Mets

Ok, so I received my ATC9K on Friday (could have been Thursday if it wasn't for the courier company). I must credit Killerdeals.co.za for great service and a great price. Only played around with it a bit during the weekend and I'm very happy - even took it for a swim yesterday. The helmet mount is more effective than the handle bar mount, but I hope to put it through its paces during an outride this afternoon.

I was doing a bit of planning for the events of 2011 when I saw that the Sabie Classic half marathon will be taking place on Sunday 27/02/2011! The marathon and ultra are still on the Saturday and I’m so disappointed that the event has been split into two days. Surely this will detract from the interest in the event as there will no doubt be people who’ll refuse to race on the Sunday. We always like to camp, now we’ll have to do the race, brake up camp and drive the 200+ kilometers back home all on one day to be back at work on Monday – stukkend from all the rush of the Sunday. What about husband and wife combo’s where the husband is doing the longer distances and the wife the shorter (or vice versa – sorry ladies) – now the whole weekend will be spend waiting for the other partner to finish their races. One of the nicest thing of this race (for me) is pitching at the start and seeing almost 4000 riders - the buzz and excitement is unique to the Sabie. I think this idea sucks and doubt whether I’ll be attending – even though I would have loved to this race for a fourth time in a row.

Ok, so I just ordered my ATC9K from Killerdeals.co.za - their price is only valid until 31/12/2010. Fingers crossed that I'll receive it early next week - I'm not even gonna torture myself with the hope that it will be here by the end of the week. Watch this space for more feedback...

I can vouch for the Tonzolyt. You can also try one of the Lenon remedies – Essence of Life (Lewensessens) - it is one of the worst things you’ll ever gargle with – it’s mostly Aloe extract, but it numbs the tonsils and allows you to at least swallow without pain.

I see there is a firmware upgrade for the ATC9K (and it's not the first) that came out earlier this month. I'm even more impressed with the company seeing as they support their products. I'm even more motivated to get one after yesterday afternoon's ride - I had a bit of a tumble with the MTB and that would have made for some spectacular footage. I also missed out on snapping a nice fat black snake that crossed the road right infront of us, but it was already making it's way into the tall grass by the time I got my little "mik & druk" out. I bought the Fujifilm AX250 about two weeks ago - it's quite nice for it's compact size (14mp, 5x Optical zoom & 720p vids with sound), but it's always in a bag, stuffed away when you quickly want to get the shot. - Helmet cam must be the way to go - Now only to convince the wife.

If anyone is interested killerdeals.co.za has them for R2600

I’ve been nursing a gadget itch for a while now and it looks like it is about to erupt into the purchase of a helmet cam. I’ve looked at the Contour 1080p and the GoPro Hero, but this morning I stumbled across the Oregon Scientific ATC9K. The pro’s for me on the ATC9K are: • 20m Waterproof (without the need for additional housings) • LCD Screen for aligning and reviewing of footage • 5MP Still Camera capabilities It looks like Oregon Scientific SA has fixed the price for this unit on R2999, because it is the same on their site and all the other local sites I’ve Googled. • Does anyone here have one of these (or any of their previous models)? • Is it worth the money? • Isn’t it bulky to mount to your helmet? • Is there an on-line retailer with a better offer? I would really appreciate some feedback before biting the bullet.

I've ordered four in the past. There were no additional levy payable. I seriously doubt whether the local Polar agents will honour the warranty. There is a serial nummber embossed on the metal back panel of the wrist unit and I'm pretty sure they'll check this before doing any work on it.

I've been using the Forerunner 305 for a couple of years and what really bugs me about it, is the fact that it needs speed and distance to calculate calorie expenditure. For example you cannot get a “calories burned” read out for a spinning class or for circuit training. I’ve started using my Garmin as a glorified trip computer and now use a Polar RS300 for HR / calorie data. The Garmin still guestimates calorie expenditure based on GPS data, but compared to the Polar it is way out. Whether you are cruising downhill at zero effort or killing yourself up the side of a mountain, the Garmin is only interested in the distance and speed traveled.

After one of our regular riding partners snapped his RD hanger recently, I’ve been thinking of getting myself a replacement hanger to have as a backup in case of emergency. Question: Does each brand or model have their own unique hanger or do you get a generic tipe of hanger that will fit any RD from a specific manufacturer? I have a 2008 Mongoose Canaan Comp with XT rear derailleur. Do I search for a “XT-hanger” or a “Mongoose-hanger” or do I need to be more specific – 2008 Mongoose Canaan Comp XT hanger? Who stock these spares?