Garfield2010

R6.500 round trip direct flights to Abu Dhabi. You basically land 10km's from the start line. 8 hour flight straight during the day so no jetlag. Hey Brad, I hope they have a slowmow spidercam shot tonight of the Garf completing the pass of the Brad and his missus at midmar ......

Crap, I got the Abu Dhabi Tri on the 2nd of March. Maybe if Etihad Airways opens a direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Midmar I will make it?

I better be on TV. When in March is the next race?

Any triathletes out there up for a 150km+ ride this coming Saturday? Around a 28km average means about 05h30 riding time. Riding the N1 both ways and the Dealesville road as well as Woodlands etc.......... Early start like in 05h00 or somewere close to that......

Cool thanks!

Is there any particular Thule bike rack that goes especially well with the Fortuner or is it a matter of taste? I see the options are the bike mounted on top of the car (wtf? doesnt this increase fuel consumption? Also my bike was made to go 40km/hour, not 140km?) The rack mounted 2/3 of the way up at the back and then the normal old school right behind the towbar...

Yes any cyclist I agree. I just hope they dont test for awesomeness because then the Garf definately O/D's

I agree. But then they should just lay the gauntlet down now and say any pro caught doping will be banned for life finish and klaar -- as simple as that. What you are trying is basically the same as what team Sky is trying. I hope it works out.

So certain guys again get second chances. What makes a guy like Hoffman any more special than any other oke that has tested positive? But well done in anycase for trying at least.

The only thing I will test positivie to is kicking Daves arse at Bela Bela!

OK here is how it works. Either I do the Alpe dHuez Tri. With a 3 day stayover in Dubai afterwards (8 days trip) it will costs R22,500 for two people flights. No accomodation or travel is included. Doing this trip will allow to see the TDF finish in Paris the Sunday and shop for a few days in Dubai afterwards. Another option is Whistler that Metzet mentioned. They are sold out but I mailed them enquiring as they sometimes make provision for internationals but lets wait and see. It is the most beautifull place ever (google pics). Roundtrip flights = R25,000. You do however land in Vancouver which is close to the venue so expect other costs to be minimum. Only downside to this trip will be jetlag..............as you will only get off 29 hours after getting on the plane........ Can one recover in 4 days to race at a relatively competitave level?

Canada.... mmmm that also sounds interesting. How much is the plane tickets?

Well I dont care to be honest. How much can "soft drugs" really help? If you train hard you will beat the lazy oke who drinks myprodols the whole way. In any cased EPO only increases performance by 3% (according to Tyler), so how much does asthma pumps and the lot really help? I just wish I could have a stat of how many PRO's actually dope serious stuff liek EPO and blooddoping. I know we will never have this stat but I would think it will be more than most people expect. Remember Tri isnt regulated like cycling is..... Wonder what would happen for example if the TDF drugadmin pitches up in Kona 2 weeks before race day and do the most expensive and thorough tests on the top 50 pros that was ever done..................

Nice So are we doing this then? How do we get from Paris to the Alpe? I wanna go to Paris on Sat, watch the tour on Sunday, hang around Paris on Monday and travel to Alpe on Tuesday, race Wednesday and travel some more afterwards for another few days with the wife. Will R40k be enough?

Well there is a sprint race as well............................ But you do realise then I get your scalp by default.....

Yes my wife will come along. She can go shop with your wifes while we tour the country side racing and looking for brothels to speed up recovery times

I have enough of those after doing the "hobbit" trail run last year...... Maybe Switzerland is better so I can add some new overseas scalps..... The Garf loves it when they talk foreign to him....

Ok so why dont we do the Alpe dHuez Tri then? 2.2km swim, 110km bike and a 25km trail run??? It is the 24th of July which is a Wednesday. Maybe we can fly in on Sat, watch the last Paris TDF stage the Sunday and then roadtrip down to the race which is Wednesday... then come back the next Sunday?? Swiss will book us a rooms at the local Moulon Rouge

The same with me DaveM. I have tried Tweeting, Facebooking and mailing them with zero response. They are worse than Vodacoms customer care centre... Swiss / JGR we can talk. Lets then fix a race and date now and I am in..... It needs to correspond with PE. Not closer than a month either way.... Heck guys I will even do a "difficult" 70.3 hence the Alpe dHuez consideration.... Dont you guys think that will be awesome? Swiss I even see they give 90 minutes for the 2.2km swim!!!

True I would also love to do the winter thing for snow but then the tri is off the charts. Also the admin of carrying a bike along is not lekker. Maybe I must rather look to run a Londen Marathon or somehting similar.... Hey doesnt the grat wall of China have a marathon?

Self inflicted jet lag!

Eish thanks! Panama also looks the **** but its too far again R30k for flights only. Remember the wife is going as well. Thanks JGR I did look at the Challenge races and are considering them.... They just sell out really quickly.... It would be a dream to race in the European mountains hence the interest in the Alpe dHuez Tri. I even see there is a Canary Islands race!

Ok so I have budgeted for an International Tri event. Abu Dhabi Tri's organisers have not opened the entries and even Faris al Sultan says he is not sure the event will go on. It was perfect timing as 2 March is 6 weeks before PE. Another option looks to be IM New Zealand (same date) although the flight tickets alone is my whole budget. (R35k for 2 tickets)... and I am not to fond of racing near the arctic....... Then there are other options like the Alpe dHuez tri which is the week after the TDF.......... but this is only in July.... Anybody know of any other reachable long distance Triathlons that could be recommended?

I didnt read the whole thread but there is my advice:- 1.) Insurance is key. Full insurance which even covers crashing as you dont want to "write off" the bike and then still owe R30k 2.) Do a cash flow. Whilst most people will say it is a bad idea..... sometimes you will find that by buying this bike and riding it, you will save a lot of money on entertainment costs etc as you will now go to bed early on Fridays as an example. This might even cover your installment 3.) I recomend you repay it within 3 years or less 4.) Sell your current bike for a good price and use this as a deposit 5.) Other than that go for it and enjoy it man. Most banks have revolving credit loans. Stay away from credit cards as the rates are crazy.