MongooseMan

Dylan Johnson (owner of the dropbar bike pictured) would argue wider is always better, unless you need to clear mud. https://www.instagram.com/dylanjawnson/p/C2dIgQcOa0w/?img_index=1 Bigger tyres = lower pressures = lower rolling resistance

@Benky has also recently (?) built up one: https://www.strava.com/activities/11103409747

I run a 40T for gravel season and a 48T for road season. Note I'm running a 10-50T at the back so I've got a pretty big range anyway, but found I spun out on the 40T on downhills roads.

I also went straight to their calculator and checked, and it says it "looks like a loop" (confusing wording). Then I tried Suikerbossie, and it says that is a loop too, so I think it may be broken...

Had a guy try to tackle me at the corner of Koeberg and Plattekloof (near Makro) this morning. I was riding with 3 friends and as we approached the turn into Plattekloof this guy stepped off the island and started running at me. His execution was laughably poor, in that he went for the front guy, telegraphed his intentions way too early, had no visible weapons, and couldn’t change direction quickly. i managed to swerve around him and sprint away, and he seemed to have already burned all his matches, as he completely ignored my 3 mates behind me. stopped, swore at him a few times, carried on with life, all a bit surreal really…

That was the Bonk Bros podcast: https://bonkbrospodcast.com/e/episode-42-cape-epic-special-w-the-champ-matt-beers/

New profile up on the Cape Epic site for stage 4

I don’t think anyone will fight you on that

I see WP Cycling has started putting events up for the winter road league on their site: https://www.wpcycling.com/event-calendar/cat_ids~51 Some very ignorant questions, because I can’t find a lot of info online: As a non-elite, how worth it is it for me to look at doing these events? What categories are there, and what category would I likely find myself in (3:02 CTCT from &, 37 year old male)? How many events are there usually in the league? When does it normally end? thanks!

This

@Phillippe Coetzee fwiw, I did my 3:02 on a Specialized Diverge gravel bike running a 1x setup (48T upfront 10-50 at the back), though I do have carbon road wheels for it.

Does his first and last name start with the same letter? If so, that’s flipping funny because he made a whole instagram reel about people in character groups who can’t drink without wobbling 😂

On a lighter note, my funniest moment was going up Chappies, and the guy in front of me hits a cat eye. Psssst, but then seals immediately. I commented to him that he was lucky and responded “oh yes, that’s the 3rd one today!” I was like (1) what sealant are you using coz that’s a great advert? but more so (2), stop aiming for cat eyes! 😂😂

Some smarts, not enough Looking at a comparison with another mate in & who ended on 2h55, my biggest mistake was not being further forward going into Smits. Because I found the climb easy, keeping with those around me but got to the top to realise they weren't going fast enough and had to hammer to get back on If I'd been further forward I would have worked slightly more on the climb, but probably had an easier descent (he did 137W down there, I did 198W with many more surges). That was the beginning of the end, until I had to close another gap past Ocean View, and then got dropped out the back on Chappies y-axis is time-gap. You can see the gaps closed over Smits & Ocean view, before the elastic snaps properly on Chappies.

3h02m from & 80kg, with 9kg bike FTP of about 300W Avg power 213W, NP of 260W But hugely bursty, dropped over 600W more times than I could count. 30s power: 435W 1min: 427W 5min: 374W 10min: 299W

I was just wondering how long we'd have to wait for a box and whisker plot @JM_NEL did you do the 99er one?

That option isn't there yet, from recent races it takes Finish time a day or two to add it in

I had a sense of humour failure at the crest of chappies where, instead of a glorious freewheel 50km/h descent, it was 300w all the way down

Well & was about as sketchy as predicted, but no actual crashes that I saw. (Good job sheriff @Bub Marley) Too slow out into the wind for my legs to make up the deficit, so rolled in 3:02. good morning out though, even if suikers was a sufferfest

My annual expo purchase:

I hereby appoint @Bub Marley as chief anti-knob police for & group Please collect your badge as you enter the pen. I thank you for your service.

Also in &. I plan on riding to the start, so that's my warmup (about 8km). Will probably arrive around 6am, so about 20mins in the pen, which should (hopefully) get me in the front half, if not front third. I'm less fussed about being on the front row though.

An update: naked want a receipt or valuation certificate. Given my bike has been upgraded about 15 times, a receipt won’t cut it, so will need to take it to my LBS to get it all valued

Just went through the process this morning: CycleSure quoted R560 to insure a R100k bike (with PPA "discount"). Naked quoted R281.