posted Jul 9, 2007

Re origin of Gravesend - this is from the Gravesham Borough Council website. Boring I know and no mention at all of graves or dead bodies!!!

The town is recorded in the Domesday Book as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and called "Gravesham": a name probably derived from "graaf-ham" the home of the Reeve, or Bailiff, of the Lord of the Manor.

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posted Jul 9, 2007

Hi, been to london, simply wow! much better than watching a football match, and for free! congratulations london - the best spectacle for years and years!!.
Just one question - how come Zabel is permitted to race? he said he doped only once - how can we be sure it was only once? seems like double standards to me that he is taking part.
By the way - have taken some superb photographs, think London should run a competition for the best Tour Picture by a fan.

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posted Jul 9, 2007

on the drugs subject, firstly i think the comment i read by robert millar within the recent book on him (in search of robert millar) sums up the double standards in sport. paraphrasing, if a cyclist takes cortisone to overcome an injury (say a saddle sore) he is a cheat, whereas if a footballer takes the same drug to assist an injury he is playing through the pain barrier. the book is a really good read - i can recommend it. secondly, for "top_gun" can i suggest he awaits the verdict of the landis case before he summarily brands the man a cheat. whilst he waits for the verdict he could read floyds book which contains some very enlightening facts about the whole testing and arbitration process. the whole system is in a mess and it has taken a very public process to bring it to the attention of the wider public. not heard a peep from dick pound lately - i wonder why?

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posted Jul 9, 2007

when zabel "confessed" he said he tried EPO in the 90s but it didnt work for him - apparently some people suffer adverse reactions from it and he never properly used it. its a tricky one that he confessed about 10 years later, i.e. whether he should be banned, but i think the cycling authorites are doing all they can to support the riders as it should be recognised that doping/drug taking was a culture throughout the profession, i.e. teams, managers, physios etc were all involved, not just the riders - it wasnt as if the riders were deciding to do it off their own backs, they were all under pressure to do so. the culture is definitely changing and teams and management are now actively and positively helping to cleanse the sport, and everyone's help is needed - e.g. bjarne riis confessed to doping when he won the 96 tour, but he is still boss of CSC - he hasnt been booted out. however he has himself decided to stay away from this year's tour. but people with riis's experience and "new" attitude (CSC are one of the strictest teams and have never had a rider test positive) are needed in my opinion, which im thinking is why they havent been boooted out. but whether riis should be involved from a publicity point of view is another story.

david millar was quoted this week as saying "the pressure used to be to take drugs, now the pressure is not to take drugs" which i think says alot


i tried to take some photos over the weekend, using a disposable camera ha ha, but i think whoever develops them will be puzzled why ive taken so many pictures of empty bits of road!! especially in hyde park, it was almost impossible. got some good shots yesterday in kent tho.

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posted Jul 9, 2007

But cyclists are allowed to take cortisone for medical reasons and still ride. Floyd Landis was permitted to use it because of his hip problem. Ludo Dierckxsens took a shot of cortisone to aid recovery from a knee injury, but didn't get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). Actually, I'm not certain that TUEs existed back then. Anyway, he won a stage of Le Tour a few months later and 'confessed' to the dope control.
Then, hilariously, hid dope test came back negative!

It's easily forgotten, all these drugs actually exist to help people who are sick, injured, or recovering from surgery. WADA doesn't exclude sportsmen from that.

Also, some sports (most conspicuosly golf and football) have used the excuse that they are games of skill rather than strength or endurance - so drugs have little impact on performance. Steroids and EPO could make Vinny Jones stronger, faster, and longer lasting, but they'd never turn him into Diego Maradona.

They do, however, allow cyclists to turn bigger gears and win certain rather gruelling stage races. Don't they, Bjarne?

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posted Jul 11, 2007

Benneth - Reckon we'll have to send our ‘tarmac’ pic’s to Cycling Plus / Weekly or which ever is your favourite cycle magazine. Get a competition or some such going. I’ve got some beauties, not a cyclist or pothole in sight. Pure smooth blacktop, now that’s got to be worth celebrating!

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posted Jul 12, 2007

The event was superb but behind the scenes the volunteers were poorly treated at the finish at Canterbury. Having attended the compulsary and necessary training day the month before it was with great surpise that no security ID checks of the volunteers were made and it appeared that supervisory staff were not expecting us! We were left to find out where key locations were so that we could answer questions from members of the public. After 8 hours on our feet what did we get? No thanks, no goody bag and no transport to our vehicles as promised. Having volunteered for the Manchester Commonwealth Games and the National cycle velodrome I am aware of how things should be organised. I am sure we have lost a lot of good will from our volunteers. Why was the experience in London the day before so much better?

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posted Jul 12, 2007

Great race but why did the cyclists have to litter the beautiful kent countryside with used drink bottles, and other rubbish

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posted Jul 13, 2007

As a marshall some of us did have problems with the spectactors who were chalking up the road 5 mins before the vehicles and cyclists.. We warned them. but the police did not step in when people refused to move.. It is a wonder there were no more accidents. We could have done with more barriers and firm policing.

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posted Jul 13, 2007

The organisation through Medway left a lot to be desired. The local council should have used Sheaperd Neame as they at least now how to organise a drink up in a brewary.
The local Taxi firms had to stop running as they could get no where near the area. The extra funds that should have been brought into the Hotel industry would hav been used up due to the fact that they could not get staff into their premises on the day and had to find rooms, and feed them, over night. To do this they had to turn away bookings. Functions had to be cancelled as guests could not leave the hotels on the day of the race.
According to the local radio station the pensioners in the Dartford area had to go without their meals on wheels service as no provision had been made to get the service through.
The local area was totally closed hwne with a little bit of forthought and planning a limited one way system could have been in operation which would have allowed local businesses which would have allowed any local firms that needed to work to carry on.
As any thought been given to the amount of revenue that has been lost by the self employed, the local firms and charities that had to cease operations on a day when they would have been able to take advantage of the extra custom.
The local council spent a good fortnight carrying out temporary repairs on the roads and cutting back hedges to make thearea look good on TV. It did nothing for the road surfaces as they were still as rough, they just did not look it. These repairs will have to be carried out properly at additional expense.
I think the Tour de France was a good day out for families but it needed more forthought and planning to stop the major inconvenience that was caused to the local working population. A few years ago this would not have been a problem but now, for a lot of people, Sunday is a normal working day.

Roger

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