WIN A TREK MADONE !

Checkout www.tourdafrance.blogspot.com and help another win these bikes so that he can run the "Givaway competition" that will raise monies for "Livestrong "!

"Conti tyres continue to give me puncture free kilometres but those out there seem reluctant to visit a "Paralympic Website" so as to help a "Para Athlete" by winning a draw for these "Conti products" .

Original concept was to create a list of "Para Athletes" that my readers could enjoy following through to the 2012 para Games in London ! Looks like you will have to do your own research !

 

For information of my day at the TDF on Wednesday go to www.skippi-cyclist.blogspot.com

TDF, in Les Essarts

Start Ville de Etappe of Sunday next is sunny and breezy and all is well with the world except Georgethecyclist is around the area already but whilst he was here yesterday has not appeared as yet today thus i will be in search of him amongst others shortly .

Posted today  www.tourdafrance.blogspot.com  about the journey here yesterday and a post about Heavy Goods Vehicles is in place on www.skippi-cyclist.blogspot.com .

Mostly i will post to tourdafrance in the next days as there are "Free Conti Cycle items " on offer until Friday when the offer will close !

 

LAST DAYS

UNBELIEVABLE that people choose not to help others !

To date there appears to be little interest in helping me to give a "Conti 4000s clincher " to a "Para Athlete "! I realise that you can go out and buy an inner tube for peanuts but in sending out these items "snailpost" will still want me to dig into my pocket for the coin of the realm .

Repeating the requirements seems pointless , nevertheless :

You are helping another by posting in the comments box on www.tourdafrance.blogspot.com the "para athlete of your choice and their contact details . Once the total reached 35 followers there was a Tyre for them and an inner tube for you . Had the total gone to 60 followers then there would have been an additional tyre available and the proposer would have received an inner tube .

Simple really but i guess if you are reading this whilst the boss is out of the office finding the National Paralympic website of your country might take a little effort .

Had the project been successful i had hoped there would have been many new identities that people could follow as they prepared to compete in the LONDON 2012 PARALYMPIC . Many of these may already have served their country in "Harm's Way" and are now embarking on service once again !

Help4Heroes & Wounded Warrior Project are two of those charities that deserve your support and following some of their participants exploits would have been inspirational as well as worthwhile !

Could be my last post before i arrive in the Vendee for the TDF so will enjoy the thrill of finding that there are some out there that think of others !

 

 

 

START LINE AT GRINDEWALD

Stuey holding forth to Robbie and others as they await the signal to go to the start .

Al Ballan giving me the benefit of a close up shot , having been World Champion Road Racer it is a shame that there is a cloud hanging over him .

Thanks to shamilton'confession Eki now holds 3 Olympic Gold Medals although who knows when the third and the prize money will arrive at his doorstep ? Eki was kind enough to step out of the car for me to take the shot . Always thought of him as an inspiration to the younger racers .

Christian VDV shooting the breeze with the "Robbies" . George the cyclist is getting new "garmin gear" because of "home town Advantage" according to C VDV !

Thor preparing to race and win this stage .

Bobridge on the way to being Lanterne Rouge .

Damiano on the way to signing on for this stage .

Liquigas racers awaiting the start gun .

Handbike & combloux

Group photo from the " ALPE D'Huzes Cancer Event


This is the link for the hand biker chat :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5onL81D2tY



















VIEW to Mt Blanc from across the valley near Bruno's house .






















View from Bruno's house over the valley with Sallanches where he works , with daily bike ride up 12% gradient each night .

photos from interlaken

INTERLAKEN is a destination that many enjoy visiting , and this day was warm and sunnt but was unable to load the photos correctly



Arrived here to await the arrival of the Tour de Suisse on the monday afternoon , rode the roads around the area and then through to Grindewald.









ON the road from the Dauphinee Libere i called in at the UCI World HeadQuarters but as it was weekend only saw some of the locals training and competing in the velodrome .







Views from Bruno's home above Sallanches in France that belong in another blog post . Bruno was the guy who invited me to stay with the Family when the Dauphine started in Megeve some years ago .

Competition Details

As i said , lousy connection before , was at the DFDS , dunkirk terminal and it was like a third world country , no intention of repeating the experience !

lBelow was what was intended :

"Limited Opportunity to advise that i have a bunch of Goodies to give away.

Sign on as follower on www.Tourdafrance.blogspot.com  & @skippydetour to compete for "Continental  4000S clincher 700 tyres and inner tubes  . Details of rules follow during next days !

Be in it to win and help Paralympic Athletes prepare for 2012 ."

TODAY THE RULES

As i am in a library i am still unable to go direct to Blogger so beer with the situation please !

 Rule one : you are helping others by involving yourself in this competition .

 Rule two : you will receive a smaller prize than the Para Athlete you choose to help .

 Rule three : 2012 Paralympic is only months away so time is of the essence and join today whilst it is fresh in youyr mind thereby gaining a benefit for ther Para Athlete you select !

HOW THE GAME WILL PLAY :

On RHS panel of Parrabuddy there is a "follow me on Twitter ": please add yourself .

Go to your National Paralympic site and choose an Athlete that will likely use Cycling Gear and then report their contact details in the comments section .   

At present there are about 10 followers and when we reach 35 the Athlete will receive a Continental 4000S Clincher by "snail; post"  you will receive an inner tube !

There will be a prize for those helping build the "followers" so if you ask 10 friends to sign  up then you can expect at the conclusion of the Tour de France an item of interest .

Not all of you will be able to go to the Tour de France BUT some of you already have photios of me from previous events or on your recordings of events you will be able to create a link or forward said item and there will be a benefit for the best of them .

ADDITIONALLY i am taking 4 wheels to the Tour de France and some tyres have been in use since the 2010 Tourv de France  and another will bne from the Vuelta , the final item is a Continental 4000s that i will put on especially .Tyres will be numbered and thus you can bid for the tour stage where thery will be replaced . Surplus inner tubes or caps will be the prizes .

Continental tyres on my bike have been so hard wearing and resistant to puncture that guessing when they will expire will keep some up late at night . Ha Ha not really a joke when you get over 5000km out of a clincher .

So many nationalities have read my blog that we with your help will have an interesting assortment of Para Athletes to follow as they prepare for their visit to the London 2012 Partalympics !

 

 

 

Competition Time

limitedOpto advise thati have abunch of Goodies to give away.

Sign on as follower on Tourdafrance.blogspot & @skippydetourto compete for Conti 4000S tyres>

Details of rules follow during next days .

Be in it to win and help Paralympic Athletes .

 

 

GRINDELWALD for Tour de Suisse

Amazing scenery with thoughtful drivers who do not sit in your boot whilst awaiting the riskiest overtaking manouver usually on a blind corner or in the tunnel but double white lines do not exist in their vision !

French and Italian drivers treat all in the same way , tourists are no different to their neighbour , if they could push you off the road to save a fraction of a second , so be it . Swiss drivers tend to be methodical and considerate and even anticipate pedestrians as they approach a crossing .

Weather here in Grindelwald is drizzily but after the sunshine yesterday and a lot of riding a few hours off the bike will be welcome . Hopefully the racers will enjoy better weather in the afternoon for their climbs and the arrival with it being downhill will be interesting .

Yesterday i managed to load the video shot in Alp d'huez to You tube and when i find a speedier computer i will be able to add that and other photos to the blog , each time i change a post it seems that the advice goes up so if you decide to visit the youtube item it is 120Mb but i have learned a few lessons from that so later video items i hope will be shorter and require the use of less MB !

 

 

20 million Euros

During the ITT at Grenoble yesterday i came across Paul Raats who took photos of me on the finish line in Rome May 2009 , i received one photo but not the ones needed for the blog. During the chat he mentioned a Dutch Event taking place on Alp d'Huez on thursday . He said over 5000 people would be riding to raise funds for a Cancer Cause . Last year over 12 million Euros were raised and this year the target is 20 million !

Today instead of joining the Dauphine i headed south to Bourg Oisans and joined the people mostly wearing Lycra of a blue ,white and red combination . Some had their head sponsor on their kit , others had 2009 or 2010 kit but it was a river of colour . Started climbing at about 9.30 and the first ascent took about 1hr 10 mins but found that i was passing a lot of people on triple chain wheels even so . At the top i discovered that some were into their third ascent of the day , which would explain why i was even passing young guys . Several did pass me but noting the numbers i was able to repass all but two who looked far too professional .

On a later climb i found "hand bikers" and continued to the top but stopped for a chat , as they rested , when i was descending . Appears there were two teams with a couple of solo entries . Any of you used a hand bike ? Well some years ago i did and i am able to tell you that even with training the physical effort is in the realm of 6 to 8 times more difficult than pedalling ! You would not choose to drive a hand bike up once let alone multiple times but i saw three of them beavering away once again as i was on my final climb . Where they find the energy defies imagination but they were well supported by volunteers and well applauded by the bystanders on the route .

 

On descending for the final time i came across a Tour Group who were having a training camp and had come across to climb Alp d'Huez and ride nearby . One of their number rode through a tunnel on the road to Les2alp and the front wheel dropped into a groove made by the maintainance workers , rather like tram tracks with the same result . Spilled from the bike he took a knock and thus the ambulance trip to Grenoble for 24hrs observation as mandated by French Regulations . Earlier in the day i had thought of riding to Les2alps to lunch with my friends there but time got away .

Before cycling today i was on the internet and posted a new thread about "Tondo" and my suspicion that he was murdered to prevent his testimony . By visiting www.skippyblogging.blogspot.com/heartfeltapology  you will see my comments on this Guy's courageous efforts to help Road Race Cycling clean house . CNF has cancelled the thread as if it never existed ! Seems the mushroom farm does not wish the truth to be known ! Slandering ALL cyclists is the name of the game but seeking TRUTH is not a suitable subject !

Reading of the day's action at the dauphine made me realise how colourless a day it was although HTC has once again claimed the victory of the day . Heard the 1800 news where they announced Brad Mc Gee had retained the Yellow & Blue Leaders's jersey and i was even more amused yesterday when Daniel the announcer extraordinaire announced twice Mc Gee rather than Wiggo ! 

 

Got to laugh since Brad Mc Gee won the ITT in 2002 with Cookie second and me getting the bulk of the article which followed the headlines on the back page of the Dauphine newspaper the next morning . Mc Gee is here as DS for Saxo Bank and no doubt has been told of these fluffs !

So Wiggins has a new shirt

Sky is the limit they say ! Brad Wiggins wrested control of the Dauphine Libere when Cadel turned in a result that could have been better . That Wiggo was able to assert his authority in this ITT must give TDF contenders pause for thought . Not only he but some of his team mates turned in good results and are now looking like they could fashion a stronger result in a TTT .

Followed Wiggo off the course and saw his contretemps with his DS so it was clear that to that point he had not realised he was on the way back to the podium after a Quick cleanup .

During the next 4 days we can expect that Sky will have to work harder than the team would enjoy as we enter the mountains . These days will bring interesting  tactics into play as the other teams will exert pressure to make Sky work to retain the Maillot .

 

 

FRANCE, Grenoble for ITT

Hope someone at Facebook Admin is reading this post.

When i travel i do not carry the laptop with me so rely on logging on in Internet Cafe situations BUT this does not suit "facebook" as they do not recognise the "IP address" and thus ban me ! Of course i can give them a Mobile phone no they will attempt to ring after i have left the country . EVEN in Austria i do not get the promised call back .

Always was suspicious of facebook so this is one less site i can worry about . This is coming into facebook  on posterous if you are wondering .

French keyboards have me going at half my normal pace and that was a french snail that just galloped past , the hostel has an apple so guess why i cqn`t get into twitter ? Took 5 mins and a number of deletions to find the "@" , first attempt looked like this ;  3@3 !

Walked into the tourist office today and heard the Lady in front of me getting "we only speak french in this office"! Perhaps she was seeking directions to another country to spend her money ?

Dauphine race passed me in St Laurent du Pont today , most of the racers earned their money today as i got drenched walking the 1/2 kilo from the car . No point giving the bike an outing since those on wheels looked like they would prefer to be somewhere else . Looks like Cav has a new kid on his block since HTC won the podium in front of Demoulin and the fast fading Thomas Voekler . Surprised there were so few spills with what i saw of the street furniture .

Since leaving Austria i have seen rain each day and it was especially disappointing to arrive on "hill108" to find the lower levels slick and the top wet and misty . Finished up having lunch with my mate Bruno in Cloz before a visit to Cles and Passo Tonale each with similar conditions.

Tonight am enjoying the Auberge Jeunesse in Grenoble because i lack the enthusiasm to get out in the evening rain . Hopeful that a change of weather will allow Grenoble to follow other Dauphine ITT's with dry roads ;

A bientot .

 

 

 

 

 

WWW.HILL108PROJECT.BLOGSPOT.COM

Foundations have been prepared for this recognition and celebration of Wouter’s life . Created the opportunity for others to translate my English introduction into other languages but still watching people sit on the fence .

 

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHhkiGlx6fyGGDzTzxY6EfrZ65HYE_WDrEVm-7Wb2KStONsSBuyHMAqSZxtf8JQVpQ0M-m7Zb6sPqoL7CPlpcDF01VEYaJgj4smgF52PwulwohjWGm4qHSnEhH0XQTJ5UokKxMsIcMAlh/s1600/226241_213051752053206_212552522103129_768551_2023068_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="

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From Cyclingnews Forum there have been around the thousand visitors and Besnotty and his mates have chosen to ridicule my efforts . Fact is if those from the “mushroom farm “ have nothing better to do than be little others initiatives then they lead a sad life , but then we knew that already . Imagine if your only claim to fame was sending 11000+ comments to the funny farm ?

The blog itself has had a wide spread of visitors with obviously the Belgiums being the most interested in what is proposed . Passo Mendolo in Italy appears to be as popular in it’s own way as<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i29rTHqX6KZ3P15FRT6Sx7oJp2EuMnmAHWH-PwRUopqJV0fHk0YIRTCIBPcfyWlUmvC918YbqnaVSsK21AdJ0sgXWjhUcvzRzFw5ucho8Gd-7T62v5W4MdlCxRQCiSIR0mdukzk8G8UE/s1600/255108_2026290826336_1515997741_2212698_143406_s.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 87px;" src="

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 Alp d’Huez in France . When you visit my Twitter you will see me at the Tom Simpson memorial at the beginning of this February . First time I had ridden the climb up the Mont Ventoux with snow on the ground , and recently I heard there could have been a certificate had I known how to go about registering .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6VMNqbbVKdchzAYXU-E1OfuswoGYo0hxCX-JuCCFn5fZd9LXFxHQgTOY3Xxs2yYlkQePD-Do1DYRVu9-JtkoKUKQwrkkJLTHUm8og3s_SNqs6CSRTI1srt2rTtZBm95RiJqZl3DZUueQ/s1600/53941283.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="

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Last Thursday I was approached by email by some Flemish creating a Wouter story , I responded to their request and then got a note back in I think Flemish :

posted on your Wall. "Beste Skippy, ik dacht dat vrienden mensen waren die ontzettend veel geduld konden opbrengen om te luisteren naar elkaar. Dat vrienden bijna altijd aan hetzelfde zeel trekken. Ook als ze het misschien niet onmiddellijk eens zijn met elkaar. Vrienden werken in mijn ogen altijd samen. Er is onder vrienden nooit zo iets als ik ben de beste, grootste, slimste of de... Vrienden gunnen elkaar het licht in elkaars aangezicht. Take care and good luck with your project.

Curiously the author has forgotten that I am unable to read Flemish and am obviously in need of a translation . Would someone PLEASE put the translation in the “comments “section .

 

Last week I met by chance Rohregger of the Leopard Team and explained the Hill108 project to him and said I was prepared to pass the project to the Leopard team if they chose to take it on , as yet no approach so the project goes forward with me carrying the workload .  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQexzdN88r00rPvqw9eoeko6mb4ncITjtpghyphenhyphend3QwJUGuZXhBXwO3zobw5x0_ZKR_UOHM2wtSp1HLFsoRzXDxZryfzQmhcWmJBa2H4H-PaVYdwyVypZ0aw5pCo2zCpR6dZqHivP4IPwI0/s1600/pink+bike.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="

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Happy to continue but with the Dauphine Libere in progress and next week the Tour de Suisse will have limited access to computer facilities .

Fatcyclist had his 100 miles of nowhere yesterday and I had 7 hrs in the saddle with the Pink bike and another 6 1/2hrs today with the Black bike that I think will be  used once again at the TDF this year .<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHL-3VnW80wtnOY-72epXe0AgwI9S5UxPRMTjkH1EHQXCsnYphepHhAhNpd7q0ZP_ojF6HTjesSQLke-Xg0nscphBzmcpYPH4LW4UTblQOA9XQou6s_1rYlKza7MXQNifvK8cEG2GLUXq/s1600/P5100015.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="

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 I will miss reading the stories of peoples’ efforts to raise funds for Livestrong . Glad to see so many dedicated to such a worthy cause . CNF mushroom farm has not commented on their efforts but are spewing bile about UCI & the IOC currently . Wonder how many of them have fictitious IP addressses since they have picked  targets that can bite back ?

 

 

Tyler Farrar was a great friend of Wouter but not many people are aware of the fact that his father was hit ny a vehicle some years ago and as a result no longer practices as a Surgeon but does use a Handbike .

 

 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNcuwp2P5qFneft-CHnND_QI_uSJHPBW4A8w-vtjvOk2AwEhD0uGrjxkFj_QEO0jMnABrhRct0_jikWBEsVOKpO4Qy2lKq5Mw8n2MbjDPCgkye8fORwf5TwO_R48b1eMWHXq9baqhY9W2/s1600/tyler+farrar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 165px;" src="

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Regretably the father is unable to fly so misses the opportunity to see Tyler race in Europe .

MISSING A WHEEL

　
TV camera in my face at Sestriere I related the misadventures of the morning ! Not often I am seen wheeling a one wheeled race bike so that would have attracted comment even if my main purpose of helping “Sporti Disabili” was overlooked ! Poor Italian vocabulary skills seem to have worked however . At the tourist office I found that my arrangements made before the start of the Giro had been ineffective ! Quelle surprise (they speak French in this part of Italy!) !

Went down to the Ski Sports store on the corner where there was no Race bike but I was welcome to use the computer , thanks folks ! After setting up the blog posts I headed up to the Amazing Hotel of Sestriere to meet with Gian Franco . He and his people have built a Hotel that is Especially for “Disabled Clients”! All that the Disabled need whilst travelling or on holiday can be found there and more ! But only mountain bikes ! After a coffee break I decided that the day was slipping away so headed over to the Camper parking area . Here after garbled Italian I found someone who lent me a wheel .

This was not what I was looking for though ! This was a Mavic Kyrisium with carbon spokes , not the sort of wheel you could afford to lose OR break . Vincenzo obviously is one of a kind that he could lend such an expensive piece of kit ! Took off before he could change his mind and put in a few climbs and descents in the area whilst filling the afternoon with rendezvous’ with people that I have met before both at the Giro and TDF . Belgium friends Luc & Annie were entertaining Carlos Sastre’s parents and as I left I gave him a hug and her a kiss as I reported to Carlos when we met Sunday afternoon at the ITT !

Returned the wheel in good condition a bit before 1800hrs and started the slog down the road looking for the lift back to Ricardo’s car . First asked was a station wagon (5 door car) who kindly dropped me alongside Ricardo who had come down from the Finestre minutes before . Luckily for us the traffic was light so we made good time back to Torino to be reunited with MY wheel .

Several hours after the wheel was misplaced at the side of the apartment house the local butcher found the neighbour that Ricardo had phoned to look around for the wheel . Ricardo was so amazed at our good fortune that he said he would report the story to the newspaper “La Stampa” ! Not only are the locals honest but the Drivers that I hitched with were helpful and I hope they are reading this since they deserve credit for going out of their way to assist . My wheel is unique in that it has “Aiuto (help Disabled ) Disabili” in Italian and several other languages , so this could have helped . No intention of repeating the situation though !


Evening at Ricardo’s allowed me to see the dismal efforts of Manchester United which was followed by a repeat of the day’s action on the Giro ! Spectacular viewing with action both from the motorcycle and chopper . Italian language was difficult for me but the tension and excitement carried through !

SBS employ a cretin by the name of “Tommo” to report to Australia the action at the Tour de France and he recently blogged decrying the efforts of RAI TV ! Fact is the guy has long passed his “sell by date” , what knowledge he has of cycling can be seen from another post of his about what he has seen of Sydney Cyclists whilst sitting in a car at traffic lights !
In 2004 I asked him to give the Paralympics a boost on his program and his reply was “There is no room on my TDF program for Disabled Sport”! Just as well Sara won Gold Cycling on Athens rOlympic Roads isn’t it Tommo ? Paralympians did rather well for Oz cycling in Athens , and tommo reckons they do not deserve a mention ?

Shame on you Tommo , seems you have mates you can rely on in the SBS management but all I hear from the Oz fans of TDF , your viewers is to the contrary, could be the reason you asked Gatesy to pump your ego in a Pau interview .


Sunday was ITT and after collecting on a couple of promises and garnering some Racer numbers I was at the end of another Giro . During the afternoon managed to surprise a few people by realising some of their ambitions to meet the greats of Cycling .

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE GIRO WILL BE REPORTED ON “TOURDAFRANCE.BLOGSPOT ” as time permits and access to computers at the Dauphine Libere allows !

HILL 108 Project

ESTABLISHED Hill 108 Project so that those who want to remember Wouter can do so in a "positive " way .

@hill108 and http://www.hill108project.blogspot.com can be brought to the attention of others ONLY if you choose to assist by passing on the information .

Not all will be able to holiday in Italy but i would like to think that those responsible will follow this iniative and establish similar projects in other countries .

You have questions or suggestions please visit those sites !