Maldino

Interesting thread, I'll admit to it that I bought a 'Craft 2012 Finisher' shirt (although the finisher is spelt finnisher). Honestly though when I bought it I was under the impression it was some form of Supporters cycling ****. Had the logo, was a nice black and colorful branding. I liked the look of it, cost me R800 and when it arrived from Cape Town and I saw it said on the sleeve "Epic Finnisher 2012". At first it never concerned me much and thought, oh we'll the shirt looks cool, cost me a **** load I'm going to wear it. It wasn't tell I was on a group ride that I had endless queries on "how was the Epic... how did you do... which was your favorite day...???" I then realized what an arse I looked wearing a completion shirt of the toughest MTB race in the world... Needless to say, my 'Garden Technician" Moses seems to have no such problem cycling home to Mamalodi on Saturday afternoons in an R800 cycling shirt...

I've been trying to convince my brother to move up to 40 to. I think one thing to keep in mind is pace. I've never done a 20 but I'd believe it should be a full out sprint, take on your 40 at an easy pace that you're comfortable with. Keep an eye on your clock, if you reach 25km and still feel strong pick it up...

How do you "change event" to Trailseeker.

Anyone have an idea of where you could find the series standings thus far?

Just got mine back after its second major service since 2010. As far as I know there isn't much you can do yourself on the Lefty, they (bike shops) send them off to Omnico in Cape Town where they service them. On average the service costs about R650 to R800. I know the new Lefty is a better sealed unit thus no rubber sock but other then that its an awesome shock! Once you go Lefty you never go back....

Got to meet him and his wife at Nissan Trailseeker Irene. The nicest guy and his wife was so sweet.... Such a tragic thing to happen to a guy who still had his whole life ahead of him. We'll miss you Burry....

Sorry who are CWC?

Budget is R30k Options on new: Cannondale Flash Carbon 3 Build: This sounds dounting and not sure if its worth while? Second Hand: There was a Momsen SL929 fully spec beaut that was worth R47 500 5 months old that went for R30k So my question is which is the best option, do you go brand spanking new? Build a bike up from scratch to your own desired spec? Or look for a good deal in the classifieds as MTB's hold no good resale value and you could pick up a R50k excellent condition bike for 30? Advise please.... Thanks guys

I'm on the waiting list and call Judy every 2nd week (think she's already annoyed with me) but yup I'm hard up to get in for Sani.

In essence it was my first 94.7 as I did do it in 2009 after I'd just bought an entry level MTB and did like a 5 hour time having no training. So this year I decided to get a cheapie road bike as I'm more of a MTB'er, and was seeded in CC but had a contact who got me a tad earlier up to S. I must say having never been on a rode bike (well the 5km I rode the day before after buying the bike) it was a huge adjustment. I learnt so many roadie tips within the first 10km: *Make sure you get a good seeding next year so you don't end up TT'ing the entire race *When you witness a fall on the road at 60km/h, understand that Roadies are not sissies as you thought before....lol Having said that, I was surprised to see how roadies struggle with the most simple of climbs. I honestly believe to be the best you can be in either format (road or mtb) you should integrate as often as you can. It was a great learning experience to do a road race, as for my own preference I find MTB much more challenging and fun...but that's just me. Will be back next year for my once a year Road Race!

So what you're saying is USN should use it sparingly, market it correctly and make billions off us B,C,D,E batch riders?

Does anyone know if EPO is detrimental to your health? If not, where do they draw the line on supplements and performance enhancing drugs? With EPO boosting your red blood cell count, you perform like a boss.... Imagine if this **** was legal?

Had an awesome ride in the 40, 1:58 which is about 10 minutes off the rest of my Nissan times. Was a tough 40, still contemplating whether to make the transition to 70 next year. I enjoy belting out a quick 40 and being able to go home with minimum recovery time and get things done on the Saturday. Came 3rd in Cat and finished 2nd overall in the series. Just honestly think I should man up and do full marathon's, what's recovery time like on a tough 70.

No I'll be fair the program does state some levels of some sort... Just feel there should be mention that you technically buying a programe like a 'fit track' If my understanding of coaching was incorrect then by all means I apologize and I did pay my fees...

Ok so this is the message Enticement sent me Dear Aldo, my last email to you requested that you only pay for the set-up as you have already paid for the week 1-4 of 12 weeks coaching. I then sent you a credit note for the amount already invoiced for week 5-12 and I added an invoice for just the set-up. You decided to pay the full amount?! You have never even remotely followed the program or given feedback regarding the suitability, or have sent me a filled-out logbook. Bearing in mind that the questionnaire and the logbook are the only "crystal balls" I have for a start, and as I explicitly explained to you, your 1st 4 weeks serve as "finding our feet". Come on, be fair ... So you saying you never sent me a mail stating that I would need to pay the R1600 balance? Bottom line is I believed this was going to be coaching, like meet up once maybe twice a week do specific training rides etc. When I came to fountains to meet you I thought we'd go through some technical aspects of single track riding.... But instead I just did my laps alone... So honestly with this coaching I would give you feedback from the program you mailed me of which days to run and cycle and you would then what, alter the following months program? I just really though for R800 per month it would be way more hands on and not correspondence....

Yup this is a touchy subject for me... Signed up with these guys for R800 per month for "Personalized training" received a mail with a questioner asking random basic questions like: Do you prefer longer rides over shorter ones? Rate your climbing strength on a scale of 1-10. Now if you answered say, I prefer shorter rides and 2 out of 10 on climb strength you then receive a well informed email stating that "you need to work on your endurance and your climbing abilities" very insightful.... The you get an email with a months program: Monday: Rest Tuesday: Cycle 90min Wed: Run 30min and so on. That's it.... R800 per month for a sheet of paper telling you when to cycle and when to run and when to rest.... Then after the first month when I saw this is all it entailed and wanted to quit, I was reminded sorry you signed a 3 month contract and whether I liked it or not I would need to pay the R1600 balance. Hence I wasn't happy but payed my school fees. Paid the R1600 and said not to bother mailing me the other 2 sheets of paper.

Then you not riding it fast enough.... I believe Burry tweeted yesterday his legs were sore from the race. Avg 30km/h then see how easy it is? Lol

After following this thread, quite a few valid suggestions but I feel Fritz came through with his statement as to what went wrong and where they can improve. There are however a few things we should keep in mind: 1. This is the biggest mountain biking series in the world! After speaking to Hennie from buycycle.co.za and hearing how a few Europeans had been down for some of the series races they were dumbstruck to the numbers the Nissan Trailseeker draws. In Europe when they have a 350 participant turnout for a race it's a seriously big deal. 2. Take a look at the total Nissan Trailseeker experience, it's Gauteng based for the majority of SA mtb'ers. The sheer logistics and planning that goes into organizing these events, the sponsors, the online ease of entry, seeding replies and now even result replies. 3. Requesting 1500m of climbing in Gauteng is a tad much especially in Irene, guys need to understand there can't be 10km of single track, zero bottle necks, awesome descents, water points with prawns and champagne.... 4. You don't wanna be held up make sure you do well and get a better seeding... Yes it will always be a series where they can learn from mistakes and plan accordingly, but give them that... Finally I think we need to be appreciative of Advendurance and their efforts, enjoy the fact that there is an excellent World Class Series for us to take part in year in year out, riding along world champs and Olympians!!!! What more can you ask for?

Yes had the chain off twice... So maybe I could have been in the top 10, but such is MTB. Thank for the advise I'm for sure going to invest in a chain guide as this happens to me on a regular basis going down descents and having to put my chain back on at the bottom. Started to think it had to do with my riding style, or gear selection.... Could it be or am I one of the few with this issue?

11th in Cat....1:49 in half Marathone Wanted a top 10 bad, oh well back to training.

Thanx for the info... Any idea on when the results will be available?

Why don't they put up the Ultra and Half Marathone in the mean time while they figure out the Marathone Results?

Would like to know more? Chain guides I think I've seen once on a fellow competitors bike. How do they work and where can I get? 2x10?

Arrived at Mabalingwe on Friday night and was really excited for the 40km! Race was brilliantly organized in my opinion. Started in batch A next to Ryan Gibbons (that 18 year old prodigy). That kid can peddle! Stuck with the lead pack for the first 20 and then decided to ride my own race... Did a 1:47 something, guess I'm happy with that as my chain came off 3 times and always at the worst possible moment! Had a great time, and was surprised to see Kevin and David (360Life) were my neighbours at the Village...

I've entered as a solo this year and was wondering who had done this 2 day challenge and how tough is it? 96km day 1 and 90km day 2 with loads of horizontal hills as they like to call them...