Imtb

Pietermaritzburg...World Cup xc course at Cascades; I guess that should give PMB a heads up on most destinations, just up the hill,15 minutes from PMB is the Hilton Forest where the Cowan House Classic and Subaru MTB Classic take place...two 45 km races in the same area but different routes. and there are km's and km's of flowing single track. We ride there every Wednesday. You can ride for two hours and spend 90% on single track, and then come back the next day and do another 2 hours. Howick is a 10 minute drive from Hilton...more sublime mountain biking, so many trails you can get lost for hours. Take the road to Karkloof, 10 minutes away and again you have another mountain biking paradise. We rode there last weekend and the single track, the views and the climbs were amazing. I haven't mentioned World's view, start of the Hill2Hill. If you are looking for pure mountain biking, Maritzburg is very hard to beat. Perhaps you should come for a weekend, it's not on my website yet but have been persuaded to set up some weekend tours - Midlands Meander for the non riders, and an insane amount of riding opportunities for the riders.

Sold my Cervelo R3 as I was only using it to train for mountain biking. I have a PowerTap Pro which is built into a DT Swiss RR 1.1 wheel. Have just bought a Niner and am considering getting an extra wheel set with slicks to use an SL+ MTB PowerTap. Which would be more beneficial/cost effective...use my PowerTap Pro (wired) on a cheap road bike or are there second hand Disc PowerTaps out there? I do train on the road a couple of times a week, but rest is off road. How important is it to get power stats from a mountain bike race? I would probably only use the heavier PT wheel on less important races. Any ideas, advice?

Very sad, condolence's to Carla's family and friends. Rest in Peace.

I agree with Tankman, especially with regards intensity. You have to look at it like this. When you hit that first hill and all you have done in your warm up is a slow 15 minute ride with a few stretches, your body is going to be in for one hell of a shock when you are up and racing, whether it is for podium, racing your mates or the rider next to you. You want your body to have already experienced that shortness of breath, that little burn in the legs so it is not a shock to the system. So i would say if you are just starting out, do it the right way from the start. 15 to 20 minutes easy spinning, then push it up a gear and get the heart rate up with a few really hard efforts on a hill so that you get the heart rate up. Some don't stretch...I'm 50 and I need to stretch...then 5 more minutes and you are ready to rock.

I ride for the challenge and for the freedom it gives me. When you are a few months off fifty and you feel younger and fitter than you were in your 30's, it is an awesome realisation. I love to tell my daughter that mountain biking keeps me younger every birthday. So many stunning mountains, forests and streams to ride, both in South Africa and abroad...a mountain bike gives you the freedom to explore the remote and beautiful world we live in. And then there is the training and the racing..those early morning intervals that set you up for the day ahead and the weekend race . To compete, to take on the challenge of those hills, the technical single track, your mates, your rivals and to drive ones body and mind to the max and know that you rode your heart out...that is really what it is all about for me. Can't wait for sun rise tomorrow! Imtb2010-05-18 14:44:29

Anyone know of any bike shop who can have a look at an ergomo pro and help me get it working properly again. Desperately need my correct power readings back!

Having problems with my Ergomo Pro...when I do the off set I get different readings from day to day. It isn't the computer because I have two of them. Power is way out...to compound the problem my PT 2.4 is not registering power, I just get dotted lines, and have checked the battery. Not the computer either as I have two of those as well. I'm not too technical, does anyone know about re-installing the Ergomo, or is there someone out there who can have a look at it. Frank Sol use to help me out with these sort of things but he is over in Aus now.

I have osteo arthritis in my hip and since I started using glucosamine and chrondroitin it has improved dramatically. Suggest you just google these two natural substances and read about them. Tablets I use are called Arthro Guard. I was diagnosed in my early 20's and I will be 50 this year...I ride competitively and without using chrondroitin and glucosamine I would probably have had a hip operation a long time ago. A number of glucosamine chondroitin studies have shown the effect of thesesubstances in the body. Glucosamine helps make your cartilage stronger and rigid. It is also proven to relieve pain and treat osteoarthritis in the joints. Chondroitin, on the other hand, enhances the shock-absorbing capacity of the cartilage and makes it more flexible. It has also lessens the inflammation and promotes improved joint function.

What energy drink do you use for longer endurance events and multi day stage races like the Sani2c? It seems that the idea of having some protein for longer races is highly debated. Torq (we don't get it here) for instance seem to be one of the leading endurance nutrition companies in Australia, have loads of scientific data and say you only need a drink with protein beyond 8 to 10 hours. I have tried Perpetuem but after a few hours I am sick of it and I actually feel sick. having spent a few days researching online, reading reviews etc, Gu Electrolyte Brew seems a good bet as it contains a mixture of Maltodextrin carbs and fructose which is exactly what Torq products use ine a 2:1 ratio (not saying they are the only fundis out there) but they certainly are the most detailed when it comes to explaining how to use a drink while racing. Their research shows that combining these two types of carb allow the body to absorb more than the 1gram per kg of body weight that most brands say. They even show different mixtures depending on whether it is hot or cold...and then of course not forgetting gels to top up carbs and perhaps some solid food as a change like baby potatoes, nuts and raisins etc So what works for you?Imtb2010-02-11 04:21:20

As quite a few posts have asked...what are you training for. xc, classics or marathons. I guess most of us do abit of all of these. Looking at your training I see one word "spinning". Perhaps you need to write down few specific things you want to improve that you might be weak at...it might be hills, it could be riding in a bigger gear etc. Then look at why you are riding...are your goals just to be generally fit as I see you are jogging, weights and spinning or as you mentioned in a later post, are you looking at improving your speed on the bike over say a 45km course. If the latter is your goal then I would say it is going to take a long time for you to do well in a race if you stick to the program you are doing. Lately alot has been writen on the volume of training we do compared to intensity. The thinking seems to be going towards train hard at a high intensity and then rest hard. So IMHO I would throw in a hill session where perhaps you start with 2x10 minute hills, just below race pace...so, not to get too scientific, you finish the hill knowing that you have really given it a good go. Ride back down, have your 10 minute easier pace and then do it again. What you want to work towards for this specific type of interval is a 20 minute interval at around 85% to 92% and then rest 5 to 10 minutes and do it again. The term for this is "sweet spot training". It will arguably improve your fitness on the bike alot quicker than spinning...not that you should give up all your spinning, but vary your training. The bottom line is that if you want to improve you have to up the intensity, if you want to ride faster, then do more of your training riding faster. Even the idea of long slow rides for base training has been described by many coaches as outdated. Pro riders can afford to do long slow rides...they have the time and also if you are racing every week end then you are already doing your intense work outs, you can afford to do a slow 5 hour ride. It can be argued that two riders, one doing a high intenisty, high rest program 10 hour week and another doing 20 hours a week may actually end up doing a similiar amount of sweet spot training and progress at the same rate. Power meters have shown that training between 85% to 105% of your FTP (Functional Threshold Power) will ellicit the greatest psiological improvements. Think of FTP as riding a time trial for an hour...what is the highest power you can maintain over that period of time at a steady pace. Then do alot of your training at between 85% to 105% of your FTP. Good luck!Imtb2009-09-03 13:59:44

If anyone owns an Ergomo pro out there, I really need some help. The cable that joins the Ergomo computer to your PC to download all the power stats...the wires pulled out where they connect to the Ergomo. There are three wires, a red one, a light blue one and a beige one. I need to know in which order to connect the wires. So if you have an Ergomo or can let me know who has one...its very easy...just unscrew near the end of the cable and you will see where the three wires are welded. I know which three pins the wires should be welded to but I am not sure of the order. It looks like the red and blue are next to each other and the beige connects to the other point?? HELP!!

Are Maxxis CrossMark really that bad in mud - I have a coice for Sani either the Maxxis or Kenda Karma. In what way are Maxxis CrossMark LUST bad in mud?

A mate sent me this in response to my question - problem solved!! If you go onto the website there is actually a fantastic service they run that SMS's you the suggested tyre pressure (STP) for a particular section of the race. How it works is :<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> You register your cell phone with them. Their computer programme pin-points (via trig calculations) where you are.Thanks to the input of the finest Google Earth technicians and barometers tagged onto the ears of local Dairy herds they are able to ascertain the exact ambient Mb's of your valve cap. Based on pre-entered data posted by race organisers the riding technicality of that section is also taken into account. Simultaneous to this a GPRS connection is made to Durban International Airport Weather Station to give the exact forecast for the next 5 minutes. With the help of the hydrology dept at UKZNP, probes have been placed every 500 m that give an exact reading (with a 5 second delay!) of the relative moisture content of the soils at 3cm depth. Correlated to your pre-entered Statistics (weight, riding style, competency and tyre size) all this information is crunched at the Shuttleworth Computer Complex in Mid-Rand. A tyre pressure factor is then SMS-ed to you. As a rider you then multiply this factor by the number of doughnuts consumed at breakfast divided by the amount of seconds spent in the schmitter that morning. This is your specific STP! You must then stop. (preferably off the track) apply your Pocket Pressure gauge (handed out at registration-one per team!). Due to the built in "Blue-tooth" technology of the gauge it with interface with your cell-phone and automatically reduce the tyre pressure if required. If STP is higher than your gauge measure a VOIP MMS Sound Byte will announce "Vok Dit" ... and this is your cue to get back on your bike and carry on riding! Imtb2008-02-18 05:38:32

I noticed having pumped my tyres up in Pietermaritzburg to 2.2 that at the end of the Thrombi Super Classic in Underburg (higher altitude) my tryes were really hard - probably closer to 3 bars. Would an altitude change have made the difference as there was no real difference in temperature. If that is the case, those coming up from Durban or down from JHB for the Sani2c had better check tyre pressure at the race rather than before you leave for the race. Imtb2008-02-18 01:15:00