Minion

Or we don't feel motivated enough to respond to a thread about it on the Hub.

ICG for a Joburg group: http://www.cyclesafe.co.za/

Northcliff - route 1: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71896818 Northcliff - route 2: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71897020 Sterkfontein: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71897388

Northcliff, going up past the water tower works for 10min intervals. It used to be possible to approach from two sides, but they've now blocked it off. For longer stuff, you need to head out Sterkfontein way. You can just about get in a 20min interval heading starting at the circle, heading up past the Sterkfontein caves, turning left onto the Krugersdorp road and then heading straight or left at the Oak Tree T-junction.

On the other hand, get tubbies, do the no.2 and save 600g. Unless tubby owners are anally retentive...

Sort of. Lactate threshold is the point when the lactic acid in your blood exceeds a certain concentration. They record your power and your heart rate while taking periodic blood samples. This gives you a power at lactate threshold (LTP) and a heart rate at lactate threshold (LTHR). You could also base your power zones on LTP. Aside from the practicality of testing, there was another, more technical reason given for why they prefer to use FTP, though.

They're lighter e.g. Zipp 404 carbon clinchers are about 300g heavier than the tubbies. There's an argument that on really long descents there're fewer problems with rims overheating, causing tyre failure. On very smooth road surfaces, tubbies will have a lower rolling resistance since they can usually be pumped to a higher pressure. The rather scarce info out there seems to indicate that you get diminishing returns when you go above typical clincher pressures on most normal road surfaces, though, so it's not usually an advantage. They're less prone to snakebite punctures on very rough surfaces (like cobbles).

...and sometimes they tell the truth. We can't really tell either way without actually being there.

No. I went from high quality tubbies to high quality clinchers and I can't say I notice any difference. Rolling resistance values for good clinchers can be the same as those for good tubbies: http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev9.pdf

Spinnekop got it right: LT is done with a blood test while you're riding (usually IDT). Most power training is done based on Functional Threshold Power (FTP). This is defined as the maximum power that you can sustain over an hour time trial. There're a couple of ways to estimate this that don't involve hurting yourself for 60min. One of the most popular is to do a 20min trial and use 95% of that power as your FTP. All of it is covered in detail in Coggan's book. There is some correlation between FTP and power at LT.

My personal experience is that you will get a better time if start further back. If you start with A and fight to hang on, but fail, you're usually so knackered by the time the next couple of groups come past that you can't hold onto them either.

Depends on where you are in the season. Typically one or two. This book is a really useful read if you want to get the most out of using a power meter: http://www.kalahari....2/34547815.aspx

If your training time is evenly split between the two, you'd ideally want to get both. You lose a lot of the benefits of training with power if you're only tracking half of your training. From a training session point of view, a road PM might be better since it's generally easier to do structured sessions on the road since the terrain is constant and you can just focus on riding. From a training load tracking point of view, MTB may be better. Road riding will tend to be more consistent, so you'd get reasonalbe results using SportTracks etc. to estimate the training load measures from GPS data. From a price point of view, road is better since the cheapest MTB PM (if you need disc brakes) is R12k or so new. If you're training mainlt on road and racing on MTB, a road PM would be better, though you'd lose out on some valuable post-race analysis data. Finally, if you use an IDT and have tubeless MTB tyres, road would be better so you can use it with the IDT.

I'll also be there.

Mpumalanga: Sabie. Go up and down Long Tom a few times. Joburg: There're not many long and steep hills around Joburg. Northcliff gives a couple of options for 10-12min steep climbs. Cradle/Sterkfontein area has a couple of 18-20min climbs, but not very steep. Suikerbosrand is great for hilly training, but is not ideal for doing hill repeats. The big hills are steep, but only 10-15min of climbing.

All PTs use a torque tube with strain gauges in the hub to measure pedalling torque. This is combined with rotation speed to give power. All of the Powertap models that end in a "+" are wireless and work with ANT+ head units that support power (Edge 500 etc.). The Elite+ has a steel axle and an all metal shell and weighs more than 600g. As you go up in the range, they get lighter, going to aluminium axles, then to carbon windows in the hub shell and I think the very top-end SLC+ has ceramic bearings. Functionally, they are identical. The 2012 models are the G3 and the Pro. The G3 is significantly lighter (and more expensive) than previous models and is all black. The 2012 Pro looks like it has the same specs as the Pro+ model, but it's black, rather than silver. Finally, Powertaps come as a hub only or as a complete system (includes HR strap and CycleOps Little Yellow Computer). Most people who already have an ANT+ computer will go for the hub only. In the past I've found that prices for new models from Bicycle Power Trading and CRC are within 10% once VAT etc. is added. This still seems to be the case for the G3 and the 2012 Pro. CRC is now offering 25% discounts on the 2011 models which probably explains the difference. Also make sure you're comparing the prices for hubs only vs. complete systems.

If you were so inclined, you could find out who it was on the web link posted earlier in the thread. I'm not the biggest fan of the route for this race, but it is certainly one of the best managed and marshalled races in SA. The SMS with race times was a nice touch. Well done to the organisers - your efforts are the reason I keep on doing this race.

A warning from City Power for anyone with an electric alarm clock:

You need to get the iPhone bike case that has a built-in ANT+ transmitter/receiver or else you can get an ANT+ dongle. http://www.buycycle.co.za/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=2133

From my personal experience, coaching input is useful from a program structure and time management perspective, but this would be the case for HR or power-based training. I don't really have the time or inclination to sit down and create my own program. You should do some reading about power meters and power training - 'Training and Racing with a Power Meter' by Allen & Coggan is an essential read in my opinion. 'The Cyclist's Training Bible' by Joe Friel is also a useful read. Coggan and Allen recommend just riding with the PM for the first couple of weeks, just to get used to it and see what it does. From then on, you'd need to have some kind of structured program to get maximum benefit from the PM. If you do the reading it's certainly possible to create your own program or modify an already available one.

The bank charges a 2.75% or so commission when it does a credit card currency change. I don't think the CRC exchange rate takes this into account. In the past, I've also got the impression that CRC doesn't update their rate very often. The bank will also use the rate that applies at the time they process the CC transaction. This will be different to the rate that CRC uses. Have a look at the difference between the daily high and low rate to get an idea of how much of an effect this could have.

Quite a few. The major ones were: - Cleats moved to left on both shoes (shoes to right) - Right pedal moved out by 2mm - Wider saddle (130mm to 155mm) - Cleat wedges

I had a similar issue with one leg cramping well before the other and feeling like it was doing all the work. I went for a BG Fit setup and the changes there sorted out the problem.

That's not how you spot a leg press

It is, but if the device offsets the pedal forward or back by a certain amount, then the two riders will not reach the top at the same time. There will be a few degrees (constant) lead or lag. You'd correct it by removing the timing chain (is that the right term?), rotating one of the cranks by a few degrees and reconnecting the chain.