Friday, December 31, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Australian N/E is flooded and Sth Austalia is under "Fire Ban" so there are a lot of uneasy people out there trying to make the best of the cards dealt them.

Controversy rages in New York as they try to clear up after the storm and hopefully when the next dump arrives there will be less aggro to contend with.

Here in the Zillertal there is a foggy start to the day with little snow recently so slogging up the various pistes on skins is not as much fun as when the sun shines and you can view the surrounding terrain, coming down on Telemark is not as much fun either as the surface feels like it is bulletproof.   My balance is better but cutting across ice in the telemark position with tired knees is no joy.

Hope that 2011 is a better year for all.

 

 


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Friday, December 17, 2010

2013 Tour de France in Fiji ?

As i trawl around the net i come across the odd item that perks the interest, one such is below:

http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/funny/fiji-to-host-tour-de-france/

Of course this is an unlikely possibility even with New Caledonia as a near neighbour but when you hear of Washington, New York and Montreal being considered as Grand Depart by the managements of the Grand Tours one wonders about other possibilities. Over the past years i have enjoyed the cross border excursions by the TDF to Spain and Italy. Harder to deal with were starts in Belgium and Holland before the transfer back to Italy, for me Air Travel but for the caravan personnel and Team support vehicles it was a tedious drive through the Autobahn System during what is considered to be a rest day for the Racers.

Pegasus the team for the Aussies by the Aussies was supposed to rise from conception to the Pro Tour status as did Team Sky but no such luck here, my guess it was because Murdock was not involved, further more Pro Continental status is still under consideration by the UCI. Hopefully any othe team starting out will see that "throwing Money on the table" does not buy the right to push aside other longer established teams regardless of the calibre of the Racers that they have recruited along the way.

Fallout from the Pegasus episode is the reduction in the Team Roster and thus we now see that some talented Racers are without contract for 2011 .





Currently the Guy who was Australian Vice Champion in 2010 and raced the 2010 TDU with distinction is sidelined and seeking employment for 2011. Kempy as he is known to the Cycling Fraternity is temporarily without a future in 2011 and this is entirely due to Over ambitious expectations of People who failed to lock in their projected financial backers let alone do the due dilligence that most businesses planning success perform. Vaughters the owner of Garmin wrote an article recently about the essence of Cycling 's future and he touched on this subject with his discussion of Geox not knowing at the time that Pegasus would have similar problems.

Sponsors are hard headed business people who see Cycling as an opportunity to promote their interests and are only interested in their ROI even when they have an interest in the sport. Too often recently we have seen Teams collapse because funding has been cancelled because the sponsor does not wish to have their reputation sullied by the constant roll call of "Bad Eggs" seeking to take short cuts to the podium.

Too often i have offered my two penny worth for the "Powers" to clean house by calling a moritorium, getting all the skeletons out in the open and then imposing harsh penalties for future transgressions. Four year suspensions with time locked in the house with electronic tags would serve to remind anyone considering letting themselves down let alone their family and colleagues that there is no benefit in taking the easy road. With being locked out of participation as an athlete, supporter or spectator any normal person would feel that Sporting Fraud is no longer an option.

2011 will see the usual crop of Sporting Fraudsters but it is possible that WADA & UCI can make the risks so adverse that 2012 will be the beginning of an era where "Respectable Companies that currently worry about their clean reputation" and thus shun Cycling Sport as an avenue of investment will make the decision to participate and sign up for long term sponsorships. Several banks over the years have invested for upwards of 20 years and there are other types of Business who could be encouraged to join thus providing the stability that will grow the sport further.
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

HERNE HILL VELODROME






Southwark Council has decided to allocate £2m to projects related to the 2012 Olympics and to this end are using the services of Tony Doyle MBE a former World Track Champion as well as Tessa Jowell MP.

Over several years i have had occasion to visit Herne Hill Velodrome and see how run down it has become. 2012 is just around the corner and this important and historic facility is subject to inclement weather currently but can it be left like this when there is the likelhood that prior to the OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC events Athletes from all over the world will need to train/warm up for their events. Do you imagine that they will be pleased to arrive and find it closed due to the track being wet from overnight rain ?







Currently there seems to be some problem about ownership or that is the reason i have heard for the lack of effort to put this Historic site back in order, i know of people like Wally Happy who run events there to try and raise monies and i am sure there are funds coming from other resources BUT uncertainty and indecision will not get the job done.







September time was the last occasion i was there and that days meeting was cancelled because of a wet track, Cyclocross continued throughout the day but can you imagine what would happen if World class/Olympic Athletes were relying on using the existing facilities.

Southwark Councils initiative is subject to "Final Approval" next year, "BOLLOCKS" !

GET ON WITH THE JOB NOW !!!

PS Suggested to Lance Armstrong (by tweet, a great mate of Tony Doyle) that he together with Nike, Radio Shack, Trek & Livestrong could get together the funds needed to renoate this Historic site.
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