Sir Fed

The Stables on Hans Strydom (near the intersection with Northumberland). Great cuppacino's and even better caramel banana pancakes. Best of all you can meet the family there if you have young kids and they can play on all the toys.

I have made this comment before and its not only at races. I see plenty of wrappers (bars and gels) along the side of the road on my daily training. When you consider that they probably stopped to buy the bar at the local gas station, you wonder how difficult it would have been to throw the wrapper away too. I remember finishing Ironman and putting my hand in my pocket only to come up with a sticky gooey mess rather than what I was expecting but it was a small price to pay for playing a small part in keeping the road clean.

Wierd, the wind was blowing today and I had a few scary moments on the tri bars but overall it was not that bad and the tail wind sections made for a very fast ride. Funny how the wind has become less of an issue since I have adopted an aerodynamic position. Pity they banned those spinaci bars from road racing, that was the answer to days like today.

I have finally found what is 'wrong' with them ..... its the microsoft sticker on the seat stay. You guys are right, I would never be seen on one of these!

I can vouch for the Specialized gel inserts as well as their gel tape, definitely lasts longer than anything else I tried. Another item that is worth considering is their pro gloves. The gel pads feel a little wierd at first but after time they wear to your riding position and provide a lot of comfort. Sir Fed38940.4464699074

wannabe, dont be in a rush to move your saddle by more than 5mm at a time. You are likely to pick up even more injuries by making radical adjustments. I use the inseam x 0.886 formula. This is then measured from the centre of the BB to where you sit on the saddle (that bright shiny part, hopefully in the middle somewhere). That would give you a 77.96cm measurement which is 7mm lower than what you arrived at above. So you can see that there are a lot of theories and if you try them all you will probably end up with sore knees or worse. If you are within 5mm of the various theories, I would advise leaving it as is until you can get professional advice and even then, make sure that you are able to go back to them if you still dont feel comfortable.

Try Slipstream Cycles, I thought I saw a FSA in the cabinet there the other day - 011 463 7226

Take one link out the chain, drop the front derailleur about 5mm and you are done. No need for a compact derailleur, a friend has one and I don't, neither of us drops the chain very often (not more than I did before anyway). I use a 25-12 for training and a 21-11 for racing with a 50/34 up front, its the best thing since sliced bread.

Do any of these guys have a web based training system where you can capture, upload and track progress through an internet browser? Excel spreadsheets and the like are great but they require back end processing and your results are not always available immediately.

My 5 cents Up the cadence and the average speed and reduce the distance. It's perhaps a little late to be building solid base mileage and if you look at the time you spend to ride 150km it's probably double what you want to do in the 94.7. Use the hills to do strength work and the flats to ride a high tempo. Start slow and build it up. A lot of cycling is about conditioning which may be why you are faster than him. You can't put a value in miles banked but these dont come overnight, rather they are years in the making. You may also wish to focus on bike handling since being able to sit in a big bunch at high speed will always get you a faster time than riding on your own. In something like the 94.7 the bunches are very big and no matter where you start there will always be a group of fast riders. Being able to sit in with them and draft rather than wasting nervous energy trying to get out their way will be hugely beneficial.

Back to the Pinarello, they would have been better served putting a tri spoke on the front wheel and a spoked wheel on the back (more aerodynamic) if it was a question of saving weight and surely they could have sprung for some decent bar end brakes. Those conventional levers look terrible.

Perhaps BikeMax but the guy at the LBS happens to also be a friend and I trust him to do a good job. Hasn't let me down in 5 years so I see no reason to complain. That and I hate getting my hands dirty, call me soft but I just dont see the point.

Expensive but then bike tools always have been. I look at it this way, I don't fix my own car, I take it to a mechanic, I don't fix my own house, I call the plumber or electrician (or whatever it needs) so why must I fix my own bike? For R300 I can get the LBS to strip and rebuild my bike so that it feels like it's brand new. Do that twice a year and have them replace worn bits and mechanicals become almost non existant. If you are a pro mechanic than by all means buy the tools but I like to ride my bike not fix it. Hell I dont even wash the damn thing, the LBS does that for me to, only R40 for a wash and lube. Nice tool set though. For a mechanically minded person it must be as exciting as a 64 X2 dual-core with 4GB RAM is to me.

Apologies to all for not making it. I am sick this morning smileys/smiley19.gif, HR is double what it usually is and I have those nice aches and pains all over my body. Would like to just go back to bed but the young 'un has taken up residence there already so I am off to watch some mindless telly. Hope you all enjoy and I am sad I missed this one, especially because of I wont be getting any cake now! smileys/smiley19.gifsmileys/smiley6.gif

I agree with ewep, speak for yourself ... smileys/smiley2.gif Luckily we are meeting at the M&B so I can always get cosy with a few slices of their cake for breakfast and maybe a muffin or two if I am still hungry.

Don't we already do that, and it's also run by winningtime ...

Damn right! As Lance once said, "It's not about the bike, it's about the koek" (I suspect he might have been talking about Sheryl Crow though)

Whats up with that, I thought MichelleH was baking the cake? smileys/smiley5.gif Nice one, entice everyone with chocolate cake and then do a duck smileys/smiley17.gif, some friend you are! smileys/smiley2.gif

Not sure where in Sandton but I will direct from Sandton City (two choices, depending on how well you know the west rand) 1. Take Sandton drive to William Nicol - William Nicol to Highway South - take 14th Avenue offramp (MTN Campus) - right into 14th (which then becomes William Nicol just to confuse you) - under highway - turn righunder the next bridge (Hendrik Potgieter) - straight up Hendrik Potgieter past Hillfox (on right) - right at next traffic light, Town Square is on your left behind the McDonalds. 2. Take Sandton drive to William Nicol - William Nicol to Witkoppen - left onto Witkoppen and carry on straight along there - changes name to Northumberland and then again to Christian De Wet - At the Makro/Clearwater Mall intersection turn left into Hendrik Potgieter (double left) - second traffic light on Hendrik Potgieter (at McDonalds) left and left again into Town Square.

MichelleH, you finalised the route, starting time, etc. yet? If you need my help give me a shout.

The UCI inspectors singled him out for a full inspection and passed the bike after some deliberation. Not sure how he got around it but its been passed as legal. Perhaps the fact that the base of his bars is still lower than the saddle but I am just surmising. It is a somewhat unique position that goes against the commonly accepted principle of how aero bars should be positioned (although its hard to argue with the times he is posting).

I would ride but it's 20 steps from my bed to my office and 22 to the garage, I just can't warrant the extra mileage. smileys/smiley17.gif