Frosty

It depends, on a number of factors: weather conditions (rain, heat wave); your own ability to handle back-to-back days; available days; available hours on each day. My strategy would be similar to @Spinnekop except for the total distance (600Km is adequate for me based on my weekly average, it's not too much of a stretch). Get at much done, as possible, in the first 5 days, and allow for a bad day (you and/or the weather). I'll start earlier, meet up at 05:00 means leaving 10-15 mins before, so that we're back before the heat kicks in. Will try for 120-140Km on days 1, 3 and 4 - and then take it from there for the remaining 4 days. I have done 80, 0, 80, 80, 60, 60, 60 and 80 one year when I was working the 3 days between Christmas and New Year weekends.

Permanent holiday, yes.

Saturday club ride with 5 others; no planned route, just riding and turning when someone suggests it. Still as hot as last weekend.

Intensity drives the demand for fuel (fat, carbs and sometimes protein). The harder it gets (intensity), and also for longer endurance rides, the more carbs you may need to sustain the effort(s). Fats can only be used up to a point before you run out of energy and you’re forced to go slower. “High performance” drink mixes allow you to take carbs in liquid form vs having to chew whole food, or manufactured products like gels and bars. Some are too sweet, so diluting it simply cuts the benefit they bring. Those performance mixes are usually upwards of 60g carbs per serving (rounded). The training you mention is also to “stomach” higher volumes of carbs per hour, and not just the ability to chew and digest. Half hour rides you don’t need anything, although with the heat it’s a good idea to drink water.

The red cell would be from a sweat test to give you sodium (mg per litre) in your sweat loss. The other two are supposed to be converted from the sweat rate (column J) and sweat conc. value (column N). Copy these two formulae into the last two cells: =IF(N25="","",ROUND(N25*J25,0)) =IF(O25="","",ROUND(O25*(C25/60),0)) Then copy the formulae down to the other cells below. If you don't enter in the shaded cells, it will show blank.

Here's the Excel/GoogleSheets file to help determine your sweat rate. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RAfsRi3Mj8r4Kmc9rPLtUlzh-fzbVC7h/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117753239725291367625&rtpof=true&sd=true

If you are using Game and bananas you probably aren’t getting enough fuel in, to sustain longer workouts. You then go down another pathway that is a performance decline. Add the high temperatures and insufficient fluid intake, and you compound the problem. Game has 21g (carbs) of mixed as per instruction. A medium-sized banana (Woolies info) has about 15g. That’s 36g, which for many is enough for a low- to medium-duration ride of 2-4 hours but not higher intensity activities.

@shaper mentioned Precision Hydration, and I asked them for a contact in JHB. The local contact was given as Carbon Endurance (John), was included in the response from Greg (UK). I never got any response from John. The test is R2,499 on their website, which many will feel is a lot. However, it gives you a starting point to ensure that you’re optimising your hydration needs.

I’m not an expert in this sweating and cramping matter, far from it, but I do understand the basic principles. You can easily work out how much you sweat per hour, without any fancy testing. However, the concentration of sodium in your sweat needs to be done with medical equipment. For the test, weigh yourself before your ride (birthday suit weight). Weigh your bottles (empty and full). Take your closthes off after the ride and wipe any moisture off your skin, then weigh yourself again (birthday suit). Make a note of the amount of litres you consumed, and the duration of your ride. Example (weights in Kg): 80.4(before) + 1.65 (2 full bottles) - 79.5 (after) - 0.15 (empty bottles) = 2.4kg or 2.4L / 3.5 hours (ride duration) = 0.68L/hour. I’ll share a simple Excel file you can use to calculate your sweat rate. Mine is about 600ml/hour (outside), but double (indoors) on a hot day; probably because of the lack of adequate (evaporative) cooling. You can test this a number of times to get an average sweat rate. Once you know that, you have a guideline, for what is required per hour. If you know that your sweat concentration is, you will know which sodium replenishment rates are. Sweat concentrations can vary quite a lot, from 300mg to 1500mg. I’ll share some links later/tomorrow relating to the physiology around blood volume, blood pressure, homeostasis, and other effects of sweat loss. I know enough to understand it, but not educate others.

As simple it sounds, it’s not that simple, but also not that complicated.

I waved at him, and he looked at me all confused; not that I’m a Grandpa., it just seemed the right thing to do.

No where! It's a planned rest period... day 2 and counting.

Lose the weight in winter, then maintain from there. Don't train harder and longer at the same time/same day; keep it easier for longer, and only do the hard stuff when you feel recovered.

Reading the news report about Patrick (fallen rider), the number of recorded incidents was just 57, mostly for cramps and dehydration; 17 admitted to hospital). Seems the Zwift riders weren’t that bad on the road. https://maroelamedia.co.za/nuus/sa-nuus/gesoute-fietsryer-sterf-wyl-hy-seun-se-dood-herdenk/?fbclid=IwAR1rUq3eDNYD7rNHiSnjtWFhkKloIQ5Jt2Q4q6yXVe9dv3Zo886Yhvhb1NM

The start list shows 13000, but it’s duplicated in the charity bunch and the male/female start lists. I posted the links to the 3 start list categories a few weeks back. Realistically, they had around 11,500 (road only, both distances).

Yes and no; it depends on the expenses relative to the income. For a full road closure route, it’s relatively cheaper than smaller events that don’t have full closure. Take Emperors Classic and Ride for Sight. Both are R100 less than 947, and almost double what Meals on Wheels charge. I’d say the smaller events are getting more expensive.

I had 32°C at the start of my second “lap” (09:02) and 38°C when I got home (12:14). It shows 29°C which was at my stop on Jan Smuts (bike was in the shade for 35 minutes).

I stopped on Jan Smuts (after finishing my own ride and riding back along the route) and watched many people come passed in the 35 minutes I was there. While there were a large number of people going slowly, and felt it was hard work, they seemed to enjoy the encouragement from the small crowd in this area. These would have been open seeded riders in batches C - M, so possibly people that cycle often. A couple grumpy people, including one that insisted we "move out of the way", but otherwise a large number of positivity despite the hard effort required up Jan Smuts.

There were just under 11,5k starters (rounded) in 2023. We've never had visibility to entries in years pre-covid, only finishers on the results page. Numbers are dropping, no doubt, but compared to the boom in the 2000s and early 2010s, i would say it is less appealing. It has always been this time of year, and mostly hot. Here's a breakdown of the results:

I watched as the already thinned out bunch had 20s at the top of the R55, which became 40s at the Jukskei river and eventually 8 or 9 minutes at the finish. Still happy with the effort, but disappointed I couldn’t get closer before the left turn. Get to sleep in my own bed tonight and perhaps ride again in the week, so that’s all that counts. Quickly grabbed some food and some drinks from hospitality (thanks Team Vitality), then made my way out to Jan Smuts drive near Westcliff, to watch my club mates suffer over the hill, before returning to FNB Stadium with the last person, before the ride home. A lekker day out, with sad news of a local club’s member that passed away doing the race.

On the road approaching the final traffic circle, coming in to the finish, before the final left turn. Page11 shows the map layout https://ridejoburg.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/VA-947-Ride-Joburg-ROAD_97-km-Digital-Race-Brochure-2023-6.pdf

It’s UCI regulations for licensed riders. One for on the left pocket, one for on the right pocket.

Was flippen hot this morning at 08:30. Hopefully tomorrow is a little cooler than this morning.

For me, it’s their greed and inflexibility. A grand a month (on a dual view decoder) to be limited by their schedule. I left in 2018 before streaming became a thing. I found myself flipping channels trying to find something to watch, i.e. a slave to their schedule. Netflix and GCN+ cost less than a quarter of that, and I could watch what I wanted, when I wanted. I already had an internet connection, as the Mrs has her own business from home that requires a connection.