Andymann

A specialized Toupe 155mm saddle. Did the Ass-o-meter thing - Yes sir, you need a 155mm saddle. You sure? My Selle Italia is a 143mm? Definitely sir, you have wide sit-bones. Three rides later and it's lying in the cupboard, and I'm back on a 143mm Flite......

RULE 5.1 Unless the R/$ is above 11 and clusters and chains cost R2000. Then HTFUOID. (Have The Fun Upstairs On Indoor Trainer)

Interesting problem we encountered this weekend when doing some tests on the Vortex - we moved it out of it's usual position in the training room and for some reason after that nothing wanted to pick up - the cadence was sluggish, none of the HR monitors wanted to pick up the power values were all haywire. Only after we unplugged our wireless router to plug in a cooling fan, did everything start working again. I'm not an expert on ANT+, but for sure, there was some sort of interference between the router and the Vortex....

Can you imagine having him shouting in your ear during an individual TT

Or you could go to Neil from Dinamic Coaching in Cape Town who will rather do a lactate test, and from those values, work out your HR zones corresponding to your increasing lactate levels, and depending on what outcomes you are expecting from your training will tailor an individual training program for you.

Lekker man! I work that side. Very interesting people to be found in Krugersdorp

It's on the wife's bike, so I better check with her first! Where are you based?

I've got R - need to swap to J. I think they come out standard with R?

http://www.visiontechusa.com/ Anyone know who the RSA distributors are? Need to change the bend on my current tri-bars and I want to know if you can purchase the extensions separately from the whole bar Thanks

LOL - just ask the good Dr. on the left

Yuuuup. That's how it is. Or you need to send them a nice email with all your 2013 Duathlon results and ask them nicely to be part of their team. I tried and they said nope, so I'm off to Klerksdorp..... I'll tell her!

Nope - no CGT provincials this year..... you have SA's and then the NW provincials if you want to try and qualify for the SA's. There are a few off-road du's in February - the Sasol X series and the X-Dirt Tri/Du both start in Feb

I agree with the above - a good alu-welder will be able to repair that - drill the ends of the crack so that they don't spread, and weld. As long as your seatpost is in far enough it will be fine. If you were in Pta, I know an ex-SAA welder who has done some pretty awesome stuff for me.

Velo is probably your best bet - they do have a Tuesday and Thursday early morning route they do. It's worth joining the club - you don't have to I guess, but they do supply a back-up vehicle on the rides, so that alone is worth it. None of the roads are really super-safe cycling friendly in Pta east. Early mornings, the R50 Delmas is pretty quiet, and depending on how long you want to go, there is a nice loop out the R50, left onto the R25 and then either back along Lynwood, or around the Rayton/Cullinan road and back along Boshkop into Lynwood. Unfortunately, Lynwood and Boshkop are getting quite busy now though, so if you get them later in the morning it isn't pleasant. Don't be tempted to come back via Garstfontein - or at least if you do, turn early and get back onto the R50 again. Going straight back along Garstfontein past Rafters and Woodlands is a bit risky with some recent hijackings.....

http://www.pro-bikegear.com/publish/content/pro_2010/nl/en/index/products/seatpost/mtb.-productCode-PRSP0065.html

I bought a PRO seatpost for my training bike. It was about 20g heavier than the carbon one which is on my race bike, but importantly was only about R300 Works like a dream!

And therein lies the next controversial suggestion I'm going to make - In my opinion it is better to spend R8000 on a good indoor trainer that reads consistent power than R12000 on a Power Meter. It is very difficult to perform good repeatable power training intervals out on the road - and almost impossible if you are riding in a bunch. So unless you are a full-time pro, do all your power intervals on an indoor trainer. Its better, more repeatable, and cheaper!

Professional Ultra distance Triathlete! It's a very humbling experience trying to catch her on a flat when she decides on the day she's going to hook the big blade.....

For sure - we have found that the Vortex power and the Cyclops are pretty close to each other, but the Polar Power meter and the Cateye Cs1000 indoor were miles out. I'm not rich enough to own an SRM! Problem is, there is no Watt Policeman sitting at the top of Suikerbossie or Hans Strijdom with a gatso measuring every cyclist so that we can all compare apples with apples. So until then, if someone tells me they pushed out 700W up a hill, I take it with a pinch of salt. And ask him how much he weighs......

Couldn't agree more - Power to weight is the most important thing we strive for - my wife's FTP of 250W seems pretty measly compared to my 290W. But her power to weight ratio of 4.2W/kg absolutely destroys my 3.6W/kg

We use Vortex trainers for testing - they seem fine, although we haven't connected them up to the PC yet. I wouldn't really concern myself about the accuracy of the Watts - the most important thing, is to try and do all your power training under constant conditions on the same trainer. So if you do your FTP test on your Vortex, and your value is 200W, then you train at 200W on that specific trainer. The problem with realistic values comes in when boys will be boys and we all try and compare our max power output - then my 200 Vortex Watts will not be the same as your 200 Cyclops Watts for example.

I got a Tweet from Bonitas a few days back saying they were selling some of the 2013 Team bikes - with Shimano DI2. Might be worth getting hold of them - @BonitasCycling

We refer to long rides as between 3.5 and 4.5 hours. You really need to try and get at least one of these in on a weekend. In ideal conditions, most people can fit that in, but in the case of the guy we just coached for the DC, he commutes between JHB and CT to see his girlfriend, and to compound that, he has a kid. So there was no way he could do 4 hrs continuously. What we did there was to split up his sessions on the IDT - not ideal at all, but better than nothing. He was doing two 1.5hr sessions per day on the Tacx. HR values are very subjective - so if I said to you you must train at a HR of 135 I would be doing you an injustice. We do Lactate tests on all the athletes who come and test, and from there, we then establish what your ideal training zones are. So my low HR zone of 135 might be too low for you, or could be way too high for someone else. Actually we prefer to use power as an indicator, as we have found that power is an absolute, whereas sometimes, HR values can be deceptive.....

Then you wouldn't be alone. 90% of all the guys (and girls) we test, have crap endurance - they come in for a test hoping to get a program which will be filled with intervals and "puke" sessions, only to leave with a 6 week program involving some very long rides at nice low HR or Power values. It's all well and good doing your puke sessions, but if you haven't built up a good endurance base you'll be like a 16yo bloke whose just stuck his hand up his girlfriends blouse.....

This is specifically where a personalised training program will be of the most benefit. You can pick up a good base, and sure you could quite possibly come right with bits of info off the Internet, and from the loads of books out there, and you will most likely see an improvement, but if you want to be the best you can be, with your specific time constraints in mind, you will have to go the individualised route. We're with Dinamic, so I would obviously recommend us, but there are many other coaches out there, who share the same ideas as we do. If you would like to discuss some of the principles behind individualized programs, you are welcome to drop me a line!