Trackz

From riding too close to low hanging branches too often (not recommended) ... my peak has broken clean off - so my MTB "peak" helmet is now without a peak ... From having freezing toes and no feeling in my feet after having to "navigate" through freezing water puddles in winter (Babbas Lodge/Sabie Shenanigan) ... eish ... I have to admit I'm getting myself some booties for winter! Even got myself some armwarmers for Epic ... felt akward but was pretty helpful. Are these excuses good enough?

At Epic I found myself pedalling at <70 cadence HR >80% in granny gear up the nasty climbs ... never trained that low and it messed up my legs big time ... if you get off to walk it messes up your legs even more ... you can ride faster cadence as you are stuck behind other riders and HR is too high anyway ... and yes ... it buggers up your knees! How do you train for that?

I used White Lightning Cross Country at Sani2C in bad mud 2006 and it worked very well ... but with thick mud on your drive chain its impossible not to relube. The dry lubes are just no good in bad mud.

Terrible reading these posts - we sometimes forget our responsibility towards the safety of others in the bunches we ride in. We are after all birds of a same feather with motor vehicles our common threat. Hope all the injured make a full recovery!

I'll be wearing my bright Pink T-Systems kit in tribute to Big Jan at my next race.

Hope you and you family are all ok. Places one's own minor issues into perspective! ... and some still wonder why the nation is calling for a Genl De La Rey!!!

Firstly: My name is not Trackz without reason ... and I don't drive a Discovery without reason ... exploring is what I do for a living ... working is a handy hobby that supports my living! I'll PM Slowpoke! Secondly: Its about bloody time those Mapsource maps get updated ... I have ridable trackz in places the maps don't even reach ... and near the cities.

no brainer hierdie een ... gaan tubeless op MTB en kry vir jou puncture plugs by jou LBS ... jy sal dan sien hoe jy self nie kan glo dat mense nog MTB met tubes te ry nie.

Your debate, albeit fascinating, has left me feeling rather inadequate but I won't go chew my wrists just yet! Perhaps 2 pieces of advice for a up and coming Vet MTBr like me: 1) Help us with some suggestions on power training without having to purchase a R5000 power tap device. 2) I sometimes ride on the fancy Technogym stationary bike in gym but can;t seem to get the same power levels as tested on a similar Technogym stationary trainer at a cycle shop. How accurate are these machines? 3) How about some tips on basic power training methods without buying the expensive powerhubs & stuff. Thanks for the interesting thread.

Not a useful number ... better to compare power to weight ratios. "average" cyclist ... open to interpretation. Bottom line ... if you have a P/W ratio above 5.0 you are more likely to be on a bike at the moment in your sponsors kit than chatting on the Internet.

1. She did a 4-day training camp with a group from Fritz Pienaar Cycles over the past weekend. 2 days MTB and 2 days road bike. 2. Dullstroom has awesome climbs for MTB - Terry Spinman is also doing a training camp there I think in the next 2 or 3 weeks. 3. As far as road bikes go ... I have not seen too many tar roads in the area other than the main roads and personally I wouldn't dare go on them with a bike. If you looking for big climbs on roads with wide shoulders rather go ride in the triangle between Sabie, Whiteriver and Sudwala Caves. Hope this helps.

Now this is one of the few sensible comments I have heard on this forum (with respect to the regular blabbers). Kevin Evans & Burry Stander can tell you all about starting way back in the field at UCI races - the competition is very capable and on a XC course you are doomed from the start unless you have a good start. As for Yolande ... she put in an enormous effort during 2006 with both weight management as well as training wise (under Carol Austin) and the way she has been riding lately, 2007 may just be her breakthrough year. I for one am rooting strongly for her! I also suggest that only people who have beaten Yolande in a MTB race should comment on her ... I will therefore shuttup now!

Measure your time for your various repeats and post them here ... it will obviously show who the fastest is but more important it will set a standard against which we can all measure ourselves, including number of repeats.

Robot onder: h/v Hans Strijdom & Garsfontein Robot bo: h/v Hans Strijdom & Genl Louis Botha Geen robotte tussenin, afstand (Mapsource) 2.2km Moet ek dit vir jou gaan ry ook?

Why not ... always nice to have a benchmark to measure yourself against. Shall we say Hans Strydom from the Menlyn robot to the robot at the top? Its almost exactly 2km so a nice round number and a perfect distance for a short but hard tempo ride. I normally do at least 3 repeats.

20min WU, Hans Strydom up, HS down, HS up, HS down, HS up, HS down ... you get the picture? If you get to under 6 mins from robot to robot (2km) @ 80% HR for all the repeats you need not fear anyone on this forum.

Rock - CSA sent teams of both sexes to race at MTB both worlds in 2006. TitusTi - I take your point on the type of training but some of the ladies in question have a better chance of a podium for their sponsors at the Epic that at European races. If I'm a sponsor ... I'd want my riders at the Epic on the podium ... unless CSA is off course prepared to compensate me for loss of exposure. Tricky one.

Several top European men ride the Epic as their opening of the season race so I can't see how it can be much of an issue for the ladies looking to campaign in Europe. BTW: If any of you doubt the technical abilities of ladies like Yolande Speedy I suggest you go join her for a ride over technical terrain. Lap racing (cross country) and marathon are 2 different disciplines. You can't compare them. I have ridden parts of the Merida courses in Europe and they are very similar to our Mazda series, ie non-technical. Lap racing or XC is more technical but don't confuse with marathon.

Well done BBi and welcome to the world of MTB stage racing. Sabie X 05 was my 1st ... Sabie X 06 my 4th and I have entered 2 more ... its addictive!.

Rode it all - was the best part of the whole race!

I train exlcusively on a MTB offroad and ride only the big races on a road bike or tandem. I am not prepared to place my life in the hands of a non-caring motorist and trust him to miss me by less than a metre whilst driving at 100km/h+ - I do not even trust anyone on this forum enough to drive on a tar road. How often do you see people (yourself?) going out of you lane cause you are talking on the mobile or picking something from your cubby or tuning the radio. I am sorry but I value my life too much to trust fellow motorists - mountain biker forever. PS: We will never achieve a sufficient respect status in this country to make tar roads safe for cycling. I have ridden in Europe and you need to go there to see just how much South Africa needs to change before we'll have safe cycling - not in my lifetime folks.

Don't bother with either. Being mountain biking, if your bike is under 13kg the weight is a minor factor - you will gain plenty more benefit by improving your technical riding skills, your pedalling efficiency and by getting your bike setup (shock & tyre settings) fine tuned for performance.

.... kan nie dink dat Bioplus dit kan doen nie - dis maar net goedkoop Red Bull - werk vinnig uit jou stelsel uit Ek hou dit maar vir 'n noodgeval - normaalweg en op Sabie behoort 'n GU jou in elk geval weer vinnig (10-15min) reg te kry as jou energie laagloop - jy behoort nie Bioplus nodig te he nie

Self nog nie eintlik peanuts probeer nie ... try dit en laat weet hoe dit gaan. Persoonlik is ek te bang vir 'n peanutp**p op die presiese oomblik dat 'n cute camoqueen verbykom.

jy kan ook 'n toebie probeer maar soos ek jou ken gaan jy so jaag dat jy bloedrooi in die gesig is en nie stop om te eet nie probeer sakkie Bioplus ipv kafeinpilletjie gooi ook sakkie Rehydrat in jou backpack