SwissVan

A balmy day in April with new wheels

Cyril's version of Stumblin in

Yes it’s live, both men’s and ladies short course today and xco tomorrow. Big decision tomorrow, motocross GP is live on Eurosport 2 at the same time 🫤 🤙

New set of wheels Roval Aplinist CLX2 Very nice and smooth, especially with those 28C tyres

Recovering from a wrist fracture and cappuccino training in spaghetti land

Here’s another video link, looks like so riders where quite lucky….especially the guy who jumped over the ditch narrowly missing the tree afterwards https://www.20min.ch/story/jonas-vingegaard-bei-ueblem-massensturz-auf-trage-abtransportiert-103078802#ratingSection

Done many years and hours on the IDT, due to work hours and Swiss winters. Riding in the dark, freezing cold and wet weather is not fun, did a Rapha 500 challenge once in December in all sorts of *** weather, NOT AGAIN THANKS! in the past I did some + 6 hour rides on the IDT, the key to these is as below and to move around on the bike frequently alternating sitting and standing, your soft tissue area will thank you 🤩 For long rides the key is to watch something like Netflix, before Netflix and YouTube I had a portable dvd player in my training room. Rouvy has great scenery and so many different route options, but for long rides some other visual entertainment is recommended. Have fun

It’s the washing machine I sweat like a pig 🐽 and wash my helmet under the shower with hair shampoo. The liner stays in the helmet and still looks and smells like new. Helmet is at least 5 years old. Taking the liner out of the helmet every time is probably contributing to the damage. My gloves go into the washing machine very occasionally, they never smell (well as far as I can smell….) but only for a cold wash with the lowest spin speed. I also alternate gloves having multiple pairs allows them time to dry properly indoors and not in direct sunlight.

A man walks into our office on Friday (no this is not one of those jokes) and with a heavy Irish accent asks if anyone speaks English, being the only person in the office whose mother tongue is English I jump up first and say to him, yes I do but do you….. immediately he bursts out laughing and says “you sound South African” Turns out he is a road worker busy painting yellow lines on a road nearby and has about 5 liters of already mixed yellow paint left over and wanted to know if we need any of this special yellow paint…. We called the airport manager who was very happy to accept the free gift of paint. Anyway he then goes on to describe his last holiday he had in SA and amongst everything that was fantastic he mentioned how friendly South Africans “always smiling and easy to talk to they are” and how big the steaks are that you can get for 5€ and the fantastic beach and hotels at a place called Omhlangi (Umhlanga). My Swiss work colleague asks me after the Irish guy left, “Why did you leave SA then….” 🤣

For the CE the costs end up being so much more, and if you are traveling from overseas it gets really silly expensive....hell i even went on holiday to the Maldives just to get an entry by entering from an exotic IP location like the Maldives 😁.... factor in air travel with a bike, hotels, renting a car in ZA 😢

Increasing the cut off time for comrades from 11 to 12 hours in +/- year 2000 helps those stats, the majority of runners finish in that last hour, now they can do it a bit more "comfortably" Ultimately like Shebeen suggested, trying to compare the 2 is silly unless you've done both and even then it will be a personal opinion, me I'm far more comfortably cycling for 10 hrs a day for a week than running for 11 to 12 hrs in one day... my legs feel sore just thinking about.

Jinna I dunno bud… Those runners sitting in the Avis busses and those trying to make the various cut offs might disagree, whilst never actually been there myself I have followed friends and my SOH on the route for many many years and have seen first hand the stress and 1000 yard stares when you try cheer them on….. I’ve done a CE at the back squeaking in on some stages just before the cut off, (and once even after the cut off (it was luckily extended) most of the time the other riders around you are still in good spirits, and bar technical issues know you can make it. Basically any cut off in any race is a B***H for someone. just wait until you have a broom-bus travelling at a fixed speed of 34kmh following you…. That’s a tad unpleasant

What Buff said, I doubt Burry or anyone meant it was the only race.

Daryl Impey is a natural story teller and funny as hell, love his cycling videos

IMHO If it aint broken don’t F*** with it. Replace it a week before CE and during the epic give it a clean and lube… without removing it. Bicycle chains don’t just break, and when they do it’s usually down to human behaviour, excessive cross chaining or chain removal. Removing and installing a chain everyday is a recipe for failure, even when the work is performed by a professional mechanic. Rant over

A year ago when lots of people entered not even sure if they would get a ticket...it seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately once you have entered and paid, its hard to take it back

I think it’s Owen, it sounds like Owen. I’m watching the actual Supersport Grandstand channel 201 through ipt tv

Even when the sunshines, the temp is a nice 25 degrees, blue skies, a nice refreshing breeze blowing…. You know those perfect days…. There’s will always be someone who will whinge that the weather is crap ( I’m comparing the weather to the CE tv coverage). I'm sitting here at home in 🇨🇭 ( it’s a public holiday where I work) watching supersports live coverage listening to Gerald, Sabine and the doper ( 😇) Owen, geez what is there to complain about??? Maybe Sabine could sound less German 🤙

About 10 years ago I suggested to my wife that we take up golf together because of this and also it was a sport we could do together without having to worry about one having to wait for the other like when we run or cycle. It turned out great and she constantly beats me, unlike running or cycling where I would beat her 😁 She’s always bragging about how she started and finished with the same ball, unlike moi who has to carry a bag of spare balls in his golf bag

Soooooo….. which club colours will you be striding out in…..ie which club did you join?

We’ve been to a few different TDF stages (Monaco, Paris, London) and I prefer the start of a stage as you can stroll around all the team busses while the mechanics get the bikes ready and where the riders warm up on their rollers. We went to Monaco when LAnce was riding for Astana…. By pure flook we booked into the same hotel as LA and a host of other riders were staying in. My tip for anyone going is not take too many pictures of the actual racing, usually the pics come out quite blah and you miss seeing the riders. July is my birthday month and wifey has just this week booked us into a Monaco hotel very close to where the team busses will be parked for the start for the 2024 tour. Hopefully Vroomie and a few Saffas manage to find their way into the tour.

I won’t admit to years of riding for years with unwashed helmets, but I I do know where you coming from 😆 Occasionally I’ll take it into shower and give it a good shampooing Maybe the OP could try that with an anti itch (dandruff) shampoo? Even Mathieu vd Poel does if the Alpicin adverts are to be believed

/\ THIS /\ and stay away from the same at the finish each day…. I still get nauseous thinking about those Woolies sandwiches they used to hand out each day. Try prepack your own food and snacks for each day, put some real food in your gut not just gels….unless you’re used to living on gels When / if you get sick 🤢 REHIDRAT is your best friend, make sure you take enough sachets with for the whole week, if you don’t need them there will be someone who does and you’ll have a buddy for life.

Fixed

Luckily it’s 7 days and not a 365 challenge