Danger Dassie

Generally fine, storage is also pretty important though, more depending on ingredients like natural sugars for example. If they’ve been sitting in your cupboard, fine. If they’ve been sitting in the sun or transported around in hot cars and the like. Not the best. Got horribly sick from one at an event a while back. Gels were actually left over from a previous event half a year before.

Great summary for Olympics - http://www.treadmtb.co.za/tokyo-olympics-which-sa-riders-will-go/?fbclid=IwAR1JbjoqB2jftu0naMogk3QHJt-qH1WZm7gSsvg0YrOi3iUW1EdzTQi7GNY

Hatherly's trajectory is consistent, a lot more healthy towards a meaningful career imho. Also hope to see Koretsky pull out stronger results from now, been a long time coming and his riding style/skills are right up there with the likes of Schurter. Check out some of his earlier Instagram posts. Style for dayz!

Current setup is Barzo 2.35 front and rear. Can't say I have been overly impressed with them, especially as a front tyre. Find them floaty and unpredictable on gravelly loose over hard terrain and a pain to find the right pressure. Plus I've lost count how many times I've pinch cut these tyres, including on the protection strip. Even when slightly over inflated at around 2- 2.1 bar! 3.5/10 for me.

That was a helluva tragic tale. His mother could never let it go either, convinced it was a murder conspiracy linked to the mafia.

For those upcountry around Jozi. Do a ride from Circus Cafe in the Midvaal area to SBR with a full loop and back. If you can comfortably or even with relative comfort do that, then you're plenty ready for any of the century rides in SA. It's a great barometer as a route and a genuinely beautiful ride. Plus you can always meet up with the family/friends at Circus Cafe after.

Reckon that's what happened? Would be doubtful to that extent, unless in the background there are other concerns. What ped would have been masked then? Additionally why the retroactive sanction, the lack of comment from CSA and SAIDS removal of her case from the site? If we're going catch dopers and systematically combat doping programmes, then the system needs to be transparent. Otherwise it's hypocritical to vilify athletes and place the ultimate penalty on the athlete when the balance of facts are not available. It gives the actual dopers leeway to circumvent the system, even if at least for a while.

It is, bit of a 90s throwback ...

http://www.treadmtb.co.za/cape-epic-applies-lifetime-ban-after-csa-uci-sanction-on-de-villiers/ https://community.bikehub.co.za/features/_/news/yolande-de-villiers-sanctioned-for-anti-doping-rule-violation-r4094#commentsStart Plus YDV's FB statement at the time. "To all my friends: I would like to provide an explanation to shed light on the predicament in which I find myself. The penalty that I have received is for not seeking the necessary approval, prior to competition, for chronic blood pressure and oedema medication that had been prescribed for an existing medical condition. This medication is not performance enhancing. To the contrary it has a negative effect on performance and is not recommended for use by healthy individuals. ... The chronic medication was prescribed by a long-standing medical practioner,Dr D. Welgemoed, familiar with my medical history. He is aware that Adco-Retic has an overall negative effect on endurance athletes, however, the treatment selection was informed by my pre-existing medical condition. He did not consider the medication as a violation of cycling's drug list, as it has no performance enhancing effect. The mistake that I made was that I did not familiarize myself with the process of SAIDS and was not aware of the TUE process. Therefore, I did not submit the necessary request for use during competition to SAIDS for approval. I would like to make it clear that: * I always declared the use of Adco-Retic during drug tests, assuming that the declaration would be sufficient * I never avoided or missed a drug test * I have never being implicated in any drug violation- including blood testing * I immediately applied for the TUE after being made aware that it is required for the medication that I had been prescribed * I was open, honest and co-operative during the whole investigative process * I have abstained from taking part in events when I was aware that the TUE process had been violated * I now have sought medical advice and treatment in an attempt comply to SAIDS and WADA rules Yours sincerely Yolande de Villiers"

Correct, which is probably why the sanction was applied retroactively due to the implied TUE snafu. Diuretics in general though are banned under the WADA code.

From what I recall with YDV's case is that it left more questions than answers. The ruling was applied retroactively due to circumstances in her appeal/argument. Indicating that CSA and/or SAIDS slipped up somewhere. As far as her recent result, it's doesn't really have bearing. Robyn unfortunately took a wrong turn, we'd probably agree though that she still would have won regardless. Holding a national champ status under those conditions must be bitter sweet, for anyone. For an athlete with a former doping sanction, some might say karmic. TBH I'm pretty surprised she beat the field there. Amy Beth, Sarah Hill, Theresa Ralph, Hayley Preen, Tiffany Keep, Courteney Webb etc ... Does this make the performance questionable or suspicious though, not perse and I wouldn't say so against her previous doping case. The lack of testing on the day though doesn't build confidence either.

How is it possible to punish the attitude, reality of human nature is that we can only punish the crime. Attitude requires reform, and that doesn't necessarily go in hand with punishment. For any crime. Punishing attitude wouldn't solve anything, we'd just end up in a space of judging people and accusing them while claiming to have the master moral code. Vengeance is a dangerous place to be.

double post nogal

You don't know what his return is though? Bring it up with the guy maybe? Quite likely he's been hit the recent increase and/or had to buy from another shop or source since the supply chain is buggered. And consumables in particular are pretty scarce, just about every supplier is pre-sold out on the stock lists within minutes. On some items this is up until 2022. For future ref, Jagwire Proslick is well worth extra outlay. Rubber side down

Just checked this month's expense on bike servicing. Zero ... yay

Riding style also comes into play, I've seen even experienced riders who are incredibly hard on their bikes. With little to no finesse. The most common observation is accelerated gear wear by riding cross geared, too hard a gear and/or not replacing the chain enough. Braking hard Not keeping the bike generally clean, in particular the drivetrain. On MTBs, not keeping pivots/suspension seals clean.

Wouldn't know about the status if markings. I see the organisers were very specific on which markings to follow. We don't know if a board or tape marking went missing. Unfortunately if you miss a section of the route the rules are clear, no matter your margin. I don't think anyone wanted this and certainly not Yolande. Going by Robyn's post it seems they went over all the details/protocols in detail and unfortunately the conclusion, which was a DQ. Difficult situation all round. That said, imho Robyn took it on the chin and handled it with class. Shitty, but she will always be able to have the green and gold bands. After all it wouldn't have been her first SA title, likely not her last either.

Seems the problem isn't the video or alleged faux passe

Literally nothing of the sort in the clip and nowhere near any kind of correlation to the Pinarello ad. No matter how sugars you put in your latte.

Effective enough, events sell out and SA has the world's largest stage race calendar. More than a few events though who do have an option for individual entries.

Gutted for her, what a ride. Noticed she was forthright and candid over the situation though. https://www.instagram.com/p/COV46cVn-py/

Race report; https://diverge.info/2021/05/01/south-african-xcm-championships/

The top tube crack was there before? As well as the rim repair? Any frame repair requires a complete strip down regardless. The repairer will always require this from the shop, especially for paintwork. Sounds like the shop didn't communicate outside of the rim repair though, which isn't acceptable. Neither is assaulting someone.

Totally understandable, but equally then arrange one or two more number collection points outside of Paarl?

Probably worth considering the fact that there's a whole commuter/recreational market with more general/practical riding requirements. Especially with the increase of people riding since lockdown.