Barend de Arend

You can practice this in the pool. You have to learn to look and sight regularly. The idea is to look up every 12th stroke or so (if you breath every third.) Put a water bottle at the end of your lane in the pool with a bright cap (you probably have a water bottle anyway) and just look up. The idea isn't to look and focus at the water bottle; just quickly look and confirm you're swimming in the right direction. The idea in the pool is to just get used to it. Try not to pop your head up too much to look. You don't need to read the advertisers writing on the buoy. Just a quick confirmation that you're heading in the right direction. Your next open water swim remember that there could be a current. So you could be pushed left or right continuously. In the beginning look a bit more often until you adjust. Once you're always bang-on-target every time you look you can look every 20th stroke or so. When you turn around the current changes. If you can't get a good look, don't panic. Swim a bit more and look again. Especially in sea swims in the swell you can't always see the buoy. In some triathlons (like IM70.3 this year) the buoy can be: small hidden in the mist 700 meters away below the horizon of the swell so before the start look for landmarks if you can.

It's a pet peeve of mine when all-natural gets mistaken for better. Spinnekop responded to that and I jumped on it. So I may have misconstrued it by-accident-on-purpose.

Yep. Marijuana is natural (and banned) Alcohol is natural and banned during racing. Opium is natural (I'm not sure if it's banned)

When I raced VAs (I think my best ever was one top 10) I did do this. I told the doc. So I got sick, and the Doc is paging through the book: nope, you can't take that, next, nope, not that one, .... On the plus side, I've gotten off a few "normal" meds that had side-effects, so even though I don't race vets anymore, I still stick to that list unless I'm in hospital. I feel healthier. You'd be surprised what kind of crap is in over-the-counter allergy meds. (I think you can get into trouble in the open bunch too -- if they ever test)

Ironman rules: litter = DQ.

The signature isn't in the files, but in the upload application. You don't really believe an old S620 watch had the horsepower to cryptographically secure sign files, do you? The upload application is also not cryptographically secure. There's already a HRM Uploader to re-upload existing .hrm files. http://rikara.blogspot.com/ It didn't work for my old .hrm files when I tried it, but there is a newer version. That's very useful when the Polar software b0rkes. It's also useful if you use something like Training Peaks with your Polar, or you are travelling since the S620 can't store a lot of data. The .hrm file format is also documented by Polar. It looks a bit like a .ini file. GoldenCheetah software (www.goldencheetah.org) has sample files in their test rides. In other words: the file format is not exactly secret. Some people already download their current Polar data to three different accounts to cheat. It's already possible. You don't need new software to cheat with the exact same system -- you can do that now. People cheat on Vitality points in lots of ways. They go to the gym to drink coffee. Some people race with two timing chips, which allows for cheating on Vitality. The original poster isn't promoting fraud, but instead promoting interoperability. You could argue that Vitality is cheating you by not supporting Garmin; or Polar + TrainingPeaks.

Start by cleaning it. Especially near the rear derailleur/hanger. Take the hanger off, wash it, grease it, but it back on, and clean the skewer.

On your bicycle.

Swapping pads doesn't take that long. It doesn't have to be a pain. It is an extra step, though. There are pads you can use on both, but you have to keep the following in mind: Brake performance is compromised. Pads and rims have an optimal temperature (bikes, cars, any friction-based braking) and the temperature on carbon and aluminium is a bit different. Water (rain) makes a difference too. There are pads that are excellent for carbon, and ok for aluminium, and vice versa, but not excellent for both. Never use alu-only pads on carbon: they melt, leaving a brown smear on the rim and you without brake pads. Aluminium brake surfaces sometimes leave aluminium flakes in the brake pads. You can see these with your naked eye. When you switch from alu to carbon rims, you have to check your pads to remove the flakes. If you don't remove the flakes, you can scratch the carbon brake surface. The carbon rims will leave dust, but that's not dangerous to the alu rim.

I agree with this. CSA/SACF should concentrate on Olympic-ready cyclists. 200+ km races, week long stage races, youth development, empowerment, etc. PPA should concentrate on fun events, and cycling awareness. The requirements are completely different.

Some of the smaller tubes remind me of the CAAD10 -- especially in matt black.

You can argue that with WADA Or better yet, get your doctor to argue it with WADA. OK, let me rephrase: there is a WADA-legal limit for asthma medication even if you have a TUE. If you don't have a TUE the limit is 0. If you do have a TUE the limit is X. You may not use X+1. Even if you are asthmatic, WADA thinks X+1 puffs is performance enhancing. I don't know what X is. There's an ethical limit too. If you get to a point where you know it's performance enhancing (like TNT1 claimed), you should stop.

Wouldn't matter. Even if you are asthmatic, there's a limit to how many puffs you're allowed to take before you're over the limit. A TUE isn't a free-for-all.

Yep, it is performance enhancing. Googling would have gotten you that answer. Petacchi got bust for using Salbutamol (the generic) in 2007. If you have asthma you need to get a TUE. Even then, there's a limit to how much you can take. If you have a medical reason, there's still an upper limit. One whole pump seems like an extreme amount, and he would fail a drugs test (and possibly suffer overdose symptoms.) I know people with actual asthma (on and off the bike), and they'd never take two pumps with on a ride, and don't use the pump more than a few times a day. Various allergy medications will land you in hot water too.

Comparing F1 is flawed because the tyres (and hence the wheels) are prescribed. F1 would probably use bigger wheels and low-profiles if they could, because they can then fit bigger brakes.

You're not telling us why you want to use a shorter stem. If it's for back pain, don't change your saddle. In fact, don't change your saddle. Or don't change your saddle. And don't change your cleats 10 mm to compensate either.

First find out if the discrepancy is structural or functional. It's likely to be muscular rather than actual bone. A chyro or a physio should be able to tell you. If it's bone (uncommon), pack up under your cleat, or tilt your saddle sideways. If it's muscular, do some exercises.

I'd have been there, but I bust my knee at the 70.3. Good luck to all the hubbers going.

Half Ironman gives me fewer points too. Takes me twice as long as a 100 km road race to finish, and it certainly takes me a lot longer to get the required fitness. Full Ironman is worth the same as Argus or other 100 km road race? Yeah right. After doing your second lap of the Argus, run back to Cape Point. And you get to swim to the start from Camps Bay for a warm-up. There's bigger problems in life than fighting for Vitality points.

Is the Argus UCI legal? No feeding first 50 km... No feeding last 50 km... No radios allowed... No MTB allowed... (or unicycle)

Since we've done the geometry and fit and headset... Are the handlebars/stem loose? Stand in front of the bike, put the wheel between your legs, and pull on the bars. Is the fork steerer cracked? Remove the fork. Check. Is the front wheel stable? Is the skewer tight? Try and move the wheel by hand. You'll be able to make it touch the brakes, but past that should be difficult. Any chance in trying a different wheel (maybe from a friend?)

The year is 1998. The first team kicked out is Festina. Then ONCE and Banesto and Risco Scotti. A few days later Kelme leaves, and then Vitalicio Seguros, and then TVM. I think I got the order right. There are big names involved. France's darling Virenque and champion Jalabert. As a result Coca Cola pulls it's sponsorship. Despite all this a doper wins.

Legal costs could be contracts, etc.

Exception that proves the rule: Cannondale have sloping tubes on the very small frames (lower at the seatpost) and opposite slopes on the very large frames (higher at the seatpost) They aren't compact frames.

That (too long stem or toptube) doesn't place more weight on your arms, but it makes the arms less likely to be able to support that weight, because they're not rotated the way they should be. Your shoulders should be next to your chest, not on top, and your elbows pointed downwards (almost -- look at how they are when you stand) Things to check: Do you roll your arms forwards and inwards at the shoulders? ie. you roll your shoulders towards your head, and the elbows out? Then the handlebar is too far forwards. Another possible problem is too-wide handlebars. Your handlebars should be as wide as your shoulders. You can compare it with doing push-ups with your hands in front of your shoulders, vs. below you, and your hands too wide. Try it -- it's hard. And no, don't move your saddle forward to compensate. Get the saddle in the right place first.