Shamilton in the news !

Well i write Blogs and they get a few people reading , whilst he writes a book and upsets the " Applecart "! I doubt there are many cyclists , that follow Cycle Racing , that are unaware of the book " the secret race ....etc " ?

Over the years that i have been riding the routes of the Grand Tours and Pro World Tours i have met many of the participants both on the bike and at their team facilities . Cycle Racing allows " Jo Public " access to these Racers , part of the reason that makes the Sport so popular . Only at the Tour de France , do they make access more difficult for the Tifosi ( fans ) , and even then there are plenty of opportunities to get close and personal .

Recently Tyler has been in the limelight because of his appearance on TV , and now with the book being aggressively marketed . Several Interviews have been printed and no doubt this story will continue to be front page news until mid October when the USADA say they will present UCI with the report , that has been outstanding since Lance declined to commit further time to the Kangaroo Court , that the USADA call arbitration !

    Photo is of Oscar Sevilla , whilst with Phonak , playing " doctors ", served a suspension for Doping also !

Today i attempted to comment to the " scotsman ", but as yet the comment below has failed to register :

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/interview-tyler-hamilton-cyclist-1-2555924#


 " Tyler ,
we first met at the 1999 Paris-Nice on the Monday morning . I looked for you as a result of meeting one of your neighbours on the Saturday . It was a freezing cold day as the team sat outside the Team Camper !
You guys were joshing about and no doubt part of that , was because i was not dressed for the weather and i was about to set out to ride the route you Guys were about to race .  Warmed by your Drug Intake , you guys probably felt invincible . By midday , i was unable to drink a glass of brandy that i had bought in a bar in an effort to raise my Core Temperature after encountering freezing sleet and snow .
Countless occasions occured for us to meet over the following years , including the Giro , where you continued riding despite  broken bones . Last occasion we met , i recall  ,was at the 2004 Athens ITT training session where you passed me a drink from the riders fridge .

 That you were USING the whole time , demonstrates how easy it was to fool your father and friends , let alone the public ! Your book was offered , fREE , on Cyclingnews Forum by a contributor there but i don't need to read it to know how far you have fallen !

 You are reported to be selling memorabilia , some of the proceeds i gather will go to the " Paul Kimmage ( fagor photo )Defence Fund "! Perhaps the balance could go to the " Wounded Warrior Project " & " Help4Heroes ", these people are TRUE Heroes !

When Christophe Bassons of France and Filippo Simeoni of Italy report to the media that you have Publicly apologised , and they have accepted that Apology , then you will have reached bottom and can draw a line on the past !

Losing Haven and your former life , is a price TOO high for the trivia you gained by your resort to DRUGS ! Too many people followed your example and some have lost their lives by doing so . Hopefully the monies from your book will be used to support a " Foundation " which will HELP DISCOURAGE youngsters from setting out on the path , you chose to follow !

The ball is in your court ! Succeed in a new Career as an " Anti Doping Advocate " or spend the monies on yourself and a lifestyle ! "




RARELY do i suffer the frustration that is inflicted by these type of articles ! Repeated efforts to "post " this comment have failed . There is also a link to Facebook  , which does not appear to have been utilised  either ! What is the point of a newspaper offering their readers that registered , " ACCESS " and then not allowing that access ?


Earlier in the week i asked for HELP to add the " Chip In "
button  for the " PAUL KIMMAGE Defence Fund ".

Hoping this below will work this time :

PARALYMPIC HEROES

So often you see “ Sporting Stars “ described as “ Heroes “ ! Wrong description for most ! This of course is a personal observation and will be contrary to those of most people !

For me to think of an Athlete as a “ Hero “ requires that they have done something Heroic , riding your bike like Lance Armstrong , or playing Basketball like Michael Jordan , is not heroic . They are certainly “ Role Models “ and their careers and subsequent outside interests are worthy of note .

 “ Heroes “ are those who have “ Served their Nation in Harm’s Way , suffered adversity and fought back to Serve their Nation once again on the Sports Field “ ! During the next two months we will see many Athletes at the Tour de France and in the London Olympics described as “ heroes “ and when the London Paralympics open at the end of August , you will see these Athletes’ efforts  pale into insignificance !

On the Paralympic Podiums will be seen exceptional personalities with a variety of stories . But it will not be necessary to win a medal to be a winner , since each competitor will have fought for many years against adversity to reach the qualification standards imposed by the “ IPC “ !  For each competitor there will be years of dedication and heart breaking stories , of their struggle to rehabilitate after injury suffered in Serving their Nation in Harm’s Way , of rehabilitating after some medical condition , even of being born with physical infirmity . Whatever was the cause of their “ Physical Disability “ , they will have struggled to overcome these difficulties .

Some will have a mindset that will not even acknowledge that they are any different from you or I . In fact “ Heiko Kroeger “ , a great German Sailor , had to be convinced to step back from thrashing Able bodied Sailors , so as to help his Nation by joining their National Paralympic Team at the Sydney Paralympic Games ! In the story of the “ WE can , you can “ , Idea Argo Project , that utilised “ French Kiss “ to attempt to win the “ Americas Cup “ he said when asked to join this team “ My first thoughts were to say NO ! Because I never felt Disabled , I never  joined disabled sport and I was having enough success in “ non disabled sailing “!

Heiko was in the mid 2000’s , a member of the crew of “ French Kiss “ , solely crewed by “ Disabled Athletes “ and also in that crew was Lars Grael  , the Brazilian Gold medal Sailor , whose life was disrupted briefly by a Drunken Motor boat driver . Losing a leg this guy rebuilt his life and went back to beating his brother , who was dominating the Brazilian Sailing scene . Amazingly Lars  even won the South American Championship along the way .

The story of “ Idea Argo “ passed me by , as I am sure it did with most of you . I had no idea that an Italian Gold Medal Paralympian that I first met at Sydney 2000 Paralympics , was also a crew member . Pierangelo Vignati reminded me at the Giro d’Italia Team Time Trial in Piacenza that we had met in Sydney . Since then he has been very kind to me , not only entertaining me in his home , but helping me in a variety of other ways . Kindnesses that I feel I did not deserve , but that is the nature of this man and many others with “ Disability “!

Physically Challenged / Para Athletes tend to be people who excel at whatever they attempt , you can almost certainly expect they will make the effort to converse with you in English . Rarely do I find “ Disabled People “ that do not attempt to carry on a conversation in English , no matter their nationality . Says a lot for how lazy some of us able bodied people can be ?

Another team that I have had the good fortune to come across are the VorArlberg Wheelchair / Handbike Team . At St Johann in Tyrol each year there is the World Masters Cycling Championship , which is an event that even “ Para Cyclists “ attend . Some years back I met several Vorarlbergers , each of whom were members of the team that raced , relay style , the “ Race across America “! Yes , day after day , they rolled their Hand Bikes through 3000+ miles to achieve the nigh impossible . Currently that race is nearing it’s conclusion and in this year’s edition are 8 members of a team from “ Wounded Warrior Project “ . What these guys have suffered before becoming involved does not bear thinking about ! Since adding the links i have discovered there are in fact two teams , hard at work , creating " Inspiration "!

Go to these link for further details :

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/race-across-america.aspx

and

http://team4mil.org/trackers/wounded-warriors-tracker/

No doubt their efforts will inspire other teams to take on this challenge during future events !

That people are rarely aware of a person’s “ Disability “ is clarified by an incident I witnessed yesterday in Kramsach ! Seeing a tandem pass at speed in the opposite direction , I did a U turn and had to really chase hard over a couple of kilometres to get up to them . On a narrow street within the 40 kph zone we were close to the speed limit but two cars were not content to wait . The first a blue saloon decided that 50+kph was their “ right “,  and off they went past me and then the tandem into a right handed bend with little visibility of oncoming traffic !

The second , a grey Peugeot people mover “ MD 721..” decided to attempt to pass also, even though there was oncoming traffic , I slapped the front rhs mudguard panelwork when he was alongside me , causing him to brake and fall back , thus allowing the oncoming vehicle to pass unimpeded . As he then passed again ,he made a gesture such as “ there is the problem “ ! You know , the right hand opened , palm up , pointing to  some object ! Was he telling his wife , that the tandem was at fault for being in his way ? Or was he trying to say that the tandem was in his way and should not be on the road ?

Tyrol is honoured to have a number of “ Paralympic Stars ( could even be described as “ Heroes“ )“ in Cycling and also Skiing ! Roland Dornauer , is a blind Athlete and as such is the “ stoker” on a tandem and was out doing his Sunday training , at this point , 40+ km from home .  He later told me , when , after many kilometres I caught up with them , that he will not be at the London Paralympics . Tandems are slower going uphill but faster downhill but this team were really motoring and I had to call “ langsamer ( slower ) “ so as to enjoy a brief chat .

When next you see a “ Wheelchair Driver “ , perhaps you too will wonder what sport they pursue and their skillset  , maybe even reflect on the cause of their Disability ?

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 !