GuyP

There was a whole write-up a few months back about the reduced rolling resistance of a 25 vs 23... Depends what you mean by all-rounder - if you mean racing and training for racing then 23/25 probably works. If you spend most of your time just riding all day, maybe the 27 is a better bet. My two road bikes have 23's, while my cyclocross has 28 (and 37 on another wheelset), depending what I'm up to. The 37 is awesome for all day riding, but won't fit into a road frame

Cycling along that 'cliff edge' was something quite extraordinary. On a hardtail, there was lots of bouncing around, you had to keep ducking for trees, and still somehow trying to take in that view! Fantastic!

Where? I just did the 40Km, and the only tar was up Hillsnacks and a little bit through Chancliffe? I thought it was an absolutely awesome ride - proteas, gorges, cliffs, some technical bits, some fast, some climbing. A nice bit of something for everyone!

To me those pics hit a nerve - they reflect the real life cyclists out there and they look awesome! I hope the project is a success because I want my book!

Sounds awesome! Slowly building up to 300Km weekends again, and then 400Km. Only 200Km this weekend, with a Dome-to-Dome thrown inbetween. Pity you're all the way down in the Cape (or is it pity I'm in Gauteng?)

Sad to hear your tale agter-ryer. Please let us know what the feedback from the organisers is.

Wow, pretty amazing. Pledge made. How's the pic of the dude with the Ferrari bicycle!! Looks like possibly the real deal, interestingly with Reynolds tubing rather than Columbus tubing

Touring is super cool (have circumnavigated France and a few other countries), but you don't often get a whole lot of like-minded folk going in the same direction, experiencing the same things, with the same goal! I've got two steel bikes I do the ultra's on (apparently much better at shock absorption) - my old Bridgestone road bike, and a Ritchey cyclocross bike (with two wheelsets - 28mm and 35mm depending on what I'm up to). MTB is probably a bit too slow imo, although probably a lot more comfortable! I think it's all in the saddle - I bought an Ergon saddle a year back for ultra distance. Heavier than a race saddle of course, but who cares if you can still feel your butt after 400Kms!

All the great life stories start with doing something crazy ... The PBP is 1200Km over 90 hours, going through some of the most historical parts of France, cobbles and all. I think half of the allure is the history, not only of France, but also of the event, which I think is over 100 years old! And then there's the cameraderie!

I'm always happy to adopt the culture of the relevant disciplines, although it probably takes an event or two to sort yourself out - I guess there's always going to be some crossover culture if you participate in multiple disciplines. I've only done one audax, and perhaps we were lucky - otherwise you just have a little more rest between stages, which means you are more revitalised for the next stage. Where it really probably begins to matter more (with no experience in this regard), is for the much longer events, where you're a lot more tired, and therefore perhaps happier to adopt the 25km/h (or less) speed. I'll learn!

I've got three and the only problem I've had is the rate they go through batteries (maybe 4-6 months a pop depending on use)! However, with so much functionality, it's probably not surprising. Otherwise the give me everything I need and I'm a happy customer

Gives real meaning to living, breathing, eating, sleeping cycling!

So what are you going to do next?

That's the cr@p part for many cyclists isn't it - crime? On a long ride to Lichtenburg (one of the 416Km weekends), in the middle of nowhere, 4 dudes jumped out of the bushes in front of us. Luckily there were four of us, so nothing really happened besides sneering, but it could have been hugely intimidating, or worse, with fewer numbers...

I'm not big on taking all day with these things if I can help it - the last 200Km we did in 6hrs, which was more appropriate, but it seemed to have been frowned upon a bit where the recommended max speed is apparently 25Km/h or something like that. 400Km is a totally different proposition though - I don't think you can blow that away in 12 hours without a substantial meal or two thrown in, maybe taking 18 hours?

At least that still sounds reasonable! 400Km sounds like lunacy right now! Have you done it, are you doing it?

It does - what were you doing in Iowa?

West Johannesburg Good point - will fix profile

Nothing stops getting bike seats and trailer bikes in the meantime...

Lol, congratulations, and good luck - the first challenge will be to find the smallest possible shoe that will take cleats, and that seems to be about a size 35 in my experience, i.e. about 9 years old!

yep, it's Eddie that's got that 400Km scheduled for end October in Gauteng...

Every four years - makes it worth the effort then? Looking at your tag, you did it - are you doing it again? Any PBP-candidate hubbers in Gauteng?

PBP is up next year (only every second year), and the 1st local 400Km (qualifying?) Audax is at end October... Any hubbers thinking of doing PBP?

Sounds like new bike is easiest... Otherwise, start with the wheelset!

the LSDs? Cool - send me some contact details, PM or otherwise