LANCE , You LYING BERK !

Looking in the mirror , Lance must see something that the rest of the World fails to see ! Since October , he has had adverse publicity , to the extent , that he has had to step away from his Own Foundation . His Sixth Child , he claims ? Then , WHY , was he not wearing the " LiveSTRONG Wristband " , during the Oprah Interview ?

When Lance claimed , " He would be the first through the Door of a " Truth and Reconciliation Hearing " , it was empty words ! Just this week , USADA chief Travis Tygart , reminded Lance , he had until the 6th February , to attend a meeting with USADA , and there disclose under OATH , information that could lead to USADA , reviewing the " Life Time Ban ", imposed as a result of the " Reasoned decision ", released in October 2012 !
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/26/lance-armstrong-cycling-anti-doping



With Lance disclosing to Oprah , that the motivation for his Confessions , with Her , was the Hope , to seek a reduction from the "Death Sentence " , to a lesser period , thus allowing him to be " Competitive " once again , his reluctance to comply with USADA , becomes an Enigma ? Surely Lance , wanted people to believe him , did he not ?

So much of what Lance revealed to Oprah , has now been picked apart by " Experts " , during the past week or more . Scores of articles have surfaced about his " Body Language " and the " Verbage " that he used . Most telling , though , are articles refering to his return to Racing in 2009 . During the Oprah Interview , Lance disclosed , the ease that Racers had , in circumventing the " Doping Controls " , as they had  then existed before his retirement in 2005  . He went onto declare that he had not used ANY PED Products , when he returned to racing in 2009 .


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/9828490/Lance-Armstrong-lied-to-Oprah-says-doping-chief.html#disqus_thread

 Reports surfaced in 2008 , that he was motivated by Carlos Sastre winning the 2008 " Le Tour " . He then obtained an " Exemption " from the 6 Month UCI Regulation regarding , return to Competition " Out of Competition Controls " , thus enabling Him to race the " Tour Down Under " in January 2009 . Media reports that the South Australian Gov. paid him an amount of $A3million , as an Appearance Fee ! Reports suggest that this Sum was to be paid to " LiveSTRONG ", however , the rumours suggest that , it became a " Personal Banking ", more no doubt will surface in the future . Laughably the current Premier of the S.A.Gov. , has demanded a refund , since the Oprah Interview . Must have been a " Political Ploy " , since , even the Racers are laughing at this "Questionable Idea "!

The apparent reason that Lance is claiming " No Doping " since retirement in 2005 , lies in the fact , that WADA regulations , call for a Life Time Ban , to be replaced by no less than an 8year Ban . With his first retirement from " Doped Racing , being in 2005 , Lance is hoping , his declaration of " Dope Free Racing , since 2009 , will be accepted . Experts such as Mike Ashenden , say , otherwise !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/21195249

 People will be familiar with the fact , of Mike having been employed by UCI , in their " Doping Control " efforts , and his work in setting up the " Blood Passport "! When UCI tried in 2011 , to muzzle his being considered an Expert on " Blood Values , he had to resign . UCI tried to enforce a change of Employment Contract , that would have caused him to be unable to comment for 8 yrs after cessation of employment at UCI . Had they left well alone , UCI , may well have suffered less unfavourable publicity in recent times .



With the 2005 retirement , being acceptable , it is possible that Lance , could resume Racing at WADA Sanctioned Events , as early as 2013 , BUT , should WADA , decide the offerings of Experts such as Mike Ashenden are correct , then 2019 , may be Lance's next appearance , in WADA Sanctioned Events !

Speculation is " rife " that Lance did not apologise to Betsy Andreu , since there were other people in the Hospital Room at that time ! The Doctors and others , have since given SWORN Testimony , stating that what she claims to have heard , did not take place . Amongst the articles surfacing , is one from Frankie Andreu discussing a 40 minute phone call , the day before the Oprah Interview . No doubt , Frankie thought, that this phone call would lead to Lance , publicly apologising to Betsy ?



rhttp://www.bicycling.com/news/pro-cycling/frankie-speaks#comments-section-anchor

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130118/lance-armstrong-admission-kathy-lemond-reaction/index.html

Another disatisfactory result of the interview , was the disclosure that Lance , indeed called Emma O'Reilly , but only the once , leaving a message , requiring Emma to call him . Would any reasonable person , being Insulted in the manner , that Lance chose , seek to find , at their own expense , that he was sorry for himself , due to the fact that he had been forced by Public Opinion , to apologise ? During the Interview , tasked by Oprah about the Law Suits , smirked when claiming, " I don't recall an Action against her , there were so many "! Says a lot for his contrition towards Emma's suffering , at his hands ?

David Walsh , author of so many articles and books , taking Lance to task and referred to as a  " F##king Troll " , also received an apology of sorts . Paul Kimmage , castigated by Lance , not least at the Tour of California , did not rate a mention .

Amongst others ignored in the Oprah Interview were Johan Bruyneel , His Coach /Team Manager / Best friend , throughout his Racing Career , certainly since after the 4th Placing on the 1998 Vuelta Espana . Also there was no mention of Hein Verbruggen and Pat Mc Quaid , both of whom , control the UCI Management Decisions , people , he is reported by Media , to have in his pocket .

Lance has dominated the Major Network News for several weeks now , displacing more important Sporting Occasions . Not only Cycle Racing Athletes but Tennis stars , are being asked to comment on this subject .

LANCE , we the Public , only want , ONE THING , from you !

Compliance with the USADA request to reveal under Oath , ALL Information regarding YOUR Activities , in respect of the Financing of the Team and PED Products . This will mean naming those Directors and Financiers involved in bringing you to the USPS Team in 1999 , through to yours and their expenditures to the UCI and other Organisations that you financed or attempted to finance .

Like many others , i hope that as you leave the ALL REVEALING interviews , the door hits you , as you exit , once and for all ,  the Public Forum !

With ALL the talk of " Truth and Reconciliation " and " Amnesty " by phat mc splat , UCIIC and WADA , one wonders why the Public , you the readers , are not adding your support to the following " Petitions "?


http://www.change.org/petitions/wada-create-an-amnesty-in-all-sports …
&
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/office-of-the-governor-general-of-australia-create-the-means-for-a-sports-amnesty-in-australia#invite …

Some items worth having a look at :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iy1XTxYC98   Lance song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUKZD6eqgo&feature=youtu.be   lance parody

BREAKING NEWS ?

David Walsh a respected long term Anti Doping Journalist tweeted the following this morn :

1h David Walsh ‏@DavidWalshST

USADA report on Armstrong and US Postal doping will be with UCI today (Wed). Verbruggen and McQuaid can hardly wait to read it.

This is the  10th October and thus 5 days less suspense , one hopes !

" Poopoo's ( clinic regular ) response to this news :

He suggested that people were already queuing for the court seats !

Later in the day , this tweet arrived :

3h David Walsh ‏@DavidWalshST

USADA has written a summary, circa 200 pages, that will be available to public. Perhaps some time today. Thousands of pages in full report.

Meanwhile in order to pass the time , those on CNF clinic posted this gem , relating to Lance's Business activities !

It has been rumoured that Lance is now worth between $US80 & 125 M , not all from cycling obviously . It would explain why so many are after him , plain jealousy if nothing else . George Hincapie another of their targets is reputed to be worth $US 40+M , not bad for being a loyal lieutenant ? Could explain why those of the " whistleblowing ilk " are so busy looking for any opportunity to enrich themselves 

With the disclosure of the USADA report , i am sure that the various Cycling Forums will move into Overdrive and staying abreast of their additional disclosures , will become nigh impossible ! During the past days we have seen Mike Ashenden release his take on some data that was in the public domain :

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ashenden-armstrong-may-have-been-blood-doping-at-2009-tour-de-france

One of the cartoons appearing from this discussion :

Another item that came to light :

The author website/blog of this cartoon , was one of those not threatened by UCI , when they chose to act against Paul Kimmage . No doubt they will bring forth another cartoon pampooning the " prats of aigle " !

Presently the US Public is not as aware of the debate on Lance's Legacy as it could become , but the following extract will enlighten those who are on the sidelines at present :
"

This tells me two things: (1) Team Dopestrong will say anything--no matter how goofy--to defend Lance; and (2) This is the best Team Dopestrong can come up with. This line of argument is disingenuous and stupid at the same time. Is Lance's target audience easily deceived morons?

Yes is the answer to all your questions. As much as it's stupid to you and me, it's the right thing to do for team Dopestrong. This is not about cycling any more than Livestrong is about cancer research. It's about deceiving customers to keep them loyal to the brand and keep opening their wallets.

Beyond this (short term) USADA case it's all about Livestrong, the Livestrong.com customer (sucked in via Livestrong.org) and the Lance endorsed brands. That's the guy/girl they need to keep loyal, and that's why Lance is still pony trotting around. And why he needs a sports event series to keep the brand alive beyond this "short term problem".

This Livestrong (and endorsed brand) customer is currently getting totally confused with what's in the news about Lance:

"Wow, did he really dope? Surely it's a witch hunt? Are any of these USADA allegations new? It's old stuff isn't it? Does it matter? But he's still doing the triathlons...? **** it's confusing! What, you are now telling me USADA is hiring big time tobacco lawyers?... That explains it... It's big dirty business Goliath trying to kill my little David cancer Jesus Messiah...."

All part of the game plan to keep the Livestrong (and endorsed brand) customer confused, ease him/her through this "noisy news time" by distracting the media signal. A new story angle every week, keeping interest up but reinforcing the same core message.

Expect more to come in the weeks ahead. All variations on a theme.

As much as this is all very interesting, what we need for cycling is a remaining focus on UCI complicity, and a cleaning up of UCI, so we can get back to enjoy watching our sport as we once did.

The day of reckoning is nigh and has been a long time in the waiting, but need to stay focused on what we want for the day after. A clean cycling administered by a competent sports administration..."

More of these comments can be found endorsing the " Unfair to Lance " and " Ban Him " attitudes .

UCI by releasing last week , their success against flandis in the Aigle court , has spawned a multitude of the following comments : 

__________________
"... ...it is forbidden for him to say that the UCI, McQuaid and Verbruggen “have concealed cases of doping,
... have accepted bribes, are corrupt, ... are clowns,... are liars,
... or to make any similar other allegations of that kind.”

202 PAGES have been released by USADA !   for more visit 

" Courageous Ladies on www.Tourdefarce.blogspot.com

---

Riding with Moser

Apologies to all for the lack of posts in recent times . Fact is with the " Le Tour " , Olympics and now the WCF Masters , i have been far too busy to get all that has been happening onto the internet / paper .

Topping off lack of time , was the arrival yesterday of Francesco Moser demanding i get organised to ride  within minutes . Normally he turns up on Wednesdays in St Johann , but with his lifestyle and the demands for his presence at a variety of events he has to juggle all the commitments  coming his way . Vic Haines ( google ) , a British Cycling Legend was there also  , seems he will be adding to Francesco's network of Wine Distribution by releasing the Wines in the UK in the near future .

When riding with Moser , you can ride to his shoulder , but passing him , particularly on a hill will provoke a response . Had warned Vic of this , so the first climb was  tempo but as we were on the actual WCF racecourse we had a couple of racers pass us . This caused Francesco to pick up the pace and so we were tootling along leading out these Guys , paceline style . Several kilometres passed in this way with a variety of surges along the way through rolling hills and shaded forest areas . On the second climb Moser led the way but close to the top i had to ask him to cool it since Vic was off the back conserving energy for his Time Trial effort on the next day . Reluctantly we had to let the others go and drifted along for a while so as to allow Vic to come up at his own pace .

After passing over another bump on the course we stopped so that Moser's rear wheel could be topped up with air , since he had developed a slow puncture . As we headed through the back part of the course several race groups passed and it was up to me to sprint so that we could latch on for a few kilometres whilst Francesco had a chat with some of the Racers . Arriving in the finish area we played a little cat and mouse but Moser decided that a sprint wasn't on today .

After attending the refreshment tent we watched some of the racers finish their race . Spotted a couple of Aussies at the barriers so asked one of them if they knew of Moser and was met with a blank look . Took Francesco over to introduce them but all that was said " we saw him introduced earlier "! Francesco , according to Vic Haines arrives in a restaurant and ALL are on their feet applauding , and yet for aussie cycling fans it's a yawn , too hard to get the autograph ! Puts me in mind of the occasion i was going to introduce Charlie Gaul to a group of Aussie Journos , their reply was they only wanted to meet 5 time winners ! Wonder if they recall meeting Lance ?

At some point i will air more of my views on the " kangaroo Court " treatment of Lance . Suffice to say that in stepping back from looking after his legacy , the public have been showing their support by increasingly reaching into the back pocket to support LiveSTRONG ! Says it ALL , does it not ?

Tonight the Paralympics start in London , i won't be there , i spent 15 seasons riding , Advocating more support for these Amazing Athletes . Best place to see their efforts is on the TV , so many more Countries have finally woken up to how entertaining these people can be and are looking to increase their ratings by showing their efforts !

TO ALL THE PARALYMPIANS !

You are already WINNERS by being selected for your country ! BE THE BEST YOU CAN , any madals will be icing on the Cake but a few NEW WORLD RECORDS along the way will demonstrate your courage and alert the SPONSORS to new opportunities !

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU !

Addition on Friday 14th Dec 2012 !

Congratulations to YORKSHIRE !

Today it was announced that Yorkshire had won their BID !

6th July 2014 , those that are in Leeds will be able to PARTICIPATE in the GRAND DEPART ! ENJOY !













Meanwhile , here in Snowy Austria , i am riding the Tacx wearing the Shirt seen above and the Bib Shorts you saw on Francesco in the photo above :

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

FATCYCLIST and BLOGGING

Fatty as good as his word went to Livestrong and got answers !

Cycling News Forum as is their way have been "Lance Bashing" to the point that if "Sports Illustrated's Article" does not come out this week they may well starve to death regurgitating the innuendo and rumour that they have been feeding on the past week since i saw reference to them in "Fatty's comments".

Posted to their thread last week and got a few laughs at their expense, being thick skinned, they can say what they like ! Never considered my opinion was worth much, i prefer to let the pedals do the work.

Posted advice on cnf , that Fatty's latest posting was up and so as to avail themselves of the facts they should visit. Not sure how long it was available there but a "moderator( read buddy)" stepped in and removed the entry as you can see from visiting the link. Did suggest that the "moderator" was working with a mushroom farm and if the financial figures provided by Livestrong were too difficult then they could resort to counting on their fingers and toes !

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11749&page=6

Posted to Fatty's comment this AM mentioning this fact and was pleased to see i am not the onlt person with a dim view of their efforts at entertaining each other. The moderator removed another entry posted at the same time and castigated me for their inability to see both made before their awareness of my entries. That "race radio" goes on Fatcyclist with another neme was highlighted by several other commenters. Will post links of examples of it's duplicity as time allows. The bully boys obviously know they are repellent examples of humanity and thus hide behind sundry aliases

Cycling News Forum

AFTER posting my comment to Cycling News Forum I received a few comments which I immediately sent through to the Blog Posting WITHOUT interference. Some of those posting to CNF suggest I interfered with these comments , they were of two types ,supporting me for an attempt to participate and another suggesting I read all 46 pages of the comments before joining in their discussion.

My comment went in on page 42 , below is the link:

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=11579&page=42

I copied the following comment because when you read it carefully you see that the phrase “Friends like these, who needs enemies” certainly applies !

Originally Posted by skippy 
So many comments to my attempt to join the thread that i felt it necessary to do a blog entry:
Some of you will enjoy reading my input others will take issue, please use the email address offered if you wish to debate.
Those that wish to pour more vitriol carry on as you usually would:

HERE IS A REPLY ON THE CYCLING NEWS FORUM THREAD, good effort , others not so good , but enjoyed the laugh they provided.

http://parrabuddy.blogspot.com/2011/01/laf-cnf-comments-and-statistics.html
I tried reading your blog entry. I'm not trying to deliberately insult you, but I found it painful to read. You start making a point, fail to finish, and then just move on to the next unfinished point. To put it mildly... You ramble.

I can see that you think that former Armstrong employees that sue are merely in it for the money. I can only think of one employee who sued Lance, and it was actually a countersuit. And the only reason he became persona-non-grata is because he found some "secret sauce" in Lance's cabinet and then failed to offer him an "All's cool". Perhaps Ms. Crow also discovered the same.

You probably are not aware of it, but the company you're keeping here is a diverse group. And by diverse, I mean people who have raced WITH Lance, worked FOR Lance, been friends OF Lance, etc. Not to mention the hordes of individuals here who personally have decades of experience in the peloton. We're not exactly idiots. We're not blind and if you think we're merely a bunch of angry losers, you're quite wrong. This is the best educated group of people I've ever encountered on the subject of doping, and I've been closely following the topic for 15 years now.

Perhaps the membership on this particular forum is a bit elitist for your tastes. I can understand that. But you'll have to do better than "Landis is a proven liar", because, quite Frankly, Landis' revelations are only news to us in the sense that an insider finally came clean. Everything he's said since May are things that we've long known about. And the case being built against Armstrong today? Quite Frankly, it probably will not depend on the credibility of Floyd Landis.

You've got a LOT of homework to do if you want to seriously challenge this group on the facts.



BotanyBay
View Public Profile
Send a private message to BotanyBay
Find all posts by BotanyBay


##418
##Today, 16:50 #






Not good at transferring material so hope this item has come out clear enough.

Page 46 had a few amusing items









These guys certainly have a sense of humour.

Last days there have been no further comments on this thread but i guess they have started up on another with the same old same old or "SSDD" !


Regrettably I am still awaiting emails from these people on how to comment to the threads that do get the job done.

Tried not to Ramble in this post !

FATTY'S 10lb CHALLENGE

Livestrong this time last year was fortunate to receive a considerable boost by the efforts of "Fatty and his followers", he gave up a number of bikes as prizes to help him meet a challenge he had going with Johan Bruyneel and Radio Shack Team.

This year he once again set his followers a contest that generated about 2000 comments before the starting date. Towards the end he gave in to the request of a lot of these people and started a fund raiser with more prizes attached for a young cancer sufferer,Andreas Knickman, and todate about $15000 has been raised. The generosity of his following is to be applauded.

Below my comment to the blog which had 155 before i started the post and 224 when i finished typing and my two fingers effort was not that slow.


" Comment by Skippy | 12.23.2010 | 2:44 pm

CONGRATULATIONS Everyone who commented , some failed to make the weight but succeeded in their honesty and i hope Fatty sets aside some prizes to reward them ! Looking at the comments these past several weeks has been entertaining and visiting some of their blogs rewarding.
Those who made the weight loss generally lost about 5-7 % of their starting weight so there is a good chance for them to hold on to most of their acheivement. Diet has contributed to their success and additional training regimes could be turned into New Year Resolutions thus continuing the good work todate but more importantly enhancing their lifestyle.
AS i stated at the outset i was already in the minimum weight range and whether i ski tour, ride the trainer or work the rower i have to keep topping up to avoid dehydration. Coming back to the house after 2hrs slogging the skis uphill i am saturated and that is even after regular liquid consumption during the exercise.
Whether jonw9, Oldchainrig or nh_joe agree, my take is that All of you deserve a BIG PAT ON THE BACK !!

HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON to you All."


Further i tweeted Fatty

" @fatcyclist think you should set aside some prizes for the "honest " folk who admitted to missing the 10lb! Honesty always deserves reward ! "

Well i am at a point where i eat lunch after several hours of training and then decide to do another session and 30 mins later i am feeling the effects of dehydration or fatigue. Currently sunny mornings are slogging up the piste on the "skins2 for a couple of hours then telemarking back. My knees really let me know it when i drop into the Telemark position.

BEST WISHES TO ALL FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON.

FEAST OR FAMINE

Today I waited in for the Larry King Live show as this week has been exceptionally informative in so many ways ! Tuesday was Michelle Obama and the Obesity issue which I have remarked on in the recent past. Wednesday we had Joe Biden together with John and Teresa Kerry on the show . I had the pleasure of meeting John Kerry at the Tour de France Time Trial in St Ettienne when he was on the way to join up with Eddie Merckx at the “Discovery Team Training Area.. The previous year in that area I was introduced by Lance to Robin Williams who invited me to San Diego to work with his foundation, sadly no sponsor came forward to cover the expenses.



Larry King was the victim of a heart attack 23 years ago and during his program it came out that Teresa is currently fighting Cancer, also mentioned was John’s fight with Prostate Cancer at the start of his bid to be President in competition with Bush’s reelection. Both at that time were in contact with Lance and wearing the “Livestrong Wristband”, and much was made of George Bush using the mountain bike . Kerry appeared on TV to be an easy going type and this was how he was whilst I introduced him to several people. I did try to get Chris Horner who was in the compound at the time to walk across but as he was preparing for his ride this did not work. Funnily enough John Kerry was talking to Andy Rhys who is now the BMC boss but at that time owner of the Phonak Team. I won’t repeat the story of the Euskatel and Kerry meeting here but it was quite entertaining.

Bill Clinton was the subject of today’s “LKL” due to his overnight operation and during the commercial break I turned to German Eurosport where they were attempting to show the third effort to run the “America’s Cup”. When living in Perth, W.A. in the early 70’s I was into sailing as a past time as members of the “team” that hung out at “Gobbles” night club owned by John Golding were into sailing in a big way. Several of these rogues used to slip the leash of a Friday night and then on Saturday I would get to crew on some amazing yachts, I was never good enough for the first crew who were Profis but there was occasionally a place to make up the numbers in some of the competition craft.



Alan Bond would occasionally make an appearance on board and like the owners of this year’s competitors would take the helm, so it was not surprising when watching the TV to see him on board as “Australia” crossed the finish line to win the “America’s Cup”. since then I have sen reports of get togethers with Alan flying in from England. No doubt he is in Spain at this time renewing acquaintances with some of the “players” from that historic event. I had the chance to meet John Bertrand and some of the Australia crew many times in the Yanchep Sun City area over the years but only met Dennis Connors on the occasion of the Cup being passed over in Perth to be taken back to the USA. I had arrived in Perth by chance with a friend and whilst she was elsewhere I went with George Pascott to the Lunch time ceremony where I remarked to Dennis that the “Old Mug” was “only on loan as it would be returning Down Under at the next contest” ,it did but went to the New Zealand Syndicate.



The fascinating racing today on Eurosport TV seems like a walk over for Oracle’s design but I think I prefer the older style yachts without all the “legal shenanigans”. Cannot imagine having to crawl from one section of the Yacht to another because of the angles that these yachts use when flying. Hate to think what will happen when a section of these huge craft suffers a defect and I am very curious about the Oracle helmsman’s backpack, doesn’t look like a harness support point and certainly not his lunch pack with water sack. Oracle has won today’s event but not being German literate have missed the finer points of the commentary. Congratulations are due to the Americans with their 8 1/2m win, tactics and winds will affect the future races but I hope that we see closer results as these races will compete with the Olympics for attention in the next weeks.

The alarm is set for 2am gmt to enjoy the “opening ceremony” of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and when I return from ski touring tomorrow I hope to see the “Downhill race with an Aussie doing well. Looking at the team list has shown that Dale and Torah are in play for medals once more, there are other possibilities there also. I was at the “Celebration party” in Samsung house at “Torino” for Alisa Camplin and it was a pleasure to see that she was just as happy with the bronze as she had been with the prior Gold Medal from Salt Lake.


On one occasion I was in Deutscher House at Athens 2004 watching the swimming presentation ceremony on TV. Sitting having a smorgasbord lunch at the same table were the parents of the Bronze medal winner. They were delighted that I was Australian and shared a few memories of their daughters exploits leading up to the Olympics. They had not expected their daughter to win a podium place and so had not gone to the pool, there was more I am sure as even being in the final would have had most parents poolside. The Bronze medalist Anne Poleska stood up on the podium with some enthusiasm and general crowd approval, then the Silver Medalist arrived on the podium with a scowl on her face, I am sure that there was huge disappointment for that young lady in not winning but that was not the place to show bad feeling . I was quite surprised by this exhibition and apologised to the Poleskas who also had expected that the gold would go to Australia .Apologies for the lack of Anne's photo given to me that day by her parents

IT IS NOT WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE, IT IS HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME !!

Go AUSSIES grab the medals but continue to make us humble folk Proud!!

Before closing I would like to remind all that I have been fortunate with my sports activities , never a winner but enjoying socialising with some of the notables in every sport I have practised.

Blogging is new for me AND I would like you all to ask others to visit this site because there are others out there who like me would like to help “Disabled/Physically Challenged/Paralympic Athletes” enjoy some of the events we take for granted.



Today I was reading www.fatcyclist.com and of course added a few links to the comments section because he had a “motorised wheelchair/scooter” looking for a new home. In weeks past I have mentioned www.physiciansforpeace.org who are in need of all the “prosthetics and other items used by “Disabled/limbless People” that they can find. Any gathering of people that raises funds for Cancer should consider helping by having a facility to pass on “Donations”. What use are Crutches, walking sticks etc in your cupboard when gathered they can be passed to people in urgent need.

Skippy’s fan club at www.fatcyclist.com are not impressed with my suggestions but I will continue to find ways to help others. “Fatty’s following provided a sum in excess of $136k in december to Livestrong and in January Lance forwarded $250k to the Haitian Appeal. Had I the resources Lance has I am sure there would be more that I could do other than remind people of opportunities to help.



As I grew up I read newspapers with “Charles Atlas” ads , you know the “Glamorous, Handsome Hulk kicking sand in the face of the scrawny weakling, I sometimes feel that my efforts are worthless but I will keep putting the shoulder to the cart and inch it forward little by little.

HEALTH WARNINGS IGNORED

During the last few days we have had “World Cancer Day” and there was an interesting item in Newsweek involving Lance from cycling and Major Bloomberg from New York. Great work is being done by both and others in bringing people to an awareness of just how serious this Growing Health problem is and will continue to become.

However much effort we make at this time the real results will not become apparent for as long as a generation. Tough decisions have to be made now so that the toddlers and youngsters of this decade have a future to look forward to in 20+years time. The Tobacco and Alcohol Lobby controlled too many Governments for decades because they created jobs and were an easy source of Taxation. Politicians love to spend money on programs that make them look good in the eyes of the electorate. Growing up we all remember Tax increases imposed on Tobacco and Alcohol so as to balance the Budgets proposed by the politicians seeking their re election. Note the increases until recent years were not deterrents against the abuse of these substances.

Only in recent years are we seeing responsibility being taken for the growth in Alcoholism and Cancers caused by in the main “Smoking related issues”. This is because we are now seeing a “New Style Politician” who is recognising that the future has already arrived and is recognising the growing expense associated with the Hospitalization of growing numbers of their electorate. The Older Political Animal was always hoping that this problem would be someone else’s to solve and that they could accept the benefits without suffering the consequences. These days we are paying higher taxes as an increased burden falls on this generation for the ills created in earlier generations. How many cigarettes and how much alcohol was responsible for the deterioration of the populace’s health that is now filling Doctors’ Surgeries, Hospital Wards and Mortuaries.

Growing up I recall seeing many “TV Campaigns” about “Norm the Couch Potato” in the 70’s, yes 40 years ago. Amazing that only in recent years Obesity has become a greater problem in the schools to the extent that People from all walks of life are looking for solutions as they are seeing more obvious trends indicating the problem will only get worse , fast! Jamie Oliver School Menus is a politician’s excuse for solving a more serious problem , that being what is going on in the School Childrens own homes whether of the one or two parent variety

Exercise and Competitiveness were virtually banned some years ago in some schools and now we are seeing the consequences. Ill health has become the norm these past few years as a result of people growing up within a cocoon of soft living. Parents whose upbringing was easier than their parents are now passing on an even easier regime to their offspring. School children are being ferried a few hundred yards to school, given pocket money to buy “sweets, soft drinks, etc”, some of this money gets to be used to make an impression on their mates by buying cigarettes and other illegal items.

Schools were the source of inspiration for the Post War Generation and they could and should become the source of a change in direction back to a “Healthier Style of life”. Exercise needs to be the first priority on the school curriculum , healthy food education the next on the agenda and only then should teaching languages and social sciences take their place on the agenda . Getting more school children riding their bikes to school will lead to more exercise and this together with discouraging “junk foods” will help handle a small part of the Obesity problem that continues to grow out of control. Peer pressure and Bullying is the cause of the use of prohibited substances and more education as to the health risks associated and stricter penalties one hopes will penetrate the indifference that currently exists.

As I travel throughout Europe I see school children receiving cycling lessons from Police Officers, great to see that they are getting the education in a formal setting but more important is that they are learning the rules of the road so as to be safe in the way that they use their bike. Many countries in recent years are imposing a 1 1/2m width for overtaking a cyclist and this should mean that there will be fewer collision accidents involving cyclists. Parking is a problem wherever you are, as the minority of drivers are totally inconsiderate. Parking in a “Disabled Parking spot is their right, “only going to be a few mo’s” is their usual reply, if they don’t criticize you for interfering in their business. I have even asked a police officer to intervene and got the same attitude from the offender. Parking on a cycle lane is also for a “moment“, a justification can be “hey the cyclist can look over their shoulder or wait if there is traffic” or “ you can’t stop me parking here if I like, there are no parking signs, who cares anyway ”! Cycle Lanes should have the twin yellow lines indicating “No Parking” for the totally inept to comprehend “ Cycling Lanes are not meant to be parking areas”!

But with all this effort to improve cyclist safety measures the “Adults” are driving with increasing carelessness ! Yes it is possible to drive their car with the knees holding the steering wheel still as they light up the fag and talk on the phone that they are holding to their ear and at the same time reading the directions off their “Garmin/TomTom/whatever! It’s called “Multi Skilling” by some and an “Accident looking for a Happening” by most. Oh I forgot the eating and drinking that is also going on as they look at the floor to find that dropped pen or crumb of sandwich dropped whilst trying to overtake that slowcoach in front of them. Any of us feel like this is a reflection of our current driving technique?

Technology is a wonderful thing , it now thinks for us and we are now no longer responsible for the cyclist being skittled through sheer bad luck. When some one is killed on the road it is currently only the grieving relatives that arrive in court to see paltry fines handed out because you cannot bring back the dead and there is the “There by the Grace of God” attitude adopted by the authorities. Only when the Legislature takes a grip will “Murdering Innocent Cyclists” be treated correctly with the appropriate sentences being handed down. A wife may not mean to kill the husband with a knife but she still sees a prison sentence, a home owner killing an intruder does time, but mowing down a cyclist merits more than a slap on the wrist and community service and a paltry financial penalty!

Reading some of the Blogs in recent times it is apparent that Cyclists need to mobilise their Media connections into creating a Massive Joint approach to canvassing the authorities for more “Cycle Awareness and Safety”. All Cycling Journals contributing to the same Petition on a regular basis whether in writing or online will gain traction but as individuals we are treated as a nuisance rarely worth swatting. Complaining about individual driver behaviour to the local police will at best gain a few seconds of attention but if that party is already known because of earlier misdeeds then you may get a little more attention. It comes down to creating a data base of reports that are catalogued by a disparate community so as to be seen as unbiased reporting rather than “grinding an axe”. Too often you read of “road rage” between car drivers and action is taken but rarely do you read of action after a car sideswipes a cyclist.

Monthly action by the disparate Media Outlets combining to create a well publicised Petition will get results as starting in March, continuing in April, gaining more publicity in May whilst the “Giro d‘Italia is taking place and on the TV, adding more signatures in June and gaining more publicity as the Dauphine Libere and Tour de Suisse are in progress and getting the Racers from the Tour de France involved in July whilst the whole world looks on will overpower the ineffectual Politician Response! Amazing how interested in cycling matters the world is when the Tour de France is on the TV! Very few Politicians will be negative towards Cycling Safety Matters when they see daily the response the voters have to Sports Reports centred on the Cycling communities biggest event.

Governments need to understand that the majority of healthy people are “healthy” despite the distractions available . You will see the occasional cyclist/ sports person smoking a cigarette or overdoing the alcohol but the bulk of this segment of the population recognises that their lifestyle choices will lead to a better quality of life if they are abstemious and work on cutting out the habits that others choose to destroy their health. Awareness of the issues will eventually lead to more enjoying good health and this is why 30+million are wearing the “Livestrong wristband” and more people than ever are participating in Community Health activities.

Sydney to Surf, London Marathon , New York Marathon , Etappe of the Etappes style event subscriptions close early due to the overwhelming demand of people wishing to be participants in these events, but regardless of the demand many of the world’s population will continue to succumb to ill health due to the glamour of life styles created by “Advertising”. “Marlboro Man” style advertising will continue to trap the South American, Asian and African communities into taking up smoking. “Miller and Coors” adverts screened or broadcast will continue to recruit their share of over indulgent users! “Bacardi Events” will attract users both responsible and irresponsible over indulgent users. Fact is that Good Advertising is great for creating illusions but Mankind is responsible for their own interpretation of the benefits offered .

Health warnings are very rarely read and understood , as the Here and Now is the time that is important to most consumers , not the future consequences of Today’s excesses!

Feeling good now is the all important thing and damn the consequences too often the result.

HEALTH WARNINGS ARE DISREGARDED BY MOST AND AT THEIR AND OUR PERIL!!