Rain

I do road and I've only fallen twice, knock on wood.

Slim Slab tastes good but they don't fill me up. The Woolworths bars are quite nice, especially the Omega-3 bars (the blue ones). I tend to keep a few spare lying around so that I can snack on one if I feel hungry.

It's always good to increase your average, but if you're training for the 94.7 then you need to start increasing your distance. It'll be no good if you manage the first 50kms in good time but then struggle to stay the distance for the rest of the race.

I was worried about the sand, but I made it over with no problems. Thanks for the heads up on the rumble strips, they looked pretty bumpy, but fortunately I was on my own and managed to avoid them. Overall, a pretty good race. I'll definitely do it again next year.

I've seen quite a few road bikes with MTB cleats, and they all seem to ride without any problems. It won't be fashionable, as others have already said, but it makes more sense than buying road cleats. Besides, it's not the bike that counts, it's the rider on the bike.

I think it's up to the rider to make the final decision. I personally started off with the lower/easier gears and gradually moved up to higher/harder gears. Sometimes your legs just don't feel as good as they did on the previous ride, so the rider may want to use easier gears than last time. Lower gears are easier to maintain, but higher gears do generate more speed. I'd recommend lower gears to build up cadence, but it is personal preference.

I'm too lazy to wash shorts by hand, I just toss them in the machine.

Distance over 10 laps is about 42km; 4.2km per lap.

I use whatever I feel like at the time. 32GI, Powerade, Biogen Cytogen, USN Spike Dragon, Red Bull, USN Cytopower HP, powdered juice, coke... Just try any new drinks/supplements out before an important race or event. The last thing you want is to find out that your new supplement doesn't agree with you halfway into a race. - I find that 32GI works well enough, although sometimes it makes me feel sick and gives me heart palpitations, but that could just be from drinking other drinks with it. - Powerade is nice at the beginning, but if you dilute it incorrectly (if you buy the concentrate rather than the pre-mixed bottles) it becomes really sweet and choking. - Cytogen is my personal favourite, purely because I like the way it tastes. The good thing about it is that the flavour doesn't change when the water heats up. Even if it gets warm it still tastes pretty good. Ensure that you mix it properly, otherwise you get tiny little grains of powder in your mouth. - USN Spike Dragon and Red Bull shouldn't be used as rehydration because of their caffeine content, but they're great if you're heading out on a ride and need a boost. Watch out though, because caffeine can act as a diuretic. - Cytopower worked alright, but I don't use that often anymore. I found that the benefit was mostly just mental; it didn't give me a physical boost. - Use powdered juice (try something like Game) if you're going on an easy ride and don't like the taste of water. Just be sure to mix it properly. If I remember correctly Game doesn't work too well with sparkling water, but I could be mistaken. Then again, I don't think you'll take sparkling water with on a ride. - Coke is refreshing, but just like Powerade it can become quite sweet. Try diluting it with water first.

Velotex makes really great cycling jerseys, and they look professional too.

If you want to take on a car while riding a bike, go ahead. I won't take that chance. It's true that some motorists are inconsiderate, but if you decide to challenge the cars you'll come off second best. Fact of the matter is they're a lot bigger than us. They can do way more damage to us than we can do to them.

I'm not too sure if I would send my bike back for a free service if they couldn't fix it properly the first time. But that's just me.

I eat before all rides, even if it's just some toast and a banana. You're obviously better at riding on empty than me, because I can't even convince myself to ride out of the gate, let alone go on a long training ride, without eating. I've heard a lot of theories about promoting fat loss, but to be honest I don't really believe much of it. Maybe try eating and see if it makes a difference?

I heard that today's D2D was quite safe. I was there for my brother and he said that everything ran smoothly. I was up at the school and I could see quite a few ambulances coming from the route and going back. There did seem to be more crashes than usual, but from what I could see the medical staff sorted them all out pretty quick. I hope that the critical cyclist turns out to be ok.

First Argus ever!

Now I really want a black bike.

It's really appalling that they couldn't even cover him up. That's disrespectful to both the deceased man and the passers-by.

Extremely bored, yes. Depressed, probably not. I personally hate training indoors simply because it is so boring. It can be effective, but if you don't have anything to do it becomes quite monotonous.

I also eat FutureLife for breakfast. Depending on your training plan, you may want to try something like pasta for lunch. I do most of my training in the afternoon, and occassionally in the morning, so I always have pasta or some other carb-rich food an hour or two before. Vegetables are your friend when it comes to supper. Pair them up with a small portion of carbs (rice, pasta, mashed potato, quinoa, couscous, baked potato, polenta, etc) and some protein (chicken, fish, soya, etc) and you're good to go. Whatever you decide to eat, keep it simple and healthy. Steer away from fried foods and rather opt for grilled, roasted or steamed foods. If you decide to eat energy bars or supplement bars, keep an eye on the nutritional information. Those bars are known for packing in the calories and fat, yet appear to be healthy. If you're making any drastic changes to your diet, make them gradually. Don't overhaul your diet today and wonder why you're back to your old habits next week. Choose one meal and change it gradually over the course of a week, or longer. Once you feel that you've gotten over that, move onto the next meal.

If it's there and I want to comment on it, I will.

I greet every rider that greets me, otherwise we both just go along merrily ignoring each other.

1. Mini pump? No 2. Co2 inflator? Yes 3. Chain tool? No 4. Allen key set? Yes 5. Small loose bolts/chain links etc? No 6. Tyre levers? Yes 7. Patch kit? No 8. Money? No Do you carry tools in the: 9. Camelbak? I wouldn't even ride with one of those, let alone carry anything in one. 10. Saddlebag? No, I use a bidon. 11. Cycling top back pocket(s)? Only if I can't fit the extra CO2 canister into my bidon. 12. Are you concerned about the weight of the tools you need to carry on a normal day ride? No 15. Would you like fewer objects to carry in terms of tools? No 16. Would you prefer to carry the tools attached to the bike rather than on your body? Bike 17. And a final open question: What do you find most problematic about your current setup of tools while biking? (If you have time, please write a small description of problem(s)) Remembering to actually take it on the ride.

I'd rather have the option to buy a shirt. There are some races that are worth remembering, and others that aren't.

Yes if there's traffic and it'd be unsafe to go through. No if there are absolutely no cars and the light stays red for a while. I'd rather wait at a red light knowing that it's going to change soon as opposed to going through and risking being hit by a car moving through at speed. However, if you get to the light just as it changes and there is no traffic (and if it's a quiet road), then it should be safe to go through. Otherwise just push to get through the green light before it turns red, or slow down and balance (to remain clipped in) until it changes to green.

You shave your legs because it looks cool. Unshaven legs will make you look like a noob. Other than that, it's easier to clean wounds and apply dressings (have you ever ripped fabric plasters off hairy legs?). Plus it gives you a miniscule aerodynamic advantage, but it's so small that it doesn't count. There was an Andy Schleck video that I watched a while ago about shaving legs, but I can't remember where it is. Basically his reasoning was that the peloton would look stupid with long leg hair.