Zook

It's very often a mountain-heavy race, so last year was an exception rather than the rule. Wiggins style suited last year, doesn't mean they have to help him out every year. A multi-year winner should be able to handle whatever they throw at him.

Must be a play on words. It *helps* the bank. It breaks you.

Find poodle. Toss into dam. Check poodle's pulse a week later. If it's still going, consider ramping into dam.

3) One trick for rocky uphills is to get out of the saddle. You're then less susceptible to the bike throwing you off balance, because your body is most of the weight and you can just muscle the bike around underneath you. 4) Steepness is often mostly just practice. Find a challenging section that you can't do and ride it by yourself, four or five times, try different things to see what works. Watch what others do, ask them what they did. Groenkloof/Fountains in Pta has some excellent practice stuff. Northern Farm has a few good singletrack bits, if you know where to look. Go with mates who know the routes.

Assuming I have to replace a hub from a Shimano WH-M765-R wheel exactly like this: http://techdocs.shim...69830608653.pdf What are my options? Shimano doesn't have stock of them locally, not sure if there's stock upstream from them. Do I have to dump the whole wheel? It's obviously non-standard. Very irritating, because there's only one tiny bit that seems to be poked and the wheels have been absolutely awesome for ages. Would rather put money towards replacement bike than replace yet another set of wheels. This bike has had 4 different wheelsets. Enough now.

From CRC, set of toys: http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=40997 More toys: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=40997 More, more toys: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=17714

Agree - definitely use slicks, but I don't think the tyre liners are necessary. Mtb slicks are pretty tough compared to the road-bike tyres already. I've ridden 94.7 and Argus with a slicked mtb before and it was great. Take an extra tube and you'll be fine. Practice riding with friends (or with a club ride) on the road so you get an idea of how drafting helps, and how to do it safely. This in case you need it (if energy runs out), and you really don't want to be figuring out how to do it on race day. There's an etiquette to it (e.g. pointing out road hazards) and it's fun to learn how to ride smoothly so you don't accelerate-brake too often, which breaks rhythm and makes it a bit more dangerous. Not a big deal, but it's nice to practice it beforehand. Enjoy. It's such a jol!

http://www.bikemap.net/route/1303487#lat=-25.881316269368&lng=27.521165&zoom=13&maptype=ts_terrain I just remembered my mate from London is here the night before. Knowing those okes I'm not sure I'll be home by the time the ride starts, so let me skip this one

But...but you're being judgemental! Hopefully that sentence is meant to overflow with irony.

Yup, 94km. Not sure I've done enough strength work for that frikken mountain, though!

What's the story with people closing mtb access to Emmerentia? I met someone with a couple dogs in Delta and we got to chatting. They said that the Delta park mtb route will probably be ok'ed but Emmerentia might be too late. Obviously 2nd hand info, so hopefully someone here is involved in discussions?

How weird is this: http://www.bicymple.com/

That's awesome - I need to do that. Or do the class gymnastics thing, but just outside the window, looking in. Extra points if there's still space in the class.

Or we could set up our OWN ride, that just follows you okes from about 50 metres back. We'll hide behind rocks and stuff.

I love this ride. I'm in Rivonia so it's a couple km to the 12th ave bridge, and then it's just happiness all the way up.

Not just sharp, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmin-Sharp

Not pocket knives, but look at this man's work: http://www.brucebump...om/gallery.html Like this one, say: http://www.brucebumpknives.com/images/portroyal2.jpg

Silence. I kill you.

Not the end of any story. Hamilton and others go into great lengths to explain why it was so easy to dope and get away with it. The actual writer wasn't Tyler. Every fact would have been checked before his co-author put his name to it. Many, many people were mentioned. No sane person would do that unless they wanted to spend the rest of their life in lawsuits. Armstrong is known for strong-arming those who go after him, legally and otherwise. Hamilton'd have to be nuts to set himself up for that storm as well. THIS IS NOT ABOUT ARMSTRONG. The guys doing the investigations are not doing it mainly to go after a rider who has finished his career. They're primarily interested in stopping the systematic enabling of doping, which has many current industry participants involved. You know, there are three kinds of people in this discussion. 1 Those who always thought that Armstrong was guilty. 2 Those who always thought he was innocent but are open to the judicial process and balance of proof. 3 Those who will never believe anything except his innocence, despite any proof or judicial processes. For the sake of the middle group, the proof must come out, either way. Maybe the USADA got 11 people to lie and their other 'proof' is nothing. Maybe the UCI is complicit in protecting certain riders, and Bruyneel, Ferrari etc enabled doping. Those would be far more important than any one individual doping, because that's systematic. I do think it's cleaner. Hamilton (or the co-author) writes that the top-placed Alpe d'Huez TT rider in 2011 would have come 40th in 2004. That is a sign that things are being cleaned up. I've said it before - you have to be a fool to dope now, because they will get better at checking bloods from previous races, and you will be nailed. You can't fight the future improvements in science, no matter how good your doctor is. (It is possible Garfield got me. Whatever )

Absolutely. NF is a treasure. Modderfontein is nice and close but much of it feels like I'm riding in artificial circles in the veld. Good for training, but not much technical. I like that I can make up a new route around NF from all the possible parts, and you can do multiple laps without going over too much of the same stuff.

Ag, I'm enjoying it. I do think he's breaking some huge trusts with mates and colleagues and making the most of it financially, but there is an aspect of getting it all out for the sport's sake. And I enjoy that it's parallel to the stories I've read about before. Same races, same actors, just a different view with the hidden side of it. Also, these guys have all testified under oath. There's not that much reason to hide the truth. Other riders put their opinions in here and there, so I assume more than one person has decided it's time to talk. I expect if the USDA story hadn't started the process, this might not have come out.

I think they haven't really explained this too well: "Distance: 106km Ultra-marathon for Elite & U/23 men Standard marathon for Elite & U/23 Women and Amateur Men & Women 19 years and older " Does the same 106km distance somehow become a standard marathon when you're older, or is there a difference in distance? It's going to feel pretty ultra even if it's flatter, I'm thinking.

I *still* couldn't find a buy link on Amazon.com (kept saying it's not available) even though today is meant to be release day, so I searched on the Kindle itself, and it allowed me to buy. Just in case anyone else has the same hassle.

Definitely going to rock the sales charts. http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/media/books/Keyes-hamilton-the-secret-race.html?page=all

Pity DSTV missed whatever happened earlier. He must have attacked on the previous mountain(s), amazing that he managed to get away. Also amazed Rodriguez's team couldn't get him back on the flats and he ended up pulling by himself. Quite something.