sluiper

Dave just picked up the bike. Really nice young guy, gave me a nice bottle of red and some Lindt chocolates. Probably a bit much for the bike I gave him but glad he could finish his first CTCT and have a story to tell. He managed a time of just over 5 hours. Says he'll be back next year.

Nope, no race number. He took it off and put it on the bike I gave him. It's a very unfair trade. I gave him my son's Zwift bike, a Raleigh 3000 that I can't even remember buying with an ancient 9spd Campy groupset on. One of the shifters on the bike he left here is worth more than the bike I gave him.

Bit of a long shot, but don't really know how else to get hold of Dave. I was spectating this morning at the bottom of Edinburgh Drive when I saw a cyclist next to the side of the road. His rear derailleur had snapped in two and it didn't look like he was going to be able to continue. I live quite close by and have a bunch of bikes, so offered to lend him one to finish the race. I told him to remember where my house was so that he could come and pick up his bike after the race. He told me he drove past almost every day so wouldn't have a problem remembering. It was pretty stupid of me not to give him my phone number, literally all I got was his name. He was in one of the last groups (this must have been around 9:30) and he told me he'd decided to do the race on a whim the day before, so I assumed it would be a while before he made his way back. It's now more than 9 hours later, so I'm just a bit worried about him. I'm hoping someone here knows who he is and could let him know to contact me here. He was quite young and was on a bike he said he'd borrowed from a friend (who I'm guessing might be on here). It's a lesser known Italian brand, 11 spd Super Record and he was using MTB cleats, so pretty obvious it wasn't his. Anyways, if anyone knows who this is, please drop me a message so I can reunite him and his friend's bike.

Yip, agree that taxis are predictably erratic (if that makes sense). I'm not really upset about the conditions I have to commute in as I've been doing it for years and know how to handle myself. What does irritate me is that the conditions mean that I can't in good conscience recommend to others that they should commute by bicycle. Without decent public transport and/or cycling being a decent alternative, people will continue to clog up roads and pollute the city. Another interesting (anecdotal) observation is that when people see a camera on your head, they actually drive better. The amount of close calls I have when I don't have a camera on my head has convinced me to _always_ cycle with a camera for additional protection.

Thanks, glad you like it and can relate. I love commuting by bike but I'm kind of torn between the danger each day and the benefits. The video is made up from the rides on my last 4 commutes (which kind of highlights how crazy it is that it doesn't take long to capture the amount of incidents in the video).

Made a video of what it's like to commute in Cape Town, let me know what you guys think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVOEO5VMdlM

I guess that makes it ok then.

It's been proven time and again that the gains you make while taking PEDs stay with you even after you stop using. He may be using, he may not. Fact is that he did and in my mind that will always make him a cheat.

Glad that Nolan Hoffman has been able to hide his drug taking a bit better this time. Seriously pisses me off when a convicted cheat like him can come back and pretend to be all clean.

I would suggest just getting a secondhand road bike. Way too much hassle and money taking a tri-bike and trying to turn it into a road bike. The ideal is to have 2 bikes, but for some guys the cost associated with maintaining/buying/riding 2 bikes is too much, which is why they opt for tri-bars on the road bike. NTTAWWT, I've just found that bars on a road bike aren't half as efficient as actually riding a tri-bike. Group rides with friends, road races and draft-legal tris can all be done with a road bike, whereas the tri-bike can technically only be used in non-drafting races,

Seems like I'm in the minority here, but I don't think Bridge is that bad. I wouldn't go there to buy a new bike, but I've bought a bunch of parts and clothing from them at decent prices. The consignment store across the road that they run often has awesome deals on a variety of components, specifically Specialized stuff. I've also bought some stuff there which I realised afterwards was incorrect (my mistake) and when I brought the stuff back a few weeks later they gave me a cash refund, no questions asked. The shop assistants (Dimitri and the guy who works at the store across the road) are friendly, happy to have a chat and give an opinion/advice. The main store is cramped and stuff is badly organised, but I've found that if you ask for something they'll make a real effort to find it for you. Anyways, just my personal experience. YMMV.

Sure, if your primary aim is to train with power then I would have to agree. I do most of my indoor training on heart rate, so power isn't as big of an issue. My spinning bike (second hand) cost less than a basic IDT.

I've had both and prefer the spinning bike. I use it to train for Ironman, so time is the biggest factor for me when choosing between the two. The trainer just takes too much time to set up and the one thing you really have too little of when training for Ironman is time Then there's the wear on your rear tyre. You could (obviously) buy a spare rear wheel and swap it out every time you put the bike on the trainer, but that takes even more time. Or you could buy a spare bike, but obviously the setup will never be 100% the same as your primary bike and there's a huge cost involved. Then there's the copious amounts of sweat falling on my precious bike, the wear on my drivetrain, the lack of proper stability when you're standing up, the sound the trainer makes.... The list goes on. In my opinion, spinning bikes are designed to be stationary, whilst road bikes are not. Best tool for the job, etc. etc. I'm not saying trainers don't have their place, but I definitely don't think their place is as a permanent indoor training option. To remove some of the monotony of the spinning bike, I often work out my own programs, watch series whilst pedalling or listen to some spinning oriented music. I also try not to do sessions over 40 minutes, otherwise it really just does become too boring.

I was told the temperature was clocked at 13 on the day, which is pretty normal from my experience. 11 would be on the low side, but still manageable. I stand to be corrected, but I have been told by a few guys that have done the Freedom Swim that the temperature was 11 degrees 3 years ago. Definitely toughened me up. On my first swim there I thought I was going to die from the cold and now I'm considering losing the wetsuit and going with only a Speedo It's also great training for the Ironman. The conditions are almost always tougher than those you'd experience at the Ironman, so when the time comes you're so relaxed about open water swimming that the swim doesn't bother you at all.