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Really enjoyed the race!! Swim was great and probably one off my better swims in my very short Triathlon "career", maybe because it was so cold I just wanted to get it done.. Bike was nice but I did not feel good at all...no power in the legs..and the Run I just took easy. Was Nice to get back into the tri-season with a race like this! Maybe I should start doing some Brick sessions again.. Maybe you guys can help.Why do I struggle so much to get going on the bike after the swim?My hrt is always high like hell even when I don't push and takes some time to settle and my legs feel like jelly?I don't have this problem with duathlons? Also loved the 32Gi in a bottle at the end! Ps. did you guys see the speed that guy with the kid in the Canoe swims? I stayed with him for most of the first lap and then went ahead of him but he still got out of the water in under 30min for a 1.5km swim dragging a canoe!!Strong!!

Wonder what the Caveman would have to say about this??Even better maybe we should ask Burry to commend on the strength of these Sub Discipline athletes.....

Would love to watch this...hope they show it again. Will have to check the schedule, I take it they showed it on SS?

:clap: :clap: And Nothing better for our very own Caveman to beat a high profile athlete like Lance...maybe he will get some well-deserved sponsorship from this. Still find it hard to believe that one of the most talent athletes in SA struggled to get wheels to go and race against our Elites at the SA TT champs!

Also I think it is great that they have a 35plus cat (not that I will be able to compete now) ...hate it when they enter us into the elite cat at the triathlons and duathlons. Why not just always have a 30 plus cat, you don't have to have big prize money...just let us compete in our own age cat. And the 30plus guys that still want to compete elite just enter as open...

Entered and looking forward the first triathlon for the season!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-pgQ-gpmNk 1min20 per 100m and that was in January this year. We know he can bike, he’s swim should be up there and he is now idiot when he runs. We also don't really have any reference to he's 10km run speed only he's marathon times so we will just have to wait and see but I agree he will be competitive. But I don't think he will be able to beat the caveman!!!

Watched a video a while back were they analysed Lance Armstrong’s swim technique and the guy that looked at the video was a top swim trainer and he reckoned that he was at that stage already close to the top Ironman swimmers speed. And that was more than 6 months ago. He will be fast in the water no doubt!

Hey Garfield, Try this,make up 3 or 4 small(jiffy bags..the smallest you can find) of 32gi..say a half serving per bag.when you pass the water tabels at say km 15,25,30 and 35..take some water sackets and pour them into a empty coke cup with the powder.mix and drink..all while walking.have done this at the comrades and did the whole race on practicly only 32gi.plus the powerder is light to carry!Enjoy the race!

Man those attacks was huge!!first one he went out off the bunch like a missile and Cobo can be glad he had he's wheel because at that speed it gave him one moer of a slip! Second attack he made that aother rider who sat Cobo's wheel look a bit silly. With attacking like that in the mountains and hes TT ability..Froome will still go far!!!

Thanks man...I have a couple of friends that also have a serious goal for next year’s Ironman and we will train together most of the time...so that will help. Yes running 3:25 off the bike will be a huge challenge that’s for sure...I need to be able to run a 3.10 Marathon probably to do that. The problem with running is the injuries...I have a knee injury right now from just pushing too hard while doing track work. I am still a "new" runner...have been running for 2 years now and you have to be very disciplined with it.This is where I make the mistake most times...the moment I start to feel good I just want to push the distance and the speed. For example...I normally run about 30km a week because I race a lot on the Road Bike still so I try and limit the running to about 25 to 30km. Then one week I did this...did 2x 10km followed by n Track session on the Friday and a 21km race the next day. 4 Days later I went back to the track and got the injury!! Will send you my mail address Thanks!!!

Will be there for my second attempt!! First time I did it to just finish and enjoy the day.. Next year it will be full Gas!! Really good idea this thread, would be good to chat here about training and Goals. Is the Don Fink training plan available of the Net for free? Need to start looking at Triathlon specific training plans. My Goal will be to break 10 hours....will be a big ask I know but I think I can do it with the right training! Swim time:1:10 Bike time:5:10 Run time:3:25 Currently able to run a 1:30 21km so I need to improve a lot with my running and my previous swim time for Ironman was 1:20 so also have some work to do there.

Only watched the last 2km unfortunately!!!! Can anybody give us a rundown of the final climb...did Wiggins and Froome attack? Really like Froome...hope he finds a way to get those 13 seconds! Looks to me that the 2 stages that cost him was the TTT and the stage after the TT where he was in red...he probably lost the tour there.

Cobo might win this race...but I am going to be very dissapionted if Sky does nothing today but wait for the final climb...they need to take the race to him in a big way.Lets hope for those fireworks!!

Yes I think Both Wiggens and Froome had the wrong gearing for that steep section...Cobo looked a lot better on that section than Wiggens. Froome looked very bad when he was behind Wiggens on that section because I think the pace Wiggens was going made it hard for him to keep he's normal Rhythm.

Yes it is all about recovery....the harder they ride every day the more they struggle to recover....doping helps a lot with the recovery so maybe that also makes it harder for them. That’s why I love the 7 to 10 day tour...it's an all-out effort and they don't really have to keep anything back so the racing is much more aggressive... I was thinking about this climb from Sunday yesterday. I see the media describe it as the most difficult finish in all of cycling. I get the part were the gears becomes a problem...so you can't maintain your normal cadence....but I think Cobo did not really have that problem...maybe for a km or so but the rest he had a normal leg speed I think. The thing is...why would that climb be more difficult for these GC riders than say Alpde Heuz?? Say Conto against Andy going up Alp de Heuz fighting for the top step on the podium versus Wiggens against Cobo going up this climb. In both cases the riders will have to go for 40min to an hour at 95% to 105% of threshold power. So does it really make a difference in terms of suffering? 100% of threshold for 50min to me feels the same no matter what the terrain looks like... The riders that really suffer I think in a different way is the sprinters and bigger riders…the ones that don’t really have anything to gain from going up there in the first place…

Not really referring to that far back...Evans himself was quoted 2 years ago as to how the speed in the Giro has improved that year and that it makes it much harder now than it was before. But these type off commends have been made by many riders over the last 3 years more so especially about the Vuelta were they described days as off days more often than in the other tours. This you can also see in the power files of riders. But the point is really that the course has very little effect on how hard a tour is for riders. If the bunch climbs 3 mountains in 1 day and decide to ride 2 of the 3 on tempo and riders like cancellara sets the pace that really just is a 60% effort for most riders in terms of power or Intensity factor...so not really different from riding in the wind on a flat stage, or say doing a circuit race. It all boils down to the quality of the riders and the effort off the field on a given day or over a period of several days. Example the stage on Thursday was not really a mountain stage but was described as one of the hardest to the riders….not the public’s idea of a tough stage but the riders suffered like hell because the race was “out of control”. .everybody wanted to be in the front group and that made the chase so much harder. They could never really “soft peddle” during the stage. The mountains has always been there and that will not change the only thing that change is the riders effort in the race...more strong teams that send more of their top riders.

What makes a the racing hard is not really the route but the quality of the riders in the race. The avg speed at which they race day in day out is what hammers the riders and make them suffer more in the 3rd week. Most of these climbs that they ride this year have been used before many times and in roughly the same format. You will find the more riders want to win a race and the more teams send their best line up the faster it gets and the harder it is to recover(everybody want their riders in front scenario). The cumulated fatigue factor is what gets to them. In the past riders liked doing this race because they spend lots of time riding at a very easy pace and then just race hard on the final climb, so really they don't suffer as much. Many riders have talked about this as one off the things that have changed over the last couple of years to make the Giro and the Vuelta harder. I must say I have really enjoyed the last 4 days of racing, Even Fabien commented on Thursday's stage as being one of the hardest....mainly because they were hoping for an "off day" on the bike. Would love to see what tactics Sky can come up with now to take back the lead...they will have to try something high risk that is for sure because there are really only 2 more stages where the sprinter team won't be doing the controlling! Go Froom!!!!!!!!!

What makes a the racing hard is not really the route but the quality of the riders in the race. The avg speed at which they race day in day out is what hammers the riders and make them suffer more in the 3rd week. Most of these climbs that they ride this year have been used before many times and in roughly the same format. You will find the more riders want to win a race and the more teams send their best line up the faster it gets and the harder it is to recover(everybody want their riders in front scenario). The cumulated fatigue factor is what gets to them. In the past riders liked doing this race because they spend lots of time riding at a very easy pace and then just race hard on the final climb, so really they don't suffer as much. Many riders have talked about this as one off the things that have changed over the last couple of years to make the Giro and the Vuelta harder. I must say I have really enjoyed the last 4 days of racing, Even Fabien commented on Thursday's stage as being one of the hardest....mainly because they were hoping for an "off day" on the bike. Would love to see what tactics Sky can come up with now to take back the lead...they will have to try something high risk that is for sure because there are really only 2 more stages where the sprinter team won't be doing the controlling! Go Froom!!!!!!!!!

Good to read your commends here...have been crazy busy,first with racing the Tourdefreestate and now trying to catch up with all the work that I got behind on because of the racing.... So best way to find out whats going on and who is looking good is on the Hub!! So it seems I was wrong when I said I don't think Wiggens will have any form for this Tour! Hopefully I will be able to follow the last week on the telly!! Just one thing,was Hunter not selected for this race?I am sure I read somewhere he will race and now I don't see he's name on the start list?

Will be seriously pissed off if they do that again this year...they will never get my support again if that happens.. And I think the organizers must know they are taking a big risk because of what happened last year. Willing to take the chance this year because there is only 3 Olympic distance events left this year that I know off in Gauteng and surrounding areas.

Will enter this one...hope the water will be ok. I don't like the short tri's and love the Olympic distance stuff(non drafting races). Don't think this event is too expensive, willing to pay up to R400.00 for an Olympic distance event. Anything more than that becomes crazy!

All I can see on that website is the 2 October?

Spot on Ian!! The interesting thing is this tread has now got 16 posts and still nobody actually enquired about your mention to the tuff stages at the tour. I will try and give some feedback on the tour and the stages as soon as I get a gap...Hectic to be back at work today!!

Hey man, nice bike! Also ride the 329 and did some upgrade work on it as well. Any idea of weight on your bike now? What would it cost to build those rims onto Hope hubs?