The Pirate

I think you got the replies that you wanted Agent Orenge, now take two of the blue pills and lie down for a while.

Totally agree with you IanJ. I'm doing my 4th one this year and, for me, only stage one's climb is an issue because you are still cold. The rest of the race is not to bad, rolling hills like the Vasbyt. Can't stress it more, drink enough and eat a bit at the rest area's ( food is provided )BUT stay away from the pies at the end of stage one. They give you one hellova heartburn.

It takes a lot of guts to make a stand against your own club Maxfac. I agree with Nothingness, join another club asap.

Thanks for that tip Zaskar.

S-Works, jou bike lyk op 'n druppel water nes myne nou lyk. Ek het net 'n swart SLR seat en swart handle bar tape, verder is dit dieselfde. Dit is seriously nice !! As ek nou net genoeg geld bymekaar kan maak vir 'n PRINCE

Congrats Pantani, from one Pirate to another

Sien baie uit na julle wedren Wheelie. Dit is nou my 4de een en elke jaar geniet ek my gate uit. Ek onthou nog my eerste een toe Nico Bell gewen het met Jaco Ferreira kort op sy hakke. Die jaar daarna moes Hanco die hele Microsoft span alleen aanse en het met 'n paar sekondes gewen. Dankie vir die herinneringe, dis 'n GREAT race !

Thanks SB for that info ! Leontin Zijljaard van Moorsel is also a true champion story. Saw a documentary on her the other day on DSTV, what a come-back after she almost killed herself by not eating anything. She looked like a skeleton. Luckily her man got her back on track again ...

Back to Jeannie ... Check put this pedigree : 5x UCI Road Race World Championship: Gold Medal/Champion (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1995) 4x UCI Time Trial World Championship: Gold Medal/Champion (1995, 1996, 1997, 2001) 3x UCI Track World Championship: Points Race: Gold Medal/Champion (1989) 3 km Pursuit: Gold Medal/Champion (1986, 1989); Silver Medal (1984, 1985, 1987); Bronze Medal (1981, 1982, 1983) UCI Mountain Bike Championship: Silver Medal (1993) Top road and Mountainbike rider. Try beating that Simoni !

Nogal at age 25 ! The perfect age to retire ...

There was also rumours that she wanted to race with the men, because their was no competition for her in the late 80 and early 90 in women's cycling

She is a monster ! Ever since I started cycling in 1990 she was already a World Champion and 18 years later she still hurts the best Elite woman in the world. Surely the best woman's cyclist of all time ? "There are few active racers who can be described as a legend with no dispute. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, who has won 51 French and world championships, is at the top of the list. Longo, 49, said she chose to do Mt. Hood because she likes to try new things. She is preparing for this summer's Olympic games, where she hopes to compete in the road race and individual time trial. She has won four Olympic medals in her career, including a gold in the 1996 road race. "I have been racing for a long time, of course. If I could do something new, it's better," she said. Double tumbs up Jeannie !!

This brings back memories of Alex Zulle and Bjarne Riis throwing their TT bikes in the TdF a couple of years ago. Agree tikki, it is damn funny.

The fight between Shimano and Campy is like the old fight between BMW and Merc ! But now SRAM ( Audi ) is looking to steal the show from them.

Me and the wife are riding a black alu TITAN frame that we bought from Cycletech. Put Ultegra groupset on and some ZIPP's. It weighs in at around 12.5 kg and without the wheels it cost us about R 9000.00 It is by far the best value for money. In the racing tandem bunch at the Argus this year we were about 20 to 25 Titan's out of the 75 tandems.Not bad for a "cheap" tandem to be so well represented in the racing bunch.

Most of the other riders that are going to the Olympics will ride in the TdF. I think they'll be ok, but I think not doing it might have been better.

You can go onto their website www.kyalamiracing.co.za for their telephone numbers and try .... I know that they are only open in the week in the afternoon's maybe they are in the mornings as well but 5 AM in the winter is a bit cold for this old Pretoria boytjie.

I hear you brother. I come from Sandton and leave work at 16H15 if I'm lucky. Get at the track at 17H15 and try and do some high intensity training for 10 to 13 laps. Best training I've ever done was on the track !

No, only during the week as far as I know. It's a pitty, especially during the winter when you want to train a bit later and sleep a bit more.

The mornings I'm not sure of, but it is ope in the afternoons. Spinning is cool but not everyday during the week. But as the night get longer I spend more time in the gym than on the road.

Yip. We trained there last week. It is at the same time as always 5-7 PM. We went on into the night, but they might start closing it a bit earlier.

Thanks for that, that's our training area over weekends when the race track is closed. It's a pitty they don't have it open over weekends anymore. Bummer.