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Dukeblue

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Everything posted by Dukeblue

  1. Bruce, ons harte gaan uit na julle toe en ek bid dat daar vir julle lig in hierdie duisternis sal wees. Ons is so jammer vir julle verlies. Michael Prinsloo
  2. If you are going to write a blog, try to have some command of the language you use to do so. The title implies that he would rather be knocked over by a bus, and afterwards go and cycle for fun. Why is "then" and "than" so hard to differentiate? Maybe because cycling for fun also supplies oxygen to the cerebral cortex...
  3. Cactus, from what I remember from last year his shoes may be more important than his jersey :-) I see there is a very nice green one available as well, for the guys that feel South Africa has to be in the green and gold. In fact, a cricket jersey will work as well. And anyone crazy enough to ride with an original heavy rugby jersey, I salute you.
  4. Well, that's why its nice to be able to make your own decisions - didn't know that the two are mutually exclusive though. Thanks for the well wishes, hope it isn't that much harder than last year, although it seems like everyone is expecting it to be.
  5. Howzit guys, 10 days to go to the Epic, and 90 days to the World Cup. It feels like there is more hype generated with that one Absa ad on the radio than with a number of forgettable World Cup ones. Anyway, lets try to support the World Cup during the Epic. I know this is a little late, but the Epic broadcast goes out to something like a 100+ countries. Here is my suggestion: Wear a Bafana Bafana Adidas jersey for the time trial. My partner and I just picked up a set, and they are going to be perfect for 27km of riding. Imagine a scene with lots of riders all riding with that nice yellow jersey. I am not a soccer fan, but I am a South Africa fan and I think we should all start to get a little more excited!
  6. Johan, I am not mechanically inclined, but that was a great explanation! Thanks for taking the time to put it so succintly. The only thing is was wondering about was the think shank - is that like a think tank for inmates? On a side note - have you ever seen the ridges on a Tune hub where they contact the dropouts, and do you know of a possible solution?
  7. JB, I completely agree - when people write ****, they actually want to use the colloquial word for fornication. What difference does that make, that is what my brain processes in any ways? WTF? Almost as annoying is the use of smileys as passive agressive tools (see, you can learn great words from reading the wife's Cosmo on the toilet whilst taking a ****) What I don't get, is why you think double butted is good, but triple butted is BS (hah). Isn't double butted also just a marketing tool? I can't wait for quintuple butted spokes. They will be light, strong and whilst not cheap, offer excellent value for money
  8. "You cant, wont and never will stamp it out, so best people understand that and get their flipn heads out their asses and see the what is actually happening, accept it(Williehond plz read carefully) and realise that cancer doesn't help you pedalling efficiency or losing a nut makes you lighter or because you lived on the wrong side of the Berlin wall makes you a hard kid" Or that you can go faster up a hill because you have a metal plate in your head and can suck more air because you have the teeth to eat an apple through a tennis racket.
  9. If you cannot swim with a smooth and slow stroke, find a coach and get the stroke basics right. Doing stroke drills is a great way of getting some aerobic training done as well, and you don't perpetuate a bad habit by swimming lots of laps. You don't need a coach though for training. Most of our training group agree that extra time spent on the bike is the most effective way to a faster IM, in fact, the one thing I will be doing more of is low intensity Brick sessions. These days you can almost buy a good swim time with a R4000 wetsuit. I was a swimmer throughout college, and the difference between me and non-swimmers is vastly reduced when we are all in wetsuits. I think the advice on finding a pair of feet and riding the sardine run coupled to a good wetsuit should see most people finish in a reasonable time.
  10. are you the bad vulture vlad or the bunny vlad with the cookies?
  11. Squier (sic!), So you didn't like the race. I really enjoyed the 60km, even though I got there late and had to pass a lot of people to get to the singletrack with a decent group. This isn't unique to this race, I have had the same experience at other races that integrate the long and short loops, like Barberton and Walkerville, etc. However, the intro to your post pissed me off, and though you are entitled to your opinion, the whole raking in the cash and price fixing scam nonsense makes the rest of your valid comments, to me at least, total crap. Cheap shots.
  12. Yep, complain they will. It reminds me of the Rock Pedal classic in George. People complained so much about the first day (seriously rocky and lekker tech) that the organiser had to change the route for the day back. Half of the field that had entered for the two day event packed it in that day. Please, we need challenging races from a technical perspective. I am really looking forward to Rooiberg this coming weekend, lots of nice climbing and the new, looooong strectch of singletrack should be amazing
  13. Gavin, 'more difficult than any day at the Epic.' - The Monster is a tough race, but the day is over in less than 5 hours. This year on day 1, the Groenlandberg torture fest, half of the field was still out there after more than 8 hours on the bike, to not even speak of the Swellendam stage the year before that. Though, as with anything, it probably depends on hard that guy was riding. I certainly enjoyed the Monster a lot. The climbs were nicely technical and there wasn't a lot of congestion. Did anybody see if anyone managed to ride the downhill section between the top of the offroad part of the Breedsnek climb and the part where it links with the dirt road? The piece with the big step downs and gnarl?
  14. Gillie, Well done man! Congrats on finishing! We rode with my brother, it was his first race as well, and he passed out in the car. Yip, the pro's ride up that hill, so do many of the rest of us schmoes, the really impressive thing is that they ride with real tempo up there and don't just try to make it up. You will get better and be able to ride up more as you keep going. Tiaan Strauss is a big guy and rode where lots of guys couldn't in the Epic. As did Marius Hurter and I think he weighs even more than a ton.
  15. now if i can still have enough nutrition for 5.5 hours on the bike when i usually finish in 3.5hours why cant others think ahead like that?? - Maybe you are just an exceptionally forward thinking individual? Jesting aside - you are right, it probably goes to the ethos of the mountain biker to be prepared. However, my race plan has become to start with a bottle of carb drink and then to refill at the waterpoint with either energade, powerade or water-coke mix. It's just because we've become spoiled with some races that provide that. And that was my point - for such a popular race I think it could have been done better. What a blistering start though!
  16. Turtle, I think you may have misread the tone, but whatever. My only question was what your impression of the race had been, and what mine was. As to how I ride down, or up, you won't know, maybe if I released the brake lever I would have ridden over a few folks As to the waterpoints, your retort does not have to use hyperbole to make a point. No, I didn't expect a five course meal. Yes, I expected more than what we got. The scenery was certainly amazing at the top of the climb and toward the end of the ride. For the first half? But you are right with one observation - checking why I ride my mtb, and for me, yesterday wasn't a good answer. That's all. Sorry you had a eventful race regarding equipment. What do you do with a broken skewer?
  17. I want to know whether I am becoming like many people that listen to 702, live and work in Gauteng and whine about stuff, or, whether you agree: I expected more from the Lionman race. After the extreme popularity of the race and the obvious willingness to travel there, I came back disappointed and left feeling cold, if you'll pardon the pun. For me it turned out to be a gravel road ride with one big climb and kind of a boring few descents (I know, then go faster you say) I thought the waterpoints could have been better stocked (man I don't really do well on water and bananas only) Do you think it lacked vibe? Maybe it was the weather?
  18. I know that Lionman 80km entries have become like the Koh-i-Noor for some reason. It was easier to enter the Epic. I am willing to pay a little more if you would like to profit from your entry and cannot go. So please PM me - I am going through with my brothers that are riding and will be there in anyways. Help, please?
  19. Hi Fleming, we often come down to PE and Jbay and I am always looking for some trails to ride. Do you have some more info of who to hook up with in PE for rides, or an idea of where to start if you want to do a solo ride?
  20. I rode with Spez pro carbon shoes that are supposed to be stiff with the carbon soles. I had no problems, neither up the long portage on day three nor walking through the sand sections on day 2. Find out what kind of shoes Mark Fish wore because his "blisters" were so bad that he had to pull out.
  21. hi BG, Man, I have been riding all alone in Paradise beach for two weeks now (when the wind wasnt pumping and when we arent windsurfing or surfing) How did you hook up with the guys and start to ride with them? Did you go out regularly and do you know whether they are still around?
  22. Yeah, have never had the privilege to race with David, but he seems like a really genuine guy on club rides and in their shop. The atmosphere in the Pretoria shop is completely different from what I have experienced in Jhb and it does seem like a family affair, with Johan often being there and all of them being super helpful. It does not surprise me that he has this 'can do' attitude on the bike, because he exhibits it off the bike as well. Btw, if David starts swimming he is going to seriously scare a lot of Ironman elites out there.
  23. thanks Dirtbreath! But it is already a stretch to explain to my partners that this time I will be away for a week of riding, they will without a doubt not understand why I would like to go and volunteer why they have to keep the engine running. It must be awesome though to volunteer - I don't mind hard work coming from a farm - and it is the kind of thing that must *almost* be as effective in escaping from the realities of the current global economy.
  24. figure out how to find a team entry for the 09 Cape Epic. My buddy and I both have other family commitments for Ironman and would hero it to be able to ride. We are willing to buy over the entry. If you have advice on this please help. We don't have any pictures of either of us on the couch.
  25. do you have a URL for the german tire site? I really like the feel of the racing ralphs, but they are soft and I blew through 3 sets last season, as well as a smart sam. But if I can keep feeding my bike schwalbes at a discount, that would be great. currently running speed king and geax sagauro, not the same quality of feel though (to me)
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