cyclingfiend

An interesting character, Froome. Was several years with Barloworld before their demise and never really featured very much with them. Could be that he was not given much freedom, BW then being effectively run by Italians. Only since being with Sky has he come to the fore, and then only since last year. Is it better training or more of a different mindset with Froomy?

Very much in the background of the TdeF frenzy, SA team Tasol GT have arrived in the USA, Chicago area, to participate in a 17 day criterium series. Each day is +/- 100km crits, mostly of about 1 mile laps. Going to be really tough! Just read that Richard Baxter won the first of the series. Despite a busy looking website and Twitter page, there doesn't seem to be any live action reporting and results are sparse so far, which is a pity!

I am a fairly avid follower of cycling and like to see how various individuals performed, my buddies etc., but also amongst the pro guys - who's coming up in the world and who's not, but it is becoming more and more difficult - impossible even - to get results. Sure one can read who were the first 3 on Twitter or whatever but for the other 9999 nothing doing. Typically the men's races in the tour of Bloem and more recently the Kremetart. I can go to cyclingnews.com and get results of races from all over the world, usually within hours of the race finishing, but in SA it seems almost like classified information. There's a glut of local cycling related websites - can't one of these take on the task of acquiring race results and posting them much like the Aussie site? Racetec and Championchip only post results that they time and there are many events they are not involved with (e.g. the 2 mentioned above). Or perhaps someone can tell me that these results are available, I'm just not looking in the right places?

Some time soon a cyclist is going to get killed or seriously injured whilst riding on the road when there is a cycling lane available and all hell is going to be let loose from the press and anti cycling factions. By not using the cycle lanes, you are doing a great dis-service to the cycling fraternity as a whole. Shake off that arrogance that you are too great to ride along with joggers and slow riders!

Following the proceedings from the Cape, I was most impressed by the coverage on Twitter by CycleNation - almost as good as being there (except when they ran out of tweets during the elite mens points event!). Well done to Intellibus and one must also takes ones hat of to Tasol who pretty well dominated the "indurance" events. The madison showed some brute power with Hoffman and Perry taking 3 laps on the rest of the field. A good event all round but don't think there was any media coverage?

And here's a nice pic: Scratch race podium (l-r): Nolan Hoffman (South Africa), Ben Swift (Great Britain) and Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands) http://cdn2.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net//2012/04/04/2/bettiniphoto_0105667_1_full_600.jpg

Fantastic result - big boost for Tasol GT. Does this qualify him for the Olympics or is it all a bit late? Swift prevails in men's scratch race Hoffmann dives for silver, Stroetinga takes the bronze An ecstatic Ben Swift (Great Britain) celebrates his world championship in the scratch race.http://cdn3.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net//2012/04/04/2/bettiniphoto_0105669_1_full_220.jpg view thumbnail gallery Photos http://cdn2.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net//2012/04/04/2/bettiniphoto_0105667_1_full_120.jpg Scratch race podium (l-r): Nolan Hoffman (South Africa), Ben … http://cdn4.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net//2012/04/04/2/bettiniphoto_0105673_1_full_120.jpg Ben Swift (Great Britain) won the scratch race world championship … http://cdn2.media.cyclingnews.futurecdn.net//2012/04/04/2/bettiniphoto_0105681_1_full_120.jpg Ben Swift (Great Britain) is the new scratch race world champion. … Page 1 of 1 Ben Swift won Great Britain's second gold of the opening night of competition, his first ever world title in a gutsy victory in the men's scratch race. Swift held off a late surge by South Africa's Nolan Hoffman to win the men's 15-kilometer scratch race. Wim Stroetinga of the Netherlands finished third. Swift chased down Austria Andreas Mueller and Italy's Elia Viviano who had surged ahead of the field with seven laps remaining. With one lap to go, and with his escape companions tiring, Swift surged ahead with a margin just enough to hold off the remnants of the field. "I knew somebody was going to attack in the finish, and just tried to play it cool and make other people chase. It's definitely the hardest I've ever had to work for a track cycling race," Swift said. Hoffman explained that his result was somewhat of a breakthrough. "I've been to all the world cups and I've struggled a bit and I always thought the world champs is going to be hard," Hoffman said.

Got apuncture coming down from Suikerbos - front - nearly came off! After fixing, got on my way then realised I had left my Oaklys by the side of the road. Had to walk back about 500m in very narrow grass verge because of thousands of descending bikes!! Episode cost me almost 30 minutes

AuctionLamb, on 11 March 2012 - 08:24 , said: I think our crash in Elite bunch on Hospital bend was almost as bad as the Ladieszzzz bunch...it was a real tense ride The elite group was way larger than allowed by the UCI for a race of this nature. Don't expect UCI rules apply to the Argus now the Giro has gone but they are made for a good reason.......

Well said. Since the demise of the SACF i.e. When pro cyclists and fun cyclists were totally separate entities, the participation of SA cyclists at world level was regular and quite consistant for all categories. Since amalgamation this has decreased significantly. CSA has too much on its plate, and insuffient expertise, to handle all cycling issues. Obviously money is the big issue and there isn't enough to go round, especially for expensive International events. So CSA has taken the "soft" route - focus on the local money making activities and run down the costly Interrnational stuff. (with results such as no SA men at the Olympics road race and ITT). "Fun" cycling and pro cycling must be controlled separately, with separate funding, etc., etc. Priorites need to be sorted as well. What is most important - to send a bunch of juniors overseas "for experience" or to send an elite team to the world champs? Highly argueable! Needs the right people in the right paces - perhaps the re-structure will accomplish this?

Being now retired and living on a pension, I have to be carefull where my money goes and although living reasonably comfortably, like Grebel, I am more selective about events I enter and do most of my riding on my own or with local groups. I would love to do all the ppa events but they have inflated beyond my means! Probably make this Argus my last as it seems to be becoming more of a business than a cycle ride.

I think it's a stupid event. Apart from cost, half the funride entry end up walking parts of Vissers and all of Odendaal - whats the point of that. Why do we have to tolerate these "special" events? PPA go to the trouble of allocating seedings and setting up a yearly financial plan and then we get organisations who seem to want to do their own thing at the cyclist's expense rather than seek additional sponsors. I did the new 99'er once, it wasn't much fun and to now have to pay more for such an event is folly, strictly for the pro's who have good sponsors!

Road race: 1st James Perry, 2nd Arran Brown, 3rd Nolan Hoffman. Good result for Tasol GT!

I'm glad that Lemmers has resigned. Him and BA, with their wierd selection ideas have totally screwed up elite mens cycling on the International front. Daryls comments on Supercycling last night were a breath of fresh air and hopefully will cause CSA to have a close look at itself and those it supposed to reperesent!

Cricket South Africa (CSA) is also up to it's neck in management problems. This whole issue really bugs me - a few year back Recreational cycling was a totally separate entity from pro cycling - PPA's ran the former and SACF the latter, and despite some creaming off the top, everything seemed to work reasonably well - SACF always seemed to be able to afford to send riders to world champs and other International events (at least in ladies, U23 and elite cats) and PPA's did there thing ok. Only since the the combining of these into CSA have serious financial and "other" problems arisen, in my opinion due to lack of competance to cover all cycling aspects. I would strongly support a move to revert back to separate entities for recreational and pro cycling!

Been implied already but must have my say too!...City centres in SA are not the places to have cycling events! On a Sunday morning, if not coming from, or going to, church then motorists are focussed on getting their shopping done as quickly and efficiently as possible. And taxi drivers are going to ply their trade regardless. They do not want their activities disrupted by cycle races! The typical city dweller either doesn't know, doesn't understand or doesn't care about cycling. Attempts to convert them otherwise will never happen in SA because of these mindsets. This fantasy about showcasing the "heart" of SA is a load of bull. What people, anywhere in the world, are interested in seeing squalor in townships, or traffic jams or old buildings even, when all they are really wanting to watch is a cycle race. There are some fantastic cycling routes in the rural areas and that is where the cycling should take place! I feel very embarrassed for our country and sorry for the cyclists who just want to get on and race.

Rode on the section from wooden bridge to Tableview yesterday and was all nice and clean - the only small problem I had was a "family" coming in the opposite direction - mum, dad on MTB's and 2 kids wobbling around on mini BMX's - sudden shortage of space! Otherwise found it quite stress free.

It seems that everything to do with road racing in CSA, of significance, depends on Messrs Lemmers and Austin - Race Planning and Organisation right through National Team selection and training, etc., etc., and eventually to the almost inevitable sending out of apologies and excuses. But what has gone as it should over the last few years - the 2010 World Champs was a disaster for SA, as was the Commonwealth Games and now the National Champs folowing the same form, so it's apparent that L & A aren't really up to the job, fine gentlemen that they might be! Isn't there someone in CSA - like a President or Chairman - who can take control of things before SA cycling becomes the laughing stock of the country?

I'm not doing either - as a now purely social cyclist, I found the finish - Vissers and Odendaal - a bit too much out of the realms of "funrider". I struggled past literally hundreds pushing their bikes up both these climbs - what's the point of that? At least I'm honest!

Work on this has been going on for almost a year so glad to see it opening. I have ridden the section from Milnerton to Blouberg several times and it seem fine but forsee problems with bike traffic going both ways and mixing with pedestrians on a fairly narrow lane. (From what I have seen,this dedicated lane is only on one side of the road). The part I rode has a dotted white line down the middle to separate peds and bikers making the bike part very narrow! Can't see serious cyclists using it, especialy if a group!

So very very sad! This was the story on news24.com: Swart swerved into truck path 2011-01-19 18:21Email | Print Cape Town - Elite South African cyclist Carla Swart has died in an accident during a time-trial training session, Cycling South Africa (CSA) said on Wednesday The 23-year-old was hit by a truck on Wednesday morning on the road to Marquard in the Free State, CSA said in a statement on its website. CSA team manager Barry Austin, who witnessed the accident, said Swart lost her cycling computer and, in an effort to retrieve it, turned around directly in front of an oncoming vehicle. She died on the way to hospital. "I could see how the driver pushed as hard as he could on his brakes," said Austin. "He even swerved to the right so as to avoid smashing into Swart, but it was to no avail. "The truck hit Swart full on, flinging her into the air. I immediately rushed to where Swart was lying." When she was 15-years-old, Swart and her family moved to Georgia, in the United States, but she continued to represent South Africa at international level. In 2006 she attended Lees-McRae College, in North Carolina, receiving a scholarship for cycling and athletics. She became the first cyclist to win national collegiate titles in all four disciplines - road, mountain biking, track and cyclocross - with 11 titles in the 2008 season. Swart was 10th in the women’s road race at the 2010 Road World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, in October when she finished three seconds behind winner Giorgia Bronzini in a sprint finish. Eight days later she placed eighth in the women's road race at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, in another sprint finish. Swart was to have joined the HTC High Road team this year.

GT have some excellant bikes on the market. Neotel/EMG were using them for team bikes last year and I have heard that they are now up for sale. Will PM you contact info or get hold of James Perry if you know him.

moved to clssifieds

I watched the repeat on Wed afternoon - I do, in fact,prefer to watch SABC's news at 7! Not too bad an edition this week but some rather rusty material. I get the impression that they are having difficulty finding material, especially when BMXing from 6 year old right through to elites is shown! Was a bit surprised to hear a proper cyclist like Andrew giving his support to the CSA's peculiar attitude to elite cyclists in SA. He did mumble that bit though so perhaps he wasn't really supportive but needing browny points! Dennis, difficult to get an assessment from this lot -don't think you got the feedback you wanted???