silvertemplar

8 Dec 2013? *looks at date* , did i miss it already?

Errr. surely this only applies to motor vehicles. If you are on your bicycle on the left side of the road (where all cycles are suppose to be) and a car is stopping or driving slower than you in the lane to your right, what exactly is a cyclist suppose to do? Stop ? Drive around the car passing on the right? No way.

Aah ok, guess i misunderstood that bit. So technically it means if you hit Gold in January of a given year, you are Gold for 2 years (which doesn't quite makes sense to me, but it's good to know they give you that leeway). In my case, i am diamond status, and to maintain diamond status you need to keep up the gold status every year, so can't do the "hit gold once every 2nd year" thing.

No, if you get Gold in 2013, you will be Gold Status for the entire 2014. The status that you gain in a specific year is your status (for rewards/discounts) for the following year. It doesn't matter if you reach Gold in Jan 2013 or Dec 2013, you will have gold for a full calendar year. The catch 22 with this is, if you are on Silver in 2013, and you do all the tests and reach Gold, you will only be on Gold in 2014 no matter what, you will be on silver until the end of 2013. So in your personal case, you still got time....you got until 31 Dec, if you hit 45k points you are sorted for 2014. Normally on their website you will see that you have a "current" status (i.e. Gold) and then a "Next Years' Status" which is what your points is going towards.

No one seems to mention the other pretty big vitality reward, Kulula (and BA) flights and car rentals. That is freaking huge for me, we're talking 30% discount right there. No other airline can beat that believe me, i tried ;-) . As for getting gold without carry over is still relatively easy, this year for me: Know your Health : 23000 (filling in all the online surveys and doing the weight/glucose/cholesterol/HIV test at Clicks) . Didn't cost me anything, even the HIV test is an instant finger prick type test nowadays. Make Healthy CHoices : 5000 (non smoker) Get Active : 21800 (pretty much maxed this one out after like 5 MTB events, get an additional 5000 bonus after 5 events etc) . I am still getting like 500 points per event or so, but it seems pointless since there are no carry over or any higher target. I even do the Parkruns (free 5km runs) and well, the limit of this segment is a bit low, or they need to give less points hehe So that's more than 45000 needed for gold. I didn't even do any of that biokinetics/fitness types of tests.

I think the Terms&Conditions in the article might be a little confusing: Either i am misreading the part in bold or it implies only the amount over R45900 is going towards charity. Or did they imply the "reserve" or "minimum" required to sell the ticket was R45900 and that the entire amount would go towards charity as long as it hits the minimum amount?

Ish, R48k for the ticket and only R2.1k goes to charity? I don't know what's more sad, the fact that it costs R46k to do this event or that so little of it goes to charity....

Well most cheap phones got some sort of GPS these days, so you can consider buying another one, but do research their respective battery lives. You can always get a spare battery pack for the phone, or ride with a these solar chargers (like a mini solar panel the size of a credit card) that can charge a cellphone. Alternative, and its my personal preference too, get a Garmin GPS watch (much easier to handle while you are riding) . You can get them for like R2000 these days. My watch lasts about 8 hours when the GPS is active (weeks if it's not) Like these (Garmin ForeRunner 110 or 210) : http://shop.fittrack...runner 110.aspx So with that, you just upload your activity to either Garmin's own website or Endomondo/Strava and voila you got it on top of a map. Otherwise can consider cycle mounted garmins like the EDGE series, however in my case i don't only ride , i run too, so the watch has more uses.

It's imposed on Google Maps with ability to switch between satellite/street views and zooming in and out (exactly like maps.google.com with a route impose on it) , so i don't think you can get more details than that can you?

When comparing the Argus vs. 94.7 i would also first want to know what % of the riders are from the Cape vs. how many are flying in. Reason being, assuming majority of 94.7 riders are from gauteng, it also means they are more likely to skip it as opposed to skipping out on a flight+accommodation requirement for the Argus. In other words, if there's a large % gauteng riders doing the Argus, there's a good chance those people will be far more committed to pitching up at the Argus than they would be for the 94.7 . I mean last year i remember entering the 94.7 on a whim because i live in gauteng like 6-7 months before whereas the Argus you seriously do a few calculations because it's quite an expensive exercise.

Errr. you mean like Endomondo or Strava? That's exactly what they do and it's free? You download the app to your phone, you turn it on (assuming your phone have a GPS) and it will plot your movement, it is uploaded to the website (this can even happen while you ride , turning it into a "live" map which others can follow) and superimposed on a map which you can print... If you got a Garmin GPS watch, you can do the same thing and upload it to Endomondo/Strava too.

I'd definitely look into a towbar + bikerack first though, just alot more convenient. I got a Vivo and also initially went for Thule Roofracks and then you still need to get a Bike Rack to fit on the roof rails, the combo cost me like R3k (roof rails was 2nd hand, buying all this new would be R5k (rails + rack) ) . Then you sit with situation of having to take the stuff off or having them whistle and possibly cause drag when you're not carrying things around and obviously it's not as fuel efficient as a towbar either when you got bikes on your roof... Fitting a towbar? R4k . I got one of those express thule bike racks that slots onto the towbar ball for R900 and while i can now use both roof or towbar, the towbar is the most convenient. So cost wise, fitting a towbar is actually more economical in the long run, plus added benefits. The next consideration comes in when you get to move around multiple bikes, on your roof you will most likely only fit 2 bikes (needing to buy a 2nd bike rack for the roof ), whereas on your towbar you have alot more options. Even my little express thule can handle 2 bikes.

Yea, i enjoyed this years series alot more than i thought i would. I think the 10 minute batch intervals did alot of magic making the race a whole lot more pleasant. In the past i never enjoyed doing the Nissan series due to all the people and riding wheel-to-wheel most of the race. Ironically now the smaller races that just allow everyone (400+ riders) to start in one big batch are looking like real amateur hour in comparison (i.e. having more congestion and walk-a-bike sessions than a 3000+ rider event).

Yea, my garmin uploads does the same thing. Endomondo did not always have the feature to pick the sport in the upload screen, but it clearly does not work. In the past you uploaded and it always just defaulted to Running. So i think it's a bug Endomondo have. I do alot of rowing, and Endomondo also likes to think i am a holy man running on water.

^^^^^^ /discussion ? What am i missing? Doesn't above rules apply in the OPs case? Problem solved?

Meh, if the Comrades can do substitutions then there's no reason the Ironman can't do so also. Anyway, i saw someone posted a whole set of rules about withdrawals/substitutions for Ironman? Was that just a proposal?

Yea, i've found it quite poor form of shops not putting at least the weight of the FRAME (as from manufacturer specs). Simple example, when you're out shopping and deciding between dual suspension and hard tail, surely you would want to make an informed decision regarding the weight penalty you are going to take. Surely that is a vital piece of info and part of the "vanilla" frame, regardless of the wheels/parts/pedals you put on the bike? I mean, why can you find the weight of a CAR on every single website? Go look, you'll be able to compare the weights of any car by going to their respective manufacturer websites. Some even give you weight of the exterior body without the engine etc. So how freaking hard can it be to supply at LEAST the weight of the frame? Just because there is alot of other considerations when buying a bike , doesn't mean the weight shouldn't be available. How many people buy their cars based on the weight? Yet, the data is there... I have 2 MTBs, both in the cheaper range,and i'm certainly no pro and a very casual rider. The one bike is a soft tail and i sure as hell can feel the weight difference, so much so that i'm definitely putting it as an important factor in future decisions. It's also ironic, in the high end market, we're talking about "grams" when it comes to weight savings (making it all seems rather trivial) . Yet in the lower market it's literally KILOgrams differences, but no one in that segment cares about this?

Yea not any real bottlenecks as it was relatively easy to pass. I do however think the 30km started too early after thr 50km, i wasnt even 10km in before the 30km guys came flying in wanting to pass constantly, made the track quite busy. As for finding the 50km (45km on my gps), we did repeat a section at the end was probably 6-8km section. Overall lekker ride, enjoyed the sweeping single tracks. Not a very technical race, no rocks, but always lekker when you just flow through the single tracks.

I wonder how much of the litter is directly related to the items found in the goodie bags (i.e. the USN Gels) . I would not be entirely surprised if alot of people do not actually pack gels or items that turn into a nasty litter effect unless it's given to them for free (as opposed to riding with a banana or a chocolate) . I specifically saw alot of the exact USN gel bags as given to us for free, lying around on the trails. I generally ride with a packet of some sort of jelly candy, which means i don't open it and try to empty it in one go. The gels on the other hand, i suppose people open it, drink/suck it down for the first time, realize it sucks and throw the packet down ;-/

On the 35km, i only found 1 climb that was un-rideable by the average joe (at about the 11km mark), and it was only the initial climb along a ridge . The other climbs that followed (zig zagging all the way up and over the hill) was surprisingly quite ride-able. I think the fact that it wasn't one long straight climb (like the Cullinan walk-a-thon session) but short climbs followed by a flat section (or dip) giving just enough space to get back on your bike gave me alot more confidence to ride the climbs it. Even Van Gaalens' climbs was just a tad too long per section making it impossible to try ride it out once you've dismounted. I was however on a dual suspension bike, so i have no clue what all the grass "polle" complaints are about, since i don't recall any of that on the half marathon. I however wasn't a fan of those funny cement small brick paving effect on the downhill, i thought my wheel was coming off or something (must've been the angle those bricks were and the size of my wheel). I guess they are suitable for car wheels.

lol, also if you looked across the valley towards Pelindaba, you have to wonder what else is in the water ;-) .

Had a lekker 35km in the scorching heat,but i was prepared this time. I am glad about the organizers sending out that sms with my real starting time, so i pitched up there at 9, all relaxed,almost had another breakfast. So my mood was alot better than van gaalens after i stood around for more than hour. Also with everyone arriving in their batch times, i think the whole venue felt a lot less busy, i can live with the heat in favor for the event not being overcrowded. Race self was alot of work, up and downs and lots of single track, enjoyed most of it. I cant find anything to complain about , so good work.

I actually bought Coke mid race at a little bottle store (the single track section next to railway tracks ) . Not sure if it's the same one. Some other riders filled up their bottles with water in the store. There was only an old tannie as the cashier, i guess it never crossed her mind to put a table out where the riders pass to make a killing. However, the funny thing is, the week after the Nissan Van Gaalens, was the Rhino MTB race which went past there too (the exact same route next to the railway lines) . The organizers actually put their waterpoint right there in front of the store , which made so much sense. I have no idea why the Nissan organisers had the waterpoint like 2-3km further on some random corner.

Well if you got Adidas glasses, there's also the Sweat blocker attachments made of some fancy schmancy foam stuff: http://www.adidas.com/Eyewear/content/cn/technology/protection.asp

Yea at Van Gaalen being batch F i only started like 9:30 , the heat was insane (was still cycling at 12pm) . So this race might end up being the same situation, eish. If i hear the words "water shortage" or "lack of water points" again, when we all know what's coming after Van Gaalens i'm going to be very annoyed. Van Gaalen we rode in the hottest time of the day and the announcer kept saying how there might not be enough water at the water points and we should restrict our intake etc etc....i mean on a big event like this, figure it out .