HELP ME TO SUPPORT THE PARALYMPIC ATHLETES

PARRABUDDY.BLOGSPOT was started to help find a way for “Adaptive / Physically Challenged / Paralympic Cyclists ” to enjoy riding their bikes on the Daily Route of the famous Pro Tour Race Routes such as the “ Giro d’Italia " and the " Tour de France " !


Through lack of support i have been unable to achieve that goal and unless people decide to assist there is little chance that my 22nd season will be any more successful !


Tokyo2020 Paralympics was amazing for ALL , not just those participating but those who followed via the Media !


Since 2009 several other Blogs have been created to cover various other subjects !

Below is a guide to their separate purposes :

In the main Parrabuddy is about “Adaptive / Physically Challenged Sport” and Health Issues.


Skippi-cyclist is about personal issues and Road Safety Issues.


SkippyAus is about matters relating to Oz and some personal memories from my life there.


Tourdafarce & Tourdafrance are about matters relating to the Pro Tour , Racers and some personal experiences during my various visits to ride the Pro Tour routes .


Skippy (blogging) is about a variety of issues on the Internet .


NOT ALL postings arrive in their correct area but I will generally try to separate my views on Doping and Sporting Fraud from Road Safety Issues .



Comments ARE WELCOMED since this shows that those reading are interested in the subject matter ! Enjoy comments made to other blogs so wonder why only " anonymous " posts here !

Over the period of these "Blogs" I have had visibility on Twitter as “Skippydetour” and on Facebook as “Skippy Mc Carthy” where Google usually advise postings on the Blogs as they occur .

When any of you visit these Blogs I hope I am able to add value to your day and provide a source of information if not inspiration . Please consider asking your friends and contacts to add their support as many of the Para Athletes are struggling to find the resources to compete in Events at regional Levels let alone National Levels .


You the reader have the possibility to help these Amazing Athletes in your own way and contacting your National Paralympic Internet Site for relevant info is a good start !

Mar 26, 2011

CNF maligning Mike TURTUR ?

CNF threads generally move fast but some faster than others ! This one though has been in the public arena for some time but as i have been avoiding CNF because of the way some commenters dump on people in their anonymous way i missed this thread and the earlier entries until today and only realised the full ramifications of the accusations which were flying thick and fast !

CyclingNews.com forum are busy with a juicy Clinic thread involving Mike Turtur and other senior UCIless officials !

One of the Commenters ,Roland Rat's comment copied here :

"You know what comes up when you google Gropep Australia Turtur?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackcat 
the insulin growth factor, IGF-1 was from Adelaide, Gropep. Someone needs to ask UCI board member and the promoter of the Tour Down Under, Matt Turtur, how that they are still providing stuff to the Spaniards. First, Operation Puerto, now Operation Greyhound, and the Ozzies are still delivering the dope.

Anyone have Matt Turtur's email address and the gov't that stumps the funding for Armstrong and the TDU?

Should get some dope stuff, and internal dialogue about Armstrong's appearance fees popping up on Wikileaks.

Any Ozzies wish to ask the hard questions?
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OTHER COMMENTS FOLLOW :

Comment 30

http://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X588377&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fautobus.cyclingnews.com%2Fresults%2F2000%2Fsep00%2Foly00%2Fnews%2Fgensep19.shtml&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.cyclingnews.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D11799%26page%3D3

As the article reads: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/resul...gensep19.shtml

1) Committee Extraordinaire Godkin - President Australian Federation > VP UCI Track

2) Some Australian Gov sports civil servants.

3) Some guy called Mr. Flin - Aus team manager > Left for NZ > UCI training program manager.

The Dutchman after the sale appointed Godkins to VP UCI - what a coincidence. The Dutchman I think was also on the Netherlands Olympic Committee. So does that mean the Australian Olympic Committee financed the supply and provision of equipment to the Netherlands Olympic Team? YES! Where did the Netherlands Olympic Committee funding go?

Comment 28

To obtain drugs you need cash. Civil servants and sports administrators are not going to reach into their own pocket. Most of the associations are near fully government funded. Some associations don't want corporate dollars because: 1) in any sponsorship agreement there is duty of responsibility and care (liability); 2) the association rightfully becomes answerable to the financier (sponsor); 3) the association capax for government funding is reduced proportionally. So the source of funding is BEST from a Government which turns a blind eye. Theory Only: To run drugs you need a mule - here the association is the transaction vehicle with bogus special projects.

Ultimately there has too be finance source and a vehicle. Its a laundry and why the shameful management are so well entrenched is because the 'truth' is their security of tenure and pension.

I suspect there are many nervous people around the world (especially in Australia). And they need to be. The official lies will continue but they have lost control control of the propaganda machine.

Agree … Sportleaks is overdue.


Comment 32

OK, so we have (as pure speculation of course, not suggesting this is true...):

1. Australia provides funding to CA for a technology development program that has already finished and was already funded.

2. Turtur obtains drugs from Gropep for both the Australian and Dutch programmes, using the CA money.

3. Turtur, Godkin, Michael Flynn and selected others sell CA's technology in breach of licence, and probably drugs obtained from Gropep, to Holland through The Dutchman (?), probably with Hein's involvement, for a nominal fee from Holland's government funding.

4. The money raised from the above sales disappears, probably into individual hands.

5. The Dutch funding that would otherwise be used for equipment development etc that is no longer needed is diverted into the hands on the Dutch side of things.

6. Later on, Turtur becomes UCI Oceania president. Godking becomes UCI VP, and Flynn is placed on the NZ Olympic Committee after Hein becomes head of the IOC.


Comment 37

Quote

The story started last December when Van Moorsel was out in Australia to check out the road and the time trial course. Godkin personally took her round each, and she was less than pleased with the parcours. "Too many corners," she said at the time and decided to concentrate on the track.

A trip out to the newly finished Dunc Gray Velodrome was in order, and Leontien was immediately impressed with the track. "She loved it," said Godkin who added that she also tried out Rochelle Gilmore's Sal Sansonetti/Brian Hayes designed BT track bike.

"We stuck her on, and she trained with her husband on the track. 30 minutes later, we couldn't get her off! She loved the bike and the track, and wanted one to ride. Sal Sansonetti and Brian Hayes arranged to build one for her, but with her own sponsor on the bike," said Godkin. Text from here: http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/resul...gensep19.shtml




This says Godkin made the arrangement's. But Godkin was also the Australian Cycling Federation President at the time. What was he doing showing off Australias new bike anyway? Considering the news article says Cycling Australia (Godkin President) obtained the money from the Australian Olympic Council its even more weird. Like I said before this is like showing off the winged keel before the event. Then he arranged the sale to the Netherlands competition with 'sponsors' markings ready painted. If one considers the Australian Olympic Council and IOC raises its finances from sponsor sales and protects its sponsor rights by banning illegal branding and advertising on sports equipments (including sponsor markings) then who permitted KOGA bicycles for competition? Godkin? His own words are Koga is "sponsor" - thats illegal and not permitted at Olympic events. Does this mean Playboy.com Corporation could buy a bicycle from Godkin, sponsor a athlete and go to the Olympics for a meagre cost of $5400 - thats gorilla marketing and mass media exposure at its best.

The event just gets more disturbing. http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI1...I2NzI&LangId=1 Godkin’s UCI profile !

Comment 39


Who is this "Adelaide Group" ? Any relation to the allegations of South Australian PEDs being in Spain?

Possibly an administrator who happens to be climbing the UCI ranks, and runs a World Tour race?

Wtf, CA/ASC approached someone to design/produce a helmet, only to ignore and abandon them nine months later. Going behind RMIT's back whilst still in a contract with them. Pope designs a bike, is holder of the design/manufacturing IP, with BT only allowed to produce what was required by the track team. But then BT goes and sells bikes overseas to other teams, rebadged. 400k funding from the Australian Olympic Committee "missing".


Comment 40


Australian Government and Cycling Australia officials worked to ban the old Superbike!!!! The Superbike was a Australian Government deal with a University funded by government funds. This smells of flagrant corruption.

I heard BT is a Australian Government brand mark anyway Its simple whats happened here. Cycling Australia, AIS and this BT person in Melbourne passed off somebodies elses designs to get money from the Olympic Council and the Australian Government: All done in breach of contract with the University and the designer of the current bike as used by Koga and others. WTF - UCI bought bikes and guess which Australians arranged that deal I wonder, Godkin? I wonder who arranged the Koga bikes? UCI President?

I hear the Adelaide Group is in fact public official staff at the AIS.

Just disgusting and fraud. I pity the people who bought these bikes as it seems they are all fakes. Yes I read the helmet story. Seems to me a foul culture of sports business is the norm in Australia.


Comment 45


Am I reading right? Cycling Australia voted to ban the Superbike style bicycles resulting in the disqualification of the old RMIT Superbike product which was financed and co-owned by the Australian Government department called the AIS. So in effect Cycling Australia sabotaged and destroyed a business co-owned by its sole financier being the AIS (a Government department)!!!!!!! Therefore, in effect the AIS disqualified itself and in doing so conspired to damage and destroy its own commercial relationship and obligations with RMIT University. Where does this end. Its doesn't. The story reads Pope designed the bicycle in 1997 and neither RMIT University or Pope knew about each others contracts with the AIS. But clearly the AIS knew it had duped both parties and committed contract breaches because its a party to both. Your need to be a cryptology expert to decipher how the Australian government does business. Finally, the AIS funds BT to manufacture a bicycle designed by Pope yet lists BT as a sponsor (paid sponsorship - paid marketing). To close the transaction round BT and Cycling Australia source 424,000 dollars from the Australian Olympic body to allegedly design a new bike which in reality was already designed by Pope. Then, before supplying the Australian athletes their kit Cycling Australia and BT first supply and sell to the competition being New Zealand, Netherlands, China and USA and every dog in the street and in breach of the contract with Pope. Australia athletes loose (Koga & NL wins), AIS assists the competition and a fortune is made while RMIT, Pope and Davies are left out of pocket.

Its seems to me Cycling Australia and AIS are in cohorts raping and pillaging everybody they touch - RMIT, Davies, Pope, Australian Olympic body and finally the Government bank account. The problem is not the sport, its the officialdom and management.


Comment 50

This is like the triple whammy of scandals. We have people ripping off a bike designer by selling unauthorized copies of his design, self-dealing insiders funneling government money into their own pockets, and the government being defrauded into paying for the research and development of a product that already existed.

And I thought USA Cycling was corrupt.


Comment 52 is interesting as it comes from the Gold Coast :

Glad you put this forward, I was listening to radio national yesterday when this was aired and am glad that it is being scrutinised. (Not sure how or why you got wind of it in Munich? But , well done.)
This was in response to an earlier comment:


Originally Posted by WW-Wolfgang Walter
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/...11/3166343.htm

The plot just thickens. This is a blatant crime

Comment 53


A associate from Australia msg me the podcast link. I got more incoming but the complexity is weird without the names of the persons involved. I am more interested about UCI hierarchy implicated or parties to the sales to UCI and NL Koga - what role did the UCI President & VP have in this Its becoming obvious all these officials had a conflict of interest and what if any commissions were paid and to whom.


With my 20bit/sec u/load & d/load i have little luck with podcasts so i can offer little .

THREAD on CNF clinic is on page 6 , link is : http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11799&page=6


WE live in interesting times !




Fabian and Frank did well today so IF there are more conspiracy theories in the "pipeline" we will hear of the " new motors" their team is using in the next days ! Seems like the "bearings story" has died from lack of interest .

These stories remind me of Mike Moore the American of "TV nation " fame ! Having read that book and "downsize this" this week together with bill Bryson's "the thunderbolt kid" and following the media reports from Japan and Libya i am wondering what other controversies will raise their head above the parapet in the near future .

Walking each day has kept my fitness levels high but not being allowed to ride the bike with all the sunny weather we are enjoying lately is a bitter pill . Embolisms are not to be taken lightly but am hoping that 4 hrs a day uphill as well as on the flat will allow me to be at the Giro with the bike . I plan to cycle the flats there so as to be fit for the TDF .

28/03/11 Check out Skippi-cyclist for a new post regarding "stolen bikes"!

Mar 25, 2011

CONTROVERSY RAGES

Controversy rages as UCIless finally decide to appeal the Spaniards decision and WADA have several weeks to weigh into this affair !

Why are these control bodies waffling around on such a serious matter ? Dragging this out so as to maximise the publicity value of the affair does not reflect well on anyone . Nearly everything that UCIless does these days flies in the face of reality . Mc Queasy has been looking at twitter comments by various people and is interpreting their tweets to suit his purposes and thus the rumour mills are churning out more conspiracies .

Waited for the air to clear but more fog has rolled in so no further forward in understanding what is going on in the Road Race Cycle World . One thing that is clear is when two racers test positive to the same substance in the same race then both should have their case sorted . Whilst one of the racers has a few months of his suspension left to serve the other is still awaiting the hearing and that is just totally unfair ! Justice delayed , is justice denied ! Consistency should be the order of the day but whilst there are supposed to be regulations governing the situation UCIless is interpreting them to suit their own purposes and the racer involved is unable to earn an income whilst the matter drags along .

Does the public really want to see Contador win a number of events and then later see the second place winner get upgraded by way of a note in the sporting media . Levi must be the latest of a long line of sports stars who will see their name in print but not enjoy the prize giving ceremony . Whilst team Radio Shack will win the team event anyway Levi will stand on the podium as second place getter . Later he will get the prize monies , but what of Scarponi and Martin , do they want their moment on the podium and the resulting photos ?

Cast your mind back to the Athens Olympic where tamilton won the gold medal and they messed up the doping controls to the extent that he should have passed the medal to Ekimov but loopholes allow him to retain this disputed victory . Periero was declared winner of the 2006 Tour de France after 11 months past and he got to have a “little prize giving ceremony” before the start of the 2007 Event . No consolation for the team though as they did not get to ride the Victory Lap on the Champs Elysee as they should have had the flandis team been removed in a timely manner .

Speculation is rife as to what 11 teams are proposing to do as a result of the media leaks that are filtering through . Four of these teams are seeking new sponsorship deals for 2012 and there are reports that the TV rights relating to Cycling are now contracted through until 2015 so more mystery is added to the package .

Appears we are living in interesting times !

Mar 21, 2011

PARIS-NICE TOUR 1999 (recollections)




Tour de France 1998 ( Photo here )showed me how much publicity can be garnered for "Disabled Sport" by riding the Race Route of the Various Cycle Tours !

With this in mind i drove towards Paris but the car packed it near Charleville M. so had to take to the bike the rest of the way . Pitched up in Nangis on the friday night and did some cycling around the area in the morning before heading into the centre of Paris looking for the next day's ITT parcours .

On the way around i spotted a sign about the "Assembly Nationale" hosting an exposition about the internet and since it was about freezing decided that the warmth would be a good idea . Floating around inside with little French i warmed up and as i was about to leave some "personages" were being shown around so decided to introduce myself .

"Hi i am Skippy from Sydney, here to "publicize Handi Sport " at the Paris-Nice "! in my stumbling French but the "personage" replied in English "Welcome to France and the Assembly Nationale , i am Laurent Fabius and a member of this chamber of the Government ". Well the conversation went on for a little longer with me being offered an escort to see the rest of the building and an offer of refreshments later which was appreciated . During the Tour i saw a lot of the areas that most do not see and was told that "M.Fabius had been the Premier of France in the mid 90's" !

This reminded me of my visit to the White House in the 80's when a Secret Service agent got us into parts of that tour that were generally off limits to the public and also my first visit to the NEW Australian Parliament Building in 1988 when i bumped Paul Keating in the book shop and had an invitation to see some of the "Behind Scenes" areas of the House and Senate . Later i sat in both these areas and phoned various friends around the world whilst sitting in the leader's seat in each chamber .

From the Assembly Nationale i cycled the ITT route then headed back to Nangis on dry but freezing roads . Not easy to cope with the french traffic on a saturday evening in early March .

Sunday i made my way back into Paris and the weather was not much better and hanging around the edge of the Time Trial was not the experience i had been hoping to enjoy.

Monday in Nangis was Wet and Wintery and wandering around the teams seeing them suffering the same conditions did little to lift my spirits for the week ahead . In those days few of the teams had Pullmans so they were sitting out trying to pass the time as comfortably as the weather would allow . Spoke to a few of the racers who were amazed that i was going to attempt the ride in those atrocious conditions dressed as i was in bib shorts and wet rain jacket.

Took off about an hour before the race and after about an hour and half had to stop at a bar as i was shaking so badly . Ordered a Brandy at the bar but since i could not pick the glass up , one of the patrons held it for me as i tried to get the brandy down my throat . Result was a few of them bought me additional Brandies whilst the steam rose from my clothes and i recovered somewhat . When i got going again the weather had cleared a little and i arrived at the roadside lunch that the organisation provided for their Guests just before the Peloton . Seeing me at the table a buch of the racers rode off the road and grabbed handfuls of food on the table display and took off down the road . I was left with little to choose from and a few of the Guests were also dismayed with the little left to choose .

Link to the 1999 Paris-nice story and some details:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/1999/mar99/parisnice99.html#riderYou may ask what this has to do with the "TourdaFrance" ?



Simply put i have been re reading "It's not about the bike" and having reached the part where Lance quit the 1998 Paris-Nice i thought it worth reminding ALL just how difficult the conditions were in France at that time of year . No doubt he was not the only racer that suffered that day and there were others that continued who would have liked nothing better than to stop .

Also this morning i saw Lance's Tweet about "dusting off his bike", noticed it had no decalls from "LIVESTRONG" and particularly without the "riding for xxxx" decal which needs to be sorted ! Link here :http://lancearmstrong.posterous.com/dusted-off-the-ol-bike-and-going-for-a-ride-i

THIS IS ONLY ONE OF 6 BLOGS , checkout the "profile / about me" and enjoy some of the others!

visit @skippydetour or facebook Skippy Mc Carthy if you choose not to add yourself as a follower on the blogs

Mar 3, 2011

SERENA WILLIAM'S Career Setback ?





Serena Williams the Tennis Star’s Career that we have enjoyed for a decade is all but over ! Pulmonary Embolisms will even after the operation effect her future Career Options ! High profile Athletes need to exert a huge amount of effort to stay at the top of their game and even with the best specialist care it is doubtful we will see her at Wimbledon in the next years let alone on top of the Podium at other Tennis Tournaments where she so rightfully belongs .

Thankfully she is still with us as so many Athletes have either ignored or misinterpreted the warning signs . So many Race Cyclists have woken to find that their room mate has passed away during the night from this or similar symptoms . Could be this is the case in other sports also , but then I am more aware of the Cycling Sport Personalities than many from other Sports .

Here is a link to a press release today that runs contrary to my thoughts on this matter : http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/03/03/serena-williams-targets-wimbledon-title-defence-after-emergency/!

LATimes has an article worth looking at on Embolisms : http://www.latimes.com/health/os-serena-williams-pulmonary-embolism20110302,0,1700712.story


Those who suffer cramps should be thinking about the causes and early medical intervention may be appropriate in some cases . Even with following Doctors’ advice I find myself following a low activity lifestyle currently and with having to wear Compression stockings 24hr each day and taking Anti Coag medication I am somewhat uncomfortable with this change of pace . 2011 started with me thinking that I would be in Oz for the Tour Down Under then circumstances intervened and I went to the UK . From there I went to the South of France for sun and cycling and the plan then was to continue enjoying that area until the Embolism symptoms arose .

Life is full of surprises and marking time in the Tyrol is not what I would choose when Endurance Sports are forbidden , finding a place to live long term in this Tourist Area is also proving tedious .


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