dino

My new stumpjumper carbon comp 29er

I don't think this has anything to do with mountain bikers, the spruit, or anything like that. Unfortunately we live in a hyper agressive country, the roots of which can be debated for days. Joburg has the biggest ratio of "breekers" to normal folk than any other country I've been to. If you get assaulted at the movies doesn't mean the movies are suddenly dangerous. Ride happy

This will be my 4th race at VG, so I'm not exactly a total noob when it comes to technical routes, nor do I proclaim to be Greg Minaar The section I'm referring to is after the bit where there are two lines, they both merge to one path and there are a few steep, rocky descents with switchbacks, so you can't exactly cruise down! Last year I went straight over my handlebars, overcooked one of the turns and went into a boulder that shot me off my bike into a thorn tree. Still have one stuck in my arm I will happily move aside and let other people ride past if I get off, which might be the case, not too confident on my new 29er On a side note, 3 years ago when they ran out of water was one of the worst races of my life, rode the last 25 kms with absolutely nothing to drink.

Rode some of the trail today, the climb after the concrete hill is very loose so I'm expecting a lot of walkers next week. That rocky section after poffader hill before the daggapad is still there, going to be a nightmare. In my opinion it's too steep, rocky and very loose this time of year for 90% of the riders to ride properly. Those boulders are massive, and descending at a slow speed to try make some of the turns makes it easy to go superman over handlebars.

Hmm ok I need to buy a light, don't think I'll make this arvie's ride.

7 kms there, 40kms ride, 7kms home, that's a good 55 kms... on a Monday! Do I need lights or will we be back before dark.

So that's a yes! Cool. Roughly how far do you fellas go from Fratellis?

Jumping on the bandwagon here as I'm keen to ride! Do you guys meet at the Fratelli's in Greenside?

Can't comment on Kings Kloof. 1) Groenkloof 2) Thaba 3) Van Gaalens Groenkloof is my favourite place to ride in Gauteng because of the variety, closely followed by Thaba which I love for it's technical descents and super steep climbs. Great for training. To be honest, there isn't much separating these 3 trails, they are all brilliant.

Woke up at 5AM, set off, got to Lanseria where it started to P1$$ down, saw some really dark clouds over the Magaliesberg, turned around and went back home and got back into bed, snug as a bug, by 6:30. Felt like a bit of a sissie for not riding, but I'm not up for riding through peanut butter and messing up my components again like I did on Berg and Bush. Starting a ride when it's raining and you're wet and cold just isn't fun. I'm so glad to read that I'm not the only one that turned around and canned it, thought there was a chance I might read that the rain stopped just before the race started, the sun came out, and everyone had the race of their lives! Woohoo Very impressed with the people that rode. I'm even impressed with the people that drove all the way there

racetec

My second time ever on a road bike, I'm an average mountain biker, yet I finished in the top 13% of the 94.7 starting in L?

Couldn't agree more! I'm a mountain biker, and incorporated boxing into my workout routine, 3 times a week to build up core strength (my lower back used to get sore). I was really surprised how much difference this made to my overall fitness level and endurance capabilities.

Entered. bleh. Hope it's not hot. I'll be on the black and white specialized stumpy 26er cursing the uphills.

Not sure if I really believe in resting after a race. I take a day off and then train as usual. Don't really believe in taking a week off prior to a race either. I trained every day until the 94.7 (boxing, swimming, gym, riding) and felt super strong on the day. I just think you should listen to your body. If you feel strong, go train. If you are buggered, take a day off, it's not going to kill you and won't affect your fitness in the greater scheme of things.

Looks like I might wait and see how the weather is and do a late entry on the Sat morning. If it's going to be this hot there is no way I'm riding, almost dies at the Trailseeker Van Gaalens race in 2010.

To get the sticker to stick properly it needed to be applied the night before.

It's only my second time on a road bike (and the bike was one day old lol) so I'm no expert, but I really think it's just a matter of strength, not gears: I was putting in the same effort I would on a mountain bike and was cruising past the "roadies". And I'm not the greatest MTB rider either, I did the 70km Hakahana race in 4:15 as an example.

Still in two minds about whether to enter this one or not. Feeling very tired after such a busy race season *yawn*

Not sure if i can give you a "scientific" answer, but in my opinion it has to do with strength and power output. Mountainbikers are used to riding hills covered in sand, rocks and mud, so you need a lot more power to get up those hills. If you are used to riding through peanut butter (mud like we had on the berg and bush) and suddenly you ride on smooth tar it feels super easy.

3:04 in L, second time on a road bike, only bought it on Saturday haha. Probably not the most advisable thing to buy a new bike the day before an event but wasn't keen to do it on my tank MTB again. Quite chuffed with my time considering that I did no road training. Berg and Bush got me nice and strong and was cruising past the roadies on the hills. Racing etiquette of some people in batches ahead of me was shocking. I was passing people in higher batches than me (who should be decent riders with experience?) who were crawling up the hills on the right hand side and wouldn't move over when we asked. Some lady shouted at me "hope you win the race" as we passed. wtf. It's not about winning, it's about having a goal in mind that I'm trying to reach and you are slowing me down.

Also looking for an entry pls for the "marathon". cheers

I'm still pulling thorns out my arms from when I went over my handlebars at the VG race, so I learnt the hard way already and would rather just have sections that I can ride without fear of death.

Great race, I felt super strong after Berg and Bush and was well chuffed that I shaved an hour off my Van Gaalens time to finish at ~4:13. The last climb on that concrete section was just stupid, nobody can ride it, so what's the point. It just induces cramping in the legs to get off and push. Was bleak because I didn't push up any of the other hills. Other than that I enjoyed the day, glad it wasn't too hot. To the guy at the end of the race who cheated and held onto the Pajero up the last few hills, well done, you're a winner

I hope you guys haven't included that ridiculous rocky downhill that was in the Nissan Trailseeker VG race. Saw way too many people going straight over their handlebars there, wasn't fun.