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Probably just excessive sweat that irritates your skin .I always ride with a buff and on long rides a take an extra one that i swap out and dry out over the handlebars .Use roll on deodorant on your scalp. if sweat gets into my eyes ,my ride is pretty much over .I wash my buff and helmet after every ride with me in the shower . If there is any form of rash some Quadriderm cream will sort it out in a couple of days
I used Cadence for my first event and Sponser for the second .Two bottles per stage .Then the water table food was enough .Bananas and berries and those date cakes . I took some Game with , could not stand powerade anymore . Ate and drank as i felt , and kept hydrated . People make it a lot more complicated than it should be . Eat real food ,carbs and protein for breakfast and dinner .Dinner was either pasta , pizza with beer or red wine . No massages or fisio either .Rest and stretching got me through it .Anti cramp tablets work only if you take plenty , like six at a time .
On 1/15/2024 at 8:45 PM, Vaultboy said:Yup. In my experience, the biggest issue with a 1x is often matching the speed of a bunch. Then I'm either over or undergeared, forcing me to ride at a cadence that's just out of the comfort zone. Its not hard, but its just one more thing you don't want or need to consciously be paying attention to. This is only an issue racing and in the bunch.
But overall, my bigger question to you guys is what about component durability? Having only ridden 8, 10 and 12 speed, I am just not impressed with the limited lifespan of 12x components. 10 speed (and therefore 2x10) feels like the sweet spot between durability, cost and gear range.
I hear your concern .I have multiple 1 x 12 eagle geared bikes and my latest is a gravel bike with 2 x 11 Shimano GRX .I previously also had a 2 x 11 Shimano XT full sus bike .I have no problem with a 2 x 11 setup .In fact i prefer it over 1 x 12 .The only time i would choose 1 x again is when i expect wet conditions .The cheaper sram eagle setups like NX don,t work well .Maybe i should just go back to shimano 12 speed ?
I ride a HT /gravel bike with a 36 x 11,42 cassette ten speed that i have used for the Swartberg grand fondo .Worked fine except for the last 500m where it gets very steep .Recently bought a Cannondale topstone with a GRX 11 speed 2 x setup . I have several other 1 x 12 eagle bikes . I am at a point that i want to convert some of my 1 x setups back to 2 x 11 .The best ratio for all bike riding is 2 x 11 imo .I currently have two eagle cassettes that are jumping on the smallest ring while the rest is still perfect .To replace both is the same price as a full bike with a 2 x setup .Long live 2 x 11 for road ,gravel and MTB .I now use my gravel bike as my standard road bike and i can ride the steepest of single tract with it also
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On 1/7/2024 at 7:06 PM, Yaz said:Beware of this man Francios Grobbelaar I dealt with him on FB. He is a fraud. Bought a varia which he never sent.
You did not buy anything .You send him money in exchange for a picture
Rocky Mountain and Kona went the same route
Bought a dedicated gravel bike recently .A Cannondale Topstone with 2 x 11 GRX groupset and Vittorio terrano tyres at 38 mm wide .This has now become my road bike. 'Terrano,s are flat in the center and are as fast as any road tire i have used . I can ride most single tract uphill and flat sections . Downhill riding will cause punctures if you let go of the disc brakes . It is the first time in ten years that i am seriously contemplating selling my road bikes ,a Spez Roubaix and and a BMC teamachine. The Spez was my gravel bike with 35 mm pathfinders , but it is not a gravel bike . I have a set of Pirelli medium cinturato that will handle any really rough tracts if encountered .I have several bikes ,but now i know you only need a gravel and a dual suss MTB .The Topstone is as close to a perfect bike i have owned in twenty years and it does not have a front suspension .My body is way happier after a three hour ride on a gravel bike than a road bike .
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4 hours ago, AndyPG said:I have heard of some bike issues towards Big Red Barn but from Value Mart to Wolwe you should be good - If you head out to Rosemary Hill It night be worth trying to find a group. I would err on the side of caution, especially early in the morning.
What he said .BRB by car .Rest okay
Alone almost always .Prefer my own company and the road is a good listener . I work with people and avoid them when i am not working .Even on weekends i like to ride when i am ready and not when the group meets
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23 hours ago, Frosty said:If you are using Game and bananas you probably aren’t getting enough fuel in, to sustain longer workouts. You then go down another pathway that is a performance decline. Add the high temperatures and insufficient fluid intake, and you compound the problem.
Game has 21g (carbs) of mixed as per instruction. A medium-sized banana (Woolies info) has about 15g. That’s 36g, which for many is enough for a low- to medium-duration ride of 2-4 hours but not higher intensity activities.
I have tried all the stuff on the market and Gu Salty caffeine works .I will eat at the waterpoint , but only fruit and jelly sweets .I completed 2019 ACE on blueberries ,bananas and the odd USN gel .I hate eating on the bike and energy bars suck .Whenever i train i only use Game and water ,so my body is used to it
18 hours ago, Frosty said:I’m not an expert in this sweating and cramping matter, far from it, but I do understand the basic principles. You can easily work out how much you sweat per hour, without any fancy testing. However, the concentration of sodium in your sweat needs to be done with medical equipment.
For the test, weigh yourself before your ride (birthday suit weight). Weigh your bottles (empty and full). Take your closthes off after the ride and wipe any moisture off your skin, then weigh yourself again (birthday suit). Make a note of the amount of litres you consumed, and the duration of your ride.
Example (weights in Kg):
80.4(before) + 1.65 (2 full bottles) - 79.5 (after) - 0.15 (empty bottles) = 2.4kg or 2.4L / 3.5 hours (ride duration) = 0.68L/hour.I’ll share a simple Excel file you can use to calculate your sweat rate. Mine is about 600ml/hour (outside), but double (indoors) on a hot day; probably because of the lack of adequate (evaporative) cooling.
You can test this a number of times to get an average sweat rate. Once you know that, you have a guideline, for what is required per hour.
If you know that your sweat concentration is, you will know which sodium replenishment rates are. Sweat concentrations can vary quite a lot, from 300mg to 1500mg.
I’ll share some links later/tomorrow relating to the physiology around blood volume, blood pressure, homeostasis, and other effects of sweat loss. I know enough to understand it, but not educate others.
Cramping has two causes mainly . Efford is higher than you trained for !!!!! . and dehydration .Both made worst in Hot conditions .Genetic propensity to cramp ,to do with type of muscle fibre you have .Not treatable .I cramp almost always at the three hour mark on any event .When hot it happens earlier .If you ride terrain that you cannot really train for like Magalies Monster , cramps come earlier .Professional riders rarely cramp because they are super fit and have trained for the effort. Salty sweaters cramp more and earlier .Hydration and electrolytes help .Anti cramp tab's do help if you take plenty at a time , like six tabs at every waterpoint .I ride with Game and bananas because it contains a lot of Vitamin C , salt, potassium and sugar .There is no magic fix . I have researched cramps over ten years . I have three children and all of them cramp like i do , even when they are super fit .Best way is to ride through them or even slapping the cramping muscle helps .The pain impuls overrides the contractile one
On 11/20/2023 at 1:23 PM, Avo said:How does it work with riders on E-Bikes? There was one guy I noticed in my batch C and he did very well with a good time.
I couldn't care less about what position I come overall, sex or in my class. It is all about the time which is my goal.
Just curious to know how the E-Bikes fit into the results.
There is a category for them .E-bikes .They irritate everybody but ,nice time !
3 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:Am I the only one that thinks that there is also a cost issue?
#pensioner
This year we hardly had other road events in Gauteng .For a working adult it should not be such a big factor . I don't think cost can half the numbers in ten years . Maybe things will improve next year .I have noticed that the numbers at my local Virgin active has only now returned to almost pre covid numbers ,although still short of 2018 . I even see less cars on the roads . Economy is down and affects everything around us . Numbers at MTB events also substantially down in Gauteng , but up in WP
1 hour ago, pedal menace said:Perhaps an additional factor - not as BIG as safety etc - is the race difficulty. A couple of years ago it was a 92km event with most of the climbing in the first half with a much easier second half. Yesterday was 98km in sweltering heat with some REALLY hard climbs in the second half. In fact you do over 1000m of climbing in the last 45km. Now for many of us - WE LIKE THAT! But for a large set of the general "I ride ONCE a year" group of riders - this is a rather brutal ride. I saw a LOT of riders down on the road with SERIOUS CRAMPS during those last 3 hard climbs.
I think multiple factors contribute to the lower numbers .Difficulty is a factor .The last half is really hard ,even for experienced riders . Joburg is much higher than people think . Road cycling ,as a rule, has declined in Gauteng .Riders have left Gauteng in greater numbers than we think ,either immigrated or semigrated to the WP .There is supposed to be a young adult population that are not in RSA anymore .I see this daily in my profession .About the event .It was well organized ,very clean city ,roads are in perfect condition .Traffic sorted .MUCH better than the previous events at FNB .Start and finish better.Stadium round not missed . Great event , but it is hard
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18 hours ago, Zebra said:All true. But so you carry say 2L (2kg) of water on the hottest part of your back, add in a tube, maybe, some tools, as you mention, 2 energy bars, etc, and very quickly you have several kilo's on a part of the back that sweats properly - rather then a hip-hydration system, but where possible, let the DONKEY (read: bicycle) carry weight, rather than your BODY (where feasible, of course).
Horses for courses, I understand, just be aware that not everyone NEEDS a hydration pack - some years back, it was almost a 'right of passage'; nowadays, not so much!
The advantage of a pack on your back is clean water and your hands are free .It is often impossible to reach for a bottle if you are riding single file on technical terrain ,especially the ACE can have hours of riding this way
On 10/30/2023 at 6:32 PM, Rodrigo Abreu said:Hi all there,
I noticed CE24 will be probably tougher than other years with more climbing, but also more descents, and I was wondering if folks who live in SA and ride it regularly (my last one was 10 years ago) would have an opinion of racing with a Brain Epic with 100mm vs a non-Brain Epic with 120mm (in summary Specialized Epic vs Specialized Epic Evo). Are the descents really technical and rough so they would compensate the loss of efficiency the longer travel with no pedaling platform certainly brings? Or depending on preference it would be ok to privilege climbing efficiency with the Brain even with slightly rougher descents in the view of those who know the trails for next year?
Inputs appreciated!
Best fork Imo is a Fox 34 120mm .I also ride an ohlins 120mm 34 that i rate highly . Both are such good forks you don't need to lock them
18 hours ago, Zebra said:Quite a few of the bikes can take 3 water-bottle mounts, whichI find preferable to say 2 bottles + a hydration pack; having done 3 Epics; 1 with hydration pack and bottles x 2, , 2 Epics without the hydration pack, I cannot recommend highly enough leaving a hydration pack OUT of the equation, where feasible.
Cheers
Chris
Both my Events i used bikes with only one water bottle holder .I used a liter bottle ,they are hard to find. At the water table i drink another bottle and carry that in my stomach.Hydration packs help when the terrain is rough and you cannot get a free hand to drink.This happens more often than you think .On hot days hydration packs can be a life saver and you have a place for spares and tubes .The team should have two tubes available .Note .Those expensive orange indestructible tubes don't work .Being able to lock all your suspension is lekke if you like to stand and pedal .I locked mine a lot on long climbs
4 hours ago, DieselnDust said:The route is roughly similar to what we rode in 2016 and 2018. Your choice of bike is largely irrelevant. Yes the trails will be rocky in places but there will also be lots of sandy patches where a longer travel bike can get bogged down. The ability to lock out the suspension to traverse sandy sections is worth its weight in gold.
you haven’t given an indication of your riding ability , height , weight or training . Have completed many of your training miles on the MTB and on trails or on the road.
without that sort of information my experience of the routes means nothing as I have no basis of comparison between you and I.
for what’s it’s worth I rode both on a 100mm travel 27.5. The bike was never a problem.
Did Epic 2020 and used XC bike with 120 fox 34 in front .Best fork Imo .Dropper highly advantages also .Prepare for 5 days of, not so smooth, singletrack
On 10/18/2023 at 3:41 PM, PregoRoll said:Netherlands is pan flat,
Get ready to be humbled by an old Tannie with a front basket full of groceries, averaging 35kmh down the bike lane
Talking on her cell with her child at the back .Honestly ! I have witnessed a woman working on her laptop and riding her bike in Amsterdam .And not a helmet is sight
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10 hours ago, Frosty said:You got lucky.
If you said it was Campagnolo components and an Italian frame, all made in Europe, then a EUR1 certificate would make it exempt from duties.
They subtracted the VAT on their side and i paid on this side .Really painless .Do you mean Italian made would be more or less expensive than here ?
[Event] The Grind Reverse - 150km of Gravel Heaven or Hell
in Events
Posted
Lekke event! Will do again