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Ratty

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Everything posted by Ratty

  1. Bit more than the others @ R5299. But then he really enjoys his cycling and its cheaper than him doing Karate or one of the other paid sports for 2 years. (at least that's how I justify it). I have also seen the difference between his bike and his friends cheaper bikes (those bought in Sportsmans) and there is a big difference. When they swop, you can see the improvement of the friends.
  2. My son is turning 8 and is tall for his age. Tried him on a few 24" bikes at Sportsmans and its a good fit with room to grow. I can understand considering a 26" for kids that are 9+, but don't think its the way to go for younger unless they are really tall. I've seen so many kids struggling on the bigger bikes. The saddle is put right to the bottom and then the handle bars are way higher than the saddle.
  3. Buy the one your kid likes the most cause then he will want to ride it :-) This is the one my son wants. His first ever bike was a KTM balance bike so he is a fan of orange. https://www.specialized.com/za/en/bikes/kids/hotrock2421-speedboys/106509
  4. Don't encourage him to ride, by the time you get to 24 inch bikes it starts costing a fortune and you have to reconsider you own cycling budget. only joking. Congrats !!!
  5. They have the Knysna forest marathon, but not the Knysna MTB or Road race in July. They are missing the majority of the events I do. Will just have to rely in my garmin for things like Berg and Bush (will probably get more points anyway as previously they only awarded for 1 of the 3 days.
  6. You have to buy and link Tom Tom before the 18 March, or wait until they get the interface working between the two (there was mumblings about june / july).
  7. Bones much better than ligaments in healing time. Tore my thumb ligaments more than a year back and still struggling with it getting sore / stiff. Previously broken the middle bone in the same hand and 2 months of healing it was perfect.
  8. What gets me is that at the night ride last Thursday which is a club organised ride with lots of helpful people and a shop selling the permits, there were still people trying to ride without paying.
  9. For me, taking a sachet of Rehydrate Sport on the day of the event has solved my headache issues. "Electrolytes especially sodium and potassium, reduce urine output, promote absorption from the small intestine, and encourage fluid retention".
  10. Drowning in your own self pity is not going to make things any easier. Trust me I know. At the moment I have permanent PMS as I am not allowed to exercise for 3 weeks following a ear operation (also caused by a stupid accident). Also missing a triathlon that I had my heart set on in April. But, I had a humbling experience yesterday. I bumped into my neighbour yesterday. She was in a car accident a month back, tyre blew and the car rolled 6 1/2 times. She has damaged both arms/shoulders and hasn't been able to do a thing for herself as she can't use either arm. Made me realise I really have nothing to complain / sulk about. Give yourself a kick up the backside and just realise **** happens. Its life. While sitting on your backside, be proactive and find another goal for you and the wife to achieve this year. Then you will have something else to look forward too. If you sell your entry, use the money and enter Berg and Bush, its way more fun than Sani anyway. Hope you heal up soon !
  11. Anyone wanting to get a VivoActive, rather wait a little bit for the Vivoactive HR which has the built in HR monitor. Its being released soon. Then you don't need to worry about a HR strap. Otherwise Tom Tom does a nice GPS multisport watch with built in HR for a very good price, only catch is it needs to be linked by tomorrow otherwise you have to wait for Discovery to have a direct interface with Tom Tom (+- 6 months). Unfortunately the Tom Tom has bad reviews for the swimming accuracy (everything else was fine) which makes it a no go for me. only other watch I found with GPS and built in HR was an Adidas one. But the VivoActive is better IMO.
  12. What is interesting is that looking on there website, things are different there compared to the email we received. i.e run speed is now 8km's per hour (was 4km's) and ride speed must be 20km's per hour (was 8km's). When I spoke to the lady at vitality she said these are the new speeds come the 2nd of April. There was no mention of speed in THE email.. That said, 20km's on a road bike is easily achievable, but on a technical mtb trail its a bit of a push (for me at least). But at least its something achievable if you don't have a heart rate monitor.
  13. People are complaining because the goals have changed. Come April the 2nd, you can do a 3 hour cycle at 30km's per hour and you will only get 100 points if you do not have a heart rate monitor. I am also on 650 points and its been easy to get and I agree, maybe a little too easy (i.e I can get 300 points for a 20 min walk). The problem is that they didn't adjust it slightly, that made a huge adjustment. As I don't have an HR, I would have to exercise 7 days a week to make my current goal ! This is not achievable for me with work and family responsibilities. But, I've kept pretty quite so far as they said they will readjust the goals. Will be interesting to see what my new goal is.
  14. Swimming Squads. We do all four strokes and also sometimes focus on just arms or just legs. Simple things like doing a length backstroke into a length of crawl - to change from one to the other you have to crunch your stomach. Helped strengthen my back, core, arms etc and improved my fitness a lot. Couldn't believe the difference doing Berg and Bush in 2015, compared to 2014. The only thing I had changed was that I had started squads. Also helped me lose a couple of kg's. Sadly I've put them all back on as I haven't been able to swim since December thanks to a burst eardrum.
  15. I was so close to buying the VivoActive Smartwatch (the previous one without HR), but think I will wait until I can get my paws on this one :-)
  16. I got the email this morning - just a pity I sold my road bike. I only used it for Die Burger (seeding) and the Argus. My mate also got the email and he has never done the Argus before.
  17. For the Cape Town peeps, how are you planning on getting yourselves and your bikes there? Our bikes are going to go up with the trailer as its just so much easier than flying with them, so we just need to get ourselves from the airport to the destination. Thinking of just hiring a car as its cheaper than the shuttle (R1300 per rider).
  18. Just because you are doing the Descent doesn't mean you have to race. The more people that race ahead the better for me as then I get the singletrack to myself :-) The Tugela river was a life saver last year. I just hope its a bit cooler this time around.
  19. If you were doing Sani 2 c you would probably be the only one. Last year there were still quite a few 26ers at B&B. Its a slightly more technical route with a slightly different group of riders. You don't need a 29er for this race. There are a few stretches of district road where the 29er has an advantage, but otherwise the 26er is perfect. My dad has both and actually chose the 26er rather.
  20. Berg and Bush way better than Sani IMO. Also like the fact that you stay 2 nights at the same venue. Entry for the Descent is done and dusted. :-)
  21. I am extremely happy that Loic Bruni is now a specialized rider. Was torn last year as I wanted him to Loic because he just seems such a nice guy and I like the way he rides, but I also wanted Gwin to win because I am a Specialized fan. This year, I will be supporting Greg (obviously) as my no1 choice and Loic as my number 2 choice. Can't wait.
  22. I've struggled with this for years. Most of the sports brands just coming in small medium large etc. The assume that if you have big boobs then you are big in general. For me, If the cup fits, then the band around my stomach / back is way to lose. The only ones I could find that fit and have enough support were over R900 each which is just way too much. By chance I found some at Woolworths that come in standard bra sizes i.e you get to choose the cup size and the waist size as options. Can't remember what the brand name is, but they are awesome.
  23. In an event like this where you constantly have fast people coming around passing slower people I don't think they can make it too technical. That said, its still fun as you just ride fast through the trees by the river, its quite narrow in places. There were a few nasty crashes, think some people were pushing their boundaries.
  24. Hi Sage Welcome to Bike Hub. There is not much of a difference between mens and ladies bikes especially in the lower end so I wouldn't worry too much about that. What is important is making sure you have a proper ladies saddle and a pair of ladies cycling shorts as these will make you experience a lot better. Getting the right size bike is also very important. Go to your local bike shop and ask them to measure you so you know what size you need. I would suggest starting with a mountain bike. It is a lot more versatile in that you can ride trails, jeep track, gravel roads as well as tar whereas a road bike is limited to the tar. As a beginner its more fun learning off-road as you don't have to worry about cars. It will also be more comfortable as you sit in a more upright position. Which ever bike you choose, I hope you love it!
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