GrumpyOldGuy

Just as a point of interest I also had a helmet made by "Protector" which if I remember correctly was a SA manufactured product, not sure now but maybe someone who was in the game would know.?

I I think you are right. I started my motorcycling life in 1971 with a Suzuki TS 50 which I bought brand new out the box for the princely sum of R400.00, and a great little bike it was too. It was the first Suzuki 50cc I believe which had automatic 2 stroke oil mixing, before that every one had to mix the oil and the petrol. Never gave me one days trouble and I put huge mileage on it, usually two up, with my then girlfriend or a mate. It cost me tuppence to service at the local Suzuki dealership and I later had the mechanic there do some performance work on it by boring it out a bit, doing a bit of head work and removing that baffle material in the exhaust, it was noisy but it flew.!

Well, there you go, as I said, when it comes down to the wire, honesty is always the best policy, keeps the relationship and lines of communication clean and open.

Yup, Jack Nicholson at his best. Another great actor, "One flew over the cuckoo's nest, A few good men, About Schmidt, The Pledge - all thought provoking movies that relied on real people and good old fashioned acting skills to act out a plot and tell a story, not gratuitous violence, unbelievable stories and re manufactured graphic images from a computer laboratory. Bill Murray is another actor worthy of some note, Groundhog day, Grand hotel Budapest, Lost in translation, all groundbreaking movies that have survived the test of time. Okay, include Ghostbusters too, not my kind of movie but still around and popular as ever today.

Indeed, I am also a big fan of Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar baby was heart breaking, possibly one of his better movies ever and thats saying something. Of course he was supreme in the Dirty Harry movies, "Go Ahead, make my day" is still legendary. I find the movies today boring, I dont like computer generated special effects rubbish like we see today, it seems a solid story line and good acting like we saw in "Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, The Deerhunter, The last of the Mohicans, The Shawshank redemption and the like are simply not made anymore, in my opinion most of today's movies are mindless, popcorn munching, soda slurping time wasters, I cant think of one I have seen in the last year I could rate up there with say "The Shawshank redemption or Million Dollar Baby ".

Hmm, as an employer I would take a dim view of the employee if I found out I was lied to. I would much rather have someone come and say "Hay, I have been working hard, can I have the afternoon off to relax and clear my mind" I may not agree or like it but I would far prefer that honesty prevails in my business.

Nice, I like the colour scheme. What model is it.?

Of course it is, whats the point otherwise? If you dont have a reason to watch its nothing more than a colorful procession of skinny men on bicycles. If thats the case count me out, I'll be watching the woman's athletics, just as colorful and the participants are a lot more attractive. Hee Hee.

Been too busy to visit the Hub before. Sky as usual in my opinion raced their usual negative tactics, Froome was not up to the task and so they were more intent on preventing 'Berto from winning than looking after their own interests in Froome. Disgraceful tactics. As for Froome's crash,...well I dont believe its an issue, he looked pale and worn out after the first day and the attack, in my opinion he had one good attack in him and he used it up on the first day. Five riders went with so it wasnt that strong anyway. Crash's happen, lets not forget ;Berto crashed at the 2013 TDF as well, twice, if memory serves me well, but did we ever hear from 'Berto the crash ruined my chances, No, did we ever hear from the media or the pundits that the crash could have been an issue in his race, No, all we heard was the usual verbose garbage of "He didnt have his steak", or "maybe he didnt get a blood bag", or "maybe he is just average without Bruneel and his doctors" and so on. Well, how do you like them apples.! Froome complains too much, I am not sure who issued the teams race orders but in my opinion SKY exhibited the worst kind of professional sportsmanship I have personally ever seen in a grand tour, they didn't race their own race, they did everything possible to keep 'Berto off the top step, thats not professional sportsmanship, but, never the less, even with the full SKY team and 'Berto on his own, they failed to isolated him, his own shabby team isolated him, he responded to everything they threw at him. As you rightly say and I agree, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, there was no way he could have got into the break and he had no team, so had to rely on the other teams to chase the break. He did what he could under the circumstances and attacked on the climbs to get away. I'll put my cards down now, failing something catastrophic like a serious crash, or illness, or like, 'Berto will clean up at the TDF.

Indeed, 'Berto is a real old school bike racer, a hugely exciting rider and makes every race he is in interesting. Imagine if you had to sit and watch the negative racing of SKY at this criterium day in and day out, we would all be having a snorefest of note. I just say a little Thank you prayer daily we still have racers like him in these grand tours.

Yeah, he does look a little of peak dont he?. I thought earlier he may have just had a bad day, but yah, at this point he looks way behind the competition.

Yah, agreed, I think Porte is terribly overrated, he has some good moments and everyone does back flips, but mostly in my opinion he is pretty average, I think Kiryienka is a better and more reliable support rider.

Bravo 'Berto Bravo. On his own, not a team mate in sight to help..........pure class.! How do you like them apples.!

Ha, Ha, very good, - something like I would expect from a rider like "Vino" .

Hoping 'Berto decides to stretch the peleton a bit today and goes off on an attack. I expect SKY been the masters of negative racing will plod along with five rotating riders in front and try pull it back, but 'Berto has said he is not aiming for a win here so he will just go and see what happens. The Saxo team has looked pretty shabby to me, hope this isnt their proposed TDF team otherwise 'Berto is going to be spending a lot of time on his own, not that it will concern him though I recon, he is such an exciting rider, second position on the podium is never his goal, its top step or he will go out in flames trying.

Good thing Evans wasn't there then.!

Nope, healthy as a horse, haven't been sick for years. I put it down to the whiskey!.

Sure, maybe, ....perhaps I am just feeling nostalgic but I like to think there is a heart beating somewhere in these big corporations. Time will probably prove me wrong but I live clinging to that hope.

Ha, Ha, yeah, dont think theres too much risk of getting your neck lopped off there, but I agree it will be a Froome / Contador contest to see who has the fewest bad days.

Yes, I am aware of the structures, my point was just Wiggins is associated with Britain and SKY, the British public dont care SKY also has business in Arabia for instance, they care about SKY Britain and Wiggins and I believe rightly so.

Hmm, Yeah I hear you, but Sky is different to most other teams in that they are sole name sponsors of the cycling team, and although the SKY cycling public face will be filled with the bluster of "I pick the teams" - SKY the money has other fish to fry. This is a huge British company and as such has, firstly, a huge social responsibility to the British public and secondly to British athletes. Leaving Wiggins out of a home base start, would be akin to making Jonah Lomu of the "All Blacks" captain of the Springboks and leaving out Victor Matfield, then playing the biggest game at Loftus,... there would be an absolute riot in SA and rightly so. There is huge home country pride in local athletes and Sky would be mindful that this is also about a social responsibility to their public that they cannot simply brush aside like that. My feeling is, and mark my words - if Wiggins wants to ride, he is in good enough shape and Brailsford leaves him out of the TDF in favor of a foreign rider, there will be a riot amongst the British Cycling Public, and the Sky brand will take an enormous amount of abuse both in social and the formal media, and I think rightly so.....this anyway, will not please the money bosses behind SKY. Sky cycling is a very, very, small part of the SKY brand, maybe they will put on a brave public face and say it was all up to Sir Brailsford etc, etc, but, believe me, there will be changes later, this is a multi billion pound business based on and supportive of British interests and support of British social structures, there is no way they would be happy with the negative publicity leaving an in form Wiggins out of the tour could potentially bring. No Way.!

Hmm, dunno, one could argue Froome gave it his best, but couldn't shake 'Berto??.. or a few others to be honest, only Nibali seemed to struggle a bit with the accelerating pace, maybe he had an off day, it happens, I wouldn't write him off just yet, he is better than today's showing. Personally, 'Berto and Froome look very closely matched to me, nothing between them on the face of it, and neither SKY or Saxo teams impressed anyone, both riders were left pretty much on their own. I still say 'Berto is the better athlete in the big mountains, but honestly, when its so close, its all about who has the fewer bad days. Agree on Valverde, I hope he isnt hiding because his form is poor, Movistar has one of the strongest all round teams, an on form Valverde could be a serious threat to the podium.

So Wiggins is going somewhere then??

I read somewhere he said he is not really worried if he doesn't win, because that would mean he hasn't peaked yet, which, if he aims to win the TDF is what he wants I guess. Could be PR work though, remove some pressure, who knows,.... he looks pretty comfortable to me.

Hmm, I dont know, at the TDF last year those big attacks by Froome left everyone for dead on the road, and he was away on his own,.... this year now, everyone who matters went with and another few made their way back,.... just tells me the rest have upped their game considerably, especially 'Berto. Its almost impossible to pass when the pace is that high, what matters is 'Berto was the only one who was never gapped, ever, no matter how big the attack he went with. Early days, I feel bullish.!