slabs

Saw this on the sportsfire site this morning: http://sportsfire.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/SA-cycling-in-financial-crisis.pdf Now one has too wonder how PPA run a succesfull operation from one province where the CSA with larger numbers are now in an apparent crisis. And we will not mention wastage on events such as the sports awards last night.

Yes, but we also learn that the customer comes first. No customer means no profit.

Don't buy these long waiting times - for the Argus where there is more entries one can get through the whole process in no time, even when you collect your number on the first day. My feeling is that these events are all about maximising profit for the organisers and not maximising enjoyment for the customers (riders). These events are big enough to survive, but we are already seeing smaller events (Grape Escape in Mtbing) being cancelled and maybe it is time that organisers take note.

OK, but what about when mistakes are made by the organisers and they do not own up to it?

This is the problem with organisers these days. The numbers game means lots of income and then they try maximise it with issues like these (or selling extra items at exorbitant prices....). Having more than one seeding system also does not help, but as mentioned by the OP how difficult is it to look up racetec results, or to handle queries consistently and professionally.

Good on them! Seeing that a lot of people of the north do the Argus......

Am I reading right? PPA helping out in the north???

What about combining it with the trail riders and having tracks all the way down to the entrance at Helderberg Farm? Will Wannabees be involved?

Pity - would love to see some action off those jumps. Just riding up the mountain and past them makes me scared! Maybe someone else has some footage from other days?

The wind was quite hectic! But was just wondering if there is footage - even if not from yesterday? Thinking of the first one off the platform at the top and also the last one just before the end...

You have some footage of the 2 road gap jumps??

Another one: The second tick repellant recipe consists of vegetable oil (2 tbsp.), aloe vera gel (1 tbsp.), rose geranium essential oil (20 drops) and lavender essential oil (20 drops). Now, get an empty shampoo bottle and fill it with the vegetable oil and add the aloe vera gel. Shake the bottle vigorously so that the gel blends with the oil. Now, add 20 drops of rose geranium essential oil to this mixture and shake the bottle once again. Add the last ingredient, which is the lavender oil and shake for 30 seconds. So, before you go outdoors, rub this tick repellent which you have prepared, onto your hands, arms, ankles, neck and wherever you suppose ticks may find their way through. Even if the ticks attempt to latch onto your skin, they will fall off after they get the odor and taste of the repellent on your body.

Most homemade remedies advocate using a distilled vinegar mix: The ingredients you would require to make the repellent include white vinegar (2 cups), water (1 cup) and Eucalyptus, peppermint or citrus oils (20 drops). Get a spray bottle and mix all these ingredients and then spray it on your clothing and skin. The ingredients you would require to make the repellent include white vinegar (2 cups), water (1 cup) and Eucalyptus, peppermint or citrus oils (20 drops). Get a spray bottle and mix all these ingredients and then spray it on your clothing and skin. Anyone used something like this?

A bit of the track, http://homegrown.24....sportsmen-2013/ Have a look at this article with top sport earners for 2013 in SA. Golfers in first 4 positions and way above in earnings compared to rest. Unfortunately no mtbers come close.... But then again they have lots of disposable income and are willing to fuel their hobby So even if the masses like myself support mtbing, golf is still king. The US tour has also made millions of dollars in the past year and I think the most ever. So this is no dying sport (yet) With regards to golf courses hitting bad times, I am not all that unhappy with the demise of a few. They sprouted like mushrooms in this country in the past and it was obvious that all cannot survive. Then they also treated their paying customers with all those silly archaic rules that has lead to the demise of most club sports in this country. Try even having a drink at the club and you do not have the right clothes on!

Was quite interesting to read the press release from ASA and particularly the part below: "It needs to be added that all broadcast rights to athletics events in South Africa are owned by Athletics South Africa. This is enshrined in the Athletics South Africa constitution, and has been for many years, and as such all members are bound by the provision and are aware of it when they join. This is nothing new. None of the other events in South Africa have claimed broadcast rights fees. The broadcast rights fees are used for running the federation and sending teams to international competitions. There is no way that Athletics South Africa will prejudice our athletes’ rights to attend those competitions in favour of paying over money to an unregistered and unaudited group of individuals who are not accountable to the sport." TV rights enshrined in the constitution? Now how would that impact cycling if it was similar? Just imagine how the fights with the PPA will escalate further....

See Contador might join the team - http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-contador-to-join-alonso-team-in-2014?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

Fernando Alonso purchase the Euskaltel The Spaniard acquires license Basque side to form a block around Samuel Sanchez) MIGUEL MARTINEZ / Oviedo Fernando Alonso announced today purchasing the license set Euskaltel rider, team from December 1 announced was not losing his primary sponsor. The license is the type Basque team World Tour, allowing you to compete in all the major tours, including the Tour de France, and also in the classics.Only 18 teams have this license. http://www.elperiodico.com/css/img/iconos/zoom.gifhttp://estaticos.elperiodico.com/resources/jpg/9/3/1378117986239.jpg Fernando Alonso, after a great prize. REUTERS / Chris Wattie The proposed acquisition of Euskaltel has a budget of six million euros, an amount that will cover the pilot sponsors Ferrari . The agreement, sealed and is pending some small fringe unimportant. The idea is to make a competitive team around Samuel Sánchez and still have team riders that have not been committed to other teams, what we have already done. Igor Anton , Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve and brothers Izaguirre. Alonso, a big fan of cycling, want to also provide opportunities for runners Asturias. Source (Spanish): http://www.elperiodi...skaltel-2619778 Alternative Source (English): http://www.cyclingwe...ur-licence.html

Maybe all new members must watch this first.... thanks to CWC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maY8Mp77zqY

Still silence on those twitter accounts in response to Hunter...as expected

These guys definitely capture each day the best: http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/07/chasing-le-tour-riblon-wins-the-double-alpe/

From another forum the translation: http://velorooms.com...?topic=1314.390 Not giving much away, but says his performances are credible. Then again SKY would not release the data if not! Here's today's L'Equipe article in rough English. Any mistakes are mine. Be sure to buy the newspaper. "His performances make sense" FRED GRAPPE has analysed the physical potential of Chris Froome from the last two years and found no anomalies. FIRST CONCLUSION: HIS POWER FALLS AWAY NORMALLY The relationship between power and time is similar to what we know and observe among all the riders for whom we've established a Power Profile Record (PPR). It shows for example a significant and normal decrease in power from 60 watts (0.88w/kg) between efforts of 20 and 60 minutes. On average a rider loses 50W in this interval of time. Established over two years, Froome's PPR shows no anomalies in its fundamental structure. In other words, his power data for the last two years makes sense with the profile that he delivers. The performances that he achieved on Ax-3-Domaines and the Ventoux could be expected given what his PPR says. In two years, his profile hasn't changed. It appears that the potential that he shows today is similar to the one he had in 2011. SECOND CONCLUSION: AN UNUSUALLY HIGH AEROBIC POTENTIAL The extremely high maximum aerobic power (for an effort of 5 minutes) confirms that he has a higher than usual aerobic potential, giving him a VO2Max (which to date has never been measured in a lab by his team) close to the known scientific physiological limits. The exceptional power that he can deliver in the course of a maximal effort of 5 minutes gives him a certain reserve in comparison with other riders. That explains the accelerations that he can do towards the top of the climbs. We can estimate that, in relation to his main rivals, he has a margin of 20W of additional power in his favour. This margin is what we see in examples like Ax-3-Domaines and the Ventoux. THIRD CONCLUSION: A VERY STABLE BODY WEIGHT His average weight over the two years is 68kg in the morning with very small variations of less than 900g. That shows that the power that he's been able to develop in the last two years is relatively stable when you express that it in Watts per kilogram (W/kg), a very important measure in climbing performance. FOURTH CONCLUSION: EXCELLENT ABILITY TO RECUPERATE It's clear that, to be able to exploit a power profile at more or less 100% of the maximum available, Chris Froome has to have excellent recuperative abilities between stages since, if the level of fatigue accumulates too much, he would no longer be able to get close to his own recorded limits. THE METHOD EXPLAINED What do we measure? The study of total physical potential of a cyclist is possible starting with the analysis of power that he produces when producing maximal efforts. The power that he produces is what enables him to move forward thanks to the force he applies on each pedal stroke in terms of the the pedalling cadence (the speed with which he turns the legs). The more the power increases, the more effort is required. Unlike a car, with which you can move at full gas on short and long durations, the cyclist has to find an optimal engine turnover for each duration of exercise. Thus, the shorter the duration of the effort, the most capable he is of producing a high level of power. At the same time, the longer the duration (endurance efforts), the more the power level diminishes. What method has Grappe used? Today, the majority of riders have power meters on their bikes, which enables the download of very precise data at the end of each race. Starting with the data handed over by Team Sky (containing efforts treated as the maxmimum and of a duration between 5 and 60 minutes), Fred Grappe has established Froome's Power Profile Record (PPR) for the last two years. Also from yesterday Before accessing data handed over by Team Sky, Fred Grappe had estimated Froome's potential using his own calculation method, which includes numbers linked to the rider, environmental conditions, equipment used and characteristics of the climb. Comparing the figures, he was able to establish the margin of error as 2.5%, a very narrow number. Using this conclusion, he studied the first climb by Froome in yesterday's time trial and he observed that "the average power produced was once again very much in line with his power profile, and therefore completely expected."

So SKY are releasing some data... Sky plays transparency Dave Brailsford and Christopher Froome (Team) How to deal with suspicion on the performance of Chris Froome ? The Sky manager Dave Brailsford had proposed further biological passport runners analyzed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.Contacted by L'Equipe, the British band has agreed to play the transparency Sky told the data recorded by computer throughout eighteen ascents made ​​by Chris Froome, from 2011 until the Vuelta stage in Ventoux the Tour de France today. Sky did not want the publication of these data (weight of the rider and its variations, average and maximum power ...), but has agreed to engage in the analysis of the French expert increasingly recognized, Fred Bunch (Doctor of biomechanics and physiology of sports coaching, FDJ.fr). Initial findings from the expert: "His performance data of the last two years are consistent with the profile that this" and "the exceptional power that is able to develop during maximum effort five minutes gives him a certain reserve compared to other runners. " Find comprehensive performance analysis of Christopher Froome and decryption methodin L'Equipe on Thursday

Do I need to say more? Think before you type maybe? Tweets from Dr Evil and another.pdf

There has been lots of talk about individual performances, but has anyone had a chance to analyse the Team performances? Team Sky have got a lot of flak for not being up to it, but as far as I can see they have performed in the stages that mattered (TTT, both big mountain stages). They may have missed a trick when Saxo broke away, but there was not really any damage. As far as I can see the team has "rested" for the big stages and this is particular evident watching how Porte has been used. My feeling is that they have outwitted the competition....

Spot on Brogue - even if people may have a problem with PPA, they are a voluntary organisation and people have the choice of supporting them or not. On the other hand CSA is not.