Christian Van de Velde

Looking at Twitter today i see that Chris V. is involved with a new charity www.savealimbride.org which has been supported in the past by George Hincapie.

About 1% of the population is born with limb deficiency so this is an important charity although it is based in the Baltimore area. With the Paralympic Games less than 2 years from now it is important for people to support any organisation which helps athletes to participate .

The World Road Champs are on in Melbourne currently and i recall when they were in Salzburg and shortly thereafter in a NZ road race Paul Crake became a statistic and now uses a wheelchair as primary transport. Alex a friend in Jenback was at his wedding last year so was able to tell me that Paul is adjusting to his new life style.

Too often we forget that Wootton Bassett "Repatriations" are only the visible tip of the casualities returning to the UK from work in "Harms Way", and Sport plays a growing part in the rehabilitation of these service personnel. Over the past year i have tried to encourage "Help4Heroes and Wounded Warrior Project" amongst others to take my "Relay idea" and see if they can get support for a "Team of Disabled/Adaptive Athletes " to ride the route of the Major Cycle Tours to publicize the need for more Sponsorship of "Para Athletes". At these events there are numerous journos looking for a story and "Free Publicity" goes begging whilst the people i speak to consign my idea to the "Too hard basket"!

Anyone who is able to help me get through to those who can assist please email me on skippi@ausi.com

"2005 Vuelta" taught me a lessonn which i thought was "UNFORGETABLE" but here i am again relearning history.

Today i pulled up at a service station east of the "Vuelta"rest day city and enjoyed a meal equally as good as the 780 peso edition in 2001 near Oviedo, but this time it costs 8.50euro ! Peopled by Romanians this place was 6km from Tarragona and eaten at 1500hrs so will last me the day.

Early morning i set out to solve some bike problems but found the usual "Give me MONEY syndrome" in Tarragona, not able to carry the tools i rely on "Goodwill" which sadly is no longer available in "Espana"!

Even as i write this blog i find that the memories generated are enough to encourage me to head for the beach !

"Disabled/Paralympic Sport" counts for nothing here in "Espana", but before logging on i let a lady use the computer whose partner`s son is "Cerebal Palsy" and so is in a sheltered home these past 30 years! Their Daughter was a friend of George Hincapie a cyclist now attached to "BMC" cycling team. "Go figure" the co incidents that you will come across as you progress through life.

Last time i was in Tarragonna was a Saturday and the start was in the Marina but a few kms down the road the weather took a turn and we were cycling in cms of torrential rain on the road, more like cyclesurfing than cycle racing, arrived at the finish with a transfer to Valencia arriving there in time for midnight. Most people arrived here after Midnight who went to the finish but i shortcircuited to Valencia and caught a lift North with a truck and the last 100km with a Russian who would have made "Schumacker look for a new job"!

Attitudes have changed in Espana these past years, now "Accom. Providers" charge people more money, taking the attitude that "IF YOU HAVE TO TRAVEL THEN YOU DESERVE TO BE RIPPED OFF"" Right!! you have to travel from home so you can afford to pay "PENALTY" for all those who stay home because the economy has tightened and think twice about visiting Clients/Friends, as telephone is cheaper ! WRONG ATTITUDE HOTEL OWNERS !!! Encourage more travel by offering better "SERVICE", perhaps lower prices also !

My baggage travelled to a "Sponsors" hotel, i visited to advise that i had arrived, at the hotel i secured "Recom" to neighbouring "Hostal(Cheaper form of Accom)" was told my "Driving license(photoI.D.) was "Nuisance Value to their " Son (the Computer Whiz.) so i went elsewhere and found cheaper accom w/out being "hasselled" about I.D. at 22hrs. WHO loses? I am better off by 20euros a night, but who wants to stay with the "Idiots Who say that you are a "PROBLEM"!

By the way i am in Espana riding my bike and the "Hostal " wanted to leave it in the street as "THEIR FLEA PIT" is so clean that a "Clean bike is not allowed in the room ! WHY am i here? I am riding the route of the "Vuelta"! Where do i leave the bike? Not where it becomes some "chancers " property ! THink i want to spend more time in Espana? YOU ARE right the benefits are outweighted by the liabilities, sunny weather is great but "Hassells" are not "welcome" !

Vuelta Espana has become a smaller event to that i remember visiting in 1999 and will continue to lose prestige whilst those supplying "Service" to the event think "SMALL" ! There are some with this Event Who deserve recognition for the efforts they make to encourage the "Public" but whilst you have Media saying there is no "News Value" in broadcasting about "Disabili" but there is value in interviewing "Politicians"!

PRODUCT REVIEW : DIGEUS : Computer Product

Product Review

Just recently I was asked to do a product review, perhaps because I mention the difficulties I have with access to the internet. Each time I log on it can be a lottery as it comes in at 20bit/sec but at other times it will be at 1.3m/sec but usually that is with items I do not wish to d/load.

When trying to upload the blog content I usually walk away and do some other job for a few minutes since I have given up o waiting for the computer to do the job most people expect of it.

Vista 7 or 8 whichever the computer is using seems to work reasonably compared to some other computers to which I have had access, but to the best of my knowledge there is room for improvement.

The product offered to me

http://www.digeus.com/products/systemoptimizer/system-optimizer.html

Has asked for a review but apart from reading what is on this page I am unable to offer any advice since I am a computer newbie and blog to help publicize “Adaptive/Physically Challenged Sport“!

Should I receive this product as offered I may well see how much better the computer performs and if it does as stated then I will be able to do a better job of keeping my readers entertained with my news and views.

Of course I welcome Cycling Product to review as this is an area I am very familiar with and any “Travel Offers” also will gain credible reviews.

SBS CENSORSHIP

Currently based in Zillertal in Austria i am unable to see or follow Cycling in Oz unless i go to the internet. One of the sites i have to follow is SBS Cycling CEntral Blogs which has a variety of items each month, some are informative and are worth sending comments.
Comments that are below standards required do not deserve repeating, but many times i have sent in items shown below that are censored out and not printed. I keep all comments that i contribute to a variety of sources and i know that "Googling " will find them also once printed.
Personalities come into this as well since in 2004 "Thommo" told me "I have no time on my Tour de France program for "Disabled Sport"!", he had time to show me in the background on several clips none of which i had been happy to hear about in the light of his "Censoring the reason d'etre"!

Fact is i rarely spend time with "Journos" who want to do anything other than help/report on "Disabled/Adaptive/Para/Physically Challenged Sport". I only do interviews with Media as i come across them , i will not make appointments since it limits my movements, who would walk away from a meeting with "King Albert 2 of Belgium to meet a Journo who may either not be there, running late or not use the item because something more important has come up.
Each Grand Tour is an investment of my Time, Money and energy and i go into it with hopes of contributing something but realise that i am not important enough to make a difference !

Judge the comment to the article for yourself !


Original Comment.

"EQUIPE is a great source of info for any sport whilst in Europe, better if your french is fluent or a mate can help you out !
Anyone with new Lance book able to help me out by scanning pages 185/6 to skippi@ausi.com and if there is someone that has graham Obree's "Flying Scotsman" please forward the ref's there please !

Unlike the "mention" i do not get involved in "Money " but spend my time reminding Athletes, Sponsors, Organisers, Fans and others that more needs to be done to fund the Para Athletes so that their families do not have to carry the burden of their efforts to represent their country in International Competition(even in local comp.s they have huge expenses) and elsewhere !
My efforts are voluntary and the recognition, hospitality and thanks i receive from Para Athletes & their Families & Friends whilst at the Giro,Tour & Vuelta make the considerable expense and time spent worthwhile.
Still would like more support to help these amazing athletes to get a "Relay Team " going for future Tours starting now with the "Tour Downunder" !
IT CAN BE DONE !!
Follow @skippydetour and google Skippyaus , Skippydetour & Parrabuddy and sign on as followers but also look at the Aust. Paralympic Site and see what you can offer to send the best team to LOndon 2012 and show why Australians are the best !"



2nd effort

"PLEASE ADVISE WHY THIS COMMENT IS UNACCEPTABLE !!

No one else seems to have bothered with YOUR article

"Equipe is a great source of info for any sport whilst in Europe, better if your french is fluent or a mate can help you out !
Anyone with new Lance book able to help me out by scanning pages 185/6 to skippi@ausi.com and if there is someone that has graham Obree's "Flying Scotsman" please forward the ref's there please !

Unlike the "mention" i do not get involved in "Money " but spend my time reminding Athletes, Sponsors, Organisers, Fans and others that more needs to be done to fund the Para Athletes so that their families do not have to carry the burden of their efforts to represent their country in International Competition(even in local comp.s they have huge expenses) and elsewhere !
My efforts are voluntary and the recognition, hospitality and thanks i receive from Para Athletes & their Families & Friends whilst at the Giro,Tour & Vuelta make the considerable expense and time spent worthwhile.
Still would like more support to help these amazing athletes to get a "Relay Team " going for future Tours starting now with the "Tour Downunder" !
IT CAN BE DONE !!
Follow @skippydetour and google Skippyaus , Skippydetour & Parrabuddy and sign on as followers but also look at the Aust. Paralympic Site and see what you can offer to send the best team to LOndon 2012 and show why Australians are the best !"

Seems like each time i try to help the Aussie Paralympians some SBS "nobody" censors the item !

Copy of this message will be found elsewhere and will not reflect kindly on SBS policy towards "Disabled Sport" !

The above also sent direct to SBS management who will probably "Bin it" since they never Ever replied to previous input, so what's new?

Living in the Austrian mountains i have an internet connection that runs at 20bits/sec most of the time but will d/load unwanted items at 1.3m/sec, go figure !

TOMO BLOG COMMENT

THIS IS A COMMENT ON A "TOMO" BLOG

Tomo and i do not see eye to eye about "Disabled Sport/Paralympians" thus he rarely adds my comments to his blog regardless of how favourable i am to the subject !

In 2004 at the TDF he told me that "i can't find time on my program to talk of "disabled Sport" , it is irrelevant when reporting the Tour!" 15% of population are irrelevant? Fortunately for Aussies the Tour Coverage happens in out of business hours time slots so All get to see the terrific work that France Tv does each day. In europe the majority of coverage is watched by those at home which is biased by the number of people with "disability of a variety of causes" that tune in ! SEPTEMBER 2004 the Aussie Paralympic Team was trying to emulate their successes in Sydney 2000 and even in July their efforts could have been enhanced had the "OstericH" not had his head stuck in the sand !

Shame on those who belittle ANY "disabled person let alone those aspiring to serve their nation ! Those returning from Military Service Abroad face new challenges and Sport is one area for them to recover their self esteem as they attempt to build a new life. Already we are seeing Service personnel aspiring to competition in London 2012 Paralympics , contact your National Paralympic Website to see what you can contribute to their success !

French TV throw huge resources at the TDF because it is a sporting icon and they want to showcase France in the best possible light to keep the 75million visitors coming each year to all parts of france whether for holiday or business!

SBS on the other hand are frugal and initially were 3 now somewhat larger. Given that 4 hours coverage a day is reported there is no excuse for not mentioning or supporting "Disabled Sport/Paralympians"!

This was the 13th riding of the TDF route for me and daily i met with and was offered hospitality by the families of Paralympic Athletes of both Summer & Winter Events. Some of these generous individuals remember and recount previous meetings taking their time to introduce me to some of their local dignitories with anecdotal stories of how my efforts have helped them and their colleagues.

Tomo time and again tells me he has no time for "Disabled Sport" on his program, still tries to be friendly when we meet as eventually he will realise that the 15% of the population suffering Physical & Mental disability deserve respect !

This item can be found by googling TourDaFarce, Skippi-cyclist or Parrabuddy, you will find more there also.

Tour operators who do not bring "disabled" to the TDF should be ashamed of themselves, it is not about the 100% profit on each seat with little or no effort required, it is about " a fair go" an old aussie tradition . Paralympians who have served their country deserve a "Cost seat" and no doubt will inspire your clients rather than "turning them off"! People like Peter Brooks and Micheal Milton could even travel for free with the amount of business they would attract for you!

Time to prepare for next year so send out those invites now as Milton's agenda fills fast, whether i ride the 14th depends on "Sponsorship" since i want a Relay team Of "Disabled /paralympians" passing the baton as they ride each day the same route as the Racers!

Finally, Cadel's day passed when he let his frustration out on the idiot that interfered with the race , like "chaingate" that was the pivotal moment in his career. His World Championship win is the thing he will be remembered for by ALL PROUD AUSSIES !

M.Le President Nicolas Sarkozy

Yesterday i finished riding the route of the "Tour de France" for the 13th time in honour of "Handisport and it´s Athletes and those connected and sponsoring these Amazing Athletes!

Had i been a frenchman i am told that M. Chirac earlier and certainly yourself would have honoured me with the "Legion of Honor" for services to sport and Handisport in particular

I did not set out in 1998 from Dublin for any other reason than to help find "Sponsors" for the British Disabled Ski Team but France TV discovered and broadcast the story and turned it into "The Australian helping Paralympic Sport".

The media impact was huge and in 1999 i rode a larger programme starting with the "Paris-Nice" in march. Whilst in Paris i visited the "Assembly National" where i met Fabius Laurent amongst other dignatories at the computer exposition taking place at the time. On other occasions i have met him at the "TDF Village Depart ", one occasion was when the Arnold Schwartnegger circus was there to promote his new film.

Britain has an N.G.O. cazlled "Help for Heroes3 ,USA has "Wounded Warrior Project" & Australia has "Legacy " amongst others that i know of but i am unaware of a French Connection/ N.G.O.. With French personnel of the Army and Gendarmerie serving in Afganistan there is a need for a similar organisation to be created possibily under your "patronage".

Having spoken with Generals; Colonels, Commandants , Captains of the Army , Gendardermie , Sapeurs Pompiers i am aware that there have been service personnel Lost or Retired as a result of Service both overseas and in French Territories.Those who lose limbs are generally retired with support from the state but occasionally some continue in service. one of the aids in rebuilding their self esteem and lives is sport. Some of them go on to serve their country once again in a competive role in International competition.

2004 i was a volunteer at Athens Paralympic and met "Gerhard Schoeder" at the conclusion of a cocktail party at Deutscher house honouring his visit there. The question uppermost in his mind was why Germany/Deutschland was not winning Paralympic medals. I was able to tell him the story of Klaus Lungerhausen who won two silver para medals in Sydney 2000n but due to lack of training and sponsorship from government and private sources was unsuccessful at these games. He had brought his family for their holiday as he could not expect success through the lack of support and preparation. Throughout the intervening years he had continued training but lacked resources to lift the level to achieve the Gold Medals he sought.

When Paralympic Athletes receive external support they excell but when they have to rely entirely on their own resources they are limited in their time commitments and even then their family lose out.

M. President your task is to issue an EDICT that compells A.S.O.(society of Tour de France) to have Paralympic events on the course the Racers will use prior to their competition. This will allow the Tour Spectators , Media and Others to see Paralympians and Disabled Champions from Franch and other Countries in action. This will allow ALL to consider their abilities and encourage sponsors to come forward to fund their future competition prospects.

With Paralympians coming from other countries at their own expense there will be strong and entertaining competition such that the Media would wish to broadcast and will give France a strong boost in the estimation of the world sporting community. Seeing these athletes in action will inspire other "Disabled( house bound currently)" to take up sport thus broadening their horizons getting them back into the community and perhaps back to the workforce where they can contribute to society rather than having to rely on society.

There are many unfortunate to be at home through Accident or Health issues that can be inspired by participation in sport to rejoin society in a more active way.

ONLY YOUR EDICT can change the entrenched regime currently in place at A.S.O. passed from Jean Marie Leblanc to Chris Prudhomme. M.Prudhomme has made little progress from JM´s refusal to permit para athlets visibility; People remember the Ochoa brothers competing in the Kelme Team at the 2001 TDF but in Oct 2001 they were In an accident that Zavior survived with Cerebal Palsey and now competes for Espana as their champion when he is not the Paralympic and World Champion.

YOUR INTERVENTION for the 2011 Tour de FRANCE will ensure that the "Le Tour" becomes an even greater jewel in France´s Sporting Achievements.

With thanks for your help !!

below is an email/letter from "Elysee"

"

Monsieur,



Votre message est bien parvenu au Président de la République française qui m'a confié le soin de vous répondre.



Soyez assuré de l’attention portée par les pouvoirs publics au développement et à la médiatisation du sport paralympique.



Aussi a-t-il été pris connaissance de vos réflexions.



Avec ma considération distinguée.





Le Chef de Cabinet

Cédric GOUBET "



Probably a standard letter modified for the subject matter, Nicko doesn't read the blog but if Carla is reading then i am sorry i missed meeting you in Paris on the 25th, hope you take an interest in cycling so that "M. Laurent Thironet" has the pleasure to show you some cycling tips and his collection of Paralympic Medals.

WORM CRAWLS OUT

AS I start this blog entry the Giro is 87km from the line and they have just shown video of the worm on Deutsche Eurosport in a split section with the race where real racers are earning their living by suffering long distances and for the most part unseasonably cold and wet weather for this section of Italy.


Most of the commentary since the start of this transmission has featured an incident in 2006 which should have been long consigned to the dustbin of history as of no interest to cycling or the encouragement of sponsorship. However ever since a certain Jan was accused of engaging in “Unsporting activities” the Germans in particular have tried to distance themselves from the sport.

Last week in the Cuneo area I was fortunate to ride with Eric Zabel as I have done many other times in past years. One occasion that comes into sharp focus is the Vuelta Rest day in 2001 at Barcelona
Most Spanish teams stayed in the same neighbourhood so the were about 50+ in the group including yours truly. Training on rest day starts out at a moderate pace through the suburbs and as we were going along I got my leg pulled unmercifully as there were any number of the racers who knew my story and wanted to know why I support “Disabled Sport” even though some of them remembered me from the 2000 Olympic in Sydney.

Not sure who started it but I had paper thrust under my nose and the request for autograph, “are you kidding” I asked but the straight face answered their family had seen me on TV so were asked to oblige. Well I went to the back of the group and tried to do the bike autograph, I was then doing like Stephan Roche as I wobbled down the road. This got to be a bit of a joke as some of the Telecom boys joined in as well. Later the group broke up into several sections and together with Telecom I rode up to the observatory behind Barcelona . Returning to the hotel in the traffic a little fat local hopped out of his car with a tyre iron to threaten the Telecom guys, Eric broke out in laughter as did the others , the lights changed and we took off bemused as to what the rabbit was raving about..



Back to the return ride to Cuneo, following Eric was a long haired Italian looking guy in a red uniform letting Eric ride point. I saw them coming towards me and having seen Eric in Savigliano early that morning was surprised so turned as quickly as I could to chase but was 150m behind so was red lining to catch the draft. After I got on I found that the pace was uncomfortably high so with a strong wind in the face decided to draft rather than chat.

Now here’s the thing that stands out, we were easily going faster than I have ever gone with him on “Rest Days” regardless of the head wind, closer to 40kph if not more. This amazing guy is not racing and yet he is pulling us both along quite easily ,and he is not named by the worm as a user. The next day with Moser, Motta, Bettini & Fondriest started out at a lower tempo but the return trip was equally as fast again Maurizio is not named by the worm. Fact is he seems to have a grudge against his countrymen and US Cycling and their connections but then he was looking for attention at the Tour of California and caught the attention world wide.

What a sad day it is when “helping someone” in past years is rewarded with this type of behaviour. As I was growing up I was taken to the beach and would build sandcastles and at home like other kids would throw mud at the wall hoping some would stick , well we all know that Media Circles have deep pockets and access to teams of lawyers so what’s a little mud between reporting on Iraq and World Cup Soccer?

Earlier this week I thought it was “April Fools day “as I caught an article about tiny motors being buried in the frames of bikes. YUP there are those who think that a bike can be assisted by a tiny motor! Where do you hide the batteries that are needed to transform the power of the athlete into mechanised assistance?

Marco Bugnotti made a comment as a member of the UCI that was reported in Cyclingnews.com which I thought summed up their attitude to the Media’s interest in this subject. Looks like it has been overtaken as a matter of speculation by the worm!



Two grand tours on the go and both with Aussies wearing the leaders jersey with 20+ Aussies vying with each other to achieve recognition the rest of this week will be great viewing. Another thing I notice regularly is the Columbia team spends consistently more time on the front of the peleton than other teams, is this my imagination or is this fact.



Perticara has been passed with a 6min lead for the breakaway and it reminds me of Linus running out of steam before the finish in an earlier etappe, disappointing to see someone have “Hitting the Wall(usually in marathons) syndrome” in a bike race and within the final kilometre.

PLEASE IF YOU ENJOYED THIS BLOG click the “FOLLOW” on the navbar and LEAVE a COMMENT as “Sponsors react to interaction and I cannot help “Disabled/Physically Challenged Athletes without their support! Helping Para Athletes is why I make this blog available!