ChrisF

Have to agree with @BuffsVintageBikes Dirt Addict ladies are a very active group. Some very fast racers, but they have ladies of all abilities. Training sessions at the local bike shops. Weekend rides They are represented at all the local races. Road bikes, MTB's .... https://dirtaddict.co.za/

Fair enough. That makes sense. Not the Comrades approach of running to meet each cut off by seconds .... Thus a comfortable and well planned pace, without trying to set age-cat record times.

Well worth buying a "chain wear checker". Fairly cheap tool, and something you will use again. Take it with when inspecting a secondhand bike. A worn chain is not the issue, it is the corresponding wear on the rest of the drivetrain that quickly become very expensive. Remove the wheel and "feel" the bearings. Bearings are cheap enough, but again it speaks to the overall level of maintenance. Bike fit .... well worth investing in a bike fit on your current bike. If for no reason other than getting YOUR seat position, reach, drop etc measured. Once you have these dimensions it is just a tape measure to check if the next bike is in your size range. PS - "L" or "M" in different makes are often not the same. Best to know your dimensions and make sure you buy the right bike.

WOW ... why not ? Doing a solid ride day after day, and managing your effort and energy to be ready for the next day. Frankly, this is better than many prepared for this time round .... Let's face it, you are in one of a few groups: - Racers ... - Going for a personal best - Fun rider .... in which case a well planned effort is worth a heck of a lot more than a blown engine mid way ... (couple of Hubbers in their race reports were clear about how they managed their effort, and made it to the end)

At least he seems like the guy that will get all the case numbers together and deliver the case with a bow-tie to the prosecution .....

Seems we live in hope ...

QUESTION - How does the SA legal system work ? IF more people now report their experiences with the police and get case numbers for the times they had run-ins with this person. Are all these cases all lumped together ? OR, is he being tried for "the one" case that got him arrested ? Easy enough to get out of a "single case" ..... would be a whole different story if a docket of multiple cases are presented.

Much like the Dakar the media concentrate on the "front runners" .... while the "real stories" unfold much later in the field. Respect to one and all the finished this Epic. Thoughts with those that got pulled by the medics .....

You will ENJOY the Eselfontein weekend.

Multi-tier pricing seems to be an international thing, for various items from tourism to sports. Even CTCT has three price groups, SA, Southern Africa and then international. @SwissVan do you know if a similar multi-tier pricing exists for sporting events in Europe ?

@DieselnDust thank you for your series of stage reports. Hope your team mate recovers quickly and fully. As tough as this one was, it is now some of your best war stories.

Mad Max style .... https://www.facebook.com/reel/582741051431576?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Nice clean look on the gravel bike ...

Did you go for the Amoled or Solar version. Would love some first hand feedback from somebody that have used both.

Wise man

Soooo .... The step up from the VivoActive 4 to 5 is actually significant. Many more features added than I can ever hope to use. Battery life increased, especially when using full GPS. (just dont add music, non issue for me). Sadly the screen is smaller, but software now allow large font options (jaaaa, dont always want to grab the glasses to read notifications ...). Any Hubber using the "large font" option ? How do you find this ? Next up the Forerunner 165 .... wag, hou vas, kyk weer .... at first glance most of the specs are similar between the VivoActive5 and the Forerunner 165 !! Cant spot differences, at least not looking at those that I use. EDIT ... Digging deeper ... . No altimitor on the VA5. Did get used to it on the VA4 .... . VA5 use 2 bottons and touch screen ... FR165 uses 5 buttons and touch screen. Buttons might be handy in the rain. . FR165 digs deeper into running options. While the VA5 has various other sports options ... Interesting how they tweak the programming for different target markets. EDIT - Up to this point the watches dont support Multi sport, ie Triathlon. The step up to the next set of watches goes beyond just Triathlon, adding a LOT of training metrics !! Well worth exploring if this is your cup of tea. DC Rainmaker has a nice video of the 165 vs the 265 .... more than 100 extra functions !! Forerunner 255 - @shaper WOW !! this unit bats way above its price range !!!! Sadly less and less shops stocking this .... Not sure why. IS the 265 replacing it ? Will do more homework on this. EDIT - Garmin SA out of stock, seems last units are being sold by NavWorld. Lots of questions online if this unit is being phased out .... Venu 3 ... Have been watching this one for some time. Good battery time Biggest screen size Gen 5 heart rate monitor .... uhmmm .... only three watches use this Gen 5 sensor, with its fair share of complaints of low rested readings. The Instinct series launched two years later went back to the Gen 4 heart rate monitor (to the best of what I can find on google...) Not sure I want to gamble on this .... Certainly will do more research on this topic. Upper end of my budget ... Forerunner 265 is disappointing after the 255 ..... at first glance the battery life is a significant drop. EDIT - Garmin and various sites give wildly different battery times .... The host of extra functions may well explain the dip in battery time ... Instinct 3 Amoled vs Solar .... - Solar has very small screens - Amoled has a very good screen size when looking at the 50mm model, very good battery times, couple of nice extra functions. Fair to say that most of the current sports watches offer WAY more functions than any normal human can ever hope to use. EDIT - update time .... . Battery time ... tricky one ... music, all bets are off. Functionally, the more functions, the more the battery drain. To make it even more interesting, different watches have different GPS functionality, and this has a significant impact on the battery life. The good news is that if you ever want to do some ultra event it is a quick click to go "down" to GPS only to drastically extend the battery life. Latest test by DC Rainmaker suggest that the Garmin units are still incredibly accurate on the "GPS only" setting. even more so than many of the other brands. . Smart vs Sport ... lines are blurring ... but Garmin is most deliberate in its programming to keep both markets live. Their typical sports watches now have more smart functions than I need. . The five button layout of the Forerunner series can be handy to overcome the touch screen issues in wet conditions. For me this certainly will help in the pool. . Maps .... Personally I prefer to keep my eyes on the trails. But DC Rainmaker makes a good point about how far Garmin is behind the opposition on this one ..... . Instinct ... I am not liking the look of the screen on the solar version. That weird cut out in the top right ... For some reason the amoled version copies that look on most of their layouts. No, a watch face is round 😛 But it has that handy flash light .... . VivoActive 5 ... dropping the barometric altimeter ?? Elevation is so part and parcel of our activities .... . Venu 3 vs Frontrunner 265 ... same price point ... more sports functionality and the 5 buttons makes the FR 265 a very good looking option. O-well, with any luck this maze of thoughts might help the next Hubber navigate this search quicker.

Exactly where I am now. Time for a spreadsheet ....

Te veel opsies ...

This is certainly VERY sound advise .... maar hoe help dit om my bankbestuurder te oorreed .... 2:15 walk this morning at Devonbosch ... almost half a battery .... okay, more like 30% ...

You forgot "Toyota Tough" and "Specialized" ..... and ABSA .... and ... and ...

Outside Stellenbosch, Devonbosch, it was dry this morning. BUT, that humidity !! Lots of people cut their distance back from the 10km due to the humidity. I was thinking of @DieselnDust and others that had to work much harder in these conditions. EDIT - Trackside update - light drizzle. Perfect cycling weather.

The same technology, monitoring dry and wet bulb temperatures, are used on construction sites in extreme weather conditions ... at least is suppossed to be, according to OSH Act. For the most part our, SA, 40 degrees with "dry" air, i.e. very low dry bulb (low humidity). Mid 40's and high humidity is not something we are used to. PS - read up on sling hygrometer if "you" want to know more about wet and dry bulb temperatures

After all you went through .... so sorry for your team mate, and for you as a team. Make him proud and kick some butt on the last stages. Thank you for posting these race reports.

Hiehie ... In fairness, gotta come up for my brand, the VivoActive is one of the entry level models. Nice smart watch functionality. Small size .... thus the crappy battery capacity. All the watches with better battery time is thicker and about double the weight. Actually a nice day to day watch.

Very nice watch 👍