Katy

Joburg please

Does anyone have any recommendations for someone who can install a couple of panels and an additional battery? I've got the equipment already.

For now yes... In New York city 1 in 500 people died in about 5 weeks, so in a few months we'll see if the Karens were just being silly.

I think if you're 89th in line you have a pretty good chance of getting an entry. We had a similar number last year and then got an entry about 2 months in advance... and then we couldn't do it

I had the same thing when I was 17 years old- tore my L5/S1 disc while playing squash. It was a couple of months later (of no exercise etc.) before I was eventually referred to a neurosurgeon. I had the surgery, 9 years ago now, and I've recovered 100%. I don't have any pain when running/ mountain biking etc. I find though, that playing squash does cause my back to ache. This all happened before I started cycling, but cycling was the one activity the my doctor recommended would be good for me to do afterwards. I would imagine that it won't be too long before you're able to train- on the road or a trainer at least. I couldn't sit for a week afterwards and I struggled to sit for three hours during my exams, which were 2 months later. I do believe that although surgery is frightening, it was the best (if not only) option for me. I can do everything now that I used to do before, whereas, if I hadn't had the surgery I wouldn't even be able to walk properly.

Keen to join for the 68km

Thanks guys. Think i'll give it a go. Not looking forward to the bumpiness though. Even on my 29er DS

How does the 100 compare to say, day 2 of sani2c?

Sounds great

Ah, man, that's awful! I hope you manage to figure something out. And crying at work is a perfectly reasonable reaction. Sucks for him as well! I may be joining you in that boat soon but still holding thumbs I won't be.

The question for me is more, "What do you do if work tells your partner that he can't take leave anymore?" How much of a temper tantrum are you allowed to throw?

Try Linden. They have demo bikes which you can book out.

Nice work! Told you your prep was fine

Well, the 2nd lady there seems to have been on a tandem, and if you check the racing tandem group, it seems that there were other ladies on tandems that actually went faster that that (but they probably rode with men). The first lady does seem to be extremely fast though!

I've never had glandular fever, but I went through a phase of getting sick once every 2months or so, and my doc prescribed beriglobin. I had one shot and it helped me a lot. I think that it basically just "helped out" while it was in my system, and gave my body a bit of a chance to recover and build my own immune system. I wouldn't recommend taking it too regularly, or for people who're perfectly healthy, but it sounds like it could help you a lot. That said, why not chat to your doc about it? I don't think you can get it without a precription anyway. Good luck and hope you recover soon.

If you're going at any appreciable speed, then the force of the collision will be a lot worse if you're going against traffic. E.g. if you're going at 40km/hr and you hit a car going at 80km/hr head-on, then the speed at which you hit each other is basically 120km/hr. If you were both going in the same direction it would be 40km/hr.

I'm a member of cyclelab, but I've ridden with both of them, and I think that both have their positives and negatives, so the best choice is probably the one that's most convenient for you. Cyclelab's rides, in general, wait for nobody- something that I don't really have a problem with, because there is generally a support vehicle or a slower group behind you. I do think they should give better guidelines of what pace their groups go at though. This weekend I did the D1 road ride, which was supposed to go at 24-26km/hr, but it actually went at 28km/hr. Unfortunately, it seems to be very difficult to get large numbers of cyclists riding together to obey the rules of the road. I've seen both groups behave quite badly. This weekend Club 100 overtook us whilst we were going down that dip on cedar road. We were in the emergency lane, so they just rode in the middle of the road. There was nearly utter choas when a taxi stopped dead in front of them.

I really don't think that Just Keep Pedalling is wrong to suggest that certain areas have more attacks than others and that its sensible to try and avoid these areas. One that note, I asked on another thread what the situation is like at Northern Farm at the moment, and it seems as though its fairly under control. Are there any more opinions on that?

Sorry to hear this! Glad that you're ok! Was wondering if anybody knows how things are at Northern farm these days, as it is in the same kind of area?

I think your preparation is fine and you should manage it! (I would say you may even manage closer to 4hrs). My 94.7 average speed has always been higher than what I manage on a 60km loop around the cradle, but then I do generally try harder in a race . Best of luck for it, and enjoy, that's the most important thing!

Wow, that's hectic. So did those 6 or 7 convicts who'd already jumped manage to get away then? Cos that's totally shocking. No wonder we have the crime rate we do.

The way I understand it, the position you're in while you're cycling is arranging your disc so that it presses one of your nerves. So if you just carry on riding on painkillers you will probably land up with long term nerve damage. Which is why I suggested riding more upright (if you have to ride) whilst you try to fix the root cause of the problem.

I was 18 when I had the surgery and it was definately the right decision for me, but then, I couldn't even walk. I would definately try all other options before you go for that, but if you do land up having to have it, it's most likely not the end of the world. I have no problems at all now, and do a lot of sports. I was told that high impact activities such as running, are quite bad in terms of the effect they have on your discs. Just confirm with your doctor, because although you struggle to hold the cycling position, it may not be doing as much harm as running. Have you considered at least moving your setup into a less agressive position for the moment, while you buildup your core strength?

Sho, not really sure what to suggest other than carrying on with what you're doing and chatting to your doc/physio. I tore the L5/S1 disc, and eventually had surgery to remove the piece of the disc that was compressing the nerve running down my leg. The doc was concerned that the nerve would itself would be damaged without the op. It took a while to heal, but since then (8 years ago) I've had no problems. I mtb and road cycle amongst other sports. It sounds like your physio is pretty clued up so he/she is probably a good person to talk to. I also went to numerous specialists before what was wrong was finally diagnosed (took about 4months), and quite a few of them probably did more harm than good.

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