Icycling

Lets use the analogy of private business and government here! Lets call PPA business and CSA government and lets face it that is actually what it is! Does private business pay tax? YES and probably about 30%. Does PPA pay tax - NO Why does PPA not pay tax - well if I recall it is listed as a section 21 company (it may be VAT registered) - a company for non profit! So why does PPA have million in the bank / investments and still expect not to pay tax? As has been said on many occasion in this thread CSA is after PPA money - probably 100% on the mark. Why would the government not want tax from a company which is making / has money? This in not only in RSA but world wide! On the plus side at least if for argument sake PPA did willingly give say 30% of their annual non spend on cycling (units trust is not cycling nor is buying property or taking CSA to court) to CSA then PPA at least knows the money is still staying in cycling circles - 1 up on the normal tax payer - as we don't know where the money is generally going and how much is really been waisted! Of what goes to CSA 50% would / should remain in the WP (this is what happens with ride rider levies) leg of CSA i.e. WPCA already noted to be volunteers! 50% would be used nationally also in the thread pointed out that more than 50% of The Cape Argus Pick ' N PAy cycle tour consist of riders from out of Cape Town so why shouldn't some of these fund be pumped back into their communities via the national body - CSA. PPA only has excess cash because of 1 road cycling event / RACE the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay cycle tour - without it they would not have been able to save so much money - anyone who looks at the books would be able to see that. Before 50% of the profits of the cycle tour went back into PPA - PPA were not able to save money, originally PPA received 10% of the entry and owned the event, but due to a year or 2 of negotiation with Rotary PPA negotiated a 50 /50 ownership agreement along with a 50/50 profit share. I was part of these negotiation and certainly did not spend this time to see a fair portion of this money just to be spent on UNIT trust All this is happening because of PPA's inability to spend their annual income and on a whole cycling in RSA could be doing a whole allot better. IF PPA did not have any money it would not be a huge issue! I am not suggesting anything should be taken away from any other part of cycling currently spend to help "The Pro." I am suggesting that money could also be spent on "the Pro" along with other cycling projects from the money which is been saved. Saved and for what? On a side note I am a member of PPA and have been for 31 years! I may choose not to join the association again, so why have I not received full benefits while I have been a member? What do I mean by this - well PPA have managed to save millions of rands over the years which could have been put back into cycling at the time - which would have directly or indirectly benefitted me! Why should possible benefits which PPA could be offering to cycling now be used in the future when I may not be a member or even a cyclist / alive? I do see merit in PPA having reserve funding for 1 year but thats really as far as it should go! Yes 31years back I would have loved a youth festival! Instead I paid my own way to the Eric van Enter which is the closest thing they had at the time - then PPA also was not sitting on huge sums of money.

18 000 members - avg fun ride between 1000 and 1500, when 1500 normally has a league ride attached. League entry about 300 each season! Which are the most committed riders?

Thats where we may differ - PPA money or money PPA has from the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay cycle tour? I am a roadie - done 30 Cycles tours - I don't ride MTB or BMX - I would like to see at 50 % of the cycle tour money end back in the road cycling community! Please list what extra PPA is doing for road riding / racing. I above have already list their spending on road safety and really not a lot or enough!

An email I sent to PPA EXCO on the 7th Jan 2013 Hi All, In the past 6 months, PRO cycling has attained headline news worldwide for all the wrong reasons. Lance Armstrong and David George doping and now Burry Stander. From this, one conclusion can be drawn: if you want to see cycling in the news headlines, you need Pro cyclists involved, whether it is positive or negative. So much attention has been given to drugs in cycling worldwide, even here in the RSA, and I hope that similar attention will be given to road cycle safety, due to the recent death of Burry Stander. Why does the PPA Committee see no merit in funding road racing? Recently, I asked for a mere R50 000 to improve the racing eliminate for our PPA spring league 2012 yet this was turned down By EXCO - at the recommendation of Man / Fin. Hopefully, Burry Stander’s death will not be in vain and will really jumpstart an effective road safety campaign. In addition, the vulnerability of cyclists on the public road has been highlighted to fellow road users. The involvement of the Cycling Pro's could make a very positive impact on the further development of effective safety measures. The sad loss of a high profile cyclist has done far more for public awareness than any other campaign. For example PPA: spending R200 000 on a UCT student to try and establish what should be the required overtaking distance to a cyclist; If my memory serves me well about R75 000 on bus branding; about R50 000 on bumper stickers showing the Cyclist stay alive at 1,5m sticker etc; yet the PPA seem to have ZERO vision in understand the need for funding needs which occur in Pro cycling eg awareness of safety. Yes, Burry came 3rd in the Giro del Capo (a PPA owned event) yet a few years back, PPA did not see the merit in continuing with it. In terms of public awareness, the event did a lot for cycling because of the high profile of the cyclist / the international teams it attracted. Think of the size of the crowds that use to come out to watch the criterium around District 6 and the 5.5km hill climb up Signal hill. When Pedal Power set up this Non-Profit Organisation, Articles of Association or a Constitution have been set up which describe its purpose and the vision. It is meaningless to have all that money in reserve, if Pedal Power does see fit to use the capital power that they have in order to promote these goals. Considering this lack of commitment to achieve these goals, it may be appropriate for the members to approach the High Court and have Pedal Power disbanded. http://www.pedalpower.org.za/about-ppa/constitution-governance/ EXCO has plenty of money in reserve funds. Please, seriously consider using some or all of it to promote safety awareness effectively in the forums or with people who have the same vision. Pedal Power is in a powerful position financially to do something about the urgent need for road safety for cyclists. Here is the link to a poll I put on the hub a while back. Please note what most people feel about all that reserve funding! https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/122825-ppa-how-much-funding-should-the-association-retain-annually-ie-not-spend-on-cycling/ Regards Peter Wheeler The Burry Stander Giro del Capo in honor of all cyclists who have lost their live on the road - funded by PPA. Committee think about that - have some Vision! Burry Stander has basically become a martyr!

Seems like my connection is slow so trying 1 more time in 2 post! Yes fun rides and racing probably should not be hold together. But they also can! Yes racing would be on shorter route / circuit racing. Cost would be a lot cheaper than a long road route and getting closed circuit to traffic maybe even possible! Bring racing to the pubic maybe even possible and thinking back, the Giro del Capo crit in Cape Town maybe a Rondebosch common cirt - this UCT club use to organize. Their was even a circuit race including Ladies mile, Spaanschemat river road and Firgrove way - Peninsula cycling club. This leads to cycling awareness to the masses - maybe even some residents will put a braai on the door step if advertise and well and down the line like happen in Europe put some spot prime up! After all it is free live sports entertainment. Yes I know of some people willing to put up money for this and guess what 10 event a sponsorship / donation of R100 000 would probably result in a guaranteed prize fund of R10 000 per event as the entry would cover the rest and cover more (WPCA has already proven this - even in WINTER) - remember the entry is not been used to support any charity but to support racing cycling! I recon R10 000 per event and less than R100 entry fee would probably draw all the current PPA league riders to the (WPCA) race held at the same time as the PPA event. Added bonuses possible road closure, if a large (relatively speaking) sponsor we found for the event TV coverage etc. If this were too happen and their a 50% chance of it happening as many of the league rider are just sick and tired of the disrespect PPA have shown them, where would this leave the PPA fun rides? Here a potential options: 1. League rider are about 300 of the funride entry - the only guaranteed part week in advance excepting the 1st event. 2. Many league riders have 1 or 2 tag along with them who ride the fun ride sometimes the shorter route. I would put a number of between 75 and 150 riders come to the fun rides as tag along to the league riders per fun ride 3. Some Fun riders see value in riding the fun rides a they can compare their time to the winning time - I would put again anything between 75 and 250 fun riders who do this per fun ride. So the fun ride numbers would be on avg. 500 riders down - would the avg fun ride organizer still find it profitable to put on the these event? Probably not! Could PPA put a minimum of R100 000 to a prize purse and stop this happening without really even affecting their budget - YES. Why don't they - EGO of some committee members! Would this amount of money bankrupt the PPA definitely NOT - double or triple (R300 000) still would not but would offer some really good racing in conjunction with the fun ride. A very nice win win situation and would CSA and PPA still even been in this fight if this were to have happened along with the Giro del Capo? I cannot answer that! So lets say this happens - which as stated may well happen - this is without the UCI / CSA / SASCOC saying it has too - its just the racing cyclist deciding they deserve better - and they do! What will PPA actually be doing apart from hoarding even more money? Now for those who don't think the racing cyclist bring anything to the party and only TAKE and do nothing for the Fun Rider / cycling - here a letter I sent to PPA committee at the beginning of the year - I do believe it is true!

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Tonight meeting was extremely well attend and from what I here the track is now getting an upgrade! But after much negotiation I managed to get the petition form and you too can add your voice along as it is emailed 1st thing tomorrow morning! form below and email address is andrea.crous@capetown.gov.za

<p>Tonight meeting was extremely well attend and from what

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Don't know what happened to my edit but need to get to the track now so cannot be on the hub!

<p>I am in 2 mind here but have been thinking long and hard over this 1 for a few months and may well be asking WPCA to organize events for the racing cyclist on the same dates as PPA event. Yup the route will not be quite as spatular as the PPA events and may end up just been circuit racing (hopefully closed to traffic circuit racing - possibly even bringing the racing to the suburbs)! The irony of this all is for less than what PPA spends on investment each months as mentioned over R200 000.00 - the carpet could be quite easily be pulled from the road fun rides! Loose the league riders and their "tag on" the PPA road could well become a thing of the past within a season or 2 as the organizers will just not be making money! 10 x WPCA events at R10 000 prize money sponsorship / donation R100 000.00. WPCA this past winter have shown their ability to put on decent events for the racing cyclist just on entry fee and then still offer more prize money than PPA offer! I do feel the racing cyclist will come to event even if PPA has event on the same day with the knowledge that theirs R10 000 prize money on the day! This is basically what happens in MTB racing - correct? Naturally if PPA were to come to the party here and start to show willingness to also spend additional money on the racing cyclist in the form of respectable prize money and we the racing cyclist could leverage the sponsorship / donation by a multiple of say 5 to a max of what

Not sure what you are say as only the motor way, cyclist are not allowed on, so only The Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay get that right and the full road closure for this event is just perfect! Look at last Summer season how PPA event went on in th Southern Suburb - I can ride over Chapmans Peak every day if I choose. In fact when I stated fun ride in the 80ies many came over Constantia Nek and Chapmans Peak - now how many can do this? ZERO Actually PPA is well a wear of how many cyclist are out training in Summer on roads like Chapmans Peak and NOT supporting the PPA Fun rides! Have you ever been over Chapman's Peak on a Saturday or Sunday morning in Summer - PPA should be asking for this to be a car free zone from Sunlight to say before say 09h00. Have it open only to walkers, runner, horse rider, cyclist etc! PPA could offer to pay the toll money lost by the cars - they could do that on the historical stats and they would probably get away for R1000 per day i.e. R2000 per weekend for 3 month R24 000 when you investing over R200 000 in unit trust does this not seem to be a better place to spend it if you want to provide benefits to your members?

Lets see what th Avg speed is for this weekends race - I may be able to R1000 toward Maroesjka once I know if the target of 1h49min / 44km/h is achieve or not!

Well their lies the double edge sword - PPA want / need to organize Spring and Summer league racing to make sure they have the critical mass to en sure their road "fun rides" are viable! The road fun ride are very marginal on profits - thus less and less each year. Thus my statement earlier: "F. If for argument sake WPCA organized spring and summer league racing on the same day as PPA event - would PPA give the racing body (WPCA) their blessing? I cannot answer this but I expect not as PPA would possibly run the risk of the road fun ride no longer be financially viable for the fun ride organizer due to the reduced entry. So if this is the case then Why does PPA not just also do racing properly "a necessary evil" they certainly have the money to do it properly - maybe then CSA / gov would be siding a little more with PPA! As high lighted in this post "Pro cycling is going, it's just not going well." If they could do away with they probably would - but if say WPCA were to organize event on the same days with prize money then the racing cyclist would probably go to where they see best value. Naturally event like the Double Century (oh ya their is reasonable prize money their) Die Burger and The Cape Argus (again prize money but compared to the Two Oceans or Comrades - quite a lot less) I would think WPCA would not chose to put events on these dates! So yes to a degree the road racing rider is been used by PPA to service their need to masses at fun ride - without been give reasonable rewards for this - I.E. I don't think R200 gift voucher at Cannel walk after paying about R180 is a reasonable reward!

As far as I know these guys fall in line with CSA not sure about the other! Not been a MTB rider. Dirtopia or a club such as Cyclelab, Tygerberg MTB,

Unfortunately for the racing cyclists, the current PPA committee (EXCO) do not think funding any / much form of racing cyclist is a worthwhile investment! So if you disagree with this stance nominate members who you feel would like to support the competitive end of the sport then go to the AGM and vote them in to be on the EXCO which is a 12 person committee - 6 up for re election each year. In 2 years you can achieve a complete new EXCO! The EXCO steers the direction of PPA - with regards to competitive cycling the current EXCO does not have much interest from what I and several other racing cyclist can see! But also alway remember PPA is not only about racing cycling but certainly could invest a reasonable sum of money into the competitive side of cycling with out taking anything away from other cycling causes they currently invest in.

The phrase the "best of a bad bunch" comes to mind here. On that PPA still even get my Vote! But: Lets consider: 1. This high court application - which lawyer or legal firms are working on this are they on the PPA EXCO or connected to PPA EXCO members in any way and are they charging any fee? If they are not on the EXCO then PPA application has more credibility too me! If they are on the EXCO but receiving Zero remuneration - PPA credibility still 100% intact, my opinion. If are on the EXCO and charging any fee - even if claim to be substantially reduce (did PPA get other quote) - then the PPA credibility is already 50% out the window in my opinion! As posted earlier on the hub "Well, if you think business class travel is expensive, wait til you see the cost of this High Court action. There goes all our CSA and PPA membership fees ... " We the cyclist / members of both or 1 will ultimately have reductions in services due to less finance from either CSA or PPA. Some may argue CSA does not provide any service anyway - but maybe those some are just not beneficiaries of that service! 2. PPA has a large bank account mainly due to 1 event which they are 50% profit share in i.e. the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay cycle tour. I think we can all agree on 1 thing here this is a road cycling event - where some our view may differ is this a tour as the name suggest - a fun ride or a race? If you have asked anybody what was you time in this event or been asked what your time was and answered - I would steer towards this been a race as been the most appropriate adjective to describe the event. Others may or may not agree. So how much of this 50% profits goes back from PPA into road cycling and or racing? In terms of racing very little - it use to be more like when the Giro del Capo was hosted by PPA. In term of road cycling not a great deal either. Surely at least 50% of this should be going directly back into into road cycling - from road safety, road fun rides and even road racing? 3. PPA until last year was investing over R200 000.00 per month in unit trust - now been moved into a separate trust which PPA is a beneficiary off. Over the course of the past number of years this money has grown substantially! As current or ex PPA members we really should be asking why PPA see it necessary to have such a large reserve fund - and why is it not been spent on cycling annually? We are PPA member now and should get maximum benefit for our membership while we are members - correct. Yes to have adequate reserve funding for the association to exist for 1 year after they have received their last cent from membership is prudent - but does it really need to be more than this? Can we seriously say all that need to be done for cycling is been done for cycling - if so then PPA is doing the right thing by just been a "cycling bank" if not then we as members are been short changed. I as a road racing cyclist would like to see more racing taking place in the WP - WPCA has just done a stunning job of putting on a winter series of event and I have been lead to believe that the prize fund now stand at about R20 000.00 to be handed out soon. Why does PPA see fit to hand out R200 gift voucher for Cannel walk if you win a PPA league event - is that not just showing the racing members a complete lack of respect? Now I know the true fun rider will say PPA is a Fun ride association and why should they do anything for the racing cyclist? A.A few answers / questions - PPA constitution states "The main purpose and object of the association is to promote cycling and the interests of cyclists" surely this statement does not exclude the racing cyclist? B. Do none of the Fun rider watch the Tour de France / similar races - it only happens because its a race! Note its called a tour just like the cycle tour - not Race de France - but who we kidding if we think TDF isn't a race! Would it not be nice to see more RSA riders in this / these events? C. The PPA league riders offer the league fun ride organizers some form of guarantee of entry on the day regardless of the weather as they, for the past number of season, have paid for the full series entry upfront. D.With many of the league riders come other family members who also participate in the fun rides be it the shorter route. E. How many of the "fun rider" look at the winning time and compare their time with that of the winner? F. If for argument sake WPCA organized spring and summer league racing on the same day as PPA event - would PPA give the racing body (WPCA) their blessing? I cannot answer this but I expect not as PPA would possibly run the risk of the road fun ride no longer be financially viable for the fun ride organizer due to the reduced entry. So if this is the case then Why does PPA not just also do racing properly "a necessary evil" they certainly have the money to do it properly - maybe then CSA / gov would be siding a little more with PPA! As high lighted in this post "Pro cycling is going, it's just not going well." These 2 statements are very true - and I hope my question asked in point 1 leaves PPA credibility 100% intact. "Both organisations do a really lot of good work for the sport. and they both need each other. the ppa can't operate in a vacuum. the csa want them to be part of the sport's structures. as an affiliate looking after recreational cycling. just like running each participant in an event should be licensed thru a club/association/or whatever." "It is just a pity that 2 governing bodies wants to fight it out in court spending large sums of money which could have gone towards the development of cycling"

There is a public meeting at the velodrome , tonight (Wednesday 12 June 2013 @ 19h00 in the VIP room) , where it would be the last chance for cycling to voice their disapproval of the sale of the velodrome . There is also a petition that needs to be signed . Please make every effort to be there. Consider how un safe are road have become for cyclist, at least this is a safe venue! As I have asked this question here is the answer: Can I sign the petition today during the day - Southern Suburbs - just in case I cannot make it to the velodrome tonight? The councillors have organised this petition , so it is not in my control unfortunately . Had it been , it would have been no problem .

44km/h means 80km in 1 hour and 49min (well with in 3 sec) for those who need to know!