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Episode 2: Tour Down Under

Transcript

We'll explain the words cycle, ride and race, as well as expressions that mean near.

It's fast, it's colourful, it's great atmosphere.

This is our first time here and this is just a fantastic event. We usually watch it on TV so coming down is a really great opportunity for us to see all the great riders.

Came for the colour and the action really and the excitement of the crowd as well.

For a lot of people cycling isn't just something they do or watch on television. It's a lifestyle. They might cycle to work everyday, they might race for a club or they might just ride recreationally on weekends.

There are three verbs for using a bicycle in the story - ride, cycle and race.

They might cycle to work everyday, they might race for a club or they might just ride recreationally on weekends.

To race is to be part of a contest to see who is fastest. The contest is also called a race or the race:

...it's the biggest race outside of Europe.

It's the biggest race outside of Europe. But what is it called?

Well the Tour Downunder has been around since 1999 and it revolves around Adelaide...

It's called the Tour Downunder. Here, a tour is an outdoor bicycle race held over a number of days and down under is an informal way of saying Australia.

And what do you call the people who ride in this tour?

The racers come from all over the world so you get the best riders are here you get the chance to see them.

They are called racers or riders.

People who ride bikes casually are called cyclists.

I've been here several times and we combine this event with a holiday. We're not that keen as cyclists but we love the Tour de France.

The activity of riding bikes is called cycling.

After watching cycling on television for so long to see the riders in the flesh and the speeds they do and what they get up to at some of the corners is, yeah, different perspective.

He said he saw the riders 'in the flesh'. This means you actually see them and not just their image on a screen.

After watching cycling on television for so long to see the riders in the flesh and the speeds they do and what they get up to at some of the corners is, yeah, different perspective.

Listen for a similar term:

The ability to see some of the best riders in the world up close.

Up close or close up means very near. If you are up close you can...

You can basically ride along with the riders and experience what they're experiencing.

Another phrase that means very close is next to.

You can stand next to the fence right at the start line or the finish line and they can, you can touch them, you can talk to them, have a coffee with them. It's really an accessible event.

But the expression comes close means something different.

I've experienced the Tour de France and that's an incredible event and this certainly comes close to it.

He means the Tour Downunder is almost as good as the Tour de France. It come close or almost reaches it. So we've seen that race can be a verb or a noun. A person in a race is a racer. he verbs for using a bike are cycle and ride. The activity is called cycling and people who cycle are called cyclists. Something that comes close is almost as good. The man with the helmet is standing next to his friend. Next to means beside. Another way of saying near is close up or up close and to see someone in the flesh is to see them in real life. We'll finish with the opinion of someone who is not a racer, but an enthusiastic cyclist.

It's such a huge event. It's just got bigger and bigger every year and the last sort of 10 years I've been thinking, "well I've gotta be here". And it's taken that long to get here. But, yeah, this is probably the best year ever to be here. It's huge. Absolutely huge.

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