Underachiever

Very sad indeed, they sponsored me and Pierre Smit in '86 when I was riding juniors. I was very proud of the multicoloured Cyclosport jersey. The shop has been in the family since!!

Or Finish Line Cycles in Kempton...

Seems surreal not to see Wout's name on the list

Seems so, but massive Epic broadcasts and Tour of Catalunya

Meanwhile.... https://www.news24.com/sport/othersport/wada-suspends-south-africas-doping-laboratory-over-multiple-non-conformities-20240305

Agree, you don't win the Tour in Feb, but a good start nonetheless!!

I also had to start this running thing earlier in the week. Will be working very long hours the next 2 months, so perhaps a run or 2 will help maintain the fitness somewhat. Running is HARD on the (my) body!!! I'm fine from a HR perspective, but the rest of me is shot, and I'm only running a 2.5 (16min). I'm sure it will get better.

A proper bastard. The Yanks and Japanese working under the control of the Italians. With no infighting. 2024 is certainly weird!!!

I' have a garage full of GAINTS, including 3x TCR's 2004, 2012 and 2020. Never regretted the TCR's for a second!!

Bad boy gets himself a 4 year ban... https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/springboks/springbok-elton-jantjies-given-four-year-suspension-for-banned-substance-20240118

He's at the Lemmer brothers tonight....😜

And mechanical does not have the better stopping power. The TRP ones are good, if you can find them!!

I'm OCD, so the pass for me is where the gravel starts, to the top, which then adds about 5km at 2.1%. Significant for old, fat and unfit ballies like me!!!! This segment..... https://www.strava.com/segments/27176466

Swartberg northern side (which includes the little downhill) would be an interesting number, certainly more difficult vs south

You probably mean Rietvlei Dam? You cannot ride inside the nature reserve....buffalo, cheetah, etc. Plenty of smaller roads on the western side that are in a bad condition, but pretty quiet.

You don't count, being immortal and all...

Wow, ok, the portion from Malvadraai to the top of the switchbacks many times exceeds the steepness from the other side, so to do that on a 1:1 ratio take some doing!!! Hats off!! Bearing in mind that for the GF you will already have a far bit off riding in the legs...

For my MTB equivalent gear ratio you would need a 28x42 for the last 3km of Swartberg. Having said that, I've done Swartberg many, many times on a MTB, but never with a gravel bike, so not sure how the 1x gravel crowd manages their gears for the race. They most likely use a 50 cassette?

Agree, but I cannot find a full GRX gruppo, any ideas? 1st thing is to move from mech discs to hydraulics if I do a stepwise upgrade.

You might sukkel with Swartberg Grand Fondo, but on the other end of the scale (flat tar), you will wear down the 13 sprocket pretty quickly

Can you please share your 105/grx mix details Ross?

A frustration is when to find a good 2x (shimano) groupset if you do a custom build, even 105 is not available - unless I look in the wrong places....

Agree, This is a ±1090 km trek. At 23kph = 47 riding hrs = 6 hrs per day. Similar to the Epic...

Heard she at Ronnie's shop on the R62....

Make sure to log on to give us a nice race report!!! Plan to be on the road at sunrise at 06h00 to beat the heat. You don't want to be on the road past noon for too much.