rattlesnake

See a physio and DON'T try train through the pain! I did and I developed a tear in the tendon. Left me off the bike for 6 weeks. And it's still not 100%. See to it now before it becomes chronic

Been watching Tdf since 1990, so I think I have seen a few. On the wheelsuck note, how many top contenders sit safely in the bunch until the attacks come? Is this called wheelsucking? or Tactics? Cadel has never had to launch attacks on climbs because he has been one of the strongest Time Trialers, and that is his edge.And lets face it he isnt the best climber there, he doesnt have the acceleration to attack like a contador, so why should he? BUT, when push comes to shove and he has had to work to defend his chances he has. I dont call that wheelsucking I call that boxing clever and playing to your strength.

Cadel - King of wheelsuckers? Did I watch a different Tdf last year??? Cadel did A LOT of riding in the front on his own trying to catch up to Mandy Schleck..... Oh and yesterday, did Cadel not do alot of work in the final 2.4kms?

Sagan sucked wheel and won off Cancellara's break. Fact. Sagan may have won 14 but he hasn't won anything on his own yet ala Boonen, or Cancellara or Gilbert. Bottom line is, he wins like a sprinter, let's see how he does against Cav on a flat finish.

Take steroids much??!

I'm in!

Name and shame the seller

Try Rapide - I bought one, super light and stiff. I am thrilled with mine. http://www.rapide.co.za/default.aspx

welcome to the hub Dirk. Since you are a newbie, may I offer you some advice on your post before you get flamed from every side.... You need to add some detail, are you offering a bike fit in pretoria, looking for one, commenting on one...???

I was probably one of the biggest critics of a 29er, holding onto my Volcan 26er for dear life.... sucking 29er back wheel for dear life on flat roads..... And then, I saw the light, I went 29er hardtail and it was like cycling got a whole lot easier all of a sudden. Now the 29er back wheels that I was sucking are pedalling for dear life to hold onto mine....

Im selling my wife's 40km entry if anyone is keen. R200 Sorry - Just sold it!

Cannondale Scalpel 29er

Chris - you got plus 2 (my wife and Craig's wife)

Makes sense to me. After my base training phase I generally move into a program of doing 2 HIT sessions per week and the fitness gains have been immense.

Bud, try put less weight on your hands when standing on the spinning bike. Remember the spinning bike is a solid, fixed structure so you wont notice how much of your body weight it carries when you stand. When you stand on the road / mountain bike your legs are carrying a far higher % of your body weight. Unfortunately there is only one fix when it comes to standing and climbing and that is practice. Cycling is all about conditioning, and it only comes with time, lots of it. It takes the human body a couple of years to make the physical and physiological adaptions required. Don't be too hard on yourself, just be patient, the rest will come over time.

Drool

I went down the Umkomaas at Sani this year without back brakes..... yikes, cr@pped myself for the first half then realised that front brakes are your friend...... had to pull a few mini stoppies in the braking zone of the switchbacks, but kept it on two wheels. I agree with some of the other posts, your real stopping power is on the front, and the back helps you mid corner to get through. Leave the front brakes alone mid corner though - unless you feel like eating dirt.

There is no one correct answer for where one's heart rate should be in a race. Each individual is different. Step 1 would be to find your true max HR by climbing a longish hill at maximum intensity for 2 minutes. (after a nice long warm up of say 30 minutes). Also helps to know where your lactate threshold is (can have this tested). One generally cannot maintain their effort at a HR above this threshold for longer than an hour or two, before cramping or hitting the wall. Individuals LTH can vary greatly. The closer your LTH to your max HR the more potential you have to ride at a high intensity for sustained periods of time. Lance's LTH was very close to his Max HR. Heart rate also depends from person to person based on things like Lung capacity and heart size. Basically its best to get a grip of your own stats (Max HR and LTH) and build your training and racing programs around that.

No thoughts on Cobo??

What about Juan Jose Cobo - anyone remember his climbing prowess at last years Vuelta? he did lay the hurt down on the others las t year. Anyone know how well he TT's?

ROFL - come on, Andy TT??? Are you serious? he barely came in the top 100 in the opening prologue of the Dauphine.

My sincerest condolences

Cobo is definitely a dark horse in this contest..... the boy can climb!~ Wiggo is looking strong, that being said he also put a minute + into Cadel in last years Daupine TT. And Cadel is one tough S.O.B. and I think he will peak at the right time, so he is my favourite to win. Think there is too much dissention in the ranks at Radioshcleck.... so im guessing their fragile pshyce's wont help their cause.

Pearl Izumi - retails at about R1200 per pair. Super comfortable and affordable. Best bang for your buck that I have tried out.

I still have a 50km mtb entry; will give it away for free and for gratis - PM me.