Harryn

Point of order, Madam Speaker : Whores also need to shave their legs for professional ....ahem ... Engagements. Why is no apology tendered the whores among us?

I hope that if you are rejected, and you land up having to wriggle in by buying someone else's last minute entry, you should be exempt from paying substitution fees. That way anyone who really is determined to race, will get in without being ripped a new one.

Today, I was actually thinking of how I have of been stripped of the enjoyment of bunking out for an hour 2 to go for a ride on my own when the opportunity spontaneously presents itself - one of the great joys of my life, and a benefit of not having a boss. Because of the fear, I have limited myself to the idt, and more recently to Huddle Park, where I feel 100% safe on my own. But I am getting bored with both, so have been thinking about ways to unclip my wings again. Though I do carry pepper spray, carrying a weapon is just not an option for me. (I agree with @Grebel 's take). Instead, I have been thinking of leaving the Garmin, Iphone and expensive bike at home, and to just ride on my old faithful entry level hardtail, with an old Nokia or BB. My hope is that this will eradicate me being a target - but I dunno, maybe I'm just dreaming.

I have been using the Cadence Nutrition energy gels of late, and I think they are the shiz. But, distribution is a problem. Today, I decided to stock up for my forthcoming races, so I started to phone around. I called Dunkeld Cycles, Tony Impey, Johnson Cycle works, Concept Cyclery Melrose Arch. Not one had stock of any Cadence products. It irritated me that these cycling stores which are in a do-able radius of my office had no stock of this cycling specific product, and gave no indication that they ever would. I know that Cycle Lab stock the stuff, but with trafffic, that is a 2.5 hour diesel slurping shlepp. Which I undertook - but only because i am lucky enough to have a driver to whom I delegated the task. So now I am the proud owner of 10 vanilla gels (yummy flavour btw)but if I would have had to make the journey my lazy-ass self, I would have just popped into Dischem and bought Hammer or Gu. The brand needs to be more accessible; it was a costly, time consuming (billable hours kinda time) exercise to get the stuff. I don't think i want to go through this ball ache again. Anyway, What really narked me is that i also tried to call Omnico to ask them where I could get stock, but they did not pick up.

Wow, this guy must be doing some serious and irreversible damage damage to his body. All for bragging rights? What a d@@s.

Awesome writing, I have been following every night. Congratulations, much respect!

Hi Jeroen Are 100km road races and rides more suitable to Carbofuel or to Marathon? Which should I try as a new user - i dont do stage races.

Well said. If i could use all my likes on this one post I would.

I have not read most of the thread, its far too busy. But from my perspective, in response to the views expressed by @slowbee - Plane ticket. Check Accom booked. Check Car rented. Check Bike en route. Check Race entry. Check Credit card for @CWC 's stand at expo. Check Awesome mates to enjoy 47km of fun, and a chilled weekend with. Check Hello Cape Town. No brainer!

Yes, I caught the tail end. It was fascinating viewing!

Is that not the problem? To put a selfish complexion on things, i have :- Bought the CSA license; Entered and paid for 3 races, about to enter for another 2; Have bought a Garmin - was hoping to use the voucher for cadence / speed censors for my other bikes, but I hear thats not on. So I will get none of this "investment" back. So if i shell out r600 for team vitality, just what value am I getting? Nada far as I can see, other than a shirt I have no real use for. Edit: i guess there must be lots of people in my position.

2 more Questions:- 1. When you join team Discovery do they automatically pay your license? 2. Everyone has paid for Argus long ago, so will they automatically refund the 50% ?

Thanks for the tip! I might be eating loads of it next year. Thanks to the motivation of @cpt armpies mayhem, I have notionally made it to Gold (once all points reflect) so will retain diamond status.. Thanks Mayhem!

Thanks to @cpt armpies mayhem I am down to 49000 points required to maintain Diamond. Got the entire fam booked in with a Discovery Wellness centre for fitness, health and nutrition checks. Gonna be real tight!

+1 - I feel your pain, lol. I am also waiting for the Garmin voucher! They sent out a mail saying that the starter packs (containing the voucher) will only be sent out in February, so I am exercising patience. But I hope they don't use the SA Post office. If the Garmin vouchers are transferable, it might start a healthy trade in them as I don't see what use they will be to the cycling majority who have the latest ones. Reminds me of the lady who was selling the Cycle Lab voucher.

Huge respect, Frail.

I'm 52. No little kiddies - just my wife, and 20 year old daughter . Can I pm you a paste of my points monitor, so you can see what we have done?

Ya, maybe your'e right, I need to get my A into G and get my wife and daughter to play ball. I still need 70k points, ffs.

I am sure you will need to be on diamond to get the full 50%. and they have made it much tougher to attain and retain diamond status. No more carry over points, reduced points for tests, no more concurrent workout points ie: if you go to the gym, you do not get points for Polar and gym as you used to. Anyway, after three races your fitness points are maxed out. I have been on diamond for 3 or 4 years, but I will be bumped back to blue for 2015, because I have just lost interest in chasing what's become an increasingly difficult ball ache.

I agree 100%. I wish the rain would start again, they are going full tilt with the fireworks in my area now, and my cat is NOT a happy camper!

All of your points are entirely valid; I stand corrected!

Many thanks for the detailed explanation, much appreciated!

I wonder whats really behind this decision - I am suspicious of the spin doctoring. Why on earth would they re-brand a race name which is internationally iconic? You just can't say: "hey mom, I did the Cape Town in 3.01!" Frankly, it makes me wonder as to how much of the name change is attributable to the decline of Independent Newspapers, who are busy with a massive retrenchment excercise, making more than 10% of their staff redundant in one fell swoop. One has to wonder if the Argus just can no longer shell out for the naming rights. This might also go some way to explaining the ludicrous entry fee.

Hi Jeroen Recently, there was a thread here on the hub about using raw honey and espresso as on-bike nutrition. I have tried it in the past week on 2 rides, with success, but both rides were a tad less than 3 hours. Do you think I would have bonked if the rides were longer? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on whether this mix would be appropriate for a non competitive weekend warrior, who is just out there for the fun of it and fitness. Nb : I am not taking a swipe at your product - I am sure its all that that its reputed to be; I'm just interested to hear from you as a sports scientist as to whether you think its do-able to do longer rides (say between 4 to 5 hours) and races on honey & coffee (hydrating with water) if one's goal is basically just to have fun, and finish in a reasonable time. Many thanks Harry

Shew, hectic! Glad you are ok.