stratus5

I am posting this without permission, but thought it was hilarious and worth sharing.... From one of the Outriders who fell in Atlantis during the West Coast Express: "Yesterday had some surreal movements (real Quentin Tarantino stuff I'm afraid) . Whilst laying in a pool of blood (I didn't realize I could bleed so much) a car stops next to me and a chap starts shouting at me that this is my punishment for riding on Sabbath. At the same time all I can hear are more riders crashing behind me on the same patch of diesel. All this was happening whilst the mobile doctor was pulling on his latex gloves and tell me "no glove no love" with a big smile on his face. "

Not sure, we know it can be done as I think the Argus has a mat on the finish line and then a further timing check just beyond that. The problem with flat, fast finishes is that they put the timing mats a decent distance from the demarcated finish, so that everybody gets to slow down in theory. When that distance is quite large, then positions can change as the quicker you get to the mats, obviously the sooner the clock stops.

Thanks Archie, I will pass your apology onto the winner next time I see him. Best regards.

Hi Niner, The leading rider in the G group went down on a right hand corner in Atlantis after slipping on diesel on a wet road, he took down the second and third riders behind him. The second quite seriously (torn calf muscle requiring stitches). The rider who went down had a C seeding. I slipped and slid onto the verge, managing to miss the two in front of me and suffering no damage. Our mayhem slowed down everybody behind us even further, who were then able to go round the corner very slowly. I dont think your seeding has any reflection on how well you handle a bike when things go pear shaped. Speeds are also relative. The difference between and average of 36 vs 40 km/h is diddly, especially since you are all going at the same speed relative to one another in a peleton. Where the faster groups make up time is more likely to be on the tougher into wind legs and hill climbs (where the speed is lower), rather than the easier high speed downwind cruise home.

Isn't that always the "plan" for all of us? Its just the execution that is a bit lacking

AndyDude LOL ... taken in spirit intended G looked bigger ... Thats got to count for something. Some riders in earlier groups now hang back to start with the Outriders Blue train based on previous experiences where the earlier groups got caught. Last year I had an "F" PPA and still managed a 2:53 Argus ... so by personal experience I know how hard it was to try and improve your seeding. The PPA seeding was so restrictive last year, that even the winner of a race could do no better than a B seeding for that race and as a result PPA has thinned out D to F considerably. On Sunday riders in the D to F group that I normally "kill" took five minutes out of me because they were able to hang onto the A (A-F started together) riders on the flat course. Not really fair to consolidate the groups like that either. I enjoy an organised group where everybody shares the load and the hill specilaists are now just a little more tired. We have had fantastic feedback from riders that have joined or benefited from the organised group effort. That poor litle SACS guy and the British import will understand what I am getting at. I raced thge second half in I group at Klein Joostenburg after a puncture and only four or five people in that group were doing any work. Cant be much fun? The worm will turn next year though when the Cape Cobra and roller coaster sort the men out from the boys.

They had a few meters between them at the finish line. They were shouted at, turned around to acknowledge the shout, but still sprinted for the timing mats, which were about 200m after the finish line. Its like jumping the long left turning queue on the freeway . Why not just go to the front and turn across, juust like the taxi's do? Queing is for sissies. Who cares if you are going to be a few seconds later. It does not matter in the big picture, but I am sure it still pisses you off Its cheating as well. To claim a position that does not reflect your position over the finish line should not be condoned, regardless of how lowly a group like G is.

If you had a look at the start you would see that the fine demolition job the PPA did of the seedings last year has worked well. There were almost no riders ahead of G group, and A-F were so small they combined them into one group. Behind G though, the groups looked quite big, in fact there were 40 in G alone, more than the combined A-F Its a fact that unless you are an incredibly strong rider its almost impossible to break away from D/E/F/G/H and make up a seeding position in a PPA race, so that is where you sit until different seeding is used in races like the Argus, 99er etc. A group of Outriders started in G, and yes there was a mixed bunch of strengths in the group (C-G), but we have found that the rides are just so much more fun when an experienced rider like Gerard Genis is there to organise through and offs etc. If riders can hang on and get times much better than they would have in G normally, then had they been in lower seeded groups, they could have hung on just as well.

We had a great race from G group, with some experienced Outriders helping to dictate the pace and to make sure the load on front was shared by through and offs etc. Huge effort from Corne Buys and four of the stronger outriders, kept the peleton moving fast down the last 10 km, whilst a large bunch enjoyed the tow, which I have no problems with In the final sprint, Gerard Genis and Dennis Laminga broke clear and finished one, two over the line. After all there hard work on the front, they sat up to congratulate each other, when two riders who had not been seen on the front in the last few km, sprinted for the timing mats to finish one,two on racetec timing. Thats really *** guys! Whilst G group may not be important in the bigger scheme of things, manners are! Please have the common decency to not jump the queue for the mats in the future. Its may be less of a sin if you are mid group, but to take the first two positions is like buying fake degrees. So well done Magill, Archie and Jennings, Raymond NOT!

Disk brakes make some sense as you can loose the braking surfaces and associated reinforcing on the wheel rims. This will lead to lighter more aerodynamic rims and has the added advatage that the rims dont get hot during braking. Tubbies can therefore use a "harder" glue, which improves the rolling resistance. The harder glue tended to get a bit soft and allowed tyres to roll off under hard braking previously.

If the seatpost broke first, the frame would have folded up around the BB, which is probably what caused the splintering

The important measurement is from the top tube, not that funny vertical bit sticking out above it. What is that by the way? It really looks to be the bare minimum ... this frame has broken only two or three cm below the tube junction junction. Frames are not designed to take much torque at this point. All tubes are designed for either compression or tension forces, not much rotational shear. A aluminium frame will be better at standing up to short seatposts, but carbon .... not so good. As a rough rule at least 10cm of insertion below the junction is required, or about 4 times the diameter of the tube to be really safe. This should probably be printed on the frames, not on the seatposts! A measurement of the length of remaining piece below the top tube would be interesting.

Drongo has a very valid observation! It could not have broken like this with a seatpost of the correct length, unless it broke the seatpost as well?

The Tableview beach between Sunset and the Dolphin Beach Hotel is well known as a .... Not sure of the right term, but gay men meet others for casual sex here. I dont think its pre arranged, but there is obviously some sort of system and signalling in place. Sound like somebody gave the wrong signal A single male sitting on the dune in a speedo (or lycra) in crappy weather is often a clue LOL. Its amazing the crappy weather than they do hang out in a well! I often (used to) fly a paraglider over this area, so get a different perspective of this piece of beach.

Short fairytale

Although the disks add more weight, change spoke patterns etc ... they might allow some interesting (and possibly lighter) rim shapes to evolve on road bikes as the flat braking surfaces are no longer required. Lighter rims are good, even if the hubs become heavier?

9500 km so far this year, mainly on road bike ... no wonder bits are starting to fail! Should be able to claim some tax back on that as half of it is probably commuting...

That's because today is the end of the world ... AGAIN! Camping, who suffered a mild stroke three weeks after his prediction failed to materialize in May, still spreads the word through his Family Radio International website. God's judgment and salvation were completed on May 21, Camping says in a message explaining the mix-up in his biblical math. "Thus we can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21," he says on the website.

Happy with my seeding for the new season It does not need to improve... I am going to get broken But ... It does bother me like an itch you cant scratch (I am an engineer at heart) ... I dont want to take seedings on subjective faith. Its either right or it isn't. PPA tries to explain on their website how they calculate the seeding, so why go to all that effort if the fundamental calculation is all a big lie?

The formula PPA use to calculate the individual race seeding is clearly spelled out on their website as: The formula is: (your time / adjusted winner’s time – 1) / beta value and then expressed as a percentage If we take the 2011 Argus I got a 2:53:56 The winner a 2:32:10 Now the Argus is "THE" base event, so they have not adjusted the winners time, but they have given it a beta of 0.99, which means for a start they dont understand the concept of a base event .... but using that if I apply the magic formula (using minutes) I get: (174/152 - 1)/0.99 = 14.6% The PPA calculates this as 16.4% ??? Hello ... a bit of transparency would be nice PPA ... how are you really calculating the seeding?

Good grief ... even Lance Armstong has two son's. My own son is now seven months old...

They seem to have done the run and updated just your seeding index on the website. Hopefully they will correct the outdated calculations which are stiil incorrect

PPA "may" Have redone their seeding ... I see that my seeding has dropped two categories (improved) since last week. The website calcs are still wrong though. The weighted % does not relate to the seeding category they have given me ... hopefully they will update and fix that. The % for each race does not match the result of their seeding calculation formula yet either. If I apply their formula, then the new category is correct, so I am guessing they have done the run, worked out the new categories, but not updated the calculated results for each race and the new weighted average on the web?

Not unlike the Tableview cycle lane in places http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2008/12/15/1111120/628374-world-039-s-most-glorious-failures.jpg

Who needs a fast car when a slow one will FAIL just as well? http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2008/12/15/1111120/628372-world-039-s-most-glorious-failures.jpg