Vetplant

Multisport Athletes take note. Apparently you can earn points for all the activities in a multisport race. I'll submit my result from the weekend and give feedback on whether it worked. Currently I only got 300 points for the Bela Bela 5150, but if everything pulls through correctly that should be replaced with a total of 1500 points.

Are you referring to the Bela Bela 5150 on Saturday? Here is a quick summary of my experience: (I already posted it on another thread, sorry for the double reading for some of you) Swim With this being my first Tri, the adaptation to that brown water takes a while. On the last stretch I was allot more comfortable, next time will be better. My target was to finish my first swim without too much fuss. 34min is slow, but job done. Cycle Definitely some challenging climbs, I am glad I was on a full roadbike, that course could have been tricky on a TT. Happy with my time. Run OH my, that run after a bike is never pleasurable. Walked twice, missed my target of completing the 10km under one hour but luckily not by much. Gonna have to work on the run and especially running off the bike. Well organised event, I'll be the first to enter again as soon as it opens again for next year. Well done to everyone who completed the course in that somewhat surprising heat.(My Garmin recorded 33°C during my run)

Also got the "Points not calculated" for my "Garmin workout: 30 - 89 min vigorous workout (heart rate)" Edit:Spelling

Tip for anyone feeling uncomfortable(read "slight panic") in the water: Invest in a swimming coach. I did a test swim over 50m at the Hillcrest pool, my fastest sprint was 54 seconds. I have had 1 month of coaching, did a test swim yesterday... 42 seconds! That's a 22% improvement within one month. I had thought that coaching would be unattainably expensive, but it comes to R400 a month. You get 3 x 1-hour sessions a week. These are not one-on-one sessions, I swim alongside provincial-colours school swimmers during the session, so they make me look like the amateur I am.

Thanks for the feedback. In that case I'll live with the scratch in the meantime, it is unsightly but only cosmetic. You know how murphy works: if I change it now it will only scratch again within the first month. So I'll rather accumulate some damage before doing the exchange.

The crux of the matter is the timing of the Olympics this year, it is way too close to the TDF. Interesting thing that not allot of people recognize.. the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is being held in the..... Winter.... Brazil is in the southern hemisphere, where Spring only arrives on 1 Sept.... Edit: Spelling

Thanks I see there is a Navworld now in Lynwood rd at the Gift Acres centre, pretty close to work so will pop in there.

I did a swim this morning in a pool with a brick-and-mortar border..... you can see where this is heading... So I got a large chip on the glass, smack-bang in the middle of the screen... the watch is 3 months old What are my options? Can one do a repair like you do on your car windscreen when it chips or would I be better off replacing the glass?

Thanks for clarifying , I should have read the document a bit better

From the PDF document, below the section for E N D U R A N C E AND HIGH PERFORMANCE: "*These points contribute to weekly Vitality Active Rewards goals but are capped at 1 000 points per year towards Vitality Status." WTH?

In 2015, there were 843 finishers, of whom 7 people took longer than 40 minutes. Only 1 of those seven took longer than 50 minutes at 1:02:43, yet he still finished.. So I don't think they are really strict on that cut-off time, as long as you are still moving they will probably allow you to continue...

Apparently the continuous flow of swimmers around the circular ski-lake makes somewhat of a current, which also makes the swim go faster... or so I've heard...?

Those were quite bad, saw one guys in front of me totally oblivious to them and went OTB at high speed, did not look fun...

Nice NEW THIS YEAR:Off the R55, the route will take a sharp right turn into the NEW Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit giving cyclists the chance to test their speed around this recently upgraded world class track

Sounds like a good idea. Please share the link with the relevant info.

Can anyone suggest a swim coach in the Pretoria area? The goal is to get comfortable in the water for open water swimming. Speed is not the main requirement, I just need to be able to swim at a constant rate for an hour or more. I have been trying to get my technique and breathing sorted on my own by reading and watching videos but it is now time to call in professional help

MTB shoes have served me well in my limited experience.

Thanks for the tips. I will continue to trial different setups of the elbow cups and the overall forward/aft setup. If I am not totally confident I'll definitely try Cyclefit with their discount special. I thus have until end of June to try to get it right myself.

Regarding an Aero position on a road bike: I got a road bike in the start of the year. I had a proper Retul bikefit and I must say I am very comfortable in the drops and on the hoods. Probably worth the R1.5k spent on comfort alone. I rode the Emperors race almost exclusively in the Drops and were comfortable all the way. Meanwhile I got myself some Clip-on Aero Bars, a Fast Forward seatpost and an additional Saddle. This way I can set up the bike for aero and mark the position and only swap out the seat assembly and remove the clip-ons when I want to do normal road riding as opposed to Aero riding. I went out for a ride with the aero setup for the first time this past weekend. I had only done a setup on the IDT beforehand based on feel and somewhat on what I saw from a side-on reflection of where I sit on the bike. What I noticed immediately once I was on the road, was that the bike is incredibly twitchy in the Aero Position. So much so that I don't feel confident riding alongside cars on the road, I only got into Aero when I knew there were no cars around. There was a noticeable speed difference in the Aero position, at least 5km/h, so I am sure the Aero position is worth the effort. Now the questions: -Will a forward/aero position on a normal road bike always feel relatively twitchy? -The elbow-cups were place relatively close to each other, will it help the twitchyness(if that is a word?) if I move them to a position furthest away from the centreline? So instead of having the forearms parallel they will be making a pizza slice. -The seat is slammed as far forward as the setup allows, will this contribute to the twitchyness? -Can someone suggest a bike fitter in the Pretoria/Gauteng area which might be able to help me with my setup that is a bit cheaper that R1.5k?

Where on the drive train are your power meters installed? Are you using the same sensor and moving it between the two bikes? If you are using different crank lengths and not adjusting for that you could see big differences..

-Cycling from middle of May onwards is getting a bit cold. -The views of the sunrise is still worth it.

Did anyone else notice Andre Greipel wearing a Fenix 3 yesterday? Saw it as he was sitting against the fence after taking the stage. I'd have thought these guys would only run computers on their bikes and no unnecessary additional equipment. Good endorsement for Garmin...

Perfectly fine thanks.. I was about to turn infront of the driver at a mini-circle but I saw the driver wasn't looking at me, (even though I had been indicating for 100m with outstretched arm approaching the intersection that I am turning right.) so my hands were prepped on the brakes and true as bob she lurched forward just as I turned in. I hit the brakes hard, then the said driver noticed me and stopped. Both standing still, driver apologised and I got back into motion. I have probably cycled to work close to 100 times so this type of incident doesn't surprise me anymore. Typical South African drivers are not observant enough, drivers get so used to just looking out for cars and trucks. The brain processes any bike/motorbike/pedestrian as irrelevant information. That is part of the theory that more bicycles on the road would actually make cycling safer. They also made mention of that effect on the GCN show this week, apparently in NZ the stats proved this theory correct.

Things I've learn't: -Never, never, NEVER assume a motorist has seen you at the intersection. Especially when you need to cross in front of them. -Those Ski gloves in the back of the cupboard work nicely to keep hands warm on cold mornings with fast descents. -A little bit of prepwork makes commuting even more enjoyable. I take the necessary stuff to the office ahead of time if I am taking the car to work on a given day, thus the rucksack can be as light as possible or not even needed on the cycle days. -Breezing past stationary cars in traffic makes the granny-gear climbs worth all the effort. -30 minutes of cycling home seems to go much faster than a 20min drive in traffic, funny that.

Great idea! I'm in!