CaptainDura

Im 41

The safest and most sane place to cycle when the wind is so strong is along groenpunt, seepunt, up the glen, roundhouse and maybe kloofnek. all the other places are just too dangerous.

Same here. I thought i trained my ass off for this event but still only managed 8:51. What a tough long day in the saddle. thw question is how to progress fast enough to be able to do the epic in a respectable time and not burn myself out ???? I hope the epic is not going to be like this race every day otherwise i am in for a lot of pain. A LOT of Pain !!

everyone is different. Im 41 and i have never gotten my max over 183. not even when i was 30.

Ive got an oldtail so the hardtail had to go. Can anyone out there tell me if the x1 have bearings or bushings ? if bushings then what do i lube it with, if anything ?

What to put onto/into your pivot/suspension bushings/bearings ? I have the new anthem x1 and i need to know how often to clean and service them, and then also if i need to put in grease, oil or keep them dry ? I think the x1 comes with sealed bearings and not bushings so i imagine one needs to grease the pivots/bearings, but how often ?

Does anybody know if giant anthem rear suspension linkages need to be greased, oiled or none of the above ? And also how often to open, clean and service the links ?

well you can count yourself lucky if you get those racing ralphs stock on the x2. mine came stock with standard maxxis crossmarks. changed them pronto to some spez UST's got the x1 with x0 and xtr bits and it is a dreamride (except uphills where the epic will probably be a bit lighter)

have a 2007 rl80 fox and have absolutely no problems at all. very very solid shock indeed.

did kloofnek on monday morning after 5 intervals against the wind. my min was 8.9km/h and my max was 12.9. that is one steep hill. So i guess either i am just as slow as you or that is about the speed that an average rider goes up kloofnek. What say the other average riders on the hub. whats the normal average speed for the normal average rider, and whats the speed for the elite riders ?

On my way home yesterday evening I encountered exactly that. A broken bottle in the middle of an intersection (very busy one at that) I had no way to dodge the glass and went right through. needless to say my brand new mtb tyre is now badly cut up. it gave me a huge cut in the back tyre. luckily the stans stopped the cut after about all the air blew out. I will have to plug that sucker as i am afraid it will open up again if i go offroad. We need more people like this guy to clean up our streets and more policing (and education) to stop the stupid people from breaking bottles in the road.

Being the crampmeister here are things to try that have worked for me and many others. try and determine if you cramp from lack of salt or of salt excess. 1. lack of salt take in more salt a day or 2 before a race. drink a solution with a lot of salt. some suggested eating bullybeef rolls. it contains a lot of salt (none of this worked for me) 2. lack of calcium/magnesium (thus too much salt). I tried slowmag but this did not work for me. then i tried calcium/magnesium supplement(2:1 ratio) and this to date have worked very well. 3. drink enos before the race and eat rennies during the race. this also contains calcium magnesium as well as buffers lactic acid. (works well for me. 4. train more and stretch alot. (this works for me and most people the best)

Ill stay away from pills and the like thank you.

thanks Hendrik So my nearest local hill is kloofnek. i did it this morning going up at 90% of max HR. Are you saying i should back off and climb at 70% for a while to get stronger and faster ? Ok if so then for how long do i do it. I just came off base training for 2 months where i trained at 70%. How long do you continue doing it ?

thanks Hendrik So my nearest local hill is kloofnek. i did it this morning going up at 90% of max HR. Are you saying i should back off and climb at 70% for a while to get stronger and faster ?

thanks

that might be "get fitter" as i think i am quite fit already. can do 6 hour rides comfortably and also did the hell and back ride very easy. So i need to get fitter. my problem is that i cannot push hard enough to get my legs tired enough when i push because my lungs wont allow me to go that hard. It feels as if i cannot push hard enough to progress to the next level. and yes i use a HR monitor. train at 70% and intervals at 80-90%

Anyone of the gurus around know how to increase your oxygen uptake ? I am finding myself increasingly out of breath when riding hard and some fast uphills. not so so much steep uphills where you are grinding at a slower cadence. It seems that i run out of lungcapacity long before my legs are too tired. I then have to back off a bit to get some breath back and it takes a while for my lungs to recover. When doing intervals at 85=90% my lungs are often sensitive the next day or two. I did have a serious lung infection in june where i could not do any riding. since then i steadily increased intensity anf distance to around 12 hours a week currently which includes hill repeats and intervals weekly. What i need to know is if there are any specific excercises i can do to train my lungs to cope better ?

Ill be in stilbaai over new years. taking my bike to get in some much needed hours in the saddle for the epic. theres some nice gravel roads to traverse around stilbaai. maybe ill see you on the road if i havent got a very very big headache every day !!!!

Scenario 3) You MEANT to say "your popcorns getting cold and your mate is eyeing your beer" ?

"Pick me, Pick me!!" o sorry that is a different movie altogether. Johan just pick scenario one and run with it. O ja, en maak gou!!

cant wait for the outcome of this

I had egg-beaters and found that the "seal" over the shim at the crank end oftern is stiff, not the bearing at the open end. check and grease that sucker and it might help.