porky

Again, I think its very much a personal thing. However if you have been riding say a "split" saddle for a few years and change to a "solid" one or vice versa it may take quite a long time to get used to the new design. If you are looking to upgrade, I think its better to rather stick to the design type you are used to and just upgrade to another model of the same design. 75kg is still on the light side for the average SA cyclist, so really any good branded saddle will probably be fine, Selle Italia and Fizik are specialist saddle manufacturers and certainly would have a saddle to suit you, perhaps you can research the product first on the manufacturers website and determine the model types you feel would suit you before you go shopping.

Heavens Windblown,you cant dertermine your ideal gear ratio by just duplicating the ratio someone else here uses, there are too many variables. Body weight and structure, age, do you prefer to spin or grind and the terrain you will be training on are just a few of the points to consider, a 20 year old fit and healthy cyclist could probably fly up a mountain on a 11-21 rear, but a 45 year old (moderaletly fit) middle aged fella with a bit of extra weight might need a 12-27 just to see the top in the saddle. My suggestion would be to go to Sheldon Browns web page (www.sheldonbrown.com) and read up on understanding gear ratios first - then make an informed change. porky2007-12-10 13:27:39

High - Watching the Giro di Italia on RAI, the race was magnificient, but some of the gorgeous Italian lasses, (commentating and on the road) made even the dull stages interesting. Low - The TDF with all its baggage and issues, and listening to Phil and Paul drone on and on about some or other cotton field.

South Africans in general have an unhealthy disregard for most rules and regulations, so, selfish and hostile behaviour in cycling events is really just a by product of this disrespect for anything which, in effect may inconvenience the person concerned. In any occupation, event, activity there has to be rules and regulations, its no differant in cycling, but like many other issues in SA, the rules are in place, but they are simply not sufficiently policed or the consequences of getting caught are so minor that it has no deterrant effect and many people will just continue to offend and disregard any and all rules (because it suits there selfish ends) to the detriment of all.

It probably works, but then so dos a tape measure, some experience and a good eye.! In the end its all about "how you feel". The problem in todays society is, we are conditioned to believe if it isnt computerised its somehow inferior, which is nonsense, a computer programme is just a generalised set of measurements, it cant determine or accomodate for spinal or neck deformity or injury, it cant determine if the person has a flexable body structure or a rigid one, is carrying a joint injury / issue or has a nerve impingement in a certain position. It may be fine as a start, but the best is someone with experience to check you over with a good eye and who knows / can see any physical problems and can accomodate for them in the set-up. The final test is how your own body feels in that position - if its uncomfortable - its not right irrespective of any programme results.

The club I belong to has done the "admin fee" bit as well, not so steep (R25.00 per member) and (R25.00 for late hand ins) as well. As I am officially now a "late hand in member" it seems I may as well go the on-line route. I actually still dont know too much about this license situation and I have had no correspondence from my club either except to say, my fees are due and they have gone up by 25%.

Yes, SA road users have little tolerance, and thats cars, taxis, trucks and cyclists. Will we change - I doubt it, SA has a "look after yourself at all costs" attitude and "stuff the rest Jack", and thats from the top to the bottom.

Yes, most likely you can, Sammajoor, but, I would say thats A BIT differant to "voicing an opinion", but in the same vein, you really arnt going to get anywhere except, to empty your pocket book. I also cant see any reason to get all worked up about some idiot, 90% of the time its all bluster and hot air anyway. .......I think its just a way of letting off some steam. porky2007-10-31 03:23:57

As I leave for work at around 5.30am a morning ride is out of the question. In the evening the roads around Bedford View where I live are so congested a ride is (again) out of the question and I dont really have the inclination to load the bike in the car and go to the track, so I have no option but to attend a few spinning classes a week and of course I spend a fair time running as well. To be honest, with job, social and family demands (and the occassional few hours allocated to sleeping) on my time I find it more and more difficult to find the time to train. It was a lot easier when I lived with my mother.!

I seem to remember two or more years ago this same conversation on this same board and everyone saying, "he is new, give this guy a chance and give that guy a chance" - now here we are two (or more) years later saying "he still needs more time" "give him a chance" etc. Well, you know what - I say - HOW LONG do you need.? The longer people are given to do things, the longer they will take, there needs to be pressure applied to get things done quickly, maybe the pressure is starting, I dont know, but in my opinion its long overdue.

He never got the money, all funds were with held on recieving his doping test results. I dont believe his team ever recieved any prize money either. Now lets all think back a few months to when Mr Ligget and various other sports personalities were in support of Landis saying he will not be convicted, its all a mistake,he will be proved innocent and so on and so on......................!! I would like to hear what they say now.

Its interesting to read the differant views, but at the end of the day, there should be equality in prize money, I am pretty sure there are races where the men just hang around and sprint the last 200metres as well, I dont for one minute believe its a "womans racing situation only" In comrades the woman recieve the same prize as the men and again, there are far fewer woman to men in ratios, but nobody is so naive as to believe that any woman who can run comrades and be in amongst the first 200 men finishers is loafing around, same with cycling, it appears most times the woman ride with the mens 40+ age group, this is no tea party, believe me, so if the woman are able to ride here, they are certainly putting in the effort, and the prize should reflect that effort equitably.

- I know where you are coming from HR - but lets be real, these are just inanimate, lifeless,objects with little more significance than what we invest in them. Ask me about my first pet, or my first girlfriend (if I can remember that far back ) my first job interview etc, but lifeless, boring, metal and carbon composites dont interest me as anything other than a tool to be used. Maybe I just have no imagination.!

I dont know.............personally I dont look at bikes like that , or running shoes, or golf clubs or..............!! ...........to me they are just a means to an end, a tool to be used to achieve a goal - nothing more, nothing less.

- Well, I wont be watching it either, so will join you in looking for an update tomorrow narra. I would like to say I will be on an indoor trainer, but I will be doing an 8km TT (running obviously) earlier, and at 8pm I will hopefully be comfortably flopped out on my favourite sofa with a cup of tea a nice biscuit and the evening newspaper.

.....so now, if you are not a top, front of the pack, pro or semi pro,podium finishing cyclist, you arent allowed to have an opinion.? ..............what a load of hogwash.! .............since when did "ability" have anything to do with it.? Is it not about time people started realising that fans and supporters are not stupid, often they take the time to learn more about the sport than the proffessionals, they generally have a keen sense of morality and whats right and wrong, they understand the sport and thats what matters - not their ability.

I read through all 17 pages and found it quite enlightening and rather worrisome. I dont pretend to know if Ronel should have been picked over another athlete and I dont make any assumptions or opinions on it, but the point raised by Crux is very appropriate "how can a selector who has a personal relationship with an athlete be expected to make impartial decisions regarding that athlete".?? - and nobody has really had an acceptable answer. Surely, allowing this gentleman to be involved in this selection process in the first place is a sign of poor governance by the controling body or at the very least I would have imagined they would have asked him to excuse himself from this particular selection? This kind of partisan decision making is not allowed in business and not allowed in government - why is it alowed here?

I wonder what the target viewership of SC is, I would imagine its the 18-25 year old market but I could be wrong. I am not a regular viewer of the show (I find it rather immature - but I am old and thats just my opinion) - but I dont know of too many folk in my circle who dos watch regularly. Now I am not advocating changes to the show, and I have no real opinion or interest in the content I have seen, but everything strikes me as been all kinda "glossy and pretty" and they generally have a reluctance to tackle real issues. Sorry, didnt mean to hijack the thread, it just sort of "happened".! porky2007-08-28 02:34:49

Generally, I also think people are becoming much more financially savvy, -gone are the days (in my opinion) when people said ........its only R50 or R150 OR R250 or whatever (fill in your own amount) paid up and forgot about it - today people ask themselves "wheres the value" and if it cant be shown they dont pay - finished.! I think races are becoming to expensive for the actual percieved value (rightly or wrongly) and so folk stay away. If one adds up the cost of a race its not just the entry fee, its generally travelling - sometimes long distances, accomodation on site, spend which you would probably not normally have budgeted for and in addition one has to amortise the other costs like club fees, license fees, club kit, bike service,travel and time cost to collect your entry number,etc etc into a race cost and you will be very surprised - its probably well over R500.00 actual cost per entry. porky2007-08-27 05:16:56

Yes as Scotty mentioned, running has been in decline for years. Personally, I only do two or three cycle races a year and the lost city used to be one but I stopped in 2005 as I consider the race just too dangerous and risky. From my point of view, I will only do races with complete road closure now where the cyclist has at least a modicum of safety margin. As a keen runner and still involved heavily in the running scene, its generally accepted that the reasons for decline are much the same, excessive costs which hold no percieved benefit for the average Joe who just wants to run a few races every year without issues.

I think Savoldelli can be excluded from a win, but Astana is strong all round, Kashechkin could probably even win himself if Vino and Kloden struggle. ?