DJR

..............and give details of groupset, components etc.

Lovely picture that tells the strory of an early start!

I would use any common garden variety of mtb pedal, but then get a pair of sneaker-like mtb shoes. FiveTens are wonderful, but there are cheaper options out there. Most can accept cleats. They don't look like cycling shoes and they are great for walking, more like a cross between a hiking/cycling/running shoe. If you then decide to change to flat pedals, they will also work with those if you remove the cleats.

I no longer give advice to people faster than me.............😜 (see the Comic Sans?)

I can recommend iRide Africa as well. Run by good honest people. If they can they will help you.

REALLY fantastic picture Dale👍

Home, Rhodes Memorial, front of Table Mountain, Kings Blockhouse, Plumpudding Hill, sweet single track, bad shift, chain chewed up and badly stuck between casette and spokes, no fixing it on the trail, walk and lift home with D. Hot, tired, dusty and moerig with myself for shifting like and idiot! But I still think riding a Trance beats a horse and a lion!

I got it by e-mail with my municipal account on 6 January, but the deadline for submissions was 13 January, so, sadly, I did not get around to submit anything.

Ha Ha, yes, I promise to push for that😜😜

😀😀😀

F If you are a racing snake and you want to hang with the fast people in your starting group, get there a little earlier and enter your designated starting chute as early as they open it. That way you will be at the front with mostly like minded competitive people. How early? It used to be at least an hour before, but that is now frowned upon. The other way is to arrive at the last minute and then push your way through the mass of people to get to the front. That was difficult because the starting chutes were so densely packed. Last year it was easy because everyone tried to stay at least a metre away from everyone else ....... and that left the perfect gap for thick skinned racing snake types to worm their way to the front. If you are like me, and you no longer care too much about whether you take 12 699th place or 13 000th place, just rock up a few minutes before your own starting time and start with your group. Starting at the tail end of your group is also just fine, because the "fast people" from the group after yours will catch up with you before you get halfway to Hospital Bend and you can then catch a wheel from there if you so feel. If it is too congested for your liking when you get to your own starting chute or you misjudged the time and end up too late, just go into the starting chute for the group after your own seeded one. In the middle third and later in the race, it really doesn't make much difference. Ai tog, when I read this it sounds like I'm half dead, but really, except for the front 10%, perhaps, it is just a fun ride with glorious scenery, a great vibe, cheering spectators and car free roads to enjoy. If you overthink and over stress, it will make you miss the best part of the tour.

Try 2:22:22 in honour of the recent date. B.t.w. I came across someone riding a fully faired red recumbent (the kind of tool you need for a 2:22:22) along the Blouberg Cycle lane last weekend. Haven't seen one of those for a while.

Yah broer, the mid section is always the biggest burden for the mid section to carry around the route...........

If your heart rate is still unstable in the last week before the tour (resting HR too high, arrhythmia or sharp spikes with relatively mild effort) I would think twice about riding the tour. Perhaps check with your GP or cardiologist before going ahead. You don't want to cause long term harm by exerting your heart too early on in the recovery. (Post Covid, my wife took the best part of a year for her HR to go back to its normal self and the specialist ran a gazillion tests but never quite figured out what was wrong or what to do about it.)

You could've handed out a dozen tubes to stranded cyclists on Sunday morning along the West Coast Cycle Path with the way the devils thorns are growing in a few places between Big Bay and Melkbos.

To (somewhat) quote Dale - Sunday mass - it simply doesn't get any better that this!

Big Ride that👍

Where you will start from, the race is strung out from the very beginning. Most of those riders usually try and stay away from each other so there are no dense bunches and hardly ever any congestion that will hold you up much. As Ouzo said, just stick to the right and you will find openings 99% of the time without any hold-up. Politely tell slower riders on the uphills that you are about to pass and they won't make sudden crazy moves. No shouting needed, just a gentle "passing right". If you want to ride a decent time from the back, the best strategy is to do it with a few mates who are all around the same fitness level and then work together from start to finish. If alone, you will have to find a few guys willing to work together, and that is difficult in the later groups where most are looking for help just to get to the finish. But sometimes you are lucky and a little group of 5 or so will form and work together. Ride with them, and they will help you get a better time than you could have done time trialing the whole route on your own. Most importantly - have fun!

It's because my heart rate monitor broke down about 3 years ago and with all the fancy newfangled gadgets that are now on the market, I couldn't decide what to buy..........and after a few months of riding without any technology on the road bike, other than a watch on my wrist (to make sure I got back home in time for dates with the mrs. - just to stay on her good side) I found that I enjoyed it more..............so, when the mtb computer battery went flat I ditched that too.............and I don't miss it at all..............but then, you won't catch me with the race snakes.

All this talk on data and how to ride a fast CTCT got me thinking. Perhaps I should add some advice for the slowcoaches who are riding in the middle of the race, perhaps trying to just finish? Here it is: 1. Ride the first part from the start to Simons Town so that you feel you are not really putting in enough effort. In other words: Well within your abilities. Don't let anyone drag you into pulling long stretches in the front. Hide from the wind and wheel-suck all you can, Enjoy the scenery. chat with fellow riders. 2. From Simons Town to the top of Chappies you should still feel strong enough to ride it at the edge of your abilities. In other words: As fast as you can sustain. Yup, going up Chappies, you should no longer be able to talk much more than a single word or two, forget about striking up a conversation. 3. From the top of Chappies, rest and recover until the bottom of Suikerbossie. From there, provided you have not had little cramp warnings, throw caution to the wind and go flat out. At the summit of Suikerbossie you should be near falling over and puking, then rest down Suikers and when you hit the flats, go flat out till the finish line. 4. Down a Coke, really fall down in the shade until you feel strong enough to go find a cold beer! That's my very well tried and tested "race plan", but for some reason it never produces a sub 3 ride, must be the shortage of data. (OK, to be honest, it is that little genetic thing and inherent laziness getting in the way, I know)

It's not as painful as I imagined it would be.........at least I could console myself that I "lost" to a rather magical beast.............and the charity angle also helped softening the blow.😜

😁Lekke laugh at myself

😁👍

That is what I do because I'm too lazy "to keep my hand on it".🤪

My list totals to only 3. My 2 sons👍👍 and Beattbox.👍