typhoon

"you can't just be a little bit pregnant"

Haha those beers did go down quite well... well eventually... Have done the 80 for the last two years on a HT, fun times are probably a little questionable... Riding though that reserve after the descent down the Nek chatting to Dino Lloyd as we missioned over those grasbolle, he was on a dual BMC i think it was, i was quite envious... okay, maybe i was a lot... so i didn't stay around to chat and missioned on. On a dual this year, so it should be fun! https://www.strava.com/activities/310188971

Best tip most people will say for the Monster is save something in the tank for after the Monster. Slogging up the Monster (back of the Nek) is just that, a slog but it's the little rolling climbs afterwards that will hurt if you've burnt too many matches already

So off I went to VG on Saturday for something a little different. by myself I thought it would be a good idea to ride _every_ trail on the south side (concrete strips side) of the tar road... http://www.strava.com/activities/476313605 the plan was to go up the strips, around the block, back up the concrete, different route down. i'd gather it would be about 4x up and over with the various routes. Needless to say, i only did 2 trips up the concrete, 3rd time up the hill, i went up at the little dam, instead of going all the way round. NB: Don't follow the route i did... you'll end up going around in circles... I've screen grabbed the map and made some notes on what is where. the little "X" marks are technical in some way or other. Pofadder is a seriously steep hike-a-bike climb but the views from the top are awesome! the descent off the hill is very technical! There are switchbacks going up Pofadder, which i tried to find, but it's quite overgrown. The 3km descent took 18mins... The other "X" sections have red arrows on them on the trails, mostly because there are some quite rocky technical sections The little red line with hiking trail marked is blocked off with rocks, i went up there week before last, image below is where it ended, wasn't going to try get the bike up there. All in all it was quite an awesome day out, hard... but awesome, nice to just explore the trails you always ride. I think the first 40km's ended with 1100m climbing before i headed off to the river route to finish. The area seriously needs some more rain, it's a sad sight seeing the rivers so dry. Map Hiking trail end Looking towards VG Looking towards JHB The rocks are sharp, so don't fall... Looking at Pofadder and Daggapad climb from the opposite hill

yeah, that's the one. Yesterday I wondered up the path just before that cattle grid, that goes to the left, definitely think it's a hiking trail, coz well... it's not very bike friendly, turned around when it went straight up... View of Pofadder from the opposite hill.

aah you turned after the bridge, i turned before it... the very steep climb that isn't really ride-able, the zigzag up next to it has grown over.

The views from up there are awesome! Was up there mid December. After the concrete strips, go left at the T-junction, near the top of the next climb, keep right and go straight up the hill... (hike-a-bike)

Here's a Vid i took a little while ago of Oom Piets descent, sorry for the dirty GoPro... First half of the descent is pretty rough but gets smoother the second half. I see i'm still on top... woohoo... and on a hardtail... https://www.strava.com/segments/1572635

Thanks TP for the plan that I won, I'll definitely start playing with it soon! Wasn't too sure if I should start it now or wait, with the holidays coming up and going away, although it's with the bikes, so there isn't any reason not to start now. There seem to be quite a lot of positives coming out of this thread!

This is the 60km route from Clarens to Golden Gate i did in August on the road bike. http://app.strava.com/activities/173887642 The loops in Golden Gate are umm... "fun"... The little leg off at about 32km's, that road/path (two concrete strips) goes up to Highlands Mountain retreat, looked steep, and i don't think i was feeling it, so i skipped it and turned around. Segment: http://app.strava.com/segments/6559818 You can ride to the vultures hide (34km mark), there were just bones when i was there and no birds.

But we know these Komatipoort oakies are dodgy! Was it you that burnt down the town?

haha... ummm... glad one person thinks that... In again next year for sure, doing it with a cold this year wasn't fun at all! was also the first race on a 29er HT, from a 26er dual... was interesting...

Santa Cruz HighBall, going down the mine shaft at Van Gaalens

And here we have our very own Rouxtjie... And Swift01...

My main issue with rollers is the lack of standing tends to get uncomfortable 45mins in. Standing takes some serious skill and generally the cad slows right down and it doesn't feel right. intervals aren't that hard to do but it's done with cad/speed. keep say 75-80 cad then stay in the same gear and rev up to 95-100ish, then back down. one way to do it. other workout i try is big ring up front and then about 6/7/8 up at the back, keep 80-85 cad and every 10min drop a gear for a hour. you'll find the more you on the rollers the more stable you become. when you spinning high cad and the bike bounces a little, you know your peddle stoke isn't smooth. momentum is your friend! low speeds make you wobble more. also holding the bars closer to the stem is more stable than trying to hold out wide or in the drops. The problem with rollers is because there is no resistance, you can't really do strength training.

Swift01 did it with his sister, they won the mixed and got the GC by 3mins or so.

Get a road bike to train with, maintenance is quite a lot less than a mtb.

http://www.treadmtb.co.za/cradle-gateway-2-gateway-trail-update/

Hero 3 silver

Here's the Satellite Descent:

What an awesome race! VG never disappoints! Yes that little bit above Oom Piets sucked a little but the rest of it made up for it completely! Did the Marathon on Saturday and then the half with Nicci on Sunday, her rear derailer cage broke 15km in, which caused us to abandon and head back to the finish along the tar. Even with a snotty nose, it didn't sap the energy levels nearly as badly as it did at the Monster. Starting in C batch and going out at probably an easier pace helped quite a lot, didn't try and rush past people but passed either when they were ready to pull over or the track opened up, made for an enjoyable one and didn't cross the line feeling like i'd been hit by a bus. One of the jewels at VG is the river route and blasting that to the finish definitely seemed to leave a lot more people smiling across the line. I'm sure the depth of the river crossing must have caught a few people by surprise... it helped knowing them and that dismounting and carrying was a way better idea. as bad as the extra oom piets climb was, I'm pretty sure we'll be back there soon to give it another try. There were times going up it that I did think Jou Blixem would have been better but new routes are also always welcome. and as always, the beers afterwards while we all waited for the others to finish were good! 4:32 was an okayish time, cramps were just about kept at bay, twinges every now and then but no lockups thankfully. Still sorting and going through the GoPro videos. Floating Bridge:

Was in the same boat, hadn't recovered from riding Cradle Trophy 2day with snotty nose, just can't seem to shake it, even a weeks antibiotics didn't help before Monster. Will try start slower and hopefully last a bit longer... Dunno how successful that plan will be, but will try keep it in mind

Did you not learn from Monster... Intervals the week leading up to the race wasn't a good idea... Can't say get well soon... coz you're not really sick yet... So see you in the morning on the start line

35 put me in C Mikes 27 and in B

Mmm so you got a 10min head start