stratus5

Do you think he knew? Somewhere in the Kalahari. Dont know much else...

Outriders busy putting a team together

I remember as a child hearing about an aikido master who could throw people around without touching them ... and thought cool! Sadly the old fool believed this as well, because he went up against a conventional martial arts master and got his arse handed to him. The fight and a discussion on what is the best martial arts skill to have based on all the unlimited fighting that now happens can be found on the Sam Harris blog below: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-pleasures-of-drowning

Bust! Looking down the cleavage ... think she suspects? http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyu5abriJg1r3gb3zo1_500.gif

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Dont think its possible to cheat much if you rode as far as Smitswinkel, so this guy probably turned around on Black Hill and waited for the leading cyclists to come through again.

Ok, maybe not quite, but still pretty funny. At least I can now take off my tin foil hat I wear under my cycling helmet to keep the aliens at bay. This is from an advert for the Giordana cycling kit. There is a similar add in the Ride magazine, which claims even more miraculous properties, but could not find it on the net "Carbon incorporation in performance fabrics promotes feelings of well-being in several ways. Electrical charges in the atmo- sphere (for example, from cell phone towers) can affect athletic performance by reacting negatively on muscular contraction, the source of cramping and fatigue. The special conductive qualities of the carbon fibers absorb and dissipate the electri- cal charges, preventing them from being retained around the body. By protecting the rider from these charges, the carbon lowers the concentration of lactic acid during activity and improves blood circulation, delivering oxygen more efficiently to the cells. Carbon shields the body from absorbing static energy, electrosmog and UV rays" blah blah blah

I dont remember it being that hard to the base of Boyes drive. B seemed to have split into two large groups. We caught the second group at the start of the start of Boyes drive. Having done the Cobra etc, knew what was coming, so made sure I was at the front of the bunch and was able to hold onto the sprint up the climb. About 50 of us broke clear, being a mix of B/C riders. The lead B group were slacking, but once we caught them, they latched on and started to work again. The group had shattered by Chappies though, with only about 50 riders from B/C (20 from C) left. Still a large group 100+ as many of the VA/VB riders had been swept up.

Started C last year. We caught B leaders in Glencairn. Winner of C did approx 2:51. Held onto leaders up Chappies (Just), but lost two min from base of Suikerbossie home. Finished in 2:53:56. 26.5 km/h average for Chappies from kilometer 78.7 to 83 and 18.5 up Suikerbossie. Seeded VB this year

Wedding punch up

Anybody know how PPA calculate the penalty they apply to older events? PPA have already depreciated my Argus 2011 seeding by 34% for example.

Bad example possibly as in the Tour de PPA the G/H outriders group, caught the STARS, pulled them up to you and then proceeded to ride/pull them through the D/E group. What race experience are you getting in STARS? ... its nothing like the real league. No chilling on all the flats.

So now you have to ask yourself WTF you are doing in the STARS group? They rode a sad time of 3:41 on Sunday, got caught by the G/H group, had the D/E group take 12min out of them and more than 20 min by the A/C group. This means that for seeding purposes, the STARS are riding at I/J level times. I understand the frustration because I rode CAT3 last year. Your seeding is not going to improve, you are unlikely to get a podium because of the sprint specialists, and when you do break away, G/H will pull them back. Join D/E group. Your times will be faster and your seeding will improve. The load at the front may even be more equitably shared.

From your hub posts and general appearance, I put two and two together and realized you must be "Tiny" earlier in the race. Had a good laugh! You are lucky you are large, any smaller and I would have mugged you for that half bottle of energy drink you still had left as we turned off the R44. I had run out by this stage and was starting to over-heat and dehydrate quickly. Would have killed for an ice cube!

G/F group sometimes has the outriders club riding as a group. They keep a good rotation going on front and a decent pace as was the case in the Tour de PPA. The stars group is too slow though and were caught quite easily. They then latched onto the leaders of the G/F group, which they are not allowed to do. Sadly, this meant we towed them to a few break-away riders, so the outriders will not start behind the STARS again. Many of the guys seedings have improved dramatically this season, so some of us rode A-C for the first time.

Its all your fault. If you had just worked a bit harder and towed the group a bit better in the 90-100km section we could have bust 3:18 and made the top 80. Seriously, there were three or four of you that worked like demons up front in the last 40 km. Well done! I also clip in at ~96kg, but have a few years on you. Knew I was going to suffer up Bothma's, so took it easy till there. Lost about 250m on the lead bunch, but a group of about six of us tried to chase it down. RANT: Of the six only four would do any consistent work! If we are chasing, whats with the sitting at the back and then speeding past at a snot spoed such that the poor bugger who has worked his gat off on the front gets dropped by 20m plus, with no benefit from your effort... and then drifting to the back the moment we catch you again. RANT off. Caught the bunch at the T junction, which is where you all put voet again. Being maxed out from the chase, I only just held on. Recovered enough to show my face at the front in the last 40km, but must admit that after the chase there was very little in the tank. There at the end, but sprint was too crowded to risk an all fall down. Lots off faces that had been sucking in the back pushing through in the last kilometer. One of them took out my front wheel as he cut in. Stayed up, but damaged the enthusiasm a bit. I was the larger of the two outriders (Blue kit). First race in A-C, so was not sure what to expect. Have a better idea now The "Derwynator" was the smaller, who hurt us on many of the rolling hills. Gerhard Genis punctured just after Wellington. Beer bottle sliced his tyre and Dennis (Denny Menchov) stopped with him. They would have added some vooma to the front in that last bit, so its a pity we lost them.

Anything over 8 bar, will normally survive a hiccup over a cats eye. I run Continental GP4000's at 9 bar, but then I weigh 94kg Ride can get a bit hard (feel every bump) and may even have more rolling resistance on the rougher roads, but I think you puncture less, so the tradeoff may be worth it.

Bit bigger than Chappies! http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lutv8eBIHX1r4e46uo1_500.jpg

I think the STARS group is too big and the rider strengths to diverse. G/F group is picking up the majority of the STARS riders and towing them along. Those that get picked up by G/F are desperate not to do any work and most of the crazy antics are attempts to get away from the front of the peleton when they get caught up in any sort of organised rotation.The rider just behind does not want to get any further forward either and then it all starts to get a bit silly as they try and drift backwards. Most annoying are the downhills ... Yes you will go faster than the front riders whilst sheltering in the bunch even without pedaling. Thats why we have brakes! When you pass by on the right (over the line) you will soon hit some wind resistance and slow down. Now you want to push back in ??? Even an idiot learns thats dof ... quickly ... not so in the STARS.

And Dangle definitely does not want to look or search for images with a "tatoo" tag

Have a look at http://cristania.tumblr.com/page/1 Its got over 2000 pages of some beautiful photographic images. Some with bicycles in .... and some with nudity as is typical of most photographic sites, so be aware that it may be a litle NSFW They have a nice feature on the top right of the page which creates a mosaic of all the pictures, which helps you find suitable pictures quickly. Choose the "TUMBLR MOSAIC -use tumblr mosaic for a quick navigate" link

Which implies that everything that does not work or cant be proven is called homepathy LOL. If you give me a sample of 'medicine' I will be able to identify the claimed active ingredients ... even if they dont work. You will find nothing but sugar and water in a homepathy remedy. Anything diluted more than 12 times (12C on the bottle) will most likely not have a single molecule of the active ingredient left. Homepaths claim the active ingredient left a memory in the water. Bit of a bugger since its likely been through the local sewerage plant a few times as well.

It also looks like it gets harder and harder. Does it need to be that hard to keep its appeal? I also preferred the idea of racing from Knysna (or somewhere to the east) and finishing in Cape Town. Feels more like a stage race that way.

Give him an unlabled bottles of sugar water and similar unlabled homeopathetic medicines and ask him to tell the difference. The plain water will most likely have more active ingredients in it. There is a $1 million prize on offer if he can tell the difference. As mentioned a peer reviewed paper on measuring cell vitality would add some credibility, else you may as well just pray for an improvement. “ ...and if anyone can show me one example in the history of the world of a single homeopathic practitioner who's been able to prove under reasonable experimental conditions that solutions made up of infinitely tiny particles of good stuff dissolved repeatedly into relatively huge quantities of water have a consistently higher medicinal value than a similarly administered placebo...I will give you my piano, one of my legs and my wife. ” —Tim Minchin, If You Open Your Mind Too Much, Your Brain Will Fall Out Look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN6U6cpGzss for a nice explanation

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