GrumpyOldGuy

Well, I have always regarded Uran as a podium competitor so its quite possible he could produce some magic, but the team is too light on support in my opinion which could be a problem for him. Cant wait to see old man Petacchi back in action again though,.... poetry in motion.

Indeed, I am a big Nibali fan and I find it strange he will not contest his home tour, especially as he is the current winner!

Hmm Yeah, I think Horner was a a one horse victory, how he did it is beyond me but I cant see it happening again. Porte seems to blow hot and cold, sometimes he is just magnificent, other times he is conspicuous by his absence anywhere near the leader board, personally I dont believe he is good enough for a top step on the podium anyway. Basso, well what can we say, he has had a great career but I think now he needs to accept its coming to an end, I cant see him up on any podium step but I would be the first to clap if he did, I still quite like the guy. I think Evans and Quintana will round out the top 5 but I will go a little from the general consensus and say my top 3 pick will be - 1. Rodriguez 2. Scarponi 3. Roland

I was flicking through the start list this morning as I have nothing to do and it seems provisionally there is still a strong field all be it no 'Berto and Chris. ​I think Scarponi's change to Astana will also help him a lot, he is the leader and has a strong team of climbers to support him in the mountains where he excels, Tiralongo especially will be invaluable. Lampre always saw Cunego as their golden boy and Scarponi was mostly left to battle it out on his own with little support from the team. Even though Cunego's palmeres in recent years in the grand tours has been distinctly lacking he was allowed to go swanning off for the camera's while poor old man Scarponi was left to fight on his own for a podium spot.........yeah, yeah, I know, its old hat but it still hurts. I also see Basso is the leader again of the Cannondale team, although apart from Viviani I cant see many there who would challenge for much in the way of podiums. Pierre Roland is looking quite healthy as well, I think he could be a competitor for the podium, but on paper you would need to be somewhat naive to bet against Rodriquez for the overall win.

I must say I enjoyed the womans race a lot more than the mens, the run by Gwen Jorgenson was nothing short of incredible, I was hoping for a Helen Jenkins win as I think she is just such an incredibly talented, but such a humble athlete. However all power to Stimpson she was certainly the best on the day. Gomez hardly looked as if he was racing and looked as if he was more out for a hard training stint, I think he still had a lot in the bag at the end.

Till middle of May, so I am hoping to see a bit of the Giro if I have time, not sure of the coverage back in Canada and we dont get RAI.......!

Yes, its one of the best I think, really good. If you liked that try one of his other books "Into the Wild" is also great, you may have seen the movie, truly inspirational,.... and the book is better.

.....but forget the cold, my brother has just fired up the Weber, I have just cracked a cold Amstel and life is looking great..........

Yeah, true, I think it got down to around -32 C in Jan it was brutal if you ventured out with skin exposed to the conditions, almost certain to get frost bite. ....but life carries on and people still carry on going to the gym and the movies and the local stores, you just dress differently, its a chuckle, even the dogs get special clothes and you see the dogs out in the snow with special snow goggles, jackets and of course booties......although my dog is a SA sun lover, so initially she would just stick her nose out the flap and charge back to the heater, but now she loves it.

- Thanks, just in time to watch Scarponi take a few early stages in the Giro hey.?

Hee, Hee, Yeah Swiss, its great been back in this wonderful country, I have been so enjoying the sunny Autumn days and catching up with old friends and family again time has flown by and its almost 6 days gone. Next week we intend moseying up to Mpumalanga for a few days and then down to Cape Town, no time frames, just as the will takes us, its gonna be great. I hear its getting chilly up in the Mpumalanga area now but as long as its above this I am happy.

Not impressed. Substitute "cyclist" with, "Runner, Swimmer, Tri-athlete, Electrician, Fitter, Dentist, Doctor, Accountant etc", .....and it sounds much like the experiences any other person who has worked hard to get ahead and stay ahead,.... pity parties dont sit well with me!.

I recon that will certainly ruin his day.!

Yah, I agree, the main thing is though you got a flight I guess, but the poor fellow sitting next to you who paid 4k must be feeling a little green around the gills.

Good. I for one think Comair expected to just walk away unscathed and stop the competition, good thing the judge thought different.

Yah, I hear your pain, Comair is going to plead "Limited seats" so best would be to try and get in early and fight to secure a seat, when the news hits today its going to be a blood bath there with people trying to secure seats, I would hit the Kulula call centre the minute it opens and see what they can do to assist you.

Sure, I hear you, but I think the issue is more about Air Services Licensing board than Fly Safair. It seems Comair is still disputing the 75% ownership even though the Air services Licensing board rejected Comair's objection to granting the license based on those grounds, so it would seem in reality FlySafair was entirely in its right to start selling tickets. I just think Comair going to court for an interdict against FlySafair's entry smacks of anti competitive behavior, I can understand it though, theres big money involved. Ultimately here the flying public suffers the most, but I like the Judge's order that Comair must accommodate stranded FlySafair's passengers at the same price and ticket date, I doubt very much Comair expected that, certainly to my knowledge its never happened before, so they will feel the pain of angry customers as well because its going to be hard to accommodate everyone, plus their own paying passengers on the day.

Hmm, I saw that, but from my understanding listening to the quick news flash, Kulula and BA are ordered by the court to assist passengers at the ticket price at the time they booked for, but I dont know how they will react to this, not very well is my feeling so maybe get onto them quickly and secure a seat if possible or find out how they can accommodate you. Poor show on Comairs part in my opinion, very anti competitive.

Yah indeed, the difference is they would not try it because they know the legal consequences would be dire, here they have no fear of the law, because here its usually too expensive to litigate considering the value, and they would wiggle out of it in most cases anyway.

- Ha, Ha, sounds about right.

Great stuff, and Yes, its a quick hop down to Durban, or up to the great vacation spots in Mpumalanga and career wise, I dont think you can or your girlfriend can make a mistake moving here, this is a city that rewards hard work, you will do just great.

Long term parking in CT airport is ridiculously overpriced, I had the same issue when I drove down once and flew back, I parked my car at long term and flew back 5 days later to collect it, I was charged 700 bucks. I dont know what the alternatives are if there are any sadly. I park my car in JHB airport long term parking for weeks sometimes, its a sliding scale situation but only costs around around 40 bucks a day.

Thats great, you will like it here, this is a real upbeat positive city which needs people with a great positive attitude like you. Would it be business related your move or personal Caerus. Sadly I am leaving this great city and my heart is very heavy because I have had the privilege to personally know and work with some of the worlds nicest people and I will leave behind so many fine friends and associates from this great city.

Who has seen these new Nestle pod machines in the shops recently. I saw one yesterday, you can make hot chocolate with it as well. The machine is fairly reasonable at around 2.4 k so I recon it will be well accepted in the market. The pods are much bigger than Nespresso so not interchangeable but I had a demo coffee and my wife had a hot chocolate and both were surprisingly very good. Not sure if Nespresso is a Nestle product, will have to check but if it is I thought it strange they are going into competition with themselves

Yah, its really the only SA online shop I use frequently. Good choice and sometimes they will even source a model for you thats not on their catalog if its from a brand they represent. My wife lost her Tom Tom windscreen mount and they sourced one for her no problem at all.