pbp2007

In the Western Cape, Pedal Power provides fun ride organisers with a "bible" of guidelines that covers everything from suggested placement of water points to managing the Cokes at the end and contacting the media. It would surprise me if this sort of information isn't pretty universal. The thing is actually getting people to read this stuff and then act on it.

Chris, I've got the 301, which doesn't do courses, so I'm only as clued up as my reading of the 305 manual permits. It looks like you have to create a course based on the Argus route. You can do this by having ridden the route first, and then basing a course on that track. Alternatively I see that the latest release of Garmin Mapsource allows creation of tracks on one's PC. You would then have to use the course point tool to insert points at the various "split" markers. Maybe you could give the course point a name that corresponds to the split time, so you'd know if you were still on track time-wise. It seems to me the course setup is firstly designed for those who want to measure their performance against a previously recorded performance. However, according to the manual you can use the 305's Training Partner mode with Courses. This will give you a constant update on whether you're ahead or behind of time/distance. I use Training Partner often when I want to do a simulated TT - it's a wonderful tool and one of the best things about the Forerunner. In this case your parameters for training partner would be, say, distance and time: for instance, distance 109 km and time 3:00.

PM me if you'd like GPS tracks/routes in *.GPX format for rides in the areas you're interested in. I can do jpegs if you haven't got a GPS. I can also put you in touch with our club members (Celtic Harriers, Cape Town, www.mpceltics.com) who are training for Iron Man.

Congratulations, the Dreaded Lemmer... I take it this means you will be too busy to join us on any more audax rides this year...?

This kind of stuff? Can be presented in Garmin Mapsource as well ? I?ve got several of the <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />W Cape events. I've lowered the resolution to upload this particular file. (The 99er) <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

My '82 Gios Super Record still has the original Campag BB. I don't know what mileage the previous owner did, but I've ridden it for over 5 000 km.

Dick wrote:<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> >You can always use old paarl road. it gets a bit bumpy at times and goes past an informal settlment, but it is quite safe and there is very little trafic on this road. It also ony adds about 3km to the ride, not so bad at all. Smallrebel commented: >"informal settlment" already puts me off. In our December Audax ride we travelled Old Paarl Rd to the end about 3 in the morning. The informal settlement didn't bother me nearly as much as 1. the oppressively dark last bit that made me wonder if I was still on the right planet, never mind the right road; 2. the three idiots from the formal township immediately before the informal settlement who decided that they should have a bit of fun with a lone cyclist; 3. the glass in Voortrekker Rd. We were hoping to re-route via Bottelary for this month's 600 (weekend of January 20) but it looks like we may have to find an alternative.

One word: SportTracks. (at Zonefivesoftware.com) Another word: Freeware

Heavy? That must explain why my climbing is cr@p since I started using the 25C Gatorskins (300g). Nothing to do with the fruit mince pies, trifle, etc, clinging to my love handles, of course. In foldable format, a 23C GP4000 weighs 205 g and the Gatorskin equivalent 230 g. The normal wire-beaded Gatorskin 23C weighs 280 g.

Italian BBs are maybe not commonplace but certainly not scarce either. Should cost R200-R300 new. The local distributors had them in stock when I needed a Shimano one a few weeks ago. In the end Jared at BMC made a plan and used Italian BB cups on my existing axle. Be sure to tighten the Italian thread BB properly or it WILL come loose.

How about "every day"? About 25 km into our ride on Saturday we stopped to fix a puncture. Somebody said, "Your wheel looks buckled." So I checked and, would you believe, it was rubbing the brakes in one spot. One spoke with virtually zero tension. Great, I thought: only another day and a half of this. A bit of spoke spannerism brought it back to more or less not too pretzelish, so I opened up the rear brakes all the way and rode like that for the rest of the weekend. Funny thing is, the wheel was retrued and redished at the bike shop the day before ... I suppose it's at least partly my fault for not taking it on a shakedown cruise first.

Not The Training Ride Report. 300 km Saturday, 300 km Sunday, elapsed time 39:22... that's PBP qualifier No. 2. Just the 200 and 300 to do now! P.S. You see some weird sh!t going down Voortrekker Rd at 2.30 on a Sunday morning.

TitusTi wrote: >When is the next one after 2007? Every 4 years - so 2011. >will join you guys one day when I 'm big and strong You can add to that "When I'm highly bed*nderd" and "when I'm sadly in need of a life".

First 300: Diep River - R27 - right at Yzerfontein/Darling turnoff - Darling - Hermon - Paarl - Durbanville Hills - Diep River Second 300: Diep River - Klapmuts - Franschhoek - R43 - Bot River - Kleinmond - Bottelary - Diep River. Start Saturday 04h00 Cutoff Sunday 20h00 (40 hrs) This is a qualifier for Paris-Brest 2007.

I'm too scared to plug our weekend scenario into the software... we'll spend about 10 hours getting blasted northward (hopefully) and about 30 hours slogging away into the SE. Forecast: Saturday Strong SE Sunday: Fresh SW Prognosis: Sufferfest.

This guy's software http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/index.html will help tell you that and lots more.

Last time I spoke to Garmin SA they said they were considering bundling the new Forerunner units with the street maps as standard. If you buy in the US, you won't have this option. I would also check beforehand about how this would affect a warranty claim. You can't upload maps to a Forerunner, but you can view them in Garmin's Mapsource software (free download from the Garmin site.) When I got my 301 in March 2005 it came with just the base map. This is a world map that goes down to about trunk road level. That equates to about the M5/M3/Main Rd/R102 in Cape Town or say the Champs Elysees in Paris. Resolution is OK. With the Streets software you can plot routes, and set and manipulate waypoints, with accuracy to within a few metres. I obtained the Streets software separately, by the way. You can't do an altitude course per se. What I do is set a waypoint at the top of the climb. I then tell the GPS to "Goto" the waypoint and it will point the way and count down the distance remaining (and time, based on your average speed; and elevation, if you have put in the elevation when setting the waypoint). Of course this is all "as the crow flies", so if you want more accuracy you simply create a route with as many waypoints as you like up to 100, and upload the route to your Forerunner. Does the 100 waypoints limit one? Er... no. You can save your waypoints to Mapsource anyway and upload specific ones when you need them. PM me if you'd like some screenshots of my SportTracks tracks.

Power training is great for cycling. But, if you also run/swim/paddle/ski, etc, etc then you need to think about something that can support those modes. I have used a Garmin 301 for 2 years for monitoring of heart rate, speed, pace, elevation, climbing, route....the 301 has flaws but they are masked by its staggering abilities. Take a look at https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=749&KW=garmin+301 I believe newer models ship with the high-detail Streets software now. You can't actually upload maps to the sports GPS - only to the higher-spec models. However, you can upload Routes and waypoints so it can be used as a "real" GPS. The newer models (305, etc) also support cadence. P.S. Garmin's Training Centre software is mediocre. Try SportTracks (Zonefivesoftware.com). It's free. You'll never look back. P.P.S. Check out the GarminF forum on Yahoo.

Try pedalpower.co.za... no, wait a minute, they haven't got it either. Under "Quick Calendar": "The next 6 PPA events are..." Odd, only 2 events are listed. Token, we've tried. We've even (sob) cried. But still no calendar.

Medals on my shopping list for 2007: * Super Randonneur (200, 300, 400 and 600 km in a year) * First marathon - Paris, next April * "Behave yourself, you're 50" medal followed by * PBP 2007

So you mean to say that even a Polar occasionally has a little problem... ? Minor fluctuations can be minimised but never truly eliminated, as other writers have pointed out. At times I even had to use conductive gel (stuff that ECG operators use - get it at your chemist) because of the erratic performance of my Garmin belt. If you want to fix your HRM records and if the Polar software doesn't support editing/corrections, I'd suggest you take a look at SportTracks from Zonefivesoftware. It's freeware, supports data import from Polar, and allows editing of HRM points and GPS trackpoints. Since I installed SportTracks last year it's become my default training software in preference to Garmin's Training Centre, which came bundled with my Forerunner 301. (Disclaimer: no connection to developer, etc.)

Here's a suggestion: http://www.bsn.com/Cycling/ergobike.html