10Two

latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-tour-de-france-20110721,0,52965.story latimes.com BOOSTER SHOTS: Oddities, musings and news from the health world Think you're Tour de France material? Probably not By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog 12:39 PM PDT, July 21, 2011 advertisement You're sitting on your comfy sofa watching the Tour de France, and after a swig of Gatorade you think to yourself, "You know, I'm a pretty good cyclist. I bet I could keep up with those guys!" (Don't deny it. You know you totally did that.) Here's a little reality check: You probably can't. While you may have mad cycling skillz, chances are you don't have what it takes to compete against some of the best racers in the world on this grueling, three-week, 3,430 kilometer race through the flat, curved and mountainous terrains of France. Bicycling magazine has an amusing feature online that's part of its Tour de France coverage: "You Versus the Peloton," comparing race stats between average cyclists and elite Tour riders. Standing in for "you," the average cycling enthusiast, are the writer's friends "Matt" and "Andy," and data on the tour riders is from Team HTC-High Road. OK, let's start out with average speed on the flats. You: 17 to 18 mph. A tour rider: 25 to 28 mph. Ready to give up yet? No? Fine. Let's go with average speed on mountainous terrain. You: 9 to 10 mph. Tour rider: 21 to 25 mph. Dude, that's more than double the average cyclist. "TV doesn't tell the real story," says writer Whit Yost. "It's staggering to witness how fast pro cyclists go uphill. Their strength-to-weight ratios make these speeds possible." Still not convinced? How many calories do you think you burn on an average three-hour ride? Probably 200 to 450. Those Tour riders? They're burning about 4,000 to 5,000. Yost adds, "It's not unheard of for a Tour rider to burn up to 8,000 calories during a single stage." Hot-fudge sundaes all around! Those Tour riders aren't even taking a true recovery day -- they're riding two to three hours on rest days. You? You're at brunch. Now that you've conceded defeat, be glad there's still room for improvement. Top cycling coach Joe Friel, author of "The Cyclist's Training Bible," imparted some training wisdom during an hour-long live Web chat recently, including how to improve on hills. On that, Friel said, "The best way to get better at climbing hills is to simply climb hills. Initially the improvement will come because you learn how best to sit on the bike and apply force to the pedals: Sit back on the saddle with hands on the bars near the stem. Then engage the pedal higher in the pedal stroke than you usually do. This will allow you to apply force downward for a longer range than you would normally do. To improve climbing for racing or simply going over hills fast, do intervals on hills." Read the chat for even more tips, and maybe we'll see you at the Tour next year. Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Gosh - this is so boring !!! Nobody is forcing anybody to shop where things are "over-priced" I think that AM has done more for the sport in the past so many years than anybody else...for that reason - I will continue to support him.. As much as alot of you whinge bout AM / CycleLab (just look at the title of this thread - where is mention of any other person / company ???) - HE and HIS COMPANY SET THE STANDARDS IN SOUTH AFRICA !!!!! Grow up losers / whiners - and DO more than u TALK !!!! Everyone's an armchair Lance Armstrong it seems....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21581746/

Talk about Xplosive intervals hey Reg Liz ?

Hmm - it's truly worrying... A part of me tells me that this is just all political hubbub. We have elections coming up around the corner and these sneaky politicians know exactly how to seduce those who care to listen. So - in short - the bubble will burst soon - and things will be back to normal.. I hope I'm right

Stunning - that's certainly worth getting outta bed 4

HOPEFULLY - On the road .....if you're a roadie On the track .....if you're an off-roadie

You joined the HUB today - are you gonna "withdraw" as well ? Hmm - I see a pattern.......

RESPONSE FROM CASH CRUSADERS <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> CASH CRUSADERS franchising (PTY) LTD ? REG. NO. 03/017313/07 EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN - B. TOPAT, CEO - <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />S. STEGMANN, COO - J. CAMACHO, DIRECTOR - G. TOPAT PO Box 39568 Capricorn Square 7948 ? No 1, Lakeside Place Capricorn Park Prince George Drive Muizenberg 7945 Telephone (021) 787 9800 Facsimile (021) 709 0494 5th of October 2007 VIA EMAIL: xxxx Total Number of Pages: 2 To: xxxxxx From: Sean Stegmann RE: Stolen Mountain Bike I refer to your email dated Thursday the 4th of October 2007 and wish to offer the following response and how we intend dealing with the matter. Firstly allow me to offer heartfelt apologies to you. As a South African who is acutely aware of the effects of crime on our country, I understand your anger and frustration. I wish to assure you that Cash Crusaders vigorously implements policies and procedures that are aimed at bringing integrity to an industry suspectable to crime and the effects of crime on people. Our brand is vitally important to us and we live by a set of values that speak to honouring the brand through honesty and fairness at all time. We also have strict vetting criteria for the purchase of second hand goods as we are aware that it is an avenue that criminals may use to off-load stolen merchandise. I have located the store where the transaction was done and it is embarrassing to admit that it was one of our Franchise stores. We are investigating the matter and will take the strongest action possible should it be found that the franchisee was negligent or dishonest in his dealings. We will be meeting with our senior council once all the facts are available to determine if there has been a breach of the Franchise Agreement. Trading in second hand goods is part science and part art. The science is based on evaluating the merchandise and assessing whether the seller is asking fair value for the goods. Having retrieved the make and model of the goods we have put it to the GIANT Wholesaler (they were agents of Cadex prior to the model being discontinued) to assess its fair value. The bicycle in question is an 8 years old mountain bike, and no longer a current model. The GIANT representative informs us that the fair value for such a mode (Cadex CAM 3) would be about R1000. The store would more than likely have performed a similar exercise to what I have done and therefore buying it for R350.00 would not have been out of kilter considering that we are not a specialty bike shop and goods must be priced to sell. Could it be reasonably expected that a 20 year old would own a bicycle like this? This is where the art come in. The art is to match the goods to the seller as this would be an obvious indicator of whether the owner is the seller. By asking questions, the buyer hones in as to whether the goods could likely be matched to the seller. This was also the first time that Mr. Lackay had sold to the store so there was no history of criminal conduct. We have already observed that the franchise store in question deviated from our policy by selling goods to a 20 year old. Although the legal age to transact is 18 years, we have a policy that we don?t buy goods from any individual under the age of 21. Our experience shows that these age groups (without prejudice to the majority of people in this age group) are most likely to be behaving delinquently, such as Mr. Lackay did, and therefore we steer clear of servicing them. I can assure you that this matter is receiving our highest attention and will inform you of possible sanction once we have finalized our investigation. Yours sincerely, Sean Stegmann CEO ? Cash Crusaders Franchising

Geez - I thought woman were b*tchy... Men (or little boyz) on this forum are such b*tches - its a laugh !!! My wife read this and said you lads should subscribe to Heat magazine..

The only one that springs to mind is Krugers dorp Hill... There is a part 1 / part II to this hill so you can work that into your schedule...

We have a forum of dedicated HUBBERS who LOVE their sport !!!

Hmm - typical - still no response to my email from yesterday - I'm not holding my breath.... This kind of "legitimising" by selling to Cash Crusaders and the like and "washing" clean ill gotten gains is no different to money laundering. Banks went through a massive clean up exercise in the past 2 years with the implementation of FICA / FAIS controls. No tangible name / face / ID to a bank account - no account - end of story... Perhaps - these dodge type of pawn brokers need to undergo the same cleanup. I still say it's too bloody convenient for them to "play dumb" and "act" all innocent when someone cries foul - slime !!!

Cool - thanks for the mail addy.... I have emailed them - let's hope they have the guts to reply !! ********************************************************* To Whom it may concern, As an enthusiastic cyclist and a member of society - I am truly appalled to have read the following article. Here - it clearly outlines that your company (or franchises) have been party to completing the cycle of crime. http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20071004005418859C262167 You may argue that checks and balances are in place and that ID numbers etc are insisted upon - but if you are in any game long enough - it does not take a genius to realise genuine sellers from common cretins. Please do NOT even begin to explain your "obviously" rotten processes. How is it that any true seller will gladly accept R300 for a highly sophisticated R20 000 + bicycle ? Why would a true seller ONLY take R300 ? I understand that nobody walks into your premises with a sticker on their forehead that reads, "Drug Addict". But - come on - please ! For goodness sakes - you are COMPLETING the circle of crime for your own profits. Do you not have a conscience ? Don't have a big scare when your wives / daughters or loved ones are murdered / raped by the same villains that you support. I will be sure to let all of my friends, colleagues and fellow riders know NEVER to support your organisation !