Stefan Cremer

Information must be slow there in "die Noord Kaap", XX is like XTR on steroids!

Wishing you a speedy recovery! However do not get drawn back into MTB too quickly and do not put yourself at risk with that shiny new hip... I have had two major hip surgeries subsequent to an accident, the muscles really took a while to get back into the swing of things. Good luck!

The okes that reckon the Free-State is flat are just plan uninformed - a major portion of the province borders on Lesotho... Having grown up there I can tell you that is NOT flat. Re the Netherlands, we can only dream that we will all one day be able to live in unity and harmony. Dream on!!!

Jungle Oats bar, any type except for the light - does not have any oomph. Don't waste your money on Powerbar, way too overpriced. Also try some nuts and wet biltong for proper proteins.

Have any hubbers done this race before as a solo event?

If you cannot bunny-hop without clipless you can't really bunny-hop...

So, I can't seem to figure out how to load a picture - advice?

Serfas thunderbolt - NO question about it, for me it is the best light around.

1x10 Will kill the legs on some rides, I really like my SRAM X.0 2x10 setup - hasn't given me any hassles ever! The only gripe I have with it is the effort it takes to get the back wheel in and out. Rode XT and XTR before as well, not too much of a difference - the SRAM might be slightly better in really muddy conditions, but that's about it.

X-King sure has the grip and lowish rolling resistance you want for front tire, however the sidewalls are rubbish, even in the Protection guise. The X-King cost me a top 10 at Tulbagh, again in Wellington and around 25minutes at Rooiberg - all sidewall scuff marks that just continue to leak air. Rubbish tyre. Rooiberg was a properly tough test of skills, those marbles kept the downhills really interesting!

Must agree with you, PROPER MTB race - got exactly what I was looking for from the race! One thing I would have liked is proper seeding... Started mid-pack and had to put myself way deep in the red in the first couple of kilo's to pass folks and probably lost some time early on on the leaders.

Maak nie saak nie. Dit is net 'n helmet...

I first notified GrouponSA of a cancellation of accommodation I bought through them in early March, got notified on April 2nd that a refund will be made - it is now 24 May and still no refund...

Kyk bietjie na Specialized se helmets ook - daar is vir my niks wat so gemaklik sit soos hulle sin nie en die straps is AWESOME!

I read the article last night and could for the life of me not understand why Ciolek's second place took preference over the victory by our very own awesome saffer racing over the seas? A German in an African/South-African team should surely not take preference over our own rider... BLOODY WELL DONE DARYL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You might be right on that one, I do not know. However the smaller races also carry a lesser weight in terms of the improvement of the seeding result. The saseeding website explains this I think... What I don't get though is that the Kiamtbranking system got launched quite some publicity and now there is absolutely no activity on that site... Anyone know what is happening there?

Hi Dale It is indeed quite rewarding! IBS is probably a better description, I will have to read up on it and LCHF combined. Can't see that it would be a successful effort, as I have it quite bad...

Sure do, I haven't had issues with energy since the change. Although you must remember that the change was noting major, just cutting back on the carbs (not eliminating it) and increasing the protein intake.

Rather buy stuff locally, sure it might cost you a couple more ZAR, but with that you get all the necessary guarantees - and for pete's sake don't go and try out the helmet at your LBS and purchase it in some other country or website. To get to your question, I also use a road helmet for MTB purposes - the only difference I have noticed is that MTB have peaks and road not - in terms of the safety, I have NO clue.

I have to agree with the Specialized shoes - I have the Pro version with the carbon soles, these are amazing and have the stiffest soles imaginable! I do imagine they are bit over your budget, but I would seriously consider spending the extra ZAR... Good mate of mine has the Specialized shoes with the plastic soles, he also is very happy with his shoes and reckons they are properly stiff. Both of us came from Sidi - NEVER again! Never!

Bad luck, I recently cracked a frame as well - luckily I got sorted out superfast! I have two questions though - did you have the seatpost in deep enough and did you buy the bike brand new? If you did not your chances of a getting a replacement frame are very slim, as the warranty on the frame only covers the original owner...

Fantastic race! Did it end 2012 and enjoyed every single mile of it! Climbs are long and tough, but there is more than enough downhilling and properly nice single track to make any grown man weep! Bit of a gamble with the weather, I think we were a bit lucky with the weather - only had one proper shower one afternoon...

Cannot wait for this - never done it before. Looking forward to some proper climbing and testing singletrack!

So, I am not on any diet and never have been - however I started noticing towards the beginning of this year that my fat percentage was getting higher than it has ever been before - at a time that I was training more than I have been during the last 5 years. I knew something was up, but just could not determine what the route cause of this was, as I follow a very healthy diet and have been doing since I can remember. As I have an extremely spastic colon my diet is quite limited, so there was not all that many different things I could try out to see what it was that was causing me to get fatter with such a heavy training and racing load. Around this time I also stumbled on Prof. Noakes' "drastic new approach" through the wonderful Twitterland - I read up on it and told my wife (awesome chef) about it all - she just sighed cause my colon cannot handle 90% of what goes into the LCHF diet. However, I drastically cut back on carbs and replaced it with proteins - what do you know, a skinny guy losing 3kg in 3months by making one small change in the diet. MAGIC!

Meent, you should rather have done the real MTB race this weekend - Magalies Monster. No worries with half a million other riders and batches ranging from A to ZZZZZZZ, etc. Plus it is a better test of a MTBer's mettle than the route to the east of Hazeldean. Sure there are some nice singletrack sections, but NO real climb... Easy choice really.