Aicorner

Is the thesis abstract something along the lines of : "Trail Blaze Community Customer/Participant spelling mistake and foolishness test" ?

Nah, Durban to Bloem in one day is too far for me.

DirtyHippo AfricaKid jou blik@#m !! Greg, see you Sunday

Bleom & OFM are great - the place is small enough that almost anywhere is central but I would say City Lodge or find a B & B

Stop trying to mess withg nature. Flowers attract bees, boobs attract men. What I'm struggling with is what attracts roadies (maybe we can use it to keep them off the singletrack)

RIP Gheogs, thanks for the great cycling

All the things a racer needs !

My entry even said I get A batch seeding and a table near the shortest food queue

Registered the team first - bit of a schlepp because you need ID no's & medical aid for both team members, then they send you an email saying you're in & telling where to pay.

Nope, previous entrant

Feeling happy - just entered (& paid).

I know I don't have to watch. I like to watch but get disapointed when its not what it could be. Public expression (and criticism) of views is one of the reasons for forums like this. I think all the arguments in support of this years tour (its long, its tactical, etc) have been shown to re-inforce the fact that its boring. Okay, now I really will go & watch.

Patience is boring ... I don't think one needs a point to rant in the rant 'n rave section. No question previous races were more exciting (come to think of it, the most exciting ones were before radios...) This year's tour is boring - I'm off to watch it now but only 'coz its better than working on a Friday afternoon.

I'm so bored I have to respond : Many years ago, when I first started following the tour and when I became aware of team tactics, people like Eddie Merrcx or Bernard Hinault raced every day; and the tour (which we follwed on am radio !) was a 3 week race. Then Big Mig & Lance came along, learnt to win by recipe' (ie limit you losses in the mountains & gain time in the ITT) and predicitng the overall winner became less exciting; but at least there was still a real race for the stage on most days. This year its boring : the odd broken wrist or glare does not make it exciting; the negative team tactics (which I understand, better it seems than some) do not make it exciting, the fact that its 3 weeks long does not make it exciting, the chance of a break filled with low GC riders staying away does not make it exciting, the possibility of the winner only being decided on the second last day does not make the whole race exciting. Its boring !!

Welcome to the world of race admin - race organisers have had to deal with cyclists leaving their brains (and manners) at home (and with power cuts etc etc) since races were organised. ROAG is a good idea but you have to meet all the challenges, not just the ones that are easy to solve.