Garfield2010

i wonder if there is a direct flight from bloemfontein to abu dhabi????

what time?

airline? joburg to abu?

airline? joburg to abu?

is that via dubai or like direct dlights?

Oh my.......... is that what that old big tent was for? Unfortunately I never made it inside!!! I "transitioned" on a rock outside the tent

I guess Ferret -- it is lekker to get the whole vibe and all that. Maybe it depends on your level of racing as well. Remember East Londen is a very hard course for a 70.3 and the water is cold and the wind blows. This however also adds to finishing on the other hand so each to his own. Personally I dont get high from some guy shouting my name and all that. I just enjoy a lekker day out racing in the spirit of the event. I just wish they would cap entries at like 2,000 or something.

Just an idea but for R5k rather do 2 x Midmar 70.3 as well as the Buffelspoort 70.3 especially if you are new to the sport. Less people and less pressure. More relaxed. Then once in the hang of things do the EL. Just my thoughts.....

Good luck with the R5k plan. No way in my opinion except if you have friends living there and are driving down.

I am doing Abu Dhabi

The problem is that when the wind is from the front and you have 3,000 athletes on the route it is impossible not to draft. And if 200 guys draft in one bunch what can they really do? Just watch last years 70.3 DVD. It looks like the Argus!! But it is fun none the less!!

Yes but lets not go into that again as it will not help. All I can say is that the rules intrerpertaion depends on the ref and the decision he makes in an instance. Consistency is a major problem in my opinion.

Respect. That other oke and his disabled child also raced. I always see him on the cradle on Saturdays. Also watching the paralympics yesterday made me realise that we must stop complaining. Those okes swim butterfly without arms way faster than I will ever swim freestyle normally.

I have done all the 70.3 since the start but will not do this one. Last year I got a red card which in my opinion was very unfair yet I was ignored afterwards whilst trying to get clarity in a civil manner. Whilst the 5150 have gone some way to restoring my belief in IM events the 70.3 in my opinion is getting too crowded. Everyone drafts and it is allowed. Only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

If you must know....

Same but I have am going to ride with 2 other friends at 07h27. Will be at the back of that group with a red top and white silverback team issue bike and white Rudy helmet....

This will not end well. I see myself crying at +- 10 o'clock

You dont want that believe me. The following days headlines will read something like "Midlands Ultra cancelled moments before scheduled start as the race director dissapeared under controversial circumstances - still missing"

I am sure you can somehowe rig it. Just measure it deeper.

Indeed

Bwahahaha! Thats one way of looking at it!! Pay them to have the negatives destroyed. What was your race number? I wanna buy you pics and then blackmail you.

We also spoke in depth about the whole ref red card thing this weekend as I was also red carded in EL under very controversial circumstances. Why not time penalty everything? So someone handed you a bottle.......... so put you in a penalty tent for 2 minutes or even 5 minutes instead of DQ'ing and pulling you out of the race. I can promise you that in the P-tent you feel like an idiot already and will not repeat the mistake again. The same with "littering" on the run (take note only the run). When you get tired you sometimes lose focus I have seen it a lot - its a mistake. Some refs makes the guys go back and pick up whatever they drop and then let them off. Other refs gets a hard-on and DQ's you on the spot. Double standards bottom line I have seen it happen more than once and experienced it. We are used to keeping saches on the bike but the run is different. After 14 hours of racing the brain isnt normal anymore and in one moment of not focussing you could let anything drop. Getting to IM cost us a hell of a lot of effort and money and to destroy it all in a moment of stupidity (from both sides I guess) is just silly in my view. The organisers are changing everyone into being too scared to do anything. Example this past weekend again. At the far point of the running course they decided to put 2 guys to hand out water. No litter zone nothing. People took water saches and dropped them 30 metres afterwards. Non litter zone. If there was a ref he would have had a field day. I assume that the organisers realized the heat and mad a contingency plan which I gladly appreciate but how can you DQ a guy on the other side of the track dropping a sache 2 meters after the litter zone when on the other side everyone is littering out of zone in any case. This did not happen but just sayen it seems the shoe is worn when it fits. Look at EL again. Argus like bunches on the way back. Everyone drafted and I mena everyone yet only a handfull got penalties????? Again, T-Penalty everything first time round. if the okes does it again then red card him. But ja, then you mail them and they just ignore you. It is clear they dont listen to the athletes. PS:- In trail running we also dont litter. We do however always have a sweep. A person that runs the whole course last and picks up any junk that may have fallen (volentary or by accident) so the course is clean. Again why the major issue on the run? You only gotta sweep 3km's of road and clean up after the race (as 2km is repeat road) this past weekend.

I would be very interested to see who is behind this race. It is nothing to do with that Robben Island race? (see also the thread a bit further down)

You too? Oh and I didnt really wanna complain but some of these refs are really on a power trip. Sheeesh!!! Seriously. If you card me then at least explain and clarify. I still dont know what the yellow was for. I am Assuming I was going too fast and the ref wasnt happy with the gap I was opening to DaveM... Oh and also if you give me a YELLOW then dont keep me in the tent for 3 minutes. you get 2 minutes for drafting which also by the way is a black card. Not sure what 3 minutes meant couldnt find it in the race guide. Oh and I also dont know how these okes can ride 100km/hour on a bike and make a drafting blocking call in a matter of 3 secs while looking over another okes shoulder while wearing a big old helmet. Honestly, get pasolas which are silent and check us out for a longer period of time. I wont mind as I am an honest racer. Sometimes things dont always seem as they are. I dont do drafting, I dont do blocking but if you come up from behind at 100km/hour and say I was just about to pass a guy and I all of a sudden decide to slam on the brakes due to an oncoming Sprite at very high speed then yes it may "appear" like blocking or even drafting. If you hung on to your card a little longer you would have seen I rode 95% of the course on my own away from everyone else. Just one last question to the refs. Does taking out a card give you a hard-on the same way it does for Bryce Lawrence when he cards a Bok? You see there I go again!

Have you ever had "32GI-Tea"? I swear my bottles were as hot as tub water when I take my bath But no one said cooler boxes arent allowed in transition. No, JGR on a serious note I think the problem was that the transition closed something like 90 minutes before our race started and 3 hours since the last group so them bottles heated up quit nicely. No chance to quickly put in cold ones just before race start......