MDJ

I've been riding Ultegra Di2 for 2 years now, absolutely love it - definitely worth it IMHO. Reliability is better than mechanical if you consider in addition to just working, its much less maintenance, flawless shifting every day. In my opinion its more tangible than a wheel-set upgrade. I bought a new Scott Addict in September, Ultegra Di2 with descent wheelset ... the love of my life . I like the shifting so much I even prefer to use it on my IDT!

Another vote for the Specialized Phenom, love it

Figured out why my power was so low, seems Rouvy doesn't support dual sided power meters . Will investigate more tomorrow, works 100% on Zwift

Awesome keen to give it a bash, FYI the event link is: https://my.rouvy.com/onlinerace/live/18107 Hoping my rouvy power readings work properly, for some reason it was showing 100w less than the PM the last time.

I have a Ryder 900 Lumen front light that I've been using on early morning 5-7am rides and commutes for the last 18 months. I find it perfect for the job - its able to provide descent light for around 2 hours on full bright mode, alternately on medium brightness or flash mode I can comfortably do a 4 hour ride. Pros: Great support, easy to get replacement batteries. I like not having to fuss with cables and battery packs, easy to just take-off recharge and snap back into place. Cons: It can run down if you use the full bright mode. It only has one flash mode which works ok during daylight, but seems to piss of drivers and runners when its dark. Its a rather intense flash pattern - I normally leave the constant beam on when dark or point it slightly downwards. I have an extreme light for the MTB, great product - but I find it too bright for commutes and the recharging process is a bit clumsy.

Good luck to everyone doing TOGH tomorrow! . The route and conditions look stunning. I look forward to stalking my friends on Strava - serious FOMO.

Matches my experience too, the cramping disappeared when I got fitter and stronger. There are no shortcuts imho. Tried some stuff, but they didn't really work as well as more training.

$ starting 6:00 # starting 6:05 % is starting 6:10

I wish I was fast/skilled? enough to push my tyres to those kind of limits . In my experience the grip is awesome on the GP5000s - much better than Gatorskins and on par with the best grip I've had on a road bike tyre. I've used both 25c and 28c - you get even more grip on 28c vs 25c. Just make sure you use proper sealant - Stans does not work, Revoseal has been good for me. Andreas swears by Orange Seal.

Two riders converged at higher speed as we hit the start of the hill and went straight into each other from the side - then came down taking a lot of us with them. It was surreal and silly (as most crashes normally are ). I was right behind them. I tried to hop over but came down, going to need a new helmet and front wheel rebuild - lucky to escape quite lightly . Ironically I'd been in front working in the pace line for quite a while, then thought, I'd move back into the bunch and save some matches for the final run in. Next up 99er, weather's looking good

Awesome race, flat and fast! Well organised to get a full event to run quite smoothly! Unfortunately I went down in the crash in B bunch about 11kms out, luckily no major damage done, TT to the finish. Looking forward to 99er next weekend ????

Haven't tried them, but I'm interested to hear your feedback, I like trying new things. GP5000TLs have been my best tubeless by far, CWC has a special on them atm 899.

Ditto, also still waiting for some kind of communications. I'm collecting entries for others and planning on driving through with other ppl if the times make sense.

Nope - nothing showing on Racetec either

Looking forward to it, my first race for 2020 ????. Weather is looking good so far. Seems it might thankfully be quite a bit cooler in the morning, may need a warm-up for hels ????

Awesome, thanks for the info, will definitely try some WP Cycling events this year ????

The PPA website isn't great, but at least its kind of logical. The WP Cycling one however .... maybe I'm just silly, but I can't seem to find a simple list of the road events for this year. It seems to all lead to an empty calendar with only WP Champs this weekend?

Sad news, it went from 5 to 6 then 8 - now zero. It was really cool to have so many additional 'safe' road event options - I managed to do most of them, but the numbers last year at a few sportives were very low, so I can understand that it was not sustainable to have 8. In my opinion it would be great if there was series of 5 sportive events spread over August to December. There are quite a few guys I ride with who are just getting into cycling and these were great events to get used to 'larger' bunches, have a good race workout and get into the seeding system. Guess I'm gonna have to try some of the WP Cycling events now

The new bike really looks awesome, congrats again . I love your write ups - thank you! I still get dropped, just have a slightly higher average speed most of the time . The A-B group was hectic as mentioned, nice to see the breaks and chase downs up-front in person. Not so nice to have to pick between going over the line or suffering in the wind. Its a race I guess so guys push hard and don't want to give anything away, if they kept left there would have been so much more space. At least when the bunch split at around 70kms our little group of 6 worked well in the wind, rode a better formation - much more sensible for a 'funride'. I feel sorry for the bike marshalls - they did an awesome job as always and really tried to keep everyone safe . Cars passing on left, oncoming traffic - some serious thinking about why it has to be like that, guess I'm not cut our for the racing group ...

Checkout https://brakkies.photofrog.co.za some really awesome shots from the event.

Sportive 7 was originally supposed to happen in October, but they rescheduled it to December due to lack of entries on the original date. The date for 8 was already set and I think this was the only weekend that made sense. Logistically the routes and venue's differ etc. See you at the start line ????

Ahhh that sucks - I was wondering why you missed the last one. We must arrange a December ride

Event Name: 2019 PPA SPORTIVE #7 When: 8 December 2019 Where: Perdeberg Wine Estate, Western Cape Category: Road Venue: Perdeberg Wine Estate Date: 08 December 2019 Start time: 06h00 / 07h00 Long Route: 102 km – 06h00 Short Route: 50 km – 07h00 Lucky Draw: 11h00 Cut off: 12h00 Enquiries: Rozanne Dreyer (021) 671 6340/rozanne@pedalpower.org.za ROUTE DESCRIPTION Long Route (102 km): Click Here for route map. Riders will start at Perdeberg Winery and turn right on Vryguns Road. The route will split at Slent road where the short route will turn left and the long route will turn in the direction of the prison. Cyclists will continue to the R45 where they will turn left, in the direction of Malmesbury. Once they enter Malmesbury, they will turn left on Loedoelf Street and left again at the roboot on to the R302. The route will continue along the R302, becoming the R304 and then turning left on the R312 at the fruit seller 4-way stop. They will continue until they reach the R44 where they will turn left and head back to the venue along Vryguns/Voor-Paardeberg Road. The 102 km route will have 3 water points and the 50 km route will have 1 water points. Short Route (50 km):Click Here for route map. Riders will start at Perdeberg Winery and turn right on Vryguns road. The route splits at Silent road where the short route will turn left towards the R304 and left again when they reach the R304 heading in the direction of Stellenbosch. When they reach the fruit seller 4-way stop, the cyclists will turn left on the R312 and continue until they reach the R44 where they will turn left and head back to the venue along Vryguns/Voor-Paardeberg Road. Water points: The 101 km route will have 3 water points (35,7km | 56,8km | 77,7km) and the 50 km route will have 1 water points (25km). MORE ABOUT THE SPORTIVE SERIES This series is aimed at all cyclists, from beginners to experienced riders, and offers the perfect platform if you want to keep fit riding road events throughout the year, improving your times and setting a new personal best. If you’re brave enough to take on the challenge of the longer routes, the series is a great test for endurance and stamina … and needless to say, completing all the events will be a great source of personal achievement. No pressure though! Each one is also a standalone event, so you don’t have to enter all in the Sportive Series. THE SPECIAL FINISHER’S TROPHY This year, we have decided to do away with medals and do something more innovative and challenging – you will get a beautiful 3D bicycle puzzle that you can assemble once you have completed all the events. The way it will work is that after each event, you will receive a few pieces of the trophy … complete all eight events and you can assemble the little road bike on a stand. However, even you haven’t done all the Sportive Series events, or won’t manage to do all the events, you’ll still be able to buy the missing pieces at a very reasonable cost at the Sportive #8. We still want everyone to have that trophy to display at their home or office. DIRECTIONS TO THE VENUE FROM CAPE TOWN From the Cape Town via N7: Follow the N1, turn left on to the N7 towards Philadelphia Road/R304. Take the R304 exit from N7 past Philadelphia. Follow the R304, turn left on the R302/Klipheuwel Road and continue along Slent Road. Turn right on to Vryguns Road for approximately 2km to Perdeberg Winery, on the left. From Cape Town via the N1: Take the N1 to the R44. Take exit 47 from the N1 and turn left on the R44. Follow the R44 and turn left at Windmeul Winery on to Voor Perdeberg/Vryguns Road and continue along Vryguns road for approximately 7,5km to Perdeberg Winery, on your right. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: -33.39’30.00″ Longitude: 18.49’37.00″ NOTES Remember to wear your PPA road fun ride number and Racetec timing chip. No children u/13 on the 101 km route. No children u/11 on the 50 km route. ONLINE ENTRIES Long Route (101km) Non-Member R375 PPA Member R275 U/18 Non- Member R200 U/18 PPA Member R100 Development Entry R100 Short Route (50km) Non-Member R175 PPA Member R125 U/18 Non- Member R80 U/18 PPA Member R50 Development Entry R50 Late entries will be available on the day of the event at the same cost as the online entries. If you wish to enter on the day, please arrive with enough time to register. Go to Event Page

Yes, Sportive #7 - should also be fast and furious: https://pedalpower.org.za/events/pedal-power-association-241

Some photos shared on Facebook by Brakkies Sport Photos from the event: PPA Sportive #8 @ Simonsvlei Really stunning work