Morning,

I trust that u are all well. Was a great cycling w/end and many turned up and lo and behold, I am running late again.

The year is really on the move, incredible to think that we are heading for June and just the other day we were preparing for the DC and Argus and we are finding ourselves in that loop again. Scary!!

Well, we have a race taking place at Klein Joostenberg on Sat 12.00pm I’m led to believe with the Western Province TT and RRace taking place on the 19th and 20th of May. This to be followed up with SA's in Bloemfontein on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June. Much training, focusing and prep is taking place at the moment. Hopefully we will have several there who are associated with us. More about that later and of course we then have the Knysna w/end (7/8 July)
So, much on the go and to look forward to! And then there is the start of the DC training being co-coordinated by John.

Sadly we said goodbye to Herman Van Zyl. He has had to resign as Chairman of the Safety Committee. Many thanks again to Herman for his support and we trust and hope that we will still see him on a bike sometime in the not too distant future. We have been fortunate to have a pretty stable and competent team on hand in the Safety Comm with Petie taking over the reigns as Chairman until the end of this year’s term of office. Good luck to the team for the rest of the year - they have some interesting projects pending and play a crucial role in the Basin Area.

While on the topic of Safety its well to remind everyone of just how important it is to NEVER EVER RELAX whilst on your bike. We as the Wannabees have an impeccable safety record and having just one accident is one too many and unacceptable. Never Ever take anything for granted when cycling and in as much as that riding in a group is beneficial, for obvious reasons, one has to be extra careful with lots of other cyclists around. Everyone in the group has a responsibility, never forget that.

If one goes in to the Blog u will see that we regularly remind all about Safe Cycling. http://wanna-b-team.blogspot.com/index.html

Having said something about Safety maybe it’s fitting to mention Health again. The question often posed is just how hard and far does one go in trying to achieve something in sport. This is most probably one of the most heavily debated topics in the world of sport at the moment but also goes back some time.

At last years DC presentation I opened the meeting reading a passage out of Tim Noak’s book “The Lore Of Running” quoted by Dr George Sheenen (1975) and I quote.” Health is something the runner goes through on his way to fitness. A way station he hardly notices in his pursuit of the twenty to thirty percent of his capacity that lies untouched. And health, therefore, is what he risks in training to do his best.”

I am attaching something for u to peruse in the ongoing debate about Health, Fitness and injuries in athletes and the possible exploitation of Elite Athletes.

Much food for thought!!

Talking about food. Don’t ever forget that we have our own resident gourmet chef in Sepp Krompass. Anybody wanting the best Apfelstrudel in town, contact him : strudelsepp@webmail.co.za

Go Well,

Ek

Patrick Murphy, Ivan Waddington. "Are Elite Athletes Exploited?"Sport in Society, Volume 10, Issue 2 March 2007 , pages 239 - 255AbstractAre elite athletes exploited in terms of the health risks they areexpected to accept? What are the health risks of elite sport? Areappropriate steps taken to safeguard athletes' health? This essaydraws on a study of English professional football which found thatplayers are expected to 'play hurt'. Injured players may be subject topressures to return to play before they have fully recovered.Information about their injuries may be deliberately withheld fromplayers. Many clubs fail to meet the requirements of health and safetylegislation. However, it is argued that the concept of exploitation isnot helpful in understanding the situation of professional footballersand that the situation of professional footballers and other elitesportspeople is better understood in terms of the concept of 'risktransfer'.If anyone is interested I can email them the full text version.

Regards
Krista Scott-Dixon

Wondering whether so-so athletes are exploited in Toronto,
ON kristascottdixon@gmail.com