GrumpyOldGuy

Ha, Ha, Yeah, maybe, did you read the opinions below that copy, this one is....well Priceless!!. http://cdn.gigya.com/gs/i/comments/avatar_32x32.gifnother well written article by Robert - got it nailed !!! If Sir Brad does not ride ?? Team Sky will need to employ the SAS to protect Mr Froome from the British fans and he is going to get really abused when it gets near Spain after his PR/girlfriends comments about Contador on her twitter account. orbeas2 hours ago another well written article by Robert - got it nailed !!! If Sir Brad does not ride ?? Team Sky will need to employ the SAS to protect Mr Froome from the British fans and he is going to get really abused when it gets near Spain after his PR/girlfriends comments about Contador on her twitter account. another well written article by Robert..Got it nailed!! If Sir Brad does not ride??, team Sky will need to employ the SAS to protect Mr Froome from the British fans and he is going to get really abused when it gets near Spain after his PR/Girlfriends comments about Contador on her twitter account.

Come now Christie, he has been streets ahead of his competition this year, he has been flying, in contrast to Froome who has yet to clock a win. I have always been a 'Berto fan but we need to remember there are multiple reasons why an athlete may appear to be a little worse than what we remember of them at their peak, and its not always drugs, just like us, they age, lose interest, or the years of injuries and damage to the body can no longer be patched over with some spit, Deep heat and a lot of hope,.... like any mortal they also reach a point they simply cant compete at that level anymore. I think 'Berto has one more tour win in him and this year is it, then I think its pretty much over, he is 5 years older now and its unlikely he can continue as a potential tour winner much longer. We need to be realistic as well, playing the "Oh look it was the dope that did it, now he is just average" card isnt fair mate,.... I know you understand the situation well, probably better than most, but I think we do need to be fair in what we assume, because often there are other factors too. All that said and back to Wiggins, I think he should be at the tour.!

Hmm, very valid piece of writing by Millar in my opinion. I said earlier, Wiggins was the name and persona that made SKY, he was the reason the money at SKY were prepared to back a British racing team and Millar just re affirms that stance. I especially like this paragraph. Things are pretty desperate when a national hero like Bradley Wiggins, first British winner of the Tour, one of the most successful Olympians, BBC Sportsman of the Year, honoured by the Queen, feted and admired throughout the land isn't at the start of a Tour de France in his own country. It's pretty low to take that opportunity from him. The team can try to hide behind excuses and so-called reasoning but it shows a total lack of respect for what he has given to Team Sky.

"Houston....we have a problem!!" Or maybe its, "SKY......we have a problem.!!"

Quite telling,....?

Fair enough, I misunderstood. I dont think the money behind the team (ie) SKY Management will interfere in Brailsford's decisions, but behind the scenes, I am pretty sure they would be biting their tongues, Wiggins got SKY to its position of dominance today and I believe anyway, they would feel he has been rather shabbily treated.

Maybe, although I dont believe Wiggins is "difficult" as the media like to portray him, perhaps he is just not happy at SKY and it shows in his manner? SKY has let a number of good riders wonder off to other teams, Uran and Rodgers in particular, if Wiggins goes I dont see the team been any kind of force any where except the TDF.

Yes, nicely put in a nutshell.

Not really tricky, I agree with Hellocolour, British racing team, Wiggins is a top British athlete, he is Knighted for goodness sake, he is in top form, he has already won and got sidelined,.......and Brailsford decides not to take him..........the management at SKY must be livid.

I dont know anything about bike mechanic courses or repairing and selling them either, but after 30 years in my own business I feel I know a little about that side of things. Doing something you enjoy in life is vitally important, however it has to pay the bills, school the kids, and you need to be able to save a bit to beat inflation, because if it doesn't, you wont love it for long and it will become the proverbial albatross around your neck. Dont get me wrong, I dont want to be negative, all I am saying is you would need to have a big trust fund behind you if your dream is not sufficiently marketable in today's world, no matter how much you enjoy it.

Ha, Ha, yeah, yeah, - there are always gonna be folk envious of the status Harley has achieved worldwide. As (possibly) - (its a very contentious issue in some circles) the oldest motorcycle brand in continuous production - 1903 - till today and still going strong, I would suggest that as been quite an enviable reputation, so they must be doing something right.

Ha, Ha, indeed they do, have radio's that is. Some even have built in Garmin's, Cigarette lighters, cup holders, heated seats, heated bar grips, electrically adjustable windscreens, cruise control, and air conditioning. OK not really air conditioning but it feels like it.

I always enjoyed Emmerentia, its a wonderful well kept green lung in the middle of a big city. In my opinion residents deserve to be able to go there and enjoy the space without having to pay for entrance, I always loved going there, for me it was a chance to enjoy a great park, listen to the birds, watch the ducks and enjoy a stroll with my wife, my dogs enjoyed a run and a quick swim. For me anyway thats a win/win situation. However it seems to me (from the letter published) the issue is not dog walkers, old people, cyclists, kids, dog Poo underfoot or any of the other gripes but quite simply - Budget. Yes, they are gripes, but not the reason the park may be gated and a fee charged. You all know that song "Let there be peace in the world, and let it begin with me" - its so relevant, Emmerentia is a great facility, it is what it is, just go and enjoy.

Well, not yet, but knowing the yanks and their coffee addiction, I am sure they are working on it.!

Yeah, its nice, here they call them "Naked Bikes" as they dont have any fairings, windscreens etc. A great run around or for cruising on a Friday evening but not ideal for long distances, which Harley's are so good at. I can ride my Streetglide all day and not even feel tired, I switch on the radio, adjust the windscreen and its so wind free behind the screen I could smoke a cigar with no problems - if I smoked that is. ....but Yeah, its a great looker indeed and I see lots around, quite nippy as well I understand.

Indeed, one of the great privileges of been retired is time is no issue to me. Often I jump in the car or on the bike (depending on the weather - this is Canada and been on a bike in -35 is not fun ) and just ride. At 5pm I start looking for a hotel and at 7pm I start looking for dinner. Next day is the same. Its just great, I dont have any plan of where I am going, I just point the bike out onto the interstate and ride till I see a junction I havent been on and off I go - found some amazing places like this as well, now I only travel like that,no plans, just go.

Ha, Ha, yeah, but its still worth it, you even get a special suit you wear for riding in winter which plugs into socket in the bike and it heats up - real toasty inside.

Here its roughly $15000.00 for the base model, but add the extra's like electronic wrap around windscreen, radio and tape, ABS etc and you could easily get up to $25000.00 ......and I mean VERY easily.

Yebo Yes.......2014 model. Sweet ride indeed.

This is my next Harley................it has my name on it already.

I dunno, maybe it goes back to the first real biker movie "Easy rider" where they rode around with tassles on the handlebars etc, ....... but Yah, ..........I dunno.!

Yeah, I hear you, most big companies need the US market which is monsterous, to get economies of scale, and, as the US customer is not into the Superbike market the economy of scale maybe isnt there either?. That said I dont see many scooters here either, BMW has cornered an excellent market on their on/off road bike's and they are very popular, as are the 500 mid range bikes for just day to day commutes, but smaller than that........UH,UH, not many.!

Ha, Ha, yeah, not designed for narrow roads, great for the big open interstate highways around the US though. It must be hell in traffic though and if you fall over,......its tickets, I mean you aint never gonna pick that up on your own.

Oh, yeah, possible and common. The Yanks dont do "Small" remember. The notion of a 1100cc engine is foreign to most Americans, some have lawnmowers bigger than that. The Harley dealer down the road from me is open 7 days a week till at least 6pm, most nights till 10pm, thats sales, workshop, coffee bar everything, the workshop is like a hospital, you can eat from the floor and they can service 70 bikes a day, everyday, 7 days a week........thats the scope of the business. Here's a pic of the workshop from the showroom floor, theres big glass windows (spotlessly clean) which customers can look trough into the workshop and watch their bike been serviced, hence I took this photo through the glass. Notice the big extractor pipes which are attached to the exhaust when the bike runs, no smelly exhaust fumes clogging up the workshop here. The best of electronic computer diagnostics are available and they will do an oil change in 20 minutes through the drive through section, you basically drive your bike in, two mechanics swarm over it and the oil and filter is changed in 20 minutes and you drive away..........very,very,very popular, I use it myself. I took this photo early one Sunday morning.......

Absolutely, Wiggins has reached heights few in the pro peleton can even dream of, let alone achieve, this is a seriously talented athlete who has proved himself over the test of time.