TimW

I would love to be able to break my ride up in sectors or splits (same as Strava automatically does for climbs) but then be able to compare progress on these sectors over time (probably in a graph format so you can see improvement or not). In other words, if I rode a hill today, how does that compare to the last 40 times I rode it in training -- are my times improving or deteriorating -- is my training working or not. Strava shows your times for sectors, but not in a format that I find easy to analyse. Many of the other suggestions are already available from some Garmin units: Training partner (racing yourself or somebody else's ride), setting a set pace and comparing your speed to that, preset interval training with warnings for start/stops; auto start stop etc etc.

Thanks ... anybody else who can, please help his kid get his bike back.

Red and white Silverback 29er with Cross Marks (see pic) Got this message on the weekend from a friend of mine whose young son is a passionate cyclist ... if ever we needed to get a bike back then it is for this little guy. Hi Tim Sorry to bug you with this, but Ben's beautiful new 29er that he's had for just 2 weeks was stolen out of our garage last night (27th Sept). Not an unusual occurrence nowadays, but bloody maddening! I've circulated the attached pic to some of the bike shops but would you be able to forward the mail to a few other people? Many thanks Sheena Carnie If you come across it please send me a message ...

There is a very simple reason why we all need to learn to pick up our (and other people's) litter: If you do not you will not have places to ride. At an event I help organise we have a farmer who has PROMISED we will not be allowed back on his land if any litter is left behind. It is a serious issue for landowners and should be taken seriously by riders.

Check out the Argus page 1 today ... at least they stayed on topic.

They do test the top guys in the lead up to big events ... there is a programme of out-of-competition testing and from what I can gather it is largely driven by the blood passport. They compare the levels from testing and if there is anything suspicious they target those riders, In other words if somebody has a suspicious hematocrit level then he will be targetted. I have heard that that is why they targetted David George (and there are a few other riders in SA who are on the list). I think the top guys have to give Saids (Wada) a time every day when they know where you are.I think guys will give a time when they know they are normally at home (for example 7-8am in the morning or 9-10pm at night) and then they only update their whereabouts when they are travelling (change their testing time from 7-8am at home to 7-8am at Hotel X near race venue). If the testers come and you are not where you say you are (out having dinner with your girlfriend) you get a black mark -- three black marks and you get an automatic ban. Good system but a pain in the ass for riders I would imagine.

He was not lapped on lap two, he was -2 (minus two) laps down on the leaders ... in other words in a seven lap race he was lapped on lap five.

This is how I understand it ... MTB = Mountain biking -- the sport -- all the following fall under MTB XCM = Cross country marathon (mostly what we do in SA) XCO = Cross country Olympic (olympic discipline of lap racing -- like what was in PMB and Nino Schurter won). XCE = Cross country eliminator (short laps of elimination racing -- like what was in PMB and some Aussie giant won) DHI = Downhill (very fast and raced by men and women with big balls -- like what was in PMB and Greg Minnaar won -- and Nigel Hicks too 4X = Four cross: Downhill version of elimination type racing

He finished seventh out of eight elite riders and was lapped on lap five out of the seven laps He was five minutes off the pace on an 11/12 minute lap and his time for five laps was slower than the winner took to do seven !!!! WTF was he doing even bothering. Should he have been tested: Why not? Where is the line between being good enough to be tested and not tested. And if he uses dope to improve, at some point he will become good enough to compete so why not stop him now. A big up to Saids for catching him.

Almost always easier and more practical for a runner to run on the pavement than a cyclist to ride on the pavement.

Don't know if this has been posted before ... but it is a must watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgxcRHV9Olg start at 1:05 if you do not want to watch the whole thing (but worth watching from the beginning)

Charges re-instated http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/taxi-driver-in-burry-death-faces-new-charges-1.1554622

Personally I think taking steroids and cough mixture for an illness are two very different things. There is a mechanism in the UCI / WADA rules for amateurs to take medicine. The TUE allows for you take medicine (if you are tested you can admit to it and that will be taken into consideration (basically you can take cough medicine as long as you have a cough)) Sure, in this case it definitely seem as if the steroids are pretty harmless, but where is the line between harmless and deliberate, and how is it policed effectively? If I come fourth as a 50+ year old master and miss out on a prize will make me pretty pissed off with the guy who came third on steroids, and in my mind he is no less guilty than the winner in the elite category, but to the general public maybe only came 103rd in the race so he should not have been tested? My understanding is that it does ... you have to have a CSA licence (even if it is only a temporary day licence) to enter a CSA sanctioned event so he does have a licence -- I may be wrong on that but that is my understanding. Getting the licence implies following the rules.

Interesting to read about 10 pages where so many people are indignant that somebody who admitted breaking the rules of cycling will have to pay a "fine" as well as serve his suspension -- well it is not a fine, it is a recovery of costs as per UCI rules, which you agree to when entering any race sanctioned by the UCI (and as far as I am aware that includes all races sanctioned by CSA, or a provincial MTB commission or CSA registered club or .....). FROM UCI RULES Costs 274. Subject to article 275 and in the absence of a specifically justified decision, each party shall bear the costs which it incurs. 275. If the License-Holder is found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation, he shall bear: 1. The cost of the proceedings as determined by the hearing panel. 2. The cost of the result management by the UCI; the amount of this cost shall be CHF 2,500, unless a higher amount is claimed by the UCI and determined by the hearing body. 3. The cost of the B Sample analysis, where applicable. 4. The costs incurred for Out-of-Competition Testing; the amount of this cost shall be CHF 1,500, unless a higher amount is claimed by the UCI and determined by the hearing body. 5. The cost for the A and/or B Sample laboratory documentation package where requested by the rider. 6. The cost for the documentation package of the blood samples analyzed for the Biological Passport where applicable The License-Holder shall owe the costs under 2) to 6) also if they were not awarded in the decision. The National Federation shall be jointly and severally liable for its payment to the UCI. (text modified on 1.02.11). There was an earlier post about the rider racing other events and they will never check - I know ROAG do check the licence of every single entrant so I would imagine a few other entry systems do as well.

As a form of comparison I believe a better comparison would be cost per day. And then, if you then take a cost of R200 entry per day for the route (as per one-day events) you can see just how much tented accommodation is costing you ... and how in most cases decent hotels with dinner, bed and breakfast (comfortable & en suite) is a cheaper and more comfortable option. For example: Epic charges R2 550 per day for your route, single tent and food per night Sani 2 C charges R1 793 for route, shared tent and (lots of) food (and goodies) Cradle Mountain Trophy charges R250 for route only (don't know what else is included) Lesotho Sky charges R1 333 per day for tents and R1 833 for lodged accom and route (don't know what else is included) The impression I get is that stage races are making money ... unless of course there are loads of hidden costs for tents that I am not aware of (labour, catering, setting up ablution facilities and other infrastructure?????).

And Genevieve van Coller won the junior girls event. She is the daughter of Alan, a former Olympic canoeist and I I believe she is just 15 and racing against the under 18s ... serious talent by the sounds of things.

And a piece from the Star on the NPA ... Shock as strong cases lost by incompetence Political interference is added to inexperience and lack of leadership, derailing much good work, say critics Botho Molosankwe Political interference, lack of leadership, experienced yet unmotivated prosecutors leaving the profession, a lack of objectivity. These are just some of the problems, according to defence lawyers, facing the National Prosecuting Authority. They result in shock acquittals, supposedly strong cases being suddenly struck off the roll, charges being withdrawn, and angry magistrates blasting the State for shoddy work. In the latest incident, culpable homicide charges against the taxi driver who allegedly knocked down cyclist Burry Stander in January were provisionally withdrawn on Tuesday when the magistrate refused to grant another postponement. This comes soon after the corruption case against Kaizer Chiefs’ Bobby Motaung and his co-accused, involving more than R1 billion, was struck off the roll. In that case, the magistrate said he could not foresee the State continuing as the case had been postponed seven times already. But two Mpumalanga Hawks members, who spoke to a Sunday paper on condition of anonymity, said they smelt a rat, adding that the investigation was complete, but if the NPA had a way of killing the case, it would. “It’s just that they don’t know how it was investigated and are therefore resorting to technicalities,” one said. A senior defence lawyer who asked to remain anonymous said there was a lack of proper leadership and guidance in the NPA and many experienced prosecutors were leaving. They were no longer motivated because of political interference. The man, who has over 35 years’ experience, said many lawyers were shocked to read about the “unnecessary rigorous justice system” to which Sizwe Mankazana had been subjected. Mankazana was the driver of the car that crashed, killing Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter, Zenani, in 2010. He was acquitted. “A just justice system is one that only prosecutes if there is a case. A political decision was made to prosecute the case (Mankazana’s) even though it had been reported that the car crashed because of a burst tyre. “The problem is that cases that should not be prosecuted end up being prosecuted and those that are supposed to be prosecuted end up not being prosecuted,” he said. NPA spokeswoman Bulelwa Makeke said while they could not pretend that some prosecutors were not incompetent, it would also be unfair to blame the NPA entirely when some cases did not go as far as hoped. She said different factors determined the success of a case, such as the evidence and its ability to stand the test of dispute. “In instances where the shortcoming relates to a question of law… the criticism would be fair in that we can confidently say that the prosecutor was incompetent. “However, in cases that are not successful because of the lack of quality in evidence and testimony, then that is totally unfair to cast aspersions on the NPA. We do concede that there are instances where we’ve found that cases were not successful purely due to the incompetence of the prosecutor allocated to the case and in those cases there are internal procedures to deal with the prosecutor.” Burry Stander January 2013: Njabulo Nyawose allegedly knocks down cyclist Stander who later dies of his injuries. The case is fraught with postponements and on Tuesday, July 2, magistrate Piet Coetzee refuses to grant another postponement to prosecutor Nozipho Maseko, who says they have not decided whether they will prosecute Nyawose or not. Charges against Nyawose have been provisionally withdrawn. Andries Tatane April 13, 2011: Tatane dies after he is kicked, beaten and shot by police officers during service delivery protests in Ficksburg, in Free State. Tatane’s death is caught on camera. Seven police officers are arrested but all of them are acquitted when the magistrate says that the State has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that it has failed to prove who the officers are who attacked Tatane. Arthur J Brown March 7, 2007: J Arthur Brown is arrested on 192 charges related to the misappropriation of about R1-million company, Fidentia. Charges fall way over time and six years later the State proceeds with just nine. On May 15, he receives a R150 000 fine. Judge Anton Veldhuizen criticises the State’s handling of the case, asking why the chief financial officer of the Financial Services Board, Dawood Seedat, is called to testify only after Brown is convicted.

The Mercury's editorial/leader today ... Right to justice The decision to effectively drop the charges against the taxi driver who allegedly caused the death of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander has left his family and the cycling community angry, shocked and confused. For proper justice in a civil society there has to be fairness from all sides. In this case, Njabulo Nyawose, who is alleged to have been driving the taxi which killed Stander, deserves every right to a fair trial – something that the magistrate who refused the prosecutor’s request for a third postponement feels he is not getting with yet another delay. Equally, the Stander family and the cycling community have every right to see Nyawose stand trial for what they believe were his negligent actions which caused the death of one of South Africa’s sporting heroes – and obviously Tuesday’s decision means that looks less likely to happen. In the cycling community’s court of opinion there is no doubt Nyawose has already been found guilty, but that decision is based on the heartbreak of losing a hero and the anger of feeling like a target every time they head out on the roads. In a fair and just court there is no place for these raw emotions and Nyawose’s guilt or innocence has to be tested against the hard facts of the case. The problem is that the impression has been created that the Director of Public Prosecutions’ failure to do their job effectively and efficiently has resulted in the facts not being tested in court. If this is the case, then justice has not been served and the Stander family has every right to be angry and demand the prosecutors and police do their jobs. At the same time, the greater cycling community will also continue to feel that their basic rights as road users are being undermined in that they have no protection from the law whenever they venture out on the roads.

This was in The Mercury today (and possibly Cape Times, Pretoria News and Star I think as well). Bernadette Wolhuter The family of Olympic cyclist Burry Stander have lost all faith in the criminal justice system and say they have received “shabby treatment” from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This was after charges against the taxi driver implicated in Stander’s death were withdrawn earlier this week. “What happened is profoundly disappointing,” their lawyer, Paul Preston, said yesterday in a letter written, at the request of the family, to the chief prosecutor for southern KwaZulu-Natal, Ray Sansom. Preston called on the NPA to ensure that the charges were reinstated. Njabulo Nyawose was driving a taxi and Stander cycling when the two collided in January. Stander, then 25, was killed and Nyawose was arrested and charged with culpable homicide. But, on Monday, when the State requested that the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court grant it a fourth postponement for a decision to be taken on whether or not to prosecute Nyawose, magistrate Piet Coetzee said there had been too many delays and refused the request, causing the State to withdraw the charges. Preston has slammed the NPA for not keeping the Stander family and, in particular, Stander’s widow, Cherise, abreast of the case’s progress. Cherise was not in court on Monday and first came to know that the charges had been withdrawn when The Mercury contacted her for comment. “If there was a danger that this matter would be withdrawn due to the delays which all of us, with respect, find perplexing, then myself and the Stander family should have been alerted to this long before,” Preston said. “One can only imagine how it must have felt for the family to hear from the press that charges had been withdrawn.” Preston asked why, when the postponement was refused, the matter was not stood down for prosecutor Nozipho Maseko to discuss the State’s next move with her superiors. The State should have considered making a more senior prosecutor available to argue for the postponement, he said. Preston noted what he called an “often disappointing performance” on the part of the NPA and said the Stander family was owed an apology as well as the NPA’s assurance that the case would be brought before the courts again. Provincial spokeswoman for the NPA, Natasha Ramkisson, was yesterday unable to provide comment on Preston’s letter, but said on Tuesday this week that the director of public prosecutions was still in the process of deciding whether or not to pursue the charges against Nyawose.

Not posting ... from a journo who was at court.

Charges against the taxi-driver implicated in Burry Stander's death are to be reinstated following outrage from the Stander family at the State's poor handling of the case, according to an article on IOL. Click here to view the article

... ... and the women's race, which just excludes a loop from the men's race, is 85km with 3 700m --- so there is a 10km loop in the men's race with a mere 700m of climbing !!!!!!!!!! Basically the men's course is four massive climbs, and the women's three massive climbs -- who said Epic was tough!!! http://www.kitzalpbike.at/en/mens-world-championship-course.html

http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template1/layout.asp?MenuId=MTY4OTg&LangId=1

She is taking part and listed on start list as Swiss .... not sure if part of an official Swiss team, but as national champ I would imagine she is (same for Sauser)

Hope you are wrong (or your friend is). If he is trying to manipulate news he will lose credibility quickly. 30 minutes ago he posted this: Still No News' They are an incredibly capable team. Something must be wrong. Mike Nixon who’s leading the mountain bike team has climbed the 7 summits of the world to include Mt Everest. He's won the Cape Epic several times and is the only man to have cycled the Great African Rift Valley. Shaun Forster his cycling partner is a Springbok mountain bike downhill champ. We will give it 1 hour and then our plan of action will be to send expedition member Bruce Leslie with a hand held radio and a group of local Swazi men who know the gorge to go and search for them .... And just posted this: GREAT NEWS..... Croc infested waters then through black mamba country It’s a story best told in Mike Nixon’s words as, through the static, we hear his voice over the Landy radio.