ULM Germany

After the TDF i called in on a Ski Buddy from the mid 1990's living in ULM area. His partner had recently moved out and his house was in need of extensive renovation.

The roof was missing tiles , the water was cut off so water is being piped in off the neighbouring house through a hose pipe and there are other less serious issues needing attantion.

I always knew that George was a good cook but hopeless at getting going on practical issues. Fortuneately he is reasonably fluent in english so communication should not have been an issue.

One demand i made in July was that the internet be connected so that i could deal with my communication issues, well a variety of excuses ensued through until i moved in after returning from the Vuelta in early October. Since the beginning of the residency i have chopped the winters wood ,cleared the garden of falling leaves and chestnuts spending mornings before going riding the local roads on the wintery afternoons. Fortunately i have not had to put in much time on the tacx as though cold and bleak there has been little rain.

The past two weeks has seen 70+ hrs of my time digging a trench 12m long by 1.4m deep and 1.2m wide to accomodate the new water pipe. Can you believe the local regs(DIN 4124) call for Wood hoardings using 5cm thick wood at each end of the trench which is mainly solid mud not unstable loose soil. Topping all this is the lack of Plans to show where the Electricity,telephone,television cables are buried and in addition there are no plans for the existing Water and waste pipes. Regardless of all this effort not only has "Prof. Workshy "decided to short change me on recompence but offered the opinion that the work was good exercise . He also revealed that he was in no hurry to connect the internet since he is in the process of changing telephone suppliers. Thought i should have bought a "stick" since i have 2 for Austria.

Well any of you wondering why i have not added to my blog recently will now see the difficulty i have had baring in mind the nearest internet cafe is about 12km away with parking difficulty both for car and bike. Those of you who helped me out during the TDF and Vuelta will i hope be patient as i plan on return to Austria to set to work reporting on those events. I had also planned to have thanked some of my "Sponsors" during the past year by this time but lack of facilities has deferred that task also.

Currently i am seeing little interest by "Para Athletes " in joining me next year so i think that any efforts next year will be directed to assisting another segment of the community. Sad to think that these people do not wish to help themselves.

Recently i have offered a few "comments" to SBS Cycling Central and Roads.cc amongst other blogs. Georgethecyclist.blogspot.com offered me the opportunity to join his latest jaunt in Turkey but after reading his recent blogs i am in two minds as to which situation would have been the more enjoyable way of passing the last few weeks.

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 !