Blackadder

They have been advertising this a lot on the Tour of Utah live feed. Looks really interesting.

Normally I disapprove of the mixing of religion and sport, but in this case I will make an exception. Pope Francis blesses the Maglia Rosa

According to the press release attached (I presume you read that) a scheduling conflict with a political march planned for the same day. Of course that raises numerous problems, but none that justify the postponement of an even that thousands of people have arranged to attend. If you want to run a major national even you cannot change dates at the last minute.

This is poor form, and a slap in the face to people who arranged to fly down for the date on the advertised date.

I must say, horrid mud aside, the race was very well organised. Unlike previous years, the parking worked out smoothly. The signage on the 55km route was exceptional.

727m of climbing, not too bad. Only 1 serious climb. http://www.strava.co...vities/50053704

I suspect the wind will have had a much more significant impact on the lower order groups, many (most?) of whom don't draft for any significant period

That was my experience too. Shocking marshalling

Sorry if I am missing something, but is there number collection on the day? There usually is at races (not late registration, just collection).

Thanks for sharing. I had an aortic dissection in 2010, and have a stent as a result. Took six months before I could start exercising, I now cycle 6-8 hours a week. Only advice I can offer is to take things one day at a time, and not to do anything that involves sudden bursts of energy or acute stress. Oddly enough, the one thing my cardio insisted I give up was skydiving, for much that reason. Also limited to no weight training. I have an stress-ECG every six months, which is quite reassuring. I know your CAD is different, but if it helps, this is a handy website run by a triathlete with a stent: http://athletewithstent.com/2011/08/30/hey-fit-old-dogs-do-you-want-to-do-an-ironman/

Top end bibs are worth their frankly frightening price.

Expo is a fleamarket indeed, and nothing wrong with that IMO. Fantastic deal on the Suunto Ambit 2 - R1,500 off the normal price.

I agree. This was my daughter's third 94.7 kids race, and the best organised by far.

Certainly, safety standards appear to be quite minimal. One article I read recently suggested they have actually fallen over the past decade: http://cyclehelmets.org/1081.html The point seems to be that the standards are imposed on all helmet manufacturers, and they do not much more than comply at the lowest level possible. I like POC as they seem to be trying to raise that bar.

All helmets have to pass the same safety standard checks, so from a safety perspective they are very similar. The main differences relate to the straps, adjustability, etc. The one difference on the safety side, in my view, is the length of the helmet at the back. A number of manufacturers have started to bring out helmets that extend further down the back of the head, and protect more. The POC Trabec is a good example of this, see: http://www.pocsports...rabec-race-mips