Although it is only Thursday, it seems that a week summary of scandal may be necessary: Battle of the trails. TBMTBC (of the cape trail syndicate) can under a lot of pressure as the granny gear conglomerate complained that they were being edited off FB. (Like do their husbands know they have laptops in the kitchen?) Things like the trails are too hard, fences too high and bikes to heavy to lift were the vectors of attack. This was countered by a BEE grouping that pointed out that even a tar road can be challenging with the right bike and levels of skills (evidence of a MAN doing table top jumps over two cateyes was provided as proof). Others from the east rand counter accused by claiming that it is obvious when CT riders are on business in Gauteng, as all the small stones (rocks) have been moved off the rails at Rietvlei and informal chicken (or tjerri) routes are ridden in around Giraffes at Groenkloof. Bringing up that point that the wildlife at Groenkloof is actually wild and Groenkloof, although mtb friendly, is not a petting zoo (even if they have paved half the single track, on the request of the 29er roders). Road cycling was not left unscathed as A(S)G, a importer and wholesaler of bling (which accidently branched out into event organising- so that there would be a platform for their clients to show off their earning skills) was accused of unfairly? monopolising the race calendar. It seems that there is economic advantage from race organising. This obviously touched a number of raw nerves, as firstly, it seems that A(S)G bling did not find its way to the children of Jacaranda Children's home and secondly, the debacle of Telkom Cycling club raised its head. This in turn exposes the entire organisational structures of cycling in South Africa to scrutiny. What do clubs do? What do unions do? Why do people cycle? ext. Looking at the ASA for answers has been the traditional path, as road running was the most stable sport in South Africa with strong clubs protecting the interests of runners from the predatory behaviour of sport politicians, but after the fallout of the Soweto marathon, heads and lips have been wagging. Is it the beginning of the end there, too? Then quietly, almost unnoticed (like triatheletes are these days) someone started asking about why should he join TSA at all. The bomb about duathlon world championships in Spain in May seems to have passed unnoticed, as GNT triathlon and duathlon 2014 championships are to hosted on the same day in 2013 !! in order to be able to select teams for SA champs in 2014. And finally and most shockingly, it has been rediscovered that alcohol is bad for sport, especially post exercise recovery Cheers
