Shebeen

i'm actually riding to work more often now

they race the day after the tour finishes?? that's just silly. good to see the Lantern rouge in the top 10

I take it you turned around at the top of Red Hill? If you went down the other side, at the three way stop is The Cape Farmhouse - they make awesome deserts. well worth it. bit funny doing an out and back with all the other routes, but you clearly hill hunting - another tweak is to go through Da Gama Park. start/finish is Southern right hotel in glencairn and scratch patch

depends, what you looking for? I got some Code 8 and articulated Truck going cheap cheep

CS both manufacture here and in china....all designed and tested here. I have my brilliant Vantage jacket right here in front of me and the label says just that. >hijack off> back to rally bashing boys

i really don't think it's a china thing. as well all know most of our bikes come from there, and its not like anyone has a go at CapeStorm for manufacturing there

as much as one of my favourite sports is Rally bashing, even i admit it is normally misguided and childish. (maybe i've matured, but most likely its Cheris?'s fault) It's hard to be proud of a brand that also has utter cr@p going for R500 at the hyperama. Until they do a Lexus/Toyota and split their ranges into different brands this'll never end. Who cares if Rally one the tour in 1980, I think it holds little prestige as a name. No amount of R&D or even design awards will fix it, it's a marketing problem.

Sean, I have to agree with you. Devils advocate is a tough role indeed, especially when you're supporting a hack. But how does one do fully research topics when you have to juggle tee-off times, boozy lunches and fashion launches? I'm kidding, case closed. lets go watch some live feed.

I think Albert should take those 'ode to Ricco and his Scott' entries off.

well its horses for courses, as we're all different. I think the most important thing is not to try something new. I used two pairs of first Ascent Endurance bibs for the 19 days of the freedom challenge. and those are 13hours average riding days too. picked up a slight rash on the first day (where it rained like the almighty had ordered it), and fine grit had worked its way through to the skin from all the sitting on a muddy saddle. but it never got worse, put Mark II shammy cream on the shorts each morning. they go for about R500 a pop, but i picked them up for R60 each at their december sale - bargain of the century....... two thumbs up, and not even their top of the range

Dan the Man is brilliant. He's not just a golf writer, he's got an all-round knowledge better than most. but experts will always nit pick, and you can't please everybody. I think he makes a fair point, there have been plenty of people even here that have felt it hasn't been as captivating as usual. now i can't wait for the next instalment of his 'graeme smith secret tour diary', the big news so far is biff's bollywood deals and AB having a big crush on neil mackenzie's wife (the phwwwwoar kerry mcgregor)

not so sure about that handle bar, but otherwise very nice! which market?

i suppose we've all forgotten he came second in the green last year....you only remember the stage win.

Whatever plans Team Barlowworld started with two weeks ago must have gone out the window by now. the most surprising is how far down RH seems to be in the sprints when so much was said about his form coming into the tour and the improved back-up team. Sure his stage victory was only in the second week last year, but he'd been knocking on the door with limited back-up then and it seemed like he'd inevitably get a victory. Is he too far out of it for the green jersey as he doesn't seem to be getting any points at the intermediates. Does he pick possible stages for a sprint victory(like today) and bide his time on the rest? I can't read much into his diary, and it would be nice to talk of something else TDF related than the same old same old pharmaceutical stories.

Well Longo 'crashed'.

Do they ever get people to the velodrome for cycling events? I've only been there for rock concerts. I didn't even know it was on. final's tonight, right?

anyone know what the cumulative altitude gain is on the 109km Argus route? i'm guessing it's about 800m. would be nice to use to explain how much harder this tour stuff is.

careful of putting words in his mouth, but who even won the last olympic gold? we all know who won the last 9 tours it's the same with tennis

it's pretty darn tough, but more in an adventure racing constant on the go kinda way......but if you follow tim james' wheel for a few days then the nav stuff gets easier. the HR never gets that high, i found i walked up hills that in a xc race would be ridden. you just can't push it when you in the saddle 12 hrs+ day after day. people immediately ask if i'd do it again, don't see why not. final sums would probably be about ~R15k and three weeks off work

marius, sailorboy here i'm having a serious debate about sealskinz for freedom challenge.. apparently they are worth the R500 they cost each(socks /gloves). seen them at cyclelab and olympic cycles round here in the past week. otherwise phone cobus, i think they are the distributors

joh, you should rent those couches out for sales

sludge and slime is the green stuff that goes in tubes, and er kinda works. cost:?R50 worth it:maybe stans/joes is latex based sealant and is used with tubeless tyres and works like a pop-up toaster. cost:?R500 for conversion worth it:just go and do it before you finish reading this as for ribbed and flavoured, well one can never say the testing process is ever over as we go in for another round of field trials