davem

Bike route profile in your athletes guide. 350m of climbing. There are no flats.

Garfield, can I hire you as a body guard with those unique techniques of yours against any overzealous women trying to jump me. swim over me.

I am there.

There are also some specific times where the canoeists are training/racing that is best to avoid. The club should tell you. If I remember, something about Thurs evening and Sun mornings.

For those who don't have time to read the whole report: "The E. coli counts indicated a very low health risk to recreational users including swimmers and canoeists. Counts at both sites decreased in June which may again reflect the low inputs from surface water runoff at that time of the year. The E. coli counts at both sites in June were in the lowest risk category for recreational use (Table 1) indicating a very low risk of gastrointestinal illness for swimmers and even lower for canoeists with limited contact to the water." If you survive the cold, you will probably survive.

While the Tour wants to catch the dopers, this must be a complete nightmare for them. If LA's wins are voided, there is no credible other winner. The only scenario would be to void the results of those Tours. I cannot see them awarding victories retrospectively to other proven dopers.

Have had an excellent relationship with Aktar for several years. Always found the prices to be very reasonable. Recently bought my Polaris bike box from them for R3000. It was R4000 at Northcliff Cycles and R2600 odd plus VAT etc from CRC. Tacx Flow was at least R1000 cheaper than the Lab and also only fractionally more than CRC. With their move to a much bigger shop recently, there are a lot more staff and it was a bit chaotic on a Sat morning when I visited but am pretty sure they will sort that out quickly.

S22 is an aluminium Felt. You could look at the Raleigh Tri6000. (You've seen mine often enough.) Great value alu bike. Probably about R5-6k. 105 Group set. As aero as any other alu bike. B12 is a good option as well but budget will need to stretch.

You are clearly taking your retirement from triathlon way too seriously Perhaps have a look at a second hand Black Spade. Probably the only modern carbon TT bike that will fit in your price range.

In principle, I would rather support the national association than not. (and it is cheaper based on the number of events I do.) The proviso to that is that they must do what they are mandated to do in a cost effective manner. Athletes cannot expect them to do a good job without revenue. The question is, what do they do with the revenue? I currently don't have that information and prefer to make up my mind based on fact rather than the populist opinion. I eagerly await the Annual Report that I have requested from TSA.

You need a tail light at least. Gets very dark.

Hi Damian That 33.3% is from Sept 2011. I have not yet seen the 2012 fees as not on the TSA site. It has been in effect for all your races this year. Perhaps you need to check if TSA owes you a refund! I agree with you on becoming a registered athlete. It makes it easier for TSA to raise the profile of the sport, gives negotiating power with sponsors, and it works out a lot cheaper for the athlete. The online registration is super easy and you get your registration number immediately. Cheers Dave

After that last comment, you are not allowed to ride behind me anymore.

Note that the event organiser receives 33% of Day Licence fees. I have requested the Annual Financial Report from TSA today by email. They don't publish it on their website. Shall be interesting reading. Also note that the Membership year runs from Sept to Aug, so your 2011/12 membership fee covers the 5150 event.

Hi Damian Please can you post the PDF or the content for us. Please can you clarify the levy. Is this paid by the race organiser or the athlete (ie included in entry fee or not). Either way, R180 per competitor to TSA for an Olympic event is a really nice cash cow. I have found the following on the TSA site (last years fees), nicely buried: Fees Payable as from 1 September 2011 1. TSA/Provincial Event Sanctioning Fees 1.1 Provincial events Per athlete entered: Payable to Province Sprint R 15 Standard distance R25 Long distance R 50 1.2 National Series and TSA Property Events Per athlete entered: Payable to TSA Sprint R40 Standard distance R50 Long distance R 80 1.3 International including other TSA Property Events Per athlete entered: Payable to TSA Sprint R50 Standard distance R60 Long distance R 100 Team entry (for all types of events) = individual entry 2. Licence fee: (Hosting right per event) Hosting Rights Once off payment, in addition to all other fees Provincial – R5 000 National – R20 000 (including Series, per event within the Series) International – R30 000 Provinces may negotiate a reduced licence fee within a minimum/maximum range of R2 500 – R5 000 per event. 3. Broadcasting Rights R7 500 per event flighted on television (irrespective of the number of repeats) (also applicable to provinces) 4. Day Licence Fee (Temporary TSA membership fee) R70 per athlete R30 per athlete in Series events (or other recreational/mass participation events) Team entry = individual entry The event organiser (Sponsor of Series events) remains responsible for collection and the proceeds will be split ⅓ to each of event organiser, province and TSA. All fees relating to TSA Property Events and other International Events including all Day Licence Fees will be collected by TSA. Provinces will attend to the collection of fees relating to Provincial events. Collection amounts will be based on information on event results unless otherwise arranged.

Just a caution on the PVR recording which I learned the hard way. If the TDF coverage is after live tennis, do not expect it to start on time. Tennis will go till they stop play. TDF in HD is awesome.

Mate of mine got really ill for a few days after swimming in Emmerentia a few months ago. There were a couple of guys there that day and they all got ill. Take some charcoal tablets before you swim, if you must.

I am going to do this as a one day event. It will be a long day but really the only financially sensible approach. Hopefully it will be worth the effort.

Now if Bactive was on the ball, he would be promoting his event in Durban in July. That's an open water swim that would be quite enjoyable.

Did you fall off your bike and hit your head? I cannot even hold my hand in the pool for 30 seconds to adjust the Kreepy.

Thanks for the link. Organisers need a little lesson in making your webpage get found by Google.

No mention on Bicycling website race calendar either. No Google responses with 2012.

Anyone know if this event is happening in 2012? Or has the date moved. Cannot find any mention of it here or using Google.

Watched the Freedom Challenge on SuperSport a few nights ago. Must have been a rebroadcast of the 2011 event. Wow, what a spectacular event and so beautifully and subtly filmed. Respect to all those who embark on that journey.

Lots of B&Bs in EL. The town comes to a stop for the race so expect a warm welcome, they love your Jhb tourist rands. Google it, you will find plenty. If you going to have a car there, then a B&B on Bunkers Hill will give you great ocean views so you can be close but also have a good weekend in other aspects. If you are completely race focussed without a car, get into one of the hotels/self catering places on the beach front.