bored girl

2yrs now we come from Germany and do it I'd admit it's not just for the race, but we make sure that it includes that Sunday. I think that after all these years, the people of JHB have embraced the race and I feel the atmosphere around the course is awesome. It is a hard race. Might not have an ocean or real mountains but trust me there is proper hills in JHB. Will have to ride a bit more next year...

How it used to be in the past was, that you'd enter normally without a cat, then the people that do the seeding will decide if you made the cut or not. The elite/vet/ladies categories are not very big so you need to be allocated to them. A batch was like a very big overflow group. You could also find people that normally ride elites in the A batch in the past. And sometimes when you want to ride open, you get allocated to a vets bunch.

This is an unscheduled sign in and a very sad one. I keep thinking back to 2007 when I met Barry. At a 6hr event in Parys. He parked next to us in a Beetle. There was chain lube involved but I cannot remember who needed it. As I was deeply submurged into the Hub back then, it was my 1st year cycling and everything was so exciting, I must have advertised the Hub a lot. As the next time I saw him, he told me he joined. And I am sure that very few of you know his first ever name on the Hub - Elefantino. He told me some story about Pantani and how he didn't like the nick name. Shortly after that I think he "rejoined" as Holly Roller. The rest is history. I haven't seen him for a few years but I will remember him fondly. RIP

That guy happens to be Jules. He also rides there and back home. I did my 2nd MTB ride for the year last night at the race. Was great. A good way to make me like by MTB again

Hello, I trained quite hard in July and as a result I got a similar pain as you described. I would have to stay off the bike for it to go away and it hurt like hell just while I walked. Nearly collapsed in the middle of some isle in PnP.....kinda. I went to a physio, picked on off the internet and although he seemed quite nice he seemed to have missed a basic test. He told me I had weak glute muscles hence all the other muscles were overcompensating and putting strain on the knee. I had to do some exercises to strenghten them but that just didn't happen - those muscles are the most unpleasant to exercise. So I went for a set up. My muscles and my whole body had been compensating indeed but for a slightly different reason. My left leg seems to be a tad shorter (boo hoo). I know have a shim under my cleat. I've ridden a couple of times since then and all seems to be OK. No pain. So I'd suggest go get a set up. I would recommend you go to a Specialized fitment centre/someone qualified to do their fitments.

So is the price up to the stores that are selling them? Or is there a set price? We saw the advert in the Cyclingnews magazine but the fact that there was no price was a bit confusing.

Tinkerbell, that bike is really nice. Specialized has dropped their prices on the FSRs significantly so one of the lower specced bikes could be under R20000...I'm just speculating here but looking at all the bike reviews in various magazines that's the impression I got. Also I am not sure whether the fact that it's a Safire might influence the price. I just know that one day when I am over the race thing and would ride just for the pleasure of it, I will be on one of these. It was also the only women's bike that I enjoyed riding (even if it was for like 3km). I am now on my second MTB (which I was extremely fortunate to get over Christmas) and the first one was definately a "male" bike. I never had any complaints about it. I upgraded it after 6 months with the help of a very generous friend. I changed the wheels, went up to 9 gears and upgraded my brakes. Rode like that for quite a while until the wheels basicaly had no braking surface. One upgrade that I absolutely loved was going to disk brakes - just keep in mind you'll need disk compatible wheels. Shame on me for saying this but I could never see difference in the fork I am riding with. I now have a top of the range Sid and can barely feel a difference. It could be for different reasons - like I ride at sissy places or something. I rode my cheapie fork until the stancheons wore away. The new bike is a 15" and is absolutely tiny. I feel very very comfortable on it. And to top it off I absolutely love the way it looks [] I would recommend going SRAM. I think sloppy gears was my most serious complaint before this bike. I know I am going to have gazillion people telling me how Shimano is great and they haven't had a problem but.....just try it. You won't go back. So being a girl that rides a MTB occasionally....my necesseties are: disk brakes, decent gear changing. You can start by upgrading things bit by bit on the old frame - that's what I did and have not been sorry. I am still riding a pair of wheels that I got second hand and they are nothing fancy. One day in the near future I will be looking into replacing them.

Did you brag?

Kurrekt Amongst runners there is a saying that those who can't run fast' date=' run far. And those who can't do that properly, run very, very far.. ? Same with cycling I'll say. Some people might find they cannot go for hours on end, but can pack a blistering 35km, and for others they cannot stand the heat in the kitchen with a short, sharp, fast race so they go long. ? So are blessed in that they CAN go short, sharp & fast, and are looking for another challenge, which means going long. ? At the end it has everything to do with genetics and training tactics, and neither makes you a lesser/better sportsperson, just a different type of ability![/quote'] Agteros, the abitlities of different people have nothing to do with what I was saying. I prefer doing short distance races myself. Or say anything up to 55km on the MTB. I like that you can go hard the whole time. As you say it is a different ability. But I do not go boasting about how I did at them because no one cares. If you've noticed at Babbas only U16 riders (or something of sorts) gets prize money at the 35km. Young people are faster but cannot do the endurance, so there's the shorter races entrants. Also for beginners and so on. So if you only have short races to your name don't go and wonder why your seeding isn't good. When last did you do a short race on the road so that you can get a good seeding at the Argus? My seeding isn't amazing either but I surely am not wondering why. I know why. I take waaaaaaaaaaaay too long on long distances and they have 2 or 3 of those in my list. It is bad enough when my times are compared to the winning girls' times never mind the overall winning times as they are doing it. So instead of complaining about it I now have to decide whether I care about it enough to train harder, longer and then race longer distances and do better hence improving my seeding or leave it as it is and start towards the back. Cat-I thanks! Unfortunately the winnings never came close to what a new bike was going to cost but they did go a long way when I purchased my first pair of Assos at the 94.7 expo. And a few other bits...it's amazing how whatever the intentions are, whatever the winnings are you need discipline to channel that extra bit towards the intended end result. I am not very disciplined so I might have spend it on pancakes instead

I cannot tell you how touched I am for getting that title! You're allowed to brag as much as you like. But then don't be surprised when the responses are not flattering. People do not like braggers. Humble people are way more well received than braggers. Leave it to others to point out your achievements, then they might be recognised for what they are. I do not have anything to brag about as I don't believe good results in short distance races are considered an achievement. Personal achievement maybe, where you've beaten your previous time, or gone as hard as you can for under 2 hrs, but besides that nothing much to talk about.

I remember a certain person mentioning how he was up there in the front with Mannie for like....what? 5min while doing the 20km race at Emperors......while starting in the wrong bunch. Does that count for bragging? Because if it does you fit the profile of a "bragger" to a T.

Well done on your result! Aren't we going to fill in the list of hubbers a bit more?

Well that riders list they had in the programme....I won't trust it too much either I mean I spotted my name in it! it wasn't you' date=' was it?[/quote'] I'm old but haven't reached 45 yet