside only long enough to catch the train to and from work... ~30min tops... (in a building which filters air).

Not to discourage anyone from visiting, but January and into Feb are traditionally the hottest months. There's always stages of the TDU in high 30 or even low 40 degree (celcius) heat. Heavily treed areas... few roads in/out and a lot of people. Seems like a bad recipe to me.

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by robertbb

We had some rain here in Melbourne yesterday, and to be honest I wonder if the cloud cover is actually keeping the smoke in. I'm still coughing this morning from yesterday's haze. And I was outside only long enough to catch the train to and from work... ~30min tops... (in a building which filters air).

Not to discourage anyone from visiting, but January and into Feb are traditionally the hottest months. There's always stages of the TDU in high 30 or even low 40 degree (celcius) heat. Heavily treed areas... few roads in/out and a lot of people. Seems like a bad recipe to me.

I would listen to this local's advice and stay away. I have lived in SoCal since 1969 so I have been around some wildfires and the nasty air they caused. I would never want to exercise hard in that stuff. Plus one spark and a previously "safe" area can become very dangerous very quickly. Save your trip for another year. You don't need to be occupying lodging that might be needed by newly homeless people who have been burned out.

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

I would listen to this local's advice and stay away. I have lived in SoCal since 1969 so I have been around some wildfires and the nasty air they caused. I would never want to exercise hard in that stuff. Plus one spark and a previously "safe" area can become very dangerous very quickly. Save your trip for another year. You don't need to be occupying lodging that might be needed by newly homeless people who have been burned out.

Melbourne is 850km from the TDU. That's 500 miles!!!

This local in Adelaide says come along, the riding and associated events are always great, the weather is a crapshoot in high summer, as it always will be. Smoke and air quality issues are mainly a major problem on the East coast, and that is nearly 1500km away.
Our biggest fire, Kangaroo Island, is 120km south of here.

[dubrat]

Please come. enjoy and spend local......

[jimoots]

I’m an Adelaide local - come down, enjoy what we have to offer.

As others have noted the really serious fires are significant distances from the TDU. I am not downplaying the severity of those fires but the geographic separation of Australia means they are nowhere near Adelaide.

[SuperColnago]

Originally Posted by jimmy-moots

I’m an Adelaide local - come down, enjoy what we have to offer.

As others have noted the really serious fires are significant distances from the TDU. I am not downplaying the severity of those fires but the geographic separation of Australia means they are nowhere near Adelaide.

I am trending to going..... bringing my MOOTS RSL for Westpac Challenge.....

Tough call, good points on both sides..

Cheers mates!

[robertbb]

I'm not going to sit here and tell anyone not to come to our country. "We've boundless plains to share" ;-)

But be realistic. The choking smoke hovering around Melbourne for the past 2 days and predicted to remain for the next two has come from fires over 500km away from here! You couldn't see the skyscrapers in the CBD from Richmond Station!

The Adelaide hills have recently had their own fires, have they not? Kangaroo Island's been burnt to a crisp only a week or so ago and the fuel loads in the hills around Adelaide are primed like a tinderbox, are they not? No different to the loads in the bushland areas around Melbourne and Sydney...

I happen to work for VicGov. I'm in disaster recovery. I won't reveal here the conversations that are being had about how vulnerable we are... but I will say they aint pretty.

[SuperColnago]

Originally Posted by robertbb

I'm not going to sit here and tell anyone not to come to our country. "We've boundless plains to share" ;-)

But be realistic. The choking smoke hovering around Melbourne for the past 2 days and predicted to remain for the next two has come from fires over 500km away from here! You couldn't see the skyscrapers in the CBD from Richmond Station!

The Adelaide hills have recently had their own fires, have they not? Kangaroo Island's been burnt to a crisp only a week or so ago and the fuel loads in the hills around Adelaide are primed like a tinderbox, are they not? No different to the loads in the bushland areas around Melbourne and Sydney...

I happen to work for VicGov. I'm in disaster recovery. I won't reveal here the conversations that are being had about how vulnerable we are... but I will say they aint pretty.

This is what I call a moral dilemma......

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by robertbb

I'm not going to sit here and tell anyone not to come to our country. "We've boundless plains to share" ;-)

But be realistic. The choking smoke hovering around Melbourne for the past 2 days and predicted to remain for the next two has come from fires over 500km away from here! You couldn't see the skyscrapers in the CBD from Richmond Station!

I know. I saw the TV coverage. Dominant weather patterns mean smoke moves E/SE and pools in low-lying areas.

Originally Posted by robertbb

The Adelaide hills have recently had their own fires, have they not? Kangaroo Island's been burnt to a crisp only a week or so ago and the fuel loads in the hills around Adelaide are primed like a tinderbox, are they not? No different to the loads in the bushland areas around Melbourne and Sydney...

true
true
dunno, I'm not an expert

Originally Posted by robertbb

I happen to work for VicGov. I'm in disaster recovery. I won't reveal here the conversations that are being had about how vulnerable we are... but I will say they aint pretty.

Fair enough. I'm a recovering cyclist. I appreciate the dangers - as I said, it can be a crapshoot - and I'm not trying to outbid you. But a little perspective might be in order. These fires are awful, no doubt, but your localised knowledge is tempered by locality and distance. In European terms, you're in Spain and I'm in Germany...

As to local conditions: I've attended, followed or had some vague association with every TDU since it's inception. The challenge ride was cancelled one year. I've ridden eleven of them; one year I rode to Yankalilla in 42 C heat, so I think I know a little about the circumstances, conditions and organisation.

[robertbb]

Fair enough, there's a lot to be said for local knowledge. Agree it's not a competition...

I'm actually quite pissed... people keep telling me I should move to Adelaide (apparently the place and people are far more aligned with my lifestyle and personality than Melbourne is). This was going to be the year I finally went and explored it and I had planned to put the feelers out with SA Gov for secondments... but circumstances as they are here mean work is crazy, I'd feel terrible leaving my organisational unit in the midst of all this (and there's no way I'd get leave anyway).

To the OP: For my 9-5 job, I spend my days assessing threats to public health and coordinating and drilling responses among various units. So I live in a world of extremely low probability but absolutely catastrophic impact. Take what I say for what they are... the thoughts of someone who gets paid to think (and prepare for) the utter worst.

If this is a trip you'd wanted to take for a while, then go for it. Legend says in the event of calamity your Moots RSL will survive. Oh, and so will cockroaches.