30 Jun 05

HELL ON WHEELS NOW ON SBS

“Hell on Wheels shows the torture and the pain, the fear and the weaknesses of the men in the Tour de France, offering true insight and unprecedented access to the participants. We see the tears of those who are out of the race and the joy of those who suffered but fulfilled their biggest dream: to reach the finishing line of this hardest race of all”

This documentary will be screened on SBS Television on Saturday July 2 at 9.30 pm

For more information go to HELL ON WHEELS

Wazza’s TV tour guide

SBS is covering every stage of the this year’s Tour de France live(ish).

Saturday July 2 at 9.30 pm on SBS - Hell on Wheels

Live coverage starts on July 3 with the festival of the cleat.

Stage 1 from 1.15am, a special on 100 years of the tour at 3pm, highlights at 6pm then stage 2 at 10.30pm.

Every day until July 25 there will be highlights at 6pm. The days after the rest days there is a wrap up of the previous week.

Live stages generally start at 10, 10.30 or 11pm. (But beware of rest days on the 11th and the 18th and check local guides).

The picks of the stages seem to be as follows (days are day of broadcast here for the live stage-the highlights of that day will be shown the following day at 6pm)

Stage 1, 3 July, 19km time trial. Aussies should do well-look out for Rogers, the current and 2 time world champion. And no whining, drug cheat Brits to rip him off this time around. Starts at 1.15am. With stage 2 at 10.30pm.

Stage 4, 5 July, team time trial. Look for inspiration for Gunning and for the pros to do something really stupid! Won't have a huge impact on the tour though as losses are limited to 5-10 seconds per place. Starting at 11pm.

Stage 8, 9 July, the first mountain stage. Some mad euro will try to prove something and destroy themselves. It might even be Ullrich (again). Starts at 10.30.

Stages 9, 10, 11 and 12 are all mountains.

Stage 11 on 13 July is a cracker with the Madeleine, Telegraphe and Galibier providing over 40kms of 6.5% climbs in a 173km stage. That's 2 return trips to Waterfall with about a dozen Waterfall hill repeats. Totally nuts. Starts at 10pm.

More hills on stages 14, 15 and 16 with stage 15 on July 17 having over 40 kms of climbing (including 15kms at over 8%) in its 205 kms. Coverage starts at 9.30pm.

Stage 20 on 23 July is the individual time trial. In 1977 Jan Ullrich won on this 55km course putting more than 3 minutes into French pin –up boy and convicted doper Richard Virenque and sealing his victory in that tour. But that was before 8 years of eating his own body weight in Bratwurst took its toll on Jan. And before some guy called Armstrong really woke up to himself. Coverage starts at 11.10.

All in all, there will be about 12 Aussies, 4 of them have won stages, 3 have worn the yellow jersey and an Aussie has won the green sprinters jersey every year since 2002. And this year there is no Cipo to worry about.

Go Aussies. Team Italia are rubbish!!

ride round

Hi all, the latest is now on line on www.rideround.com. a couple of new features on the homepage, including the "travel sounds" in collaboration with our friend Yvan.

lots of love, yvoine & mike

www.rideround.com ym@rideround.com

Triathlon NSW AGM, 26th July 2005

I'm writing as the current President of Triathlon NSW to urge all clubs and association members to become fully involved in the forthcoming AGM, on July 26th, and to assist their fellow members in making sure that the best and strongest possible management committee is voted in to guide Triathlon NSW into the future.

Like politics in any arena, people get what they vote for. So it's entirely up to us as Association members to make the committee guiding Triathlon NSW as strong as possible by electing the best possible people!

There's a number of initiatives that members can make and I'll outline these shortly, but first a synopsis of where TriNSW is right now.

During the current season, TriNSW has achieved some modest gains; the restitution of racing at Kurnell has been of most benefit to our metro members; but a solution to the ACCC action was perhaps a major step forward for the sport at large. Added to that was the largest ever Club racing calendar, testimony to increased club participation in the sport. Bronwyn Elford has been our Club Liaison in 2004/2005.

With a great team we've been also able to provide more in coaching services, and arguably achieve the best Junior program in the country thanks to Jamie Turner and his incredible Junior sub committee. From a TriNSW perspective, we've been able to negotiate a deal with NSWIS that will see Jamie also assume the role of Coaching Development around the state, from metro to provincial areas and back for the coming seasons.

In racing, apart from restoring the Kurnell sprint series, we've also been able to look after some core focus racing, with Women's Only events, and we conducted the U23 Oceania Championships - a flag ship for our incredible Junior program... I'm also pleased to note that for the coming season, there's a greater focus in NSW on national, world and major races, commencing with the Duathlon Worlds in Newcastle, the Australian LD titles in Huskisson and the new Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie. A thanks from TriNSW to those race organisations who sought to bring / keep these events in NSW and it's pleasing to see that all these events lean heavily to age group racing.

And that's just the confirmed national or world championship events; there are even more events to come, with at least two other NSW events chasing national recognition and a groundswell of Form As reaching the office now. Added to this TriNSW hopes to re-establish a state series in the new series with interest already flowing back to us...

On the technical side of our sport, Murray Hilder has single handily rebuilt the technical side of our sport and is looking for more interested people to assist in the building of a technical sub committee to help further assist racing meet technical and safety standards throughout the state.

Behind the scenes our treasurer (Kate Roberts) and secretary (John Smith), who are part of the executive have helped guide TriNSW through one of the most economically stable seasons in current history and we're hopeful we will have further good news come the AGM and the Annual Report to members and clubs.

Note that all roles within the association are up for re-election on July 26th as is the case each and every year. Ideally the committee for 2005/2006 will be comprised of the following roles. Suggested Roles for 2005/2006 and current incumbents.

Executive/Flag Bearers:

1. President - Nick Munting

2. Vice President - No incumbent

3. Treasurer - Kate Roberts

4. Secretary - John Smith

General Committee:

5. Club Liaison/Club Development - Bronwyn Elford

6. Technical Liaison - Murray Hilder

7. Coaching Development - Jamie Turner

8. Junior Programs - Jamie Turner

9. Racing Liaison - Nick Munting

10. Logistics / Equipment Manager - no incumbent

11. PR / Marketing - no incumbent

12: Web Editor - no incumbent

Note that the committee is traditionally made up of eight people... though constitutionally can include any number (IE: one, or more) so the 12 needed to better oversee TriNSW operations would traditionally mean some people taking on two roles.. We all of course have the back up of the TriNSW office staff in addition to the committee roles. Cris Ashcroft continues to manage this office and Kim Mason has acted as consultant on various marketing and racing roles in the last season.

The new committee will ideally act to bring in subcommittees of dedicated people to help them and, quite frankly, the more the merrier as many more hands make light work. I think I can say on behalf of a number of committee people that this year a lean committee in numbers worked way too hard and we burned out way too fast. The forward plan is to increase the numbers and spread the load.

So! What are the rewards for all this service? Well, not a lot, to be brutally honest. There's no pay, no expense account and little in the way of a pat on the head (and often the opposite). But I can say from personal experience when you see the sport improve and move forward, no matter in what area, its a sensational experience and you meet some amazing people along the way while forming part of an extraordinary team across the state and across the country,

I heartily recommend it to those with the pertinent skills, drive, persistence and passion! It will test you and in fact some of you won't see the rewards before you. Others will however, go on to become major contributors to the sport in ways you never thought possible.

If you are passionate about your sport; have skills sets to input and the want to do so, then talk to your fellow club or association members and complete the nomination forms to be with the Association Secretary by COB (14) fourteen days before the AGM IE: 5:00pm July 12th.

By the way, it helps if you are pro-active, a team player and are prepared to contribute 100%!

So, come July 1st it's time to first ante up for Association and/or Club and Association Membership as you need to be first a financial member - and so do those who nominate you.

I look forward to seeing a great team get together for the 2005/2006 season, knowing that the association is in good condition, is strong and financial stable and is poised to go forward for the betterment for all its members, no matter what area of the sport that they choose to operate in!

Cheers, Nick Munting

President, Triathlon NSW

MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

By now we hope everyone has heard that Newcastle is about to host a great international sporting event, The 2005….

ITU World Duathlon Championships

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September 2005

The event will be showcasing our town, its people and the sport of Duathlon while promoting physical activity to the community. It is being organised by an incorporated non-profit association and is recognised by the International Triathlon Union, and sanctioned by Triathlon Australia through Triathlon NSW.

We need your help!   While we have filled many volunteer positions from function coordinators to our registration team we still require many more helpers. At this time we’re particular looking for bodies to help marshal race weekend, either Saturday or Sunday or both days. We are specifically in need of run and bike course marshals and would like to invite members from your organisation to help make the event a success.

If you’d like to help out, or to obtain further information, please contact Cathy@WorldDuathlon2005.com or forward us a completed Volunteer Application Form available on our website www.WorldDuathlon2005.com.

All volunteers will be part of the Volunteer Recognition Program. This will include a volunteer t-shirt, event refreshments, tickets to the closing ceremony and after party and a certificate of appreciation. Volunteers who work over 15 hours will also receive a race pack.