Yang

Was the solo breakaway attempt successful?

This sounds like a problem I have with my bicep. Google Calf Muscle Rupture, if you haven't done so yet. If the problem happened a along time ago the pain might be caused by scar tissue on the ligament, which might need surgery to scrape off, or reattach the tendon, but it gets more complicated the longer you wait.

Whatever- all I know is that i've been promising myself now for the last few years- right- THIS is the year that I will knuckle down to my gym- FFS, I have my own gym and weights, etc, and all I do is look at them- good legs, but the chest is slipping! Its time to do something. Tonight...

Rest in peace Carla. You left a deep legacy through your riding. May your legacy continue beyond your living, inspiring us to be champions, and to look after ourselves and each other on the roads.

Hey Slowbee- wish I could help, but it looks like the boys have done well in sniffing out the leads. Good luck Chris and the other Hubbers who have been fleeced.

45º on the Gorongosa road, Mozambique, about 4 years ago. Measured by the thermo in my Mitsubishi escorting bakkie. The road surface was chip and spray so wasn't melting, but I was. Without the escort car to supply water I would't have been able to ride.

Looks nice. Just make sure you can walk the talk- you don't want to be overtaken by okes on skedonks riding something that looks that fast.

At the 94.7 massage centre there was this hot shot rider having a massage who did the race in a time faster than my 3:10. I was in awe. What was so special? Well, besides that fact that she was covered in cycling kit from head to toe, including a headscarf and was Muslim, and massaged like that, absolutely nothing. The only female Muslim rider around?

Absolutely. Right now I'm in Madeira, planning on a ride tomorrow. Windguru says 67km/h, so the mountain climbing should be a doddle with the wind behind us. And that IS sarcasm. And thanks for the hijack permission BigH, freelance mod.

Yep- he generates a lot of trash talk from the okes half his age that he beats, and hands it out as well. The poms are funny- they more they like you, the more they insult you. Just like Dangle and Big H.

East London? I had some good rides there over Christmas last year- met some good okes and some hot shot riders training for the triathlon......

Ei. "``Hijack on"`` Hoppalong is a medical miracle. I think they are writing medical journals about him. When I left Moz, that weekend he was doing a 5 to 6 hour training ride for the Epic with a couple of the boys. He started slowly in about late September, creating all kinds of imbalances in the world when some of the boys left him eating their dust on our first training rides. I mean, we would pick up the paper on the Monday and there were reports of volcanic eruptions and crime waves around the world. Now that he's getting back into his rhythm the world is settling down- even the economy's getting better. You'll be back in time for the KalChal. "Hijack off"

@Chainsuck- despite what Wiki says, I still refuse to abbreviate Christmas to xmas,for the same reason you don't- don't take Christ out of Christmas.

... and BTW, I came across the Hub the boring way- reading about it in Bicycling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas I also refuse to use xmas, thinking it was introduced by anti-Christians who nevertheless wanted to exploit the commercialism of Christmas. But then I asked Wiki for an explanation and this is what it says in the link. I'm visiting Madeira, and I brought my bike with me and I am definitely riding on Christmas Day, just to further reinforce my family's view of me as insane.

Yep, and here comes the Argus next , where my heart rate peaks in the first couple of k's out, going up the hill.

Understood, except that I always get myself into the front of the pen, and I hate pushing through or jumping in from the side. This is only for the 3 seeding races I do every year since I race for my seeding, and these happen to be our biggest races with the biggest start pens- Shova, 94.7 and Argus. Starting at the back is not on and fighting to the front bunch in the 1st few km's is not on- they will be gone. MTB no problem. The only consolation is that most others will feel like I do.

What gets me and I haven't come across a decent response to this, is how do you keep warmed up after you get into the pens and have to wait for half an hour if not longer before you set off? I warm up, then I wait. My heart rate is generally highest in the first 10 minutes of the race as I push to stay with the front bunch, and my legs feel like they are fatigued already. Then I ease into the race and usually feel strongest in the second half of the race or training ride. The problem is the cooling down of the bod while having to wait to set off.

Make sure I have at least 2 training rides 4 to 5 weeks before the race that are at least 1,5 times longer that the race itself.

1. Find a tall building. 2. Run up the stairs to the top and back down. 3. Rest for a day- active recovery slowly on the bike. 4. Repeat 1. and 2. on day 3. 5. Active rest recovery. 6. Weekend ride. 7. Weekend ride. Repeat 1 to 7. Week 3 active recovery rides. In the 4th week, run up the stairs and down and back up again, faster, or find a taller building. A short building also works, you just have to run up and down more times. Also, you don't have to go to Europe to find tall buildings, unless you live in Pofadder or in Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein. Repeat this over two months. You will develop power that will turn you into a climbing monster. Resume normal cycling programme. Or get a coach if you can afford it. Don't forget that you get stronger from rest after a workout. If your body does not feel like doing it, then you probably are due for a rest or active recovery. Leg presses will develop power through more muscle mass, but you need to find a balance between power training and retaining your speed- a coach will help you do that, unless you know about interval training and can put up with pain once a week.

Exactly how I do it- its neat and the real thing to do on an MTB. To secure it further I turn the loose bit back again, under the last turn of the tube strap, so the tube end is pointing backwards. Then the only thing you have to worry about is that if the tube picks up a nick it can unravel quite quickly, so you have to keep an eye om it.

Look at the positive side. At least while she's riding with you early morning, you know that she's not getting to know the pool cleaner better, like all the cyclists WAGs who don't cycle are.

I bought the USN recovery drink a couple of weekends agout to try something new. It had whey protein and the label made all the right claims and the ingredients looked good. Bought the chocolate. Then I got home here in Mozambique and got my tub of FiT Choc Dura train out and made two mixes, one USN and one FiT which I froze for after my Saturday ride and then after my Sunday ride. The label comparison showed the two were comaparable across many of the ingredients, but FiT had more ingredients including vitamins. Re the taste, the USN for me was too sweet. Not sure about the value for money since I don't remeber how much I paid for the FiT. But the FiT protein recovery mix still works for me.

In my earlier days I used to go into Zim to race there every know and then. I had been riding fro anout 3 or 4 years when I did a race in Harare. A very small group of about 40 hotshot looking riders were in the race, and I saw one oke- a small old toppie at least 65 on a small size Giant and I thought to myself, well at least I'll beat him. Not a f***!!! This oke left me in the dust, and he finished on the top step in the podium in his category. I spoke to him afterwards and it turned out that he's been cycling since the 50´s and has always been on the podium. His name is Peter Lane. I've just googled him and he's still winning! http://za.onreg.com/results/index.php?File=results_search.php&DataID=1239&Show=SearchResults

Good point SeaBee. Whenever 2 or more cyclists get together it invariably turns into a testosterone driven race. And about the age thing, we have a youngster- 18 years old riding with us. He's 6'3", built like a pro- light and like a whippet, and destined to be the fastest cyclist out of our little group- but not yet. He's astounded at the pace that the ballies in their 40's and 50's in the group get to, beating him in the local races. Maybe we take a little longer to recover, but our endurance, strength, and experience keeps us performing competitively against the laaities. B)