Barend de Arend

Contador chose to eat separate from the hotel food, and from his teammates. Contador took the choice to go out of his way to eat something else. That makes him responsible. The EU has tested meat for Clen since 2000. It caused some human hospitalisations in the late 90s. They have found nothing. That makes the contaminated meat story unlikely. Which is why he later changed his story that the meat didn't come from Spain, but instead came from Venezuela. He has been unable to provide contaminated meat sourced from the same butcher. Maybe he also got struck by lightning, won the lotto, and at the same time had a tiny meteor kick Andy's chain off.

I don't care about the goody bag. If I want toothpaste I'll go to pick and pay. I do care about medical response and road closure. And I'll gladly pay for them. I don't get these on training rides. If paying for those means that they're a bit more expensive, then so be it. I also don't care for 90 km races. I'll pay for a decent distance, or a crit. The last two years races have gotten shorter and easier, so there's less of an attraction to me. Crits are great: small amount of road closure. Which means fewer marshals, fewer metro costs, better spectator value, etc. The thing about crits is you can't let the pros and the plebs (ie. me) loose on the same course at the same time, so you have to limit the number of entries.

It's not new, but it has been changed this year (and every year.) It has been crap since the beginning. This used to be easy. You can also check discovery.co.za (when it's successful -- takes a few weeks.) You used to be able to add races. There's a form you fill in with race details (name, distance, etc.) and race organiser contact details (website, telephone,...) and then you add your own race. The site is too slow for me to find the link for you. This been a problem since the beginning. I'd rather think that they are paying disco. I can't believe anyone would pay them. I feel your pain (and don't use Polar products anymore) Polar got large, and decided to do everything custom to lock out competitors. They don't support ANT+, they don't use normal USB, they didn't use standard IrDA, and they didn't publish any specs, so you couldn't get to the data yourself. Garmin did it right for the Edge series: stock standard USB stick (copy and paste files) file format published (old XML and new FIT) They started messing around on the new products, though. The 310XT uses some weird way to download data. It uses the same ANT+ stick as the previous gen, but the stuff isn't published, so I just get a binary blob. Maybe they are getting too big too. Soon both will be replaced by iPhone and Android ANT+ enabled phones. iPhone ANT+ available now. Android ANT+ samples are there. The writing is on the wall. At least Garmin has a plan for the phones.

It can't be at the airports discretion, because different operators have different limits. Not every flight has a 20 kg limit -- that's just a European thing (and an African thing because it's a lot of European companies) If not every flight has the same limit, the airport can't enforce limits. The airport can enforce a 20kg-per-suitcase limit. They do that to protect the luggage handlers from having to lift 50 or 100 kg suitcases. They cannot limit total weight, if it's spread over multuple suitcases. Kulula is in the wrong here.

Specialized has an Ass-O-Meter for this reason. On the back of the ass-o-meter there is a chart so you can adjust the measurement for your handlebar drop (if your handlebars are low, your pelvis is more rotated, which affects the size.) I recommend you find a dealer and try it. Some stores used to allow you to swap saddles after a week (provided it wasn't scratched) -- dunno if any stores still do this. The problem is that sometimes you have to break in a saddle, and this takes time.

one size fits all == one size fits no-one. This is as true for training programs as it is for socks.

Drove past at 9:30. I tried not to look; it wasn't pretty. Definitely a vehicle driving over the bike (both wheels trashed) Condolences to family and friends.

I've got one on my big-BB, big-chainstay carbon bike. I haven't got one on my spindly aluminium bike with carbon stays. On the spindly bike, if the chain drops, you can just shift back. On the big-BB, big-chainstay bike (all the rage these days), the chain jams, and eats a chunk of carbon. On the big-BB, big-chainstay bike it's necessary. My chain drops maybe twice a year. The derailleur is setup correctly. The front derailleur is a very simple device, and it can happen. On old bikes (small tubes) it wasn't serious: just shift back. On new bikes it is serious. Some big-BB big chainstay bikes now cover that area with an alu plate to prevent the chain eating the carbon.

It's more flexible.

They won't puncture easier with glass, which is by far the most common reason in SA. In fact, latex should be less prone, shouldn't it? (are the lightweight ones still latex?) However: They are more prone to being damaged when swapping (I guess less material means they don't survive pinching.) Use talcum powder. Watch the tube size (21c, 23c, 25c) when inserting in a high-volume clincher (Shimano 7850, Corima, HED C2, Zipp Firecrest), since the 21c will for sure pop under the extra stress, and some 23c will too. Latex will deflate very slowly overnight. Check your pressure regularly.

Just like bikinis they must fit, or it's just not the same.

Opium comes from a natural flower. Heroin gets made in a lab (from Opium.) Yes, there is a difference. However, natural doesn't mean healthy.

If it does as advertised, yep. EPO boosts the amount of oxygen in your blood. The EPO doesn't kill you, but the oxygen does. Oxygen reacts with blood to coagulate -- this is why a wound stops bleeding. When you rest or sleep your heart beats less frequently, because there is less demand for blood. Your blood flows slower. Your blood start coagulating, and you get a blood clot.

Wheels.

The chain doesn't rub against the pulley, because the pulley rotates. So contact area isn't a problem.

That works on the road, too, if the hill is steep enough.

Been using the clincher (road tubeless) model for 18 months now. Roll like a dream, definitely aero, and very strong. I've been able to compare downhill speeds with ksyriums (bricks) and low-profile eastons (better than the ksyriums), and I go faster on the Corimas, so the aero has been proven in practice. I've hit some potholes (sorry, Swift, this is SA), no problem. I've crashed twice. The rims stayed true -- although once they got horribly scratched by the rough tar (read: rasper) after a tire blowout at 70. I replaced the scratched rim because of the braking surface, but the rim was true. Braking on carbon works, but it does take a little getting used to because there is less feedback.

Rule one: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Your current crank length is stamped on the inside of your crank, next to the pedal hole.

Then he'll have a TUE and he'll be fine.

At any speed, if you're doing time trials, aero will help. Believe it or not, aero wheels help plebs more than pros. It's more important for those of us who don't have watts to spare. After about 30 km/h aero trumps weight; meaning get aero before you get lightweight. For time-trials I'd look at body shape and position (handlebars) and helmet before I'd look at wheels. However, if you've done that, wheels will help. As to which wheels? Shop around. Ping Swift. Further reading: Cervelo's stats on aero stuff, and the wattage it saves: http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/engineering/tech-presentations/ (focuses on the bikes, but you can find out how much time aero equipment will help you) Cyclingnews on Aero handlebar vs. helmet vs. position vs. wheels http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/how-aero-is-aero

I use Stan's in road tubeless. It seems to seal at around 3 to 4 bar. If you use the official road tubeless tires, you can certainly ride like that, because the sidewall's stiff. However, it's "get me home" rather than "magic juice"

When you buy a bottle cage, you also think: "What's the worst that could happen?" The answer is usually: you lose (yet another) a water bottle. It doesn't enter your mind that it might break the frame. (I went through this two years ago.)

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I made some. (I know the bottle cage is loose -- I put it on for the photo only)

Yeah, but your carbon already has two holes that size in that tube: for bottle cages This is just a third one...