Minion

Please tell me that thought bubble is coming out of the bike and not part of Dubya.

It seems there's actually a turning point around 3500m ASL where power starts dropping at a faster rate than density. There are actually a fair number of speed and distance records that have been set around this altitude (mostly in Mexico City).

It turns out it's not. The table I linked to earlier says threshold power (heart + lungs) will decrease by 7% going from sea level to 1500m. For the same increase in altitude, aero drag will decrease by 11%. So, even though you can only do 233W at 1500m it gets you a few km/h more speed.

I did some playing around with the calculator here (using the default values): http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesSpeed_Page.html I turns out that if you have a sea level functional threshold power (FTP) of 250W, you'd be able to hold 40.4km/h on a flat road at sea level, 41.3km/h at 1500m and 42.1km/h at 3000m. So, you have more power at sea level but the air is thicker and it thus takes more effort to ride through it.

That advice has also been given about ibuprofen, one of the three active ingredients in Myprodol. I just suspect the reason overseas doctors don't prescribe it for other things is lack of availability. Random fact: Boots pharmacy in the UK sells codeine phosphate-paracetamol pills, codeine phosphate-ibuprofen pills, codeine phosphate-aspirin pills and codeine phosphate-paracetamol-caffeine pills, but no codeine phosphate-paracetamol-ibuprofen pills.

The majority of my previous sales have been to Hubbers with less than 100 posts. I sold a frame to someone with no posts (admittedly it turned out I knew him off-Hub). I have also received some pretty outrageous offers from people with well over 500 posts.

There's a table here: http://www.twowheelblogs.com/how-altitude-affects-power-output It reckons your threshold power drops by about 8% going from sea level to Joburg altitude, so you would expect it to rise by about 9% going the other way. I have read that the increase in power is somewhat offset by an increase in drag due to thicker air, but I haven't run any numbers to confirm this.

Is that really because it's bad or possibly because it's patented and made by Adcock Ingram, a South African pharmaceutical company and may not have ever been marketed oversees?

You need to ask yourself whether your accumulated hours so far are worth trading for what could potentially be the next year of sport. I had a niggling knee injury at the end of last year. I ignored it and continued riding culminating in the 94.7 last year. At the end of that race, My knee was burning - felt like someone had driven a red hot nail straight through me tendon. As a result of the foolhardiness, I have not raced since the 94.7 and it was only in the last month or so that I've been able to ride at any kind of elevated intensity without pain. My refusal to sacrifice the few months of hard training leading up to that race has resulted in me loosing nine months and has put me back to the point where I was three years ago fitness-wise.

You're allowed to bring back R5000 worth of goods in your luggage VAT and duty free. Generally, if you're ordering parts online it's cheaper to get them shipped to SA and pay the 14% SA VAT rather than getting them shipped to the UK and paying the 20% UK VAT. If you're ordering clothes online, it's cheaper to get them shipped to the UK and bring them back in your luggage. That way you only pay 20% UK VAT and not 14% SA VAT + 45% import duties. Some shops, like Evan's Cycles, offer VAT refund schemes. You have to buy the goods in-store and then get a form stamped when you leave the EU. Post the form back to them and they then refund your UK VAT. Evans' in-store prices are often quite a bit higher than their web prices, though. Also check the charges - some VAT refund schemes charge a hefty commission.

Nope, studied at Wits. I used to fly down to row at boat race. Also did the drive a couple of times - 1000km in a car with a massive hangover is really not fun.

The ride back must have hurt. I remember it being bad enough having to drive to PE the morning after those parties.

I'd say go with this. You've got limited time so you need to use it as efficiently as possible. A good coach can design a program specifically for your needs and constraints.

Speed [km/h] = cadence [rpm] x Gear ratio x wheel rollout [mm] x 60 / 1,000,000 Gear ratio = No. of teeth on front chainring x no. of teeth on rear sprocket. Wheel rollout [mm] ≈ π x wheel diameter [mm] The problem with comparing a spinning bike to normal riding is choosing the right gear ratio and wheel rollout estimates. On a road bike, rollout is about 2096mm. On a spinning bike, it's a meaningless number.

At the bottom of the Post Office receipt will be a section that says 'Item Identifier(s)'. Below that will be a number in the form XY123456789ZA. That number is the tracking number.

Chain Reaction Cycles, a very big Ireland-based online retailer. Do a search here on the Hub and you'll find a lot of info about them. Also check out the online shopping sub-forum.

I'd say go direct to Wahoo Fitness. Mine cost about R850 (when it was below R7.50/$) all in and they send via tracked parcel post (takes about two weeks).

As far as I know, it already is. Go to their profile page and click on the Marketplace tab on the right. Then click 'Add feedback for me'.

I think someone in the Cyclelab centre in Fourways was doing full-on VO2max testing etc. I recall seeing it mentioned somewhere here.

That's the Excel ROUND function syntax. It means multiply by 100 and round to 4 digits. The actual formula is: (1-Winner_Time_Without_Seconds/Personal_Time)*100

If you want to use an ANT+ HR strap, you need an ANT+ dongle for your iPhone, like the Wahoofitness one (they also make an ANT+ bike case). You can order them direct from Wahoo (postage is $20 and takes about two weeks) - https://www.wahoofitness.com/ CRC now also stocks them under the NC-17 brand.

I think these two races are too late to form part of the official 94.7 seeding for this year. You might need to ask them for a reseeding.

If you can, try and find a second hand bike. I just bought my girlfriend a second hand bike for about 1/2 of what it would cost new. The downside with second hand is that it can be difficult to find stuff in the right size - lots of medium and large bikes out there, not so much small and extra small. Don't forget that you'll also need to by kit, gloves, pump, helmet etc. and possibly shoes too.

Squeegee: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Graphics/Scotchprint/Prod-Info/Catalog/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20S7M3_nid=W0D035BBTNbe2X45PZSQV2gl

It looks like the software is due for an update in the near future: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/09/update-on-computrainer-racermate-one.html