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Bike Whisperer

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Everything posted by Bike Whisperer

  1. Great Marathon route this year. Tricky bits, but nothing extreme. And the tail-wind at the end was just what the doctor ordered. Some more of that this weekend...
  2. I spoke with John at Cycle2U at VG and he says this descent is not in this year's race. But the route map on the race site still has it in... So it's going to be a surprise!
  3. Yip, that'anout it. Last year seemed more loose and steep though
  4. It's rideable, but tricky. You need to be awake and know what you're doing.
  5. Yes, very safe. There has been the rare incident, normally near the Redstone area, but this is not really part of the VG trails. Still magnitudes safer than the Spruit.
  6. Long enough to sing the hymn 'Nearer my God, to Thee" ... twice and recite 3 hail Marys, and make a call to get your will in order (if you're on hands free). It feels like eternity.
  7. I live there and ride the trails all the time, early (dark) morning, weekends and the odd night ride. Very safe... BUT is any place in SA truly safe... I never ride alone. At least in a pair.
  8. Not far after the brutally loose descent on the Gauteng side of the mountain. The one where your bike takes over control and you're just in for the ride. Brakes, no brakes... makes no difference
  9. Yes... North-West Province. Gautengers can't claim this one as their own.
  10. My local backyard race... Hope the descent before the bridge is a little firmer this year. Just spoke with Erik (Cheese Farmer) and there is a bridge, apparently a lot sturdier and faster. There is an option to portage around, but apparently pretty tricky trek.
  11. The internet is a wonderful place, abundant with bike parts. The distributors have milked this industry for some time, but there are alternatives. There are even some good local online retailers who still manage to keep pricing comparable to global prices. I'll support them, otherwise importing is the only option. The trick is to do your homework to be informed about what these things really cost. There is no duty on bicycle parts (cycling clothes... yes), just VAT and a clearance fee, so normally this adds roughly 20% to the initially listed price, if shipping is free (which normally it is for moderate orders of around R1500... that buys very little). The exchange rate sucks, but this quickly also hits locally distributed stuff too, so pretty much balances out. Shop around... unless you need it NOW.
  12. I'm just allergic to being forced to replace when a simple fix will do.
  13. So XTR is a little different design. If you have mineral oil (not brake fluid, or that is your issue) leaking this normally means one of the two seals is worn or damaged (probably the outer one). this can not be fixed unless you have new seals... which one can not buy. XT lever works just fine with XTR Calliper. Been there... done that
  14. Glad to see the fix is spreading... I must have done 10 of these now and all work 100% so far.
  15. Excellent article. This is in my back yard and it is heaven. Wake up, breakfast and get on the bike and ride. You can easily do 80km ride, without any doubling up. Perfect!
  16. that's sad, but well done Louis and the whole team.
  17. Can't wait for the Tour to support our team
  18. Medical grade rehydration powder I sourced through a buddy in the UK. It is available through someone in Cape Town now, but not sure of the details. Also around R25 per sachet, which does 1 bottle, so not cheap. I bought a box of this stuff purely for the Epic, but will now revert back to the USN Zero Carb stuff as i have been using this for some time now and it works well.
  19. Exactly. I found it quite freaky as I was waiting for something to happen after day 2...3....4....5... and nothing did, just kept on going.
  20. Same for me. sometimes I check when my lungs are about to pop out when I'm seriously racing up a hill, but otherwise only look at it at the end.
  21. Interesting. I did the Ultra at Sabie and had a great ride (conditions ware also perfect, which helped). Not quite the HR you had, I'm 44, so was happy with my 85%. Mambas (in fact all the climbs, all 3000m of them) were great. I finished extremely strong where I had enough in the tank to race the last single track a little, overtaking quite a few guys sucking the last bit of sugar out of their systems.
  22. On the contrary, he said nothing of that sort and supports Banting for Endurance sports. But I think you're just making things up to get into the conversation. Judging by your lack of comprehension, you surely could not have read anything slightly scientific to back your statement up. I'm assuming you refer the the second 'dumb ass' as my team mate since you refer to the 'pair'? He was on carbs and I assure you he suffered more than I did. If you read my post... sloooooooowly and carefully, you'll notice no one is talking about suffering. This was a ride of my life of 20 years of cycling. I did not suffer at all. Move-on if you have nothing intelligent to contribute, which clearly you don't. There's one born every day...
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