Cranky

Great pedal. From Mountain Bike Action recently - "the platform makes it a much better pedal for trail riding than the "naked" Eggbeater" ... "the platform is invaluable in ultra-technical, sketchy sections wherre you may want to unclip and rest your foot on top of the pedal. It also comes in handy for starting on a steep climb when you need a few crank rotations before clipping in". So unless you're really worried about weight, the extra few grams are well worth it. And servicing here in SA is brilliant.

Sick now but if I'm ok will be there Sat or Sun am.

And GREG and ANDREW too!!

Great. Really good prices. From R30 to go watch a whole day of riding! See you there!

Thanks. I'll keep checking the website. Family pack for me - looking forward to the uplifts!

Thanks for the effort Ipeens!

Anyone know when tickets will be available? Mountain Biker mag says there are limited packages for 3 day attendance and that tickets are available from www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za but I can find nothing on the website.

Thanks Wallee. I've been wanting to go to Glengarry for a while so will definitely make a booking.

I'm looking for self-catering accommodation with on-site mountain biking trails in the Central Berg area or Midlands. Has anyone tried Silver Hill Lodge or Glengarry, or got any other recommendations? Thanks

SSISA = Sports Science Institute of South Africa, affiliated to UCT.

Food at water points last year included hot chips, fruit, buns, burgers, and more. You'll need to carry GUs if you use them . I carried a small pack of energy drink powder, which I mixed about half distance at a water point. Meals at breakfast and dinner were awesome (lunch too). Lots to choose from and really tasty. No queues. There's no need to bring anything extra. We also had a big supply of milk products from Clover and tankers with drinking water.

Congrats. Looks like a great experience. I hope to do something similar one day so your blog is much appreciated.

I participated in the first MTB weekend at Cathedral Peak Hotel. We rode up Mike's Pass then along a newly opened track at the top. Absolutely awesome, riding on top of the world. The hotel's MTB trails are awesome too.

My next bike also will be one of these (I hope). But I'm wondering if I should hold out for the next version of the Superlight. Surely it's due soon? I'd like to see if they can get frame weight down a bit, as Giant did cutting about 500g off the Anthem. The new X1 looks a great buy value-wise.

I think your training will be fine. I believe the pros only train about 2-3 hours a day and then do extra gym work, stretching etc. You could do that too. On some days, rather run or do a gym session in the evening. Two rides (especially offroad rides) in one day would be tough for your body (same muscles used, little time for recovery). Try do a few long rides on the weekend just to make sure that your body gets used to the continuous strain, but mainly so that you get used to re-fueling while exercising (your training plan allows you to re-fuel between exercise bouts).

Hey Scott24, I get annoyed too. But the signage at Northern Farm on the single track is poor. There are no signs at the "wrong end" indicating that a rider can't enter the track, so it will naturally take new users a while to get the feel of the right way. The signage could be improved easily.

I agree. Mountainbiker seems to get better with each issue and I'm pleased they have the rights to cover the UCI MTB World Cup in PMB in April. I'll be there shouting for Burry and Greg!

The Dirty Dates calendar from Ride is a great initiative. Ride might also be read fairly quickly but there's lots more local content.

I have not renewed my subscription but I seem to get free copies by entering bike races. 3 copies now arrive at my house each month. An awful waste of trees!

I'm very disappointed to see that the January 2009 issue of Bicycling carries on in much the same way as before. Clearly the Hub comments of earlier this year have been ignored. There is still so much US content. So much so that we even get a US bike review for the Giant Anthem X1. The SA version of the bike has a totally different set of components (does Bicycling think we all import our bikes now?). We can't even get the great orange frame here! We get to read about (ok, I just paged past) how five fat Americans lost weight. Does anyone really care? How about a focus on local riders? The only decent content is the regular contribution from Sean Badenhorst (great effort on Jonty and Jeremy)and Megan Pentz-Kluyts (for those interested in nutrition). The cover brags about Majik Forest and Hill2Hill but all that the magazine dishes up is a photo of each. Rather dishonest advertising of content, in my mind. And there's an article on cycling in Hawaii. Great for Americans, but how many of us will really travel halfway round the world to ride when there is so much good stuff on our own doorstep. Come on Bicycling! You've started 2009 with "The Get-Lean Issue" and it's certainly lean. How about beefing up in 2009 with some local content?

Awesome bike. See the review of the X1 in What Mountain Bike November edition. The Giant pretty much matches the new Epic, which is twice as expensive. Enjoy.

You can also access the calendar at mountainbiker.co.za. The Ride mag calendar will be at least 95% accurate and probably only miss new races. Check ndorphin.co.za and adventurezone.co.za websites too. And there are a few races advertised only on cyclingnews.co.za

Hi Paule. Depends on how much time you'll spend MTBing. If you get addicted, you'll soon want to upgrade. I've been MTBing for 8 years and my bikes have been upgraded from a R4000 starter, to R8000 (R4000 bike stolen), to R12000, and now to a R22000 dual susser. If I started over on a limited budget I'd look at a good quality second hand bike. For R3000 you could probably pick up a bike that cost twice that amount less than a year ago. The better shock, lighter weight, better shifting, etc will make your ride much more pleasant. If you plan to ride infrequently and not do races longer than 40km, the Schwinn and GT are fine.

Take the Blur XC. You'll get ripped off a bit for being a SC rider, but will get great satisfaction from the ride.

Good point. I assumed LT.