The Guy in Pink

Come on Wheelie ! Give us some story with the pictures. For example you could have told us that the First picture is of the Duke of Blair Athol - Bruce Murray riding for the Stamp Shop team. You could have also told us that the Duke has the only remaining Private Regiment left in Britian.

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On TV this morning, Fox News, they had a piece about air bags for bicycles . The clumsy device is worn around the waist like a belt and has two sensors so when you fall it inflates before you hit the ground. I can imagine the chaos if a whole bunch came down wearing these things.

MuXman, The second mat used at the finish is a back up mat in case the first mat does not record the chip. So the time is taken at the frst mat normally. At the start two mats are not needed as the speed of the bikes is low, so the probalilty of the mat not recording a chip is much lower than at the finish where speeds are higher. The Guy in Pink2007-07-14 18:58:29

Hendrik, I will e-mail you something Monday pm. How does Siguiri Guinea Sound? Job starts Sept/Oct

The Pink Princess was in Brugge Belguim last week. She made use of the trains, and found this parking lot in front of the railway station.

What a p!sspoor beer, so flat. Beer should look like this

It is strange I get a mention in this reflection after this comment from Wheelie: "Kan iemand nie in Ingils vir hom verduidelik dat hy nie meer betrokke is by die wedren." I was however involved in a minor way as I was asked by the official "Kremetart Organiser" (not Wheelbarrow) to assist, which I did, and of course I provided good and sufficient early warning of potential pitfalls. I have also provided the Kremetart Organiser information on what to do differently to grow race numbers. Said organiser informs me that I was spotted three times on the circuit on race day by a former club buddy! Good eyesight Captain D, but I was only getting up when the riders were having lunch at Vivo! The Guy in Pink2007-06-17 09:34:17

It is a good marketing from Chainreaction also. My daughter immediately started looking at something at about twice her original budget. Her employer is quite happy to implement the scheme.

The Pink Daughter in London wanted advice on buying a bike to ride to work, so I went to www.Chainreaction to see what was on offer. I found a Government scheme which will result in her saving 50% of the cost of the bike! < =text/> http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/ride2.jpg http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/blank.jpghttp://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/overview.jpg As part of the ?Green Transport Plan? the UK Government has introduced the ?Ride to work Scheme?. This scheme allows an employee to save up to 50% on the cost of a new bicycle to be used for commuting. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/here.jpg 1. The Employer buys the Bicycle from Chain Reaction Cycles. 2. The Employer can claim back the VAT on the purchase. 3. The VAT free price of the Bicycle is divided by 12 and this amount is deducted from the Employees monthly salary via a Salary Sacrifice. Throughout these 12 months the employee is hiring the bicycle from the employer. The Employee is making additional savings as they will not pay any Income Tax or National Insurance on the amount deducted as a Salary Sacrifice. 4. At the end of the 12 months hire agreement, the Employer may ?sell? the Bicycle to the Employee for a nominal fee. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/save.jpg CRC Price?900.00Accessories?100.00Total Goods ?1000.00Vat claimed -?148.93Cost to Employee?851.07 Tax Savings 40% ?340.40National Insurance saving 1% ?8.51 Cost to Employee ?502.52 Savings on CRC Price 50% Please note that the savings are made from the already discounted CRC prices so the savings from the RRP of the bicycle are likely to be even better. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/employ.jpg It is the responsibility of the employer to administer the ?Ride to Work Scheme? so that the tax benefits are passed on to the Employee. Implementing the scheme is fairly straightforward. Here is what you need to do 1. Complete the forms and purchase the bicycle a. Your employee will provide you with a completed order form itemising the bicycle and accessories they wish you to purchase under the scheme. They should also provide you with a pre contract agreement and the hire agreement. You can download all these forms here. b. Complete the ?Pre-contract information?. (The pre-contract is required under the Consumer Credit Act 1974) c. Prepare the ?Hire Agreement?, sign it and give it to the Employee to sign d. Order the bicycle from ChainReactionCycles either by sending us the order form along with payment or simply by ordering on-line or over the phone. If you prefer you can also come and see us at our store. We accept payment from all major credit cards, Bank Transfer and Cheque. The minimum amount that can be spent is ?250. There is no maximum amount but you must be aware that your business will need a credit licence if the bike is more than ?1000. However it is perfectly acceptable for the employee to ?top up? the purchase with their own funds. On receipt of payment CRC will dispatch the goods to the Employers address, or the Bicycle can be collected from the Chain Reaction Store. (It is also possible to send the goods to the employees address but only if payment is made by Cheque or Bank Transfer) 2. Claim the VAT back The bike will be supplied with an Invoice. Use this Invoice to claim the VAT back as a business purchase. 3. Implement the Salary sacrifice scheme Take the VAT free price of the bicycle and divide it by the number of months the hire agreement covers (We recommend 12 months but the maximum is 18 Months). This amount will equal the monthly hire of the Bicycle. This monthly salary sacrifice should be deducted from the employees gross monthly salary, before Tax and National Insurance is calculated. 4. Completion of the hire agreement Once the hire agreement has been completed you have one of two options. You can retain ownership of the bicycle and let the employee continue to use the bicycle without incurring a hire fee You can transfer ownership of the bicycle to the employee by selling it to them for a nominal fee. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/import.jpg The Employer must be VAT registered in order to claim the VAT back on the purchase price of the bicycle The Employer will also save, as there is no Employer NIC to pay on the salary sacrifice The Employee must mainly use the bike for a journey or part of a journey between the employee?s home and work place. Or from one workplace to another The Employee is responsible for the maintenance and insurance of the bike If the Employee leaves employment before the hire term is completed the employee is required to pay compensation to the employer. This compensation is usually the fair market value of the goods. Payment of this compensation should transfer ownership to the former Employee The Employee can purchase a complete bicycle and associated safety equipment as part of the scheme. It as also possible to purchase more than one bicycle if for example, if the employee needed a bicycle at either end of a train journey The Employee must be on your payrole and pay tax through PAYE The Employee must be over 18 The salary sacrifice must not push the employees salary below the national minimum wage The employees contract period must be longer than the hire period The Scheme must be made available to all employees The Employer owns the Bicycle until ownership is transferred at the end of the hire period http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/benefit.jpg As an employee you can benefit from the Cycle to Work scheme. The process is very simple. Basically you employer will purchase a bicycle and you will hire the bicycle off your employer over a time period (We recommend 12 months but the maximum is 18 Months). The hire payments will add up to the VAT free price of the bike. This means that you will save both the VAT + the tax and National Insurance that you would have paid on the deductions for the hire. These savings can add up to 50% off the price of the bicycle. To take part in the scheme follow these simple steps. Inform your employer that you would like them to take part in the scheme, providing them with this information pack which you can download in full. On agreement with your employer, choose your Bicycle and accessories from www.ChainReactionCycles.com, taking note of the product ID of the items you wish to purchase under the scheme. Fill in the order form and pass it to your employer ensuring they have all the forms provided in the information pack. Your employer will complete the ?Pre-Contract Agreement? and give it to you to sign. Your employer will then complete the hire agreement from and this will be signed by both you and your employer. Your employer will then order the bicycle and accessories from ChainReactionCycles either by posting a copy of the order form with payment, or by simply ordering online. Your Employer will then implement the salary sacrafice were the hire fee will be deducted from your monthly salary for a period of 12 months. Once the hire period is over, your employer can continue to let you use the bicycle without incurring a hire fee. Or, your employer can transfer the ownership of the bicycle to you for a nominal fee. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/notes.jpg The amount saved on the bicycle will depend on the rate of tax and national insurance Your Employer must be VAT registered in order to claim the VAT back on the purchase price of the bicycle. If your employer is not vat registered your savings will be limited only to the savings made on Tax and National Insurance. You must mainly use the bike for a journey or part of a journey between the employee?s home and work place. Or from one workplace to another. You are responsible for the maintenance and insurance of the bike If you leave employment before the hire term is completed you are required to pay compensation to your employer. This compensation is usually the fair market value of the goods. Payment of this compensation should transfer ownership to you You can purchase a complete bicycle and associated safety equipment as part of the scheme. It as also possible to purchase more than one bicycle if for example, you needed a bicycle at either end of a train journey. You must be on your Employers payrole and pay tax through PAYE You must be over 18 The salary sacrifice must not push your salary below the national minimum wage Your Employer owns the Bicycle until ownership is transferred at the end of the hire period http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/download.jpg Full information Pack including all forms http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/pdf.jpg (925kb)Order Form http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/pdf.jpg(333kb)Pre-Contract Information http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/pdf.jpg(340kb)Hire Agreement http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Interface/Images/restyle/pdf.jpg(381kb) For any more information on the Ride To Work scheme contact us on : ridetowork@chainreactioncycles.com

Just unfit, after a lay off (even 10days) the heart rate becomes very "unstable". and revs freely. Once a bit of fitness is regained it soome returns to normal.

Best Training you can get. I am lucky , I am living in a place where the 50km/hr speed limit is obeyed, so I get about 10km motor pace a day in on my 40km circuit . The best is the small motor bikes, I have to work to stay behind at about 40km/ hr but then the pulse rate just keeps going up.

https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=10534 http://www.kremetartcycling.co.za/

Well done, its taken a long time ! You gotta get up early, we too are in the very wet season , but it rains in the afternoons with glorious mornings.

There is a good case for equal prize money in Pro Tennis. They attract the viewers and the sponsors, as every guy in the world prefers to watch women's tennis. In cycling one or two events do it, the Kremetart has for many years now, but as women only ever make up about 20% of the field their chances of a prize are 5 times greater than the men. So maybe the guys are being discrimated against when equal prizes are offered?

I am being paid tax free $$$ to have way too much fun. So people call it work. I have been unable to get onto site for a week, even with the quad, We have 10 machine working and i need to see what they are doing so to-morrow I am taking a kayak and will paddle onto site up the drains. Hard work!

For the Elite Riders Schoemansdal is more often than not the deciding factor of the race. In 2004 I was privileged to witness from the referees car and exciting tussel between the inexperienced Tucs youngsters and the mighty Microsoft team. The Tucs Star managed to get a 7 second lead up that awful climb to the finish at Schoemansdal. The Tucs team had stayed at Schoemansdal Friday night so the knew the final stage route over Otto's Hoogte. The Microsoft team mis-read the route profile and attacked on "Little Otto's" and had no answer on the proper Otto's. 7 seconds was enough to secure a Tucs Victory and I watched with great amusement as the Microsoft captain threw his bike overhand at the team car in frustration.

The Kremetart is so successful becuase it has the right formula. meeste van die fietsryers in the Kremeterat are aged 40 . There are just as many over 50's as ther are under 30's . So for a handfull of the very good riders the wait at Schoemansdal is a long one. But there are many who only get to Schoemansdal in time for the start of the last stage. For them the 5 minutes they have there is invaluable. This race is about those riders. They are the true heart of cycling : without them events such as the Kremetrat could not happen.

Bonsai, You forgot to tell the people this race is for everyone. Even if you average 25km/hr on the first three stages you will have at least half hour to rest between stages and a full hour for Lunch. Do 35km/hr and you get one hour rest between stages and one and a half for lunch. Anyone can do this event; Ask Big H, even He did it. He also performed one of the most remarkable feats recorded in the annals of the Kremetart : On stage four he pushed a Tandem, equiped with very heavy Shoo maan ou stuff, whilst walking up the last kilometer of Otto's Hoogte. He did it without once bending his knees. The Guy in Pink2007-05-19 16:11:51

Right now I have no gripes, Just heard that I am flying back to Paradise on Monday. Will be able to renew my aquantance with my mountain bike nad the sweet water channel

Ivan, The maths involved to describe accurately what happens to the chain and the power required to lift it would take about a month to do, (and I would need to hit the books for six months to remember all the intergral calculas it would need.) With oval or eleptical rings the accelerations are not uniform , the mass of chain lifted varies continously etc, and at times during a revolution of the cranks it is not lifting at all My caculation was a civil engineer's caculation - accurate to the nearest bulldozer - but it did show there are some losses, which may be half or double the 1.45 watts estimated. In short events I have no doubt the benefits of properly designed oval rings can outweigh disadvantages.

I'm sorry Ivan, I did not explain myself clearly. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> With oval rings there is a loss of effort in continually lifting the chain 20-30mm twice each revolution, even when the cyclist is just spinning without producing any power. This loss can be caculated: Power= Mass x acceleration x speed. The acceleration is against gravity so. Power = Mass x (acceleration+9.8) x speed <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Watts = Mass x (distance/ time ? + 9.8) x distance /time lets us assume that 100gramms of the chain is lifted 25mm vertically in 10? of rotation at a cadence of 90rev/min (1.5rev/sec). Mass = .1kg distance =25mm =.025m time = 1.5*10/360 = 0.041666sec power = .1kgx(.025m/ 0.041666. ? + 9.8 )x .025 /.041666 = 1.45watts This loss of 1.45watts may not seem significant, but it is there all the time when the peddling , even when there is no corresponding gain in power as the cyclist is idling with low power output. My calculation is above rough, but I suspect that this is energy loss I have shown is the reason why oval rings were not pursued move actively with arrival of the Bio Pace ring. I am sure all combinations of power angle was analyzed then, and found offer minimal advantage for the added complication. . The Guy in Pink2007-04-14 06:06:07

I see a negative aspect with oval rings for a road cyclist in endurance events. Effectively a length of the chain is lifted vertically and dropped about 20mm twice in each crank rotation, or 180 times a minute at a cadence 90. Although the studies show an increase in maximun power, a road cyclist spends most of his time riding no more than at 60% power. The effort of accelerating and lifting 100gms of chain 30 000 times during a 3 hour event will probably negate the benefit of an extra 12 watts for the 5 seconds of the sprint when maximun power is needed.The Guy in Pink2007-04-14 02:54:35

Hey MAmma, I Thought you did not want officials at races or licences. Make up your mind