Willehond

Get a proper winter jacket. Believe me there is a big difference between a standard Anatomic long sleeve Jacket and a proper windproof, technical jacket. It doesn't need to be heavy or expensive, but it will be one of your best investments (I rode in -5 degrees weather this weekend, believe me, it helps!) A proper fleecelined skullcap that covers your ears also does wonders as does a Buff around your neck. ...and like the frog says: fleece-lined winter bibs (not just the legwarmers) make a HUGE difference

Yes, he has!

You got the website wrong!!! It should be: http://www.tourDEboland.co.za and all the routes are already up on http://www.tourdeboland.co.za/routes

I'm there with you!!!! When and where are we going to watch? Pack beers for me too!! SO, WHEN WILL WE KNOW WHERE/WHEN/HOW?

VA is 30-40 year olds VB is 40-50 year olds You can move from VB to the alphabet soup (A,B,C,etc), but not to VA (even if you qualify!) as it is aged based. This is unlike normal PPA rides where you can ride subvets if you are a vet. A mare of mine qualified VB and decided he'd rather ride A than VB, but siad he'll never do it again as the A riders are a bit more twitchy than the old blokes and with 200 people all trying to smash their PB it can only lead to time in ER...

I got a B and haven ridden in SA for three years! Bwahahahah!

He also said "I never injected that American with anything!"

Sorry to disappoint you, but all it does is add to the spots. Now they just become coloured.... Not really what I would call a HUD. To me that means numbers and letters that say something, not a line of rev counter dots under the lens...

Try getting this little BBB bell. It attached to the underside of your stem with some o-rings (which hides it from view), but gives off a nice load ping when you approach. Should scare them enough to get into line. Works like a charm. Well, like a bell actually...

Come on, did they really have to introduce him with the header: "Armstrong's ex team mate"?! (PS Nice to see his fighting spirit and desire to proove himself in Europe!)

Wow, at 60kg's you'll fly up there! I carried waaaay more more and survived. Just... I would advise a compact crankset at least and if your ego allows it, a tripple would be even better. I would never attempt it on a normal crankset (and I used to noly own one in SA where you don't even need a compact!). Don't listen to anyone who tells you you can do it on a normal crankset - they have probably never have climbed these mosters themselves.

You got L'Etape entry?! Lucky bstard... I rode up those climbs lastyear as they are also part of "La Marmotte" and I can tell you you neeed to be able to ride at threshold for hours on end. Climbing for 20km's takes a steady tempo and a strong head. It is an incredibly beautiful route. Enjoy it and don't take it too seriously. Just adapt your speed and ride at your own tempo. I'm not doing L'Etape or Marmotte this year, but a friend of mine has decided we're doing the Galibier challenge this year. Climbing it from four sides. I'm scared.

For cyclocross!???? Must be an American or other non-European thing. No respectable Belgian cyclocrosser will be found dead on anything other than tubbies. These guys have shedloads of tubbies to run at low pressures, but never a clincher in sight.

Yip, it is a Shimano only problem (I don't think clinchers or alu rims come into play here?), but it is something to look for if you ride Shimano or Sram and you are buying wheels with an aluminium freehub body (deep section or not). A steel one might be a slight bit heavier but will be much better in the long run. I guess Shimano don't care as their own wheels have steel bodies, so only the real weight weenie wheels are affected

Some experience-based comment from my side... I have owned a set of 404 clinchers for the last two years and they are as true as the day I bought them. I even rode the them over the cobbles of the Ronde van Vlaanderen (didn't know cobbles were THAT bad until I got to them!) and I was a winter-heavy 90kg's at the time. No problem. What I did find a bit wanting on the durability side was the free wheel hub. It is aluminium, which menas it doesn't handle big powerful stomps from big boys like us ;-) without damaga. Loads of little burrs on the freewheel hub and I had to replace it. See this thread: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/74704-zipp-freehub-damage-is-this-normal I now ride with a special cassette that spreads the load to minimise the damage. Yet, I would NEVER consider getting rid of the Zipps. They are just so super sexy. I can stare at them for ages. Makes any bike look 10 times better (plus they ride like a dream!) BTW, the hub problem is not Zipp only. I murder Powertap hubs in my free time too...

I think Rabobank came up with that one to open it all up like they did in Formula 1. In that case I think it makes sense because everyone has access to your feed, even the opposition! Just imagine the cat-and-mouse and poker games that would serve up!!! I like that

I don't know how anyone can say that the way Gilbert or Cancellara won the Classics last year was anything but exciting and how the omission of race radios would have made them any more exciting. Random yes (when Cancellara punctured he would have been out of both Flemish classics), but not necessarily better. Watching Boonen and Cancellara hammer it out is what everyone wants to see, not just who manages to win because he won the durability lottery. I think racing is currently as exciting as can be, but people all get hung up on the big tours where breakawways are reeled in slowly. That's just one aspect. Real tactical racing happens in the oneday races and to make it fair the guys need the race radios. Plus, look at last year's Giro and you will see lots of unexpected results despite the fact that they had radios. I think people are romanticising the idea too much and it won't solve the problem. I like to see who is best, I don't just tune in to see unbridled chaos on television

No, that's not it. Just quoting one paragraph doesn't do it, plus the bit you quoted is just a personal political bit. Read it to the end! Why does everyone always want to reduce a good argument to one soundbite?! Don't be lazy, read it all!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/jonathan-vaughters/radio-silence Read everything. Especially the last six or seven paragraphs. Convinced me.

I alays though 'NO', but after reading Jonathan Vaughter's piece in cyclingnews.com I've shifted to the "YES" view. Strange what actual experience does to fluffy nostalgic theory...

I'm intrigued What is "creditability"? Is it the unbelievable ability to get hold of credit? I'm intrigued (or is that intrigueatable?)

With stripey shirt and handcuffs?

Demmit, you made me look!!!

Nope, one of the problems is indeed that there are no safety standards that protect you when hurtling at 100km/h down a mountainside. If there were, bikes would weigh a hell of a lot more! Also, a lot of the risk comes from other weight weenie components like brakes with insufficient stopping power or rims that cannot handle the heat or carbon handlebars.stems/seatposts that look bling, but are not strong enough to handle us "normal" heavy riders who also want durability (i.e. last longer than a few races). The problem is that some of the light stuff is actually stong enough and stiff enough (and some heavy stuff are crap!), but at some point you have to compromise on safety/stiffness/durability and that's what they try to protect everyone against.

Read in one of my local bike mags that Eddy Merckx has actually been pleading for an INCREASE in minimum weight as he thinks a lot of the crashes happening these days are due to the bike weights compromising safety. Some other technical experts agree and suggest that a minimum FRAME weight would be useful, but practically impossible to implement. I also beleive the weight limit relates to all items on the bike that cannot be removed by the rider whilst riding. The waterbottle and Garmin should therefor not be counted at the weigh-in