Velouria

There's that old saying - if you can do half the distance comfortably, you can do the whole distance and survive. If you can do 185kms on a MTB, you'll be fine for Baviaans. Key to Baviaans is riding within yourself, and communicating with your team mates. If you are riding to finish, ride from check point to check point being sure to sample the snacks available. If you are racing - do as much as you can on the bike. This implies that checkpoints are just there for restocking, not socialising or chilling, so be organised. Know what you want to get from a checkpoint before you get there, and where it is in your box. If you can, wheelsuck (no shame in pulling some roadie moves). Climb at the slowest rider's pace - nothing worse than being the slowest rider and having your team ride away from you. Eat real food - I can vouch for Azonic's puke experience (twice). Be prepared for all sorts of weather and pack accordingly. Enjoy the scenery - it's a fantastic journey, and keep an eye out for buffalo

Two that I like: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx http://www.bikemap.net/

If you thought last year was cold, I've got news for you. While the start was a bit chilly, the weather was actually quite kind to us. Ask anyone about "The Wet Baviaans" and you'll get an idea how cold, wet, and miserable Baviaans can really be. Be prepared for anything. I think I prefer Groot Rivier Poort to MAC. I've been reduced to a quivering, walking wreck up MAC several times, and while I did have to purge my stomach contents halfway up Groot Rivier Poort, at least I was able to ride it The thing I missed was the beauty of the Kloof itself, and the people along the way (just don't ask them for a rugby score - they make it up).

Niner A.I.R. 9 - the scandium one with a reputation for cracking. Despite being out of warranty, Niner and Coolheat are going to replace the frame. I think I aged about 30 years in those 3 days - every odd sound my bike made had me bracing for the inevitable frame failure.

I rode Sani with the a crack in my frame, discovered the night before we left... This was taken on the finish line of stage 3. The crack had grown quite a bit from the 5mm that I started stage 1 with.

V2 of fully loaded 747-400 is 183 knots, indicated air speed.

From here: Most KM's To Date: CVANC 6353.63km Marc F 6052.06km Rory M 4375.47km April: Marc F 3744.34km TNOSE 1075.57km Derry C 1056.65km April - Most KM Hub Challenge 2012.pdf 33.86K 4 downloads

My bag didn't arrive on the flight - Kulula - for the same reason. Too much luggage for a 737. The bag was delivered several hours later, I rode Sani (in fact was 17 minutes faster on Day 1), and had a great time. I really felt sorry for the passengers on our flight who weren't cycling and had their bags offloaded. Add another bunch of names to the list of people that hate cyclists. BB - I think you need to understand how the airline industry works - your bike (and my bag) would have been offloaded anywhere else in the world for exactly the same reason - whether or not you paid for excess baggage or if they were aware of the 2327 bikes that they were suddenly expected to carry. They didn't do it because the dislike you, or want to pick on you, or have a thing against Giant bikes - it's all about safety, and I'm rather glad that someone has the balls to make that (unpopular) call if it means that I get to my destination in one piece. And as for your damaged box - you beef lies with ACSA, not Mango, as they handle the baggage and not the airline.

TDF has a lot to live up to after the Giro. Going into the final stage TT and nothing was cast in stone. Sure beats that silly procession into Paris.

This made Bike Radar today: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/2013-ridley-x-fire-disc-first-look-34103/

Or you can be on both - I like to hedge my bets...

Thanks Lizzy. Marc F - 3744.34km. That's 124kms a day for a whole month...

Read these: The Schedule for duties: this post A duty calculator: this one

Yeah - she mentioned bumping into a guy with a hub top on. She had a ball - loved the event, the sense of community, and really enjoyed the riding, although the testosterone got a bit too much for her. Getting cut off going into single track by guys who THINK they can ride their bikes was a regular occurrence. On chap pulled that move, tried to stay ahead of the ladies and ended up crashing and breaking his wrist. I struggle to keep up with my wife on technical single track...

Seriously? You're saying Sani was *** because you didn't get your freebies on time, had to wait a bit for your box, and had a cold shower? And that all outweighs all the great things the event does for the communities along the way, let alone the fantastic riding into the valley? I'd sleep naked in a hole in the ground with no showers for a month to get the opportunity to ride into the Umkomaas again. Perhaps Sani isn't the event for you then.

Are they worth it? Yes - best money I ever spent on cycling. Forget about fancy bike bits and supplements promising the world - if you want to ride better, get a training program.

I've bought from http://www.mupicycling.com/ . The stock mostly team clothing, but they do have some interesting kit if you dig hard enough. They also have a custom kit designer tool which looks pretty cool. http://www.mupicycling.com/designer Sizes are a bit funny, but they do provide size charts. The small shirt is too flappy for me, and the large pants are a little tight, but very comfortable otherwise.

Saved: http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-6.php Sounds like Sean Kelly is quite the prankster - putting bar wrappers in people's brakes, faking punctures and flicking conkers at other cyclists.

I have to concentrate far too hard just to understand them - any chance of multitasking between Giro and work flies out the window.

Damnit - seems even Eurosport is prone to pulling a DSTV! The live stream has tennis. Guess I'll have to make do with the CyclingNews live ticker... Talking of the live ticker - they're talking up Robbie's chances on today's stage.

Thor has abandoned.

I'm chuffed when I can do a 4hr tempo ride with just over 1000m of climbing at anything over 32km/h - on my own, and usually with a nasty South Easter for half the ride...

http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/4643 Look for the live links when they appear... around 15:30

He's the leader of the race, of course he is going to start, and you can bet he is going to give his everything for just one more day in pink. He won't give it up without a fight.