Ratty

I didn't like the idea of them, but after my OH got one and I see the fun he is having on it because he is able to get to the top of the trails and actually have energy left to enjoy the downhills, I have been converted. He is loving mountain biking again and is super keen to get out and ride instead of just sitting on the couch. It is great for mates / partners where the one is super fit and the other not as they can ride together. You still have to pedal so its not like its a free ride to the top, it just makes it a little easier. If it was lighter to pick up, I would seriously consider getting one myself. Could have so much fun at places like Jonkers, Welvanpas etc where I just don't have the fitness to ride all the trails I want in a day. However there is no way I could lift one onto my roofracks.

My question with the shoe booster is can you specify which shoes you want the cash back on. My son needs new shoes now which will be +- R600. I don't want the booster activated on those as I'd like to get myself a new pair of trail shoes later in the year which will be well over R1k. Maybe I must just time the activation right.

The grip you get with the fattie tyres is amazing giving you lots more confidence on the technical trails.

My dad needs a friend, he only has two and one is not making her goals.

This really makes sense. So many of the top XC riders are in Cape Town that time of the year anyway as they come out for the Cape Epic. I think its brilliant. Pity we have to wait more than a year.....

No way, they did ask me if I was pregnant, but still did all the tests. Did they do her cholesterol? I never even knew it was supposed to be higher when you are pregnant until the nurse told me. Even googled it afterwards.

So, I did my Vitality test last week. They have kindly said that I am BMI is too high, my waste circumference too large, my cholesterol is too high and that my vitality age is five years more than my actual age. Thanks Vitality. This is the first time ever that I have no got all my bonus points. What they didn't take into consideration is that I am 21 weeks pregnant! It is unhealthy if you don't put on weight and in order to keep baby inside full term, a mothers cholesterol levels need to be higher than normal. Funny things is they even ask if you are pregnant during the visit and know how many weeks I am as I registered for Vitality Baby. Oh well......at least I get double points for any activity I do :-) So a 30 min run/ride at 80% gets me 600 points.

I got a speedo wetsuit which I am very happy with. The others didn't fit me so best to try them all on to see which works for you. Wasn't going to complain as the speedo was almost R2000 cheaper. Coral has the advantage that they will make it custom and also cheaper than the Orca's.

The speed data is exactly that, you need to do it at a certain speed. Think its 5 or 6km's per hour.

My plan is to wait for the 3 months to be up, see what brands they continue to offer and then decide. I am very particular about which brand I wear (only because certain ones just work for me).

So, who got the 2017 email...... Apple Watch round 2, except that this time its with running shoes... Love the fact that you will be able to use your rewards for popcorn at the movies :-) P.S Those with GYM memberships, don't let them lapse. its not R1750 to rejoin!

Just some feedback on the short route. It was great fun until the longer routes joined. When we got to the 2nd piece of singletrack, we had fast guys coming through scaring the novices and kids. Every 10 metres or so we were having to ask our kids to pull aside and let the guys through which wasn't fair to the kids. it was frustrating for both the 10km route guys and the guys trying to race for a good time. I would suggest in future not having the 10km route sharing singletrack with the longer routes.

Wish I could do the 63km, but there are so few kiddie friendly races that I am rather doing the 10km with my son. Looking forward to it. Anyone know what time the late entries close? The 10km only starts at 10am :-)

I'd hate to work for Vitalities IT department, seems they constantly have sync issues. I am on their car insurance and supposed to get rewards for every 100km's I drive without a "bad" event. Last week I managed to go from the 10th to the 17th with no incident. However they only show that I drove 74km's in this period when I actually did 300km's so it looks like they have a syncing problem with DQ Mapper. Didn't make my active rewards last week so need my free smoothie for driving well :-)

So frustrated, I missed my 10000 steps by 21 steps yesterday, stupid. Now I need to do 3 hard sessions this week instead of 2 to make my goal (I can't keep my HR over 80% for 30 min so can't get the 300 points).

Question is will it work for flights already booked if they are six weeks after the go-live date? Sulking at the moment, just missed my goal for this week by 1 bpm .....

Yay, I am so happy with the new 200 points category as well as the drop from 90 minutes to 60+ for moderate exercise. I did a 40 min cycle the other day specially hitting the hills and my max heart rate was only 69% so I got a whole 100 speed points. The problem was that it was 9 degrees avg and when its cold I really struggle to get my heart rate above 80%. Keeping it there is impossible. Now for my standard cycle or run I'll get 200 points instead of 100 which means I don't have to train EVERY day to make my goal :-)

So I went investigating different packs yesterday. Tried on at least 8 which included Cape Storm, First Ascent, Due South, Deuter, Osprey and K-Way. For me, the Osprey is THE one. Wow is it comfortable. On majority of the others I found the shoulder straps were in the wrong place (too wide apart) or that it just didn't sit properly on my back. Unfortunately it is a bit more expensive. They have one for R2049 and one for R2799. The more expensive one has much better ventilation on your back so for a summer hike is the better option. It does have a lifetime warranty though. Even if you tear it yourself, they will apparently fix it for you (just possibly not with the same colour material). My trip is now officially booked, deposit paid and all :-)

Saw a few bad reviews on the k way venture - people said its not that comfortable, something about the foam at the bottom not being thick enough. The Cape Storms are very reasonably priced, wonder if they are any good. What majority of the people recommend is to go into the store and try the packs. Different ones work for different people.

How does the Otter compare to the Tsitsikamma trail? The distances and estimated times per day are longer on the Tsitsikamma and I'm worried I am biting of more than I can chew for my first big multi-day hike.

We are cheapskates so will be carrying all our own stuff. Its R800 per night to move the bags for 1-5 people. We are only 3 people so its an extra R1333 per person to not carry our own hiking packs. Might was well put that money towards a decent hiking back pack that I can reuse in the future.

You couldn't have posted this thread at a better time. I've just committed to joining friends on a 5 day hike - doing the Tsitsikamma hiking trail (cheaper than Otter and the likes). Also need to get proper equipment etc. I have an awesome day pack that I bought for hiking with my 8 year old (which means I carry all the food and clothing for the kids) but it won't be big enough for a multi-day hike unless we take the option of them transporting our bag between huts.

Aren't the treadmill limits at Virgin Active 20 minutes?

It was working fine until this last week, something went wrong I've had no issues up until the 24th where my ride didn't pull through. Thought at first I hadn't met the speed (was cycling with my son), but when I checked it was more than 10km's per hour so I was supposed to get points. Didn't take a change though and just did 10000 steps. Active Rewards: Events not pulling through Some members are experiencing a technical error with events not pulling through for their Active Rewards cycle for 18 to 24 June. We are currently working on having these reprocessed before the current cycle closes. 2016-06-24

I have had no issues with them paying for my operations (at the expected rate). I have added Gap Cover though as in general, the surgeons charge way over the medical aid rate.