stratus5

Five that I ride!

Can second this. "Hairy", who does the Tableview - Cape Town commute nearly every morning pointed this out to me and it does seem to make a difference. For me, the key is also to keep my ears warm. I get earache very quickly if the temp drops below 8 degrees.

Thick gloves are a pain coming home when its warmer. I wear a pair of light polar fleece gloves over my cycling gloves and they work really well, with the added advantage they are easy to take off when it warms up.

I got a pair of First Ascent shoe covers from Sportsmans Warehouse. I got them originally to keep my feet dry, but found they really help to keep the feet toasty on a cold morning. Can recommend them.

Thanks. I did not feel fully informed. After booking in and getting ready for the procedure I requested a chat with the cardiologist before signing all the forms etc. Cardiologist was a nice guy and after chatting agreed that an angiogram was way overboard, but had gotten the wrong understanding after his discussion with the referering doctor. Redid the stress ECG and there is a slight blip under stress, but its also indicative of athletes heart syndrome. Did a sonargram and the heart looks great. Slighly enlarged with thicker muscle walls, which caused the ECG blip, so all in order. Lots of stress for nothing, but at least I have peace of mind now. Also a great way to make you stop and revaluate your life, but not one I would recommend ;>) Thanks for all the advice once again.

It was a stress ECG. Cardiologist will be Dr Clive Corbet at Panorama. My first visit to him will be on Monday. I will ask him to explain how I can get booked in for an angiogram without him personally having seen the ECG result and knowing that there are alternatives available. The chain of events goes something like this Endocrinologist says dodgy ECG and phones cardiologist. Cardiologists receptionist asks me to get authorisation number from medical aid for angiogram and stents. Tells me I am booked in for angiogram at 6:30 on Monday. Cardiologist has not spoken to me and is not available. I am hoping that they at least intend to do some non-invasive testing first and only then will they consider angiogram. A very small possibility that they have requested angiogram authorisation just in case its needed, but then why tell me I am booked in? Oh well, I can always throw my toys on Moday morning if I am unhappy and go elsewhere.

They have done no other tests! Only endoctrinologist has seen the ECG graphs and has said they could be as the result of an athletic heart. On the basis of his discussion with cardiologist they booked an angiogram. This sounds way over the top as I exhibit no heart disease symptoms. Panicking a bit now. Doctors all gone home for the weekend, but hopefully I can get them to explain Monday morning why they cant use some of the more advanced imaging technologies you refer to.

Thanks all. Agree angio seems to be jumping the gun. Appreciate all the advice. I will ask cardiologist for more info.

I seem to be suffering from fatigue similar to overtraining, but it does not seem to improve with rest. Also dont sleep well and wake up tired. Thought ongoing chest infections could be partially responsible, but getting thyroid checked as well as other possibilities, which included the ECG. Doc who did the test is an endoctrinolgist, and cardiologist has booked the test without actually seeing the ECG graphs. At the end of the day, I dont think there is a problem, but rather than worry I guess its best just to do the "gold standard test" and know once and forall?

I had an ECG yesterday as part of a set of tests to try and track down the reasons for recurring chest infections. The ECG showed some anomalies and the doc has sent me off to get an angiogram, which is a little worrying. I have no heart disease symptoms, low cholestrol (4.4) and ride more than 12000 km/y and just over 10 hours per week, but I would not consider myself an elite athlete, but do have a 2:53 Argus. I am 47. I could have athletes heart syndrome (angiogram will tell), which is nothing to worry about. Many endurance athletes do develope this and the ECG readings are similar to heart disease. Anybody else who is relatively fit had an anomalous ECG test? P.S. if your resting heart rate is below 60, then an ECG test will red flag you ;>)

Do You Set A Standard Weight For The Rider? This Will Give us Big Strong Guys A Chance. For Example Make Everybody Climb As If They weighed 90kg. No Idea Why my keyboard Is Doing The Leading Caps Thing.

Dont think its over yet. The article alludes to the fact that the five cycle shops/distributers mentioned have agreed to provide evidence, which may result in the remainder (who got off on a technicality) being brought to book?

Lots on the Net. The boat was nicknamed 'Dogzille' Do a Google search for 'Americas Cup trimaran' and enjoy. Lots on youtube as well ... ... as a starting point

It was their America's cup entry in 2010. This is quite an old photo as the boat still has a 'soft' mainsail. They changed it to a solid wing section in a move that revolutionised the sport.

No problems with taxis, but have been buzzed by motorbikes. Its a safety tradeoff ... since I only use the stretch from Tableview to the Paddocks, I feel there is less risk going towards town using the road, rather than trying to cross the multiple very busy intersections. From this month, I will start commuting to town again, in which case i will use the entire cycle lane again, and not the road. I do think the intersections need to be made more cycle friendly though. The Dolphin Beach one is particularly difficult to cross coming home.

Hi, my name is Stratus and I dont use the cycle lane .... all the time I commute and on the inbound leg from Tableview to Paddocks(where I turn in to head for Century city) I use the R27. This means I cross no intersections, and have a very wide lane/shoulder to ride down. I am at a very similar speed to the cars (rush hour) along this leg and dont feel unsafe. Trying to cross the Bayside intersection to get to the cycle lane from Blouberg Road and the Dolpin beach and Engen intersections are way more risky than my 4 km jaunt along the shoulder. Having to cross again at the Paddocks compounds this risk. On the way home, I do however use the cycle lane from the Paddocks onwards. Dolphin beach is nasty in the afternoons, with left turning cars often not indicating. If we had access into the road, where we could become part of the normal traffic flow at this point, it would be much safer.

Dilbert :>) http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s320x320/577653_3460375081365_1630581120_2751791_1936827704_n.jpg

There is a stretch of track on the escarpment on the western side (about 30km away) of Sutherland that looks a bit like this (but not the same) . If you stay at the Skurweberg 4*4 resort and then cycle up the hill (big climb) behind the resort there is a fantastic track that runs along the top of the escarpment. There is also a hectic jeep track in the forground of this picture that drops down the escarpment losing 800+ meters quickly. You can see the Ouberg Pass in the distance in the attached picture. Not to hard going down, but a loooong grind coming up. Nice paragliding on occasion as well, although the conditions can get a bit strong quickly.

I do ... wassup? We have about sixty cyclists on a Saturday morning, split into differing groups dependent on strength. There is a core group of about 20 cyclists who make up the regular weekend racers and probably range in strength from PPA A - G seedings. We ride every weekend, normally a club sprint (1h:30 on Saturday) and then a longer ride (2hrs +) on Sunday.

Looks genuine.

Remember that they now add 1% to events older than 3 months, so they would be adding 9% to last years argus time for example. Also ... in the previous run, they forgot to age the old events, so many seedings improved dramatically if you had good times from a few months ago. In the latest run, they have remembered to age the older events again

LOL, with the bike at that angle, the SCOTT looks like SLUTT

I do a lot of riding with a full rucksack (commuting) and on the flats I actually think it may have an aerodynamic advantage as it fills in the space behind you like a small fairing. Its totally perceived, no science backing me up , but I am fairly sure of the effect

Although we use the road, we are often closer to a pedestrian in speed and sometimes the safest way across a road is to be more pedestrain like. In this mode we often break road rules, but its certainly safer and again I stress if you do not INCOVENIENCE the motorist, they dont give a damn. But ride two abreast and hold up the traffic!!! That is considered acceptable though and I would guess thats its 99% of the issue between cars and motorists. The only time cyclists piss me off is when they are taking up a lane in such a manner that I have to slow down to their speeds.

You are of course all riding within the boundaries of the yellow line, which is of course illegal. Why do you do it? Because its safer! I commute and sometimes if you are more posistive and clear in what you want to do, then motorists will treat you more like another vehicle. BUT if you come to a halt and unclip at a stop street for example, rather than rolling through slowly when its your turn, then the hesitation is where problems start and motorists get annoyed and start to take chances as you struggle to start, reclip and get up to speed. You are breaking the law, but its safer and most importantly you have not inconvienced the motorist in any way. Starting a second or two ahead of the pack on red if the crossing lanes are clear and you are trying to turn is way safer. I have seen a picture somewhere of cycle lanes that were designed to start ahead of where the cars stopped at intersections. I have not had a motorist shout at me in years and always thank anybody who has made an effort to help me through an intersection etc. Perhaps because I have a smile and establish eye contact, I generally have a pleasant ride. With eye contact, and a smile I more often than not get waved through, rather than a vehicle insisting on their rights, because they can see I am vulnerable. Yes, motorists do do stupid things and I get cut off on corners etc, but I stopped getting angry, or at least try and calm down quickly I try never to insult the motorist or to follow it up any further. By staying positive, I notice the small courtesies from other motorists, which I might have otherwise missed. Where it all breaks down is consideration! I try not to inconvenience other road users, even if I am legally entitled to. The MAIN reason we piss off motorists is because we slow them down in some way. If we stopped riding two abreast or more, then much of the antagonism towards us will go away. Nearly all written complaints I have ever seen were about cyclists taking up too much of the road. Want to improve our relationship with drivers, forget the small stuff and ride SINGLE file where we may imapct on their journeys.