rudi-h

If I were you, I'd go dual sus, even if that means you have to eat baked beans for another month or two. You don't want to spend 12k on a bike, and then think: "Man, those dual-sus bikes look so nice, wish I had one" IMHO, in terms of components, I don't think there's much (except maybe for a bit of weight) of an advantage to go higher than LX / SLS / SRAM X7 on components, so I wouldn't pay an extra 2k for a bike with an XT rear deraileur and better shifters for instance.

Don't underestimate Xterra... EVER

Ek stry nie dat dit moer warm was nie my ou, maar 56 is ongehoord vir die geweste! Dus is jou Polar is verkeerd, so ook alle kar termometers (nie die termometer self nie, maar die toestande waarin die meting plaasvind, soos bv. in die son). Ek het die blood gepost sodat mense kan sien dat hand-termometers wat in die son staan, nie ware temperatuur weergee nie! Moet nie als glo wat op die skermpie staan nie

Don't worry about the swim. The dam is clean and normally not much waves, so you can just relax and gooi some breast stroke / lie on your back if you're struggling. As for the run, expect to do some walking / climbing every now and then , especially up the dam wall. Don't forget to take a swim when you cross the stream!!! Awesome refreshment! PS don't wear white! You will moer your clothes away afterwards!!!

Yes, shade temp, that's the only way to measure temperature. If you measure sunlight temp, then the heat absorption properties of the thermometer plays a big role and can be well over boiling point (hence solar geyers) I think many of these so called "measured temperatures" are done with hopelessly poor thermometers with hopelessly uncontrolled measurement protocols. Not many places in SA measure more than 40 on a regular basis! I did practically grow up in the magalliesberg, and we rarely had days topping 36. that's not too far from harties / van gaalens. Car thermometers are also pretty useless!

Nog nooit attakwas gedoen nie, ek ek kan glad nie praat nie, maar soos ek verstaan is dit hierdie jaar 12km korter, dus 124km, so 11 ure behoort meer haalbaar te wees as ander jare. Bevestig dit dalk net.

Awesome race!!! My favourite race of the year. Might miss it this year due to the IM70.3 the week before and I might still be down there for holiday... Did 4:15 last year, but the mud reduced my bike to a singlespeed stuck in a slow gear. If I get up here early enough to race it this year, I'll aim for about 3:20!!!

hou op k@k praat: Volgens Wikipedia is die warmste temperatuur nog nooit gemeet: (1.6m bokant die grond gemeet) 57.8 °C (136.0 °F) Al 'Aziziyah, Libya 13 September 1922. So indien wel, is Van Gaalens en sy kamma 56 grade Celcius moer naby aan die Hel

I'm not super fast, so maybe this is shyte advice, but I've got quite a bit faster lately by riding hills. I do this on my roadbike. Roadbike is not a requirement, but I think the lack of gears helps to build strength and hence speed... (my opinion) If on MTB, I don't allow myself to get into the small ring, and not to go in or above the second to last ring at the back when riding on-road, irrespective of slope. I don't know the hills in B-Town, but here in the West I drive to the Sasol garage where the N14 becomes the R28. There are two hills right after one another on the way to Key West with more than 150m and 100m vertical ascent respectively, so I do the hills 2 or 3 times at hard pace, relaxing and enjoying the view on the way down. That got me a tad faster for 94.7!

I think about 3 years ago they recorded 38deg C in the Umkumaas valley during day 2 of the Sani2C, being close to the C, they humidity was also no joke. I guess that's why they introduced the halfway stop with cold showers!!! Finished 2.5 x 3 litre camelback bladders that day!

Kom nou, moet nou nie soos 'n girl reageer nie... Ek het nie bedoel swaar ouens is stadig of vet of onfiks nie, maar selfs al is jy net spiere en topfiks, gaan jou rug en kniee nogsteeds k@k teen die tyd wat jy 55 is as jy te baie en te ver hardloop met 105kg agter you gat! Maak nie saak of dit vet of spiere is nie.

Thanks for the feedback! In winter, I only did base km's, so that was normally 2 x 5km runs per week and 1 x 8km run per week. To improve my speed (for sprint triathlons mainly) I changed my routine to 2 x "interval sessions" per week (total distance 6km-7km, including the slow intervals) following 40 minutes of swimming in the gym, and one longer 8km - 10km easy run on weekends / mid week. The intervals got my speed up from 5min/km to 4:30min/km pushing hard in only a matter of a few months. Now that the sprints are over, I'm changing back to more relaxed longer runs as prep for ironman, but try to do as much of my longer runs off-road or on trails. I'm very prone to chin splints, so have to be very careful about that. I do find that lots of base km's on the bike does wonders for my running, thus I can reduce my running distance and still run reasonably well! I didn't know that there are many competitive heavy runners out there then, so I guess I should rather shut up about heavy runners then

I've got the first edition. Its good for general reading, and pretty fun too, but I didn't find that reading it improved my riding in any remarkable way. It only tells basics about how things should be done, and doesn't really give you too much tips, drills or exercises on how to do it, if that makes sense. Maybe its just me, but learning how to wheelie, bunny hop high stuff, make big jumps etc. is better to learn from somebody who can actually do it well. Reading can't teach you that, but who knows, maybe the 2nd edition is a cracker!

I'm not trying to be funny, but I think for somebody weighing in at 106kg, 20km / week of running is absolutely over the top. I've been training constantly for the last 5 years, obviously some times more than others, but leave it at that. When I start running after a break of a few weeks / month or two (and just do cycling in those times) then I literally have to start with 2 to 3, 3km runs per week (at very slow pace) to ensure that I don't get chin splints, cartilage (spelling?) injuries etc. and I weight 90kg at the worst of times. Even now, weighing 84kg and running sub 36 min on an 8km and sub 1:45 on a halfmarathon, I cannot do more than 3 x 6-10km sessions a week without risking injury. I also never run two days in a row! I'm no expert, but have read numerous books on training, but mostly what I write is from personal experience, and that varies greatly between individuals, so please keep that in mind when reading my posts. But yes, heavy guys are not made to run far, so be careful!

Listen to your body... If you feel weak, then you've over done it. If you feel strong, you're on the right track. There's no right way, and nobody will be able to tell you exactly how much and how hard to excercise. Your schedule does sound hectic, so maybe you should cut out some volume, and make sure there's good quality in the remaining hours. Good luck

My 2c: didn't read all the replies, but I used plain old ZamBuk after my shower everyday on a recent bike tour. Have nothing to compare it with, but I thought it worked quite well and its VERY cheap for long term use!

Here's the deal how I understand it: Resin pads: Best stopping power Poor lifespan Absolutely crap in wet weather. I've heard they sometimes only last 30km. Good for DH, because the heat generated through friction does not travel through the pad (its a good isolator), thus it does not "boil" the hydraulic oil. If you use sintehered ot metal pads for DH, there is a chance of your brake fluid "boiling", and when that happens, you have NO stopping power at all. Sinthered pads: Good all rounder Doesn't wear too fast in wet weather Not suited for DH becuase of above reason Metal pads Least stopping power Best wear life Not affected by water at all No suited for DH because of reason above That's how I understand it. The disc won't get damaged with either one

The bridges seemed to be fixed! But yes, it is a good idea to take some of the black trails easy the first time anyhow, cause there are some surprizes around corners, gap jumps etc. where you can get hurt real bad!

payed a visit to the bryanston bike park this morning. After not being there for almost a year I was quite impressed with the amount of new trails and quality. Some seriously technical stuff. Was a rocking ride!!! At R50 a pop its not somewhere I'd go often, but definitely worthwhile every now and then to hone your skills me thinks!!

I've started getting tonsilitis about 4 years ago for the first time. Its really sensitive to cold weather, but sometimes it comes round in summer too. It starts off with a virus infection that causes a little bit of pain, but does not make you sick. After a few days it can change to a bacterial infection that is absolutely horrible. My advice: if you start feeling symptoms of the virus infection, stop training, wear a scarf and hit those tonzolyt tablets, vitamins etc. for two days. Chances are good that it won't get much worse and then you go back to normal in a flash. If you get the bacterial infection (severe throat pain, flu-like symptoms and coughing) get antibiotics period.

I'm useless training first thing in the morning. I klap a peanut butter and syrup zamie before I ride! I'm not sure about the fat burning advantage. A doctor friend of mine told me that fat burning only kicks in when glycogen levels are very low anyway. So yes, if you feel good riding without brekkie, do it, but I don't believe there's a big advantage as opposed to eating something.

sorry to break the news for you dude, but every calorie that you eat gets digested and finds itself going straight into your boep.

what's even more disturbing about this thread is that it's a thread about cycling shorts, and the infamous "white pant" hasn't even found its way into the thread yet...

I'm planning a serious IM training week starting the day after Christmas. Don't have a specific day to day plan yet, but it will include long swims in buffelspoort dam, running/fast hiking up the mounain, mtb at buffelspoort and van gaalens etc. If anyone is interested, let me know and we can fix a schedule of some sort. If there are any hubbers that would want to join for more than 1 day, I can maybe arrange very basic accommodation free of charge. The focus is on volume, so pace will be not be too fast! Drop me a PM

Maybe better than a trainer in your garage, but man that's a sad sight...!