sluiper

Looks like everything's going ahead. Got a long email/pdf yesterday explaining the whole process and schedule. Also seems as if the Cape Town weather is going to play along. Looking forward to the weekend!

Yip, that's what I do. I shortened my stem and moved my seat forward. My position is not completely over the bars, but for my purposes it's fine. The bike is a bit more twitchy, but not unmanageable.

I got clip-ons from Chain Reaction Cycles. I did a lot of reading and research, but my opinion is that in the end the main difference is in what you think looks pretty. I got these: http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=26976 (Profile Design Carbon Stryke Aero Road Bars), but in retrospect I could probably have gotten a cheaper set. If I was buying right now I'd probably just get these: http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=78776. They're on sale at the moment for less than R400, which I think is a pretty good deal. Oh, editing to add this: if you want to be able to do a ITU triathlon, the type of tri- bars you're allowed to use is limited. Iron Man is not ITU, so the limitations don't apply.

A tri-suit you can get away without. A wetsuit is pretty much a necessity. You'll be putting yourself at a big disadvantage if you don't get one. There are a multitude of brands available, but you're probably looking at about R2000 for a entry level wetsuit, maybe less if you manage to find one that fits you secondhand. You don't need tri-bars, but they're the cheapest way of getting more aero on a road bike without buying a time trial bike. I can attest to their effectiveness, especially with the wind we have down here in Cape Town.

I just bought the Zoot Performance Tri Suit from ChainReactionCycles (http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=81508), but I got it for R500 on their last sale and I see it's over R1000 now. Agreed, these things are stupidly expensive.

Who has time? Piss in your suit, it's what the pros do.

Will also be there for my first. Training is sitting at about 11 hours a week, hoping to ramp it up to about 15 as I build. At the moment my training looks as follows: 3 x swim (2.5km to 3km) 3 x run (8km to 15km) 3 x bike (2 x 50km, 1 x 90km) I'm also hoping to do the full in April, so the 70.3 isn't my final goal. In terms of costs, this has to be one of the most expensive things I've ever done. It's like doing 3 sports at once. At least I have most of the gear now, so hopefully it will get better from here on in.

Pretty obvious: no pictures, no model given. Probably need to strip her down completely, clean her out and spray all over.

Do you need to re-lube for every ride?

Size? Model? Colour? Seriously, you'd think by this time people would have learnt the basics when posting a classified.

Anyone have any info on this? I see it's on the calendar (http://capetrinews.com/) and that they've got a website (http://www.mothercitytriathlon.co.za/), but there's no other info available.

Another vote for Terry. Just paid him for my suit and can't wait to try it out at the Robben Island event. Did a test swim at the Pavilion in Sea Point and was really happy with the advice and time Terry spent with me.

See you there

Why?

Not sure where you got R880 from I see there's a mistake on the site: on the front page it says R750, but when you go to enter it says R775. So, it's R775 for the entry and R30 extra for the day license.

Wow, that truly sucks. I'm busy training for the Ironman in PE next year, so I know how much time and commitment goes into preparing for a race like that. I'd also be pretty bitter if that had happened to me. This looks more manageable, though, seeing as it's just a short course with no traffic and no real road closures.

From the race schedule it looks like there are 3 boats organized? That's kind of why I assumed the ferry trip was included. But, you know, assumption and all that.

Hmm, then I'm missing it. Are you responsible for getting there yourself? Might have to make the swim leg a bit longer if there's no space on the boat.

From what I've read, it does seem to include transport there and back.

Well, I paid my R805 and entered. Looks like fun.

As far as I can remember, that's pretty normal for Action Photo: they took 2 weeks to get the Argus photos online.

Mostly agree with the above posts: it was a nice event and the track was awesome with some really challenging sections. But: I was one of the 30-40 riders who was misdirected and spent 30 minutes asking at various farmhouses where the route was. This really put a damper on the event for me. Riding an extra 6km because of bad organisation didn't make too many people happy. For the last 4km or so the 28km & 40km routes merged, meaning that on the single track sections I was often stuck behind some very occasional weekend warriors who were struggling a lot. Lastly, apart from there being no showers there was no facility to give your bike a quick spray off at the end. Most people ended up trying to use their water bottles to spray off the worst of the mud. I enjoyed the route, but probably won't be back next year.

OK, who's on for Wednesday morning? 5:30 in front of the McDonalds in Obz. If you look out the window and it's raining, you're welcome to go, but I won't be coming with Whatever suits people best. On my own, I try to keep it above 25 - 27kph in hilly areas and a bit more over the flat stuff, but it does vary a lot. Morning rides are normally slower because I'm more careful on descents.

Eish, starting to sound like a real Cape Town thread here... No, I completely ignored rule 5 and decided that going out in pouring rain would be a bad idea I'm in the Eastern Cape for the next 2 weeks, but will PM everyone once I get back so we can go for a few rides.

Cool, anyone else want to come with?