shahilj

Hey Everyone Was hoping to get some advice for choosing a wine to age I want to buy at least 24 wines now which I can lay down for the next 15-20 years and enjoy these at specific milestones in the future (e.g. birthdays, graduations) Previously, I've kept some wines for around 12 years (in generally okay conditions - not even a cellar or anything) and these aged amazingly well. The best wines I've had bar none. Anyway, I wanted to get something that is reasonably priced seeing that I want to buy at least 24 of these. Trying to get below 150 per bottle. Are there any suggested wines (especially since a lot are on special now) that I can consider? If there are any wine farms that even offer to keep these in their cellar, I will happily consider these.

I'm honestly pretty pleased they are putting a race together. It's a tough time to organise a race as we still are in a pandemic and until this passes with high vaccination rates, and other medical interventions coming onto the market, we need to follow best practices to ensure people are safe. This is pretty easy to understand. They've done a lot to ensure that an event can be smoothly executed. We have all made the personal call to make bookings. It's a risk thing after all. My personal issue is that this is an 80km ride and not a 100km+ ride. My last race was CTCT 2020 and I've not done a 100km+ since that and this would have been a perfect opportunity. But that's fine, I will enter next year with the hope that the PMB-DUR route is back. It's such a great race after all.

Oh gosh After listening to pretty good commentary for 3 weeks at the TDF, it was PAINFUL listening to the commentators. They would have the person's number in their face and still be like "the rider from Uruguay wearing 61 looks like they can't stick with the group anymore" and I'm like uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. Wonder if it was any better on the GCN+ feed.

Okay this is exactly me. Pain is only concentrated on exactly the sit bones. I've played around with the saddle and this has allowed me to ride maybe 80km but I am out for the week after that. Freewheel Cycology is pretty close by so will pop in to chat.

In terms of SADDLE FIT, are there any recommended places to go that deal specifically with this? I've done a bike fit, a re-check of the fit, but my saddle is still the biggest issue. My saddle is the right size and I've played around with the height, and setting it more forward and back but after around 2 hours on the bike, my sit bones hurt like hell. So really need someone in Cape Town (I'm based in Southern Suburbs) who can help me out. Any suggestions?

How Long Could You SURVIVE Locked In A Grocery Store? This video will definitely not answer your question directly. However, I found it interesting that specific foods do not have an expiry in terms of the foods losing nutritional value. They will taste different, or break down but still have nutrients which could sustain you. In terms of the gels, it very much depends on the gel. The more sugar, the longer these should last if stored well. The quality of the packaging also matters. The cocktail of chemicals would also matter. Gels are packed with various nutrients and vitamins and some of these break down into something that will upset you. So weirdly, the cheaper ones may actually be okay whereas the complicated, specially formulated ones may give issues. As has been mentioned by many in this thread, always eat with your senses - if it looks or smells uninviting, do not eat it. I've used expired nutrition before and it's turned out okay. But none of them look, felt, or had a weird smell so I was pretty lucky. AND I usually will pop a probiotic before the ride to ensure I have enough gut bacteria to support me if anything does go badly during a ride.

Looking for a 5-speed rear cassette for. 90s mountain bike? The one I have has been going strong for the past 25 years and finding a replacement has been pretty impossible. Also looking for road bike brake levers (without gear levers).

From the website: When they started using Steyn City, they only released the actual route around a week before the event. So I don't think you're going to get a definitive answer of how technical it will be. Seeing that this is in over 6 months time, I would say you can definitely train to get to the level needed to complete the route. There may even be a training guide that they release to help with fitness. Take the plunge and give it a go!

Definitely the case! It is sturdy and will not break though so taking eddy's advice, would be best to get some 2nd hand wheels for a couple hundred and see where it takes me. Doing this mostly because of nostalgia after all!

I've come through to my parents home and in the garage is my trusty old Raleigh M-30 mountain bike in all it's (former glory) BACKGROUND I got in when I was around 11/12 (so around 1997) and it provided me with hours and hours and hours of good times. I raced people with it, tried going off road, fell MANY times, and even went airborne more than I should have. Let's not forget the skids I did that weirdly did not destroy the tyres. It's HARDY! Steel frame Shimano 15 speed (3x5) Shimano calipers 26" wheels When I realised it was a 26" my eyes lit up as I realised I can actually do something with this bike!! The bike will be used for some gravel riding, road riding, and some riding down the promenade. Gravel tyres seem to give the best of both worlds and I'm keen to try this as a build. MY IDEA The plan is to obviously turn this into a GRAVEL bike or something like that. Wheels These obviously need to be changed as the wheels are warped and the rims are rusted. This is also the major elemt that I will change. As this will be used as a gravel bike, I wanted something thinner, sleeker, and not as MTB like. There are a few options: Do a straight swap with another 26" tyreTry to fit in a gravel 700c type tyreBe smarter and use a 650b or similarThe clearance looks like I could squeeze in the 700. The 650 may be a smarter idea. Tyres I want to put in something that's not very MTB like. Haven't made up my mind yet. Brakes, Gears, Drivetrain When I said that this is hardy, I meant it. These honestly do not need to be changed! They work extremely well, Even the brakes stop things DEAD. All I want to do is: Wash and LubeTest out the cables to see if these need to be changedChange the brake pads as the rust would have eaten into themGet a gold chain (not really)The 3x5 is ancient and is a relic of a kids bike but it really works and since it still functions really well, I want to keep it. Handlebars Keep these for now but consider upgrading to drops. Seat This looks old so will change this but this is not a priority. QUESTIONS TO YOU... What do you think? Am I insane? Is this a great little project to go ahead with? I would also like some advice on: What are the best wheels and tyres to use?Any advice on how to go about fitting the wheels in with this setup?Any practical challenges you may have solved previously with something like this?Is keeping the drivetrain etc. a good idea?Would I be able to change the handlebars if I wanted to?

Is anyone having issues with getting home workout points? I've started to do yoga (haven't got back on the road with my bike yet) for an hour every second day or so. These are picked up on my Suunto (which is connected to Discovery) but i don't seem to be getting home workout points for these. From what I see, the home workout is still a thing accepted by Vitality. Anyone have a similar issue and know what to do?

Does anyone have any updated suggestions for masks to use while cycling? The ciovita ones look the best (especially with the nose adjustment mechanism) but has anyone got these delivered in a decent amount of time AND how do these perform?

I don't have a smart trainer. Neither do I have the sensors that make it a semi-smart trainer. Hence, Zwift and the like don't really make sense for me to get. What has been great is following videos on Youtube while I make the adjustments by myself on my bike. It works okay. What I would like to know.. What youtube videos/channels do you suggest I use for indoor training purpose? I currently use the GCN videos. It's a great collection. https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/category/train-with-gcn Are there any other GOOD ones that you use?

https://www.bicycling.co.za/health/how-you-can-ride-safely-amid-coronavirus-concerns/ Great article on it. Basically: keep the groups smallDO NOT CYCLE IF YOU ARE FEELING SICKDo not share drinksAvoid touching things. The article also says don't go to a gym. Remember, this is about "flattening the curve" and ensuring everyone around us is also safe so heed this advice. I would like to go for a ride this weekend as I haven't got on the bike since the Argus. But waiting for the decision from my riding club.

The gyms and Discovery will say that they are cleaning the machines and it's ok to go. Because they have a vested interest in all this. The doctors that are at the forefront say it's a big NO. My non-Discovery aligned gym has switched to doing workouts using WhatsApp as this is safer. Anyway, I feel like they may drag their feet with Vitality Rewards but there should be something to compensate us such that we don't lose status because of forced lifestyle changes during this time.

Wasn't planning on spending this much on bibs but I bit the bullet and bought these. Did 40km on Saturday. Then a hard ride at the Argus on Sunday. I feel like I can go for another long ride today. Honestly, this is the best purchase of my cycling life!

Predictions for 2021: E-Bikes will set off after just before 3A. You know, to add some spice to the event.Faired Recumbent Bikes will be actively advertised and encouraged to be the bike of choice at the race. Detour through Boyes Drive due to protests by residents of Kalk Bay.Timing mats will be sneakily placed such that the 2 lappers will be caught and banned forever.Online auction to buy a seeding.More bananas at tables.

Can we talk about how people are still MENTAL and pass you on the left especially when descending. Or there will be like 20cm between you and someone else and someone will cut through this. I feel there definitely is a need for education for riders on simple etiquette on the road especially during massive races like this one. Maybe this will help our insurance premiums to go down...

Still a decent enough deal. My butt will thank me from here on in.

In SOUTH AFRICA specifically, There is no need to use a VPN to get better fares for local flights. These tricks are used by much more higher volume countries and these don't effect the local prices. In terms of booking local flights, this is usually the long route I will take if I don't have time constraints: Search for flights on Computicket Travel and Travelstart Get a general idea of what the ticket prices are and then look at Kulula, Mango, FlySafair directly (SAA usually do not have the cheapest flights so I don't usually go to their site.) THERE WILL BE A PRICE DIFFERENTIAL! Take note of this. Sometimes, the aggregation sites can be cheaper! Additionally, Travelstart have a booking fee but this is offset by the vouchers they send to you via email every so often. So this could give you a R50 saving. Search your mail. If you do have Discovery, Momentum, or Investec, check these sites as well as these can give you further discounts. There is a newsletter I also get called southafrica.to which is always on the ball with regards to specials from all the sites. They recently even had a guide to flying with your bicycle AND had some pricing for CTCT flights! For international, I find that travel agents usually give really good deals and this also gets rid of the hassle! Honestly, do not discount this method. Moreover, it might be a bit cheaper booking everything yourself but unless you get thrilled by organising things and striking deals, it really is best to go with a travel agent. Some destinations don't really need you to go through an agent. Think London, New York, Thailand. In this case, do this: Search on Kayak or Skyscanner to get an idea of the price of the flights. Then go directly to the airline site and book there.For travel within a different country, this gets a bit trickier. Before you go there, find out about the Low Cost Carriers that operate in the country and check on their sites. I've booked some super cheap flights with Vueling, and AirAsia before. Anyway, travelling in high volume markets like EU or US means you can also use highly specialised apps that look for error fares, which basically are fares that were incorrectly listed by the carrier due to a glitch and can be super low, or do analysis of routes that could get you to the destination with weird layovers that save you money. I think going this route is worth the effort unless you have a super tight budget.

My first PPA event down in the Cape. It was good and bad. But we will get into that later. Started in K so I have a VERY different view of the race to everyone else here. There was an awesome vibe at the start. The chutes were weird but it was pretty well organised and the marshals were cheery. Felt good at the start even though I had no clue what to expect. They split the K group at the person behind me so I was at the back of the chute. I didn't realise the "GO" had been signalled so I was slow out the chute and had already lost touch with the starting group. Basically, from the beginning, I rode the race alone. This was OKAY as the race had a good feeling. The route was pretty and there was enough signage and marshals to make me feel like I had support around me. The vibe continued even through Visserhoek. After those undulating hills, the cops and marshals provided so much great support! Then the route split.. Then the head winds hit... And then the people disappeared. Between 40km and 80km, the race SUCKED! We all were basically cycling by ourselves through ridiculous head and cross winds. I was on my lowest gear on these flats struggling to push beyond 15kph. And there was NO ONE around meaning it was just mental anguish. The lack of marshals made things worse because there was no one to push you onwards. I made it my thing that when I passed someone or someone passed me, I would say "well done" or "keep it up" or even offer someone some help. Just to make sure morale was kept as high up as possible. Luckily, though, the water points were really great in terms of support. Around 80km at one of the turns, the head winds disappeared and I rejoiced. I think I picked up my average speed to 27kph for a 10km stretch. This burnt me out but it felt good and helped my time. I then took another turn and BOOM, headwind and ya, that was it. From then on, I would just be nursing myself to the end. It was just me, my will power, and the little energy I had left. After just under 6 hours of riding, I finally got to the end! I was really proud of myself for doing this. Doing around 100km at a major event like the 947, Amashova, or CTCT is much easier for someone at the back because there are just so many people to help you along the way. Doing it on a lonely race like this is an amazing achievement. They really should take this account in seedings! I put 30% more effort than basically everyone else! But I digress. There was no fanfare at the end. They were already rolling up the Racetec mats. That neutral zone was THE WORST as I expected a downhill but it was a "net downhill" with that last climb (in the INTENSE heat) breaking me worse than anything in the race. I got to the end and my medal but everyone was already packing up. No drinks or food or medical assistance at the end. I know there were still a couple people out on the road behind me so it was probably worse when they got back. I have experienced some really bad finishes in Johannesburg but this was definitely the worst with regards to what support they had at the end. But all in all, I was happy I did the race. Maybe us slow-pokes can get some more support but no cycling organisers seem to want to do this on the slower races. Oh well.

I've been training my butt off for a year and I only get into 4B! One day, when I grow up, I will be in 1 or 2 and be able to have a drink the night before the race. For now, I will stick to three months teetotalling prior to the race and a planned time of 5 hours!

I signed up for the CTCT. Realised the system has my old work email address. I've left the company. Eish. I mailed them and they have said they sorted it out but who knows, who knows...

Best to get hold of a company that does roof racks and go from there. I've interacted with these guys - just sent them a mail: https://rackandcarry.co.za/ They were awesome in suggesting the best way forward and gave me some options. I ultimately went for a towbar so I did not use them though.

I’ve seen this bike and this is actually the bike that made me post this! It looks awesome however it has no name brand components all over the bike. I guess at this price point this is all you can expect.