The Rules of the Cog Rule #33 Shave your guns. Legs are to be carefully shaved at all times. If, for some reason, your legs are to be left hairy, makesure you can dish out plenty of hurt to shaved riders, or be considered a hippie douche on your way to a Critical Mass. Whether you use a straight razor or a Bowie knife, use Baxter to keep them smooth.
I like this report on PBP - the author came to the same conclusion: 1200kms on a bike is shear madness. Other tips for long distance riding - settle into a rhythm. If you're feeling good, slow down - the next bad patch is just around the corner. Don't push heavy gears. Break the ride up into mentally manageable chunks - waterpoint to waterpoint or something similar.
Trust me - grabbing a musette is not as easy as the pro's at the TDF make it look. While I haven't heard of any serious injuries (I saw one guy with his arm in a sling and nasty roasties) from this weekend, it would have been carnage if the less experienced teams were given the option of feeding from a musette. We weren't even that brave. Rather have a blanket rule and make a few exceptions for the top teams. As it is, there is no love lost between the top teams, and so any slight infringement is likely to bring about a protest. I doubt however that any of these perceived infringements really altered the overall outcome of the race.
Go for the 29er hardtail. While you might enjoy the Zula on some of the descents, I think the 29er will be of more benefit in the 2nd half of the race. Remember to stop and enjoy the burgers, doughnuts and other treats.
No - last year you couldn't feed from the vehicle either, however, like last year, if you were in a top team, you could request to feed without stopping (ie - grab a musette) . In future, I suggest they have a bike marshal for each top team - to enforce the rules and look for people doing bad things. Then we won't have to wait on the results and there'll be no he said she said allegations...
So the keys fell out of your pouch while riding in the Spruit in Jhb, and were found in Helderberg in Somerset West. Must have been one hell of a ride...
The Red route takes us around 1h30, and there are two other shorter options - Green and Blue. They have most of the single track, but slightly less climbing.
Lebanon is great - nice technical single track. Not as manicured as Oak Valley. Bit more of an adrenaline rush. It is a pity that they are cutting down some of the trees though. There are showers, although I have yet to figure out how the hot water tap works.
Anderson They were disqualified last year for feeding in the wrong zone, and then the rumour mill began. If you check the results, you'll see they were reinstated. And why is bringing riders down from JHB cheating? I have two guys from the UK in my team... I think it is a safety thing - when we got to Montegu it was chaos. Teams weren't keeping left, and often we would have to pass on the right, and fight for space with backup cars. I think they are just trying to get the faster guys out onto the road as quick as possible with fewer teams that they have to pass.
Not this year. To avoid the total chaos in Montegu, the top seeded teams start at 6 onwards (along with a slower team). It looks like the fast teams might be separated by 2 or 3 minutes, but it's hard to tell which teams are the top seeded teams from the start list. Start list is here
I did W2W last year with my wife, and I reckon it is tougher than trying to mix it with the race snakes. Everything is naturally my fault, pride (on her part) prevents me from pushing her, and once the stage is over someone has to clean two bikes, organise food, sort out the tents etc. I was shattered each day! My race report for the this year's event.
That road out of Bredasdorp has to be one of the most boring dirt roads in the country. We went the other way in the Epic, with a stiff cross wind. I'm still scarred. Try to find another route if you can.
Apparently the slightly slacker head angle on the MTB gives it a slightly longer wheelbase, making it quite stable and lowering the center of gravity, while still keeping it fast and nippy. Those that ride BMC MTBs seem to love them. And they are super light.
While I was quite prepared to ride, I was quite happy that I didn't HAVE to. By delaying it by an hour they were already running out of time and any further delay because of the weather would have turned a slight annoyance into a major inconvenience - flights, lifts etc. And then there is the safety aspect - unless they rerouted several sections, there would have been no way for the medics to get in and out. Burry and Christoph seemed to be the most relieved - I don't think they fancied the idea of spending 5+ hours out there. A brave call to make, but in the end it was the right call.
Just to give you an idea of what Attakwas is like - my Baviaans time from this year was only 3h15 slower than this year's Attakwas. Be prepared for a long day out, and ride it with the same Baviaans mentality - waterpoint to waterpoint, and you'll be fine.
