PeterM

My bike shop of choice. Have been with them for 4 or 5 years and they looked after me and my bike well. I do 70% of my cycling puchases with them. The workshop and prices are very good.

Does anyone have an extra pair of fresh legs?!? I have used-up my pair and i am on my spare pair already!?!

Argus 2012: 1 x small bottle of something low GI while I wait at the start 1 x bottle of water with a few drops of lemon juice for taste 1 x bottle of Heed 2 x 32GI chews (during the race) 2 x GU’s espresso (1 x towards the end of the race, 1 x spare) 1 x slap of Rennies 1 x slow-release(!) multi vitamin stuck into my bib-shorts-legs to be taken 30min into the race In a bag, left shirt pocked – 1 spare tube, bomb, small pump, levers In a zip bag, middle shirt pocked – keys, cell, money Right shirt pocket – food Rubbish – in left shirt pocked No computer, clock or Garmin – race/cycle “clean” In the car – extra water food coffee etc After the race – a small packed of Future Life mixed with water/juice as a recovery shake. Night before – pack everything and lay-out all my clothing and stuff; chip on my top bar, entry card – stabled to my shirt. Kids and better-half sleeping over at friends so that I can have some quite time with my bike and kit.

Only if they give it to you willingly

I also take it, normaly before going to sleep. Works well. it helps with recovery and healing. i don't always take it. It seems to work well if one takes it for at least 10 days or so. In some countries (i know of Germany and Japan) they use it 5 days before and after a surgical operation as it helps with the healing.

Cape Weather Forecast = 1) there will be weather, and 2) the Forecast will be variable and unpredictable. (agree re SW - pls no SW'er)

What works for me: Future Life with cooked oats (50/50) and natural yoghurt and water (no fresh milk). plus some nuts/berries/cinnamon After a race a small packed of Future Life mixed with water or juice - that works really well. During the race - 32GI chews, and 2 GUs for the last 25km.

That changes the picture somehow - aim for a sub 5h and just have fun!!! Do a few stops, chat to the cheerleaders, and just take-in the vibe. See it as a checking-out funride for your 2013 sub 4h race.

Oh yes it is very much possible if you are fit and alert. My brother-in-law Pete did it back in 2008 (a good weather race). It was his first Argus and he started right at the back and finished 3h32 later. He said there were quite a few people doing a fast race and it was easy to form a fast bunch. They were MTB’ers doing a road race, those who did not enter a road race during the past year or two, plus quite a few better seeded guys who helped their mates or girlfriends, etc. He said that it seemed as if they overtook about 5 000 other cyclists, which was hectic but fun!

100% my experience as well! Always stop at Leeu Gamka - NB plus the fuel is a few cents cheaper than in BW!!!

A sub 3 from H is possible but unlikely. But if you want to make it happen, it might work best to form a breakaway group of over 15 cyclist and properly work together. Catch one or two groups, and then sit in that front group and keep your strength. You will need it for later. Most sub 3 hours dreams are destroyed at Chappies and Suikerbosie where one normally loses too much time. If after Suikerbosie your avrg is 37km/h than you can make it happen. Good Luck and enjoy this crazy cycling carnival which is also our SA cycling benchmark!

Hahaha - no it isn't. Legs are okay but did not do enough training. Talking myself down and aiming to exceed my "talk"

Wannabe - i am in H but rather stay away from me as i am not in my best form. So if you see me during the race - or even worse, my back wheel, you know that you are in trouble and will not get your sub 3h15

Edman - it was on the covering letter of the Cycle Tour magazine which i received by post today. The letter is the Expo entry letter.

Did the race number sequencing change for the Argus 2012 – does anyone now how it works now? The numeric part of the Argus race number was, a kind of linear sequence – from #1 to OH42371 (etc).Has that changed? Why I am asking is that in 2010 my race number was R9542, in 2011 my race number was M7921 (7h04) and now in 2012 it is H8246 (6h48). Previously it seemed that M7921 implied that I was the 7921st starter. But now in 2012 with my H8246 it seemed to have been changed?!? Or have they made the start groups/pens massively large and I am the 8246th starter, despite starting in H? All this is not terribly important, but I was just curious. (sorry, no conspiracy)

Hi Dale I just did my 1st DC - problem was that i was only asked +-40 hours before the race to join. So I was over-recovered and under-trained! It went well; it is a great race!! We finished with all 12 starters - for the last 80km we had to push the one guy and a 2nd guy started cramping 20km before the finish; 3rd guy started cramping at the finish, but we got them all to the finish!! The team is key - so when you do it, rather go with a smart and steady social team then with "Team GoGoGo" because it will get ugly and they can turn into "Team Standstill". I ate low GI up to km: 175. And (quoting RodneyD): ". . . it's all in the mind . . . until you start to cramp . . . and then it is all in the legs. . ." Dale - do it soon but make sure you have fun! It is a very special event!

L-Glutamine is good for recovery. It is also very good for healing – in quite a few countries they give a patient a +-3 day pre-op and post-op treatment of L-Glutamine to help with the healing process (Japan, Germany, etc). When I need something to heal in my body I also take it before I go to sleep to help the healing process while I sleep. I also take some before a race.

+1 fully agree. Also stay at the back and do more or less my own thing. Like the vibe. Aim to do a good but specific training session; sometimes to do a double session, to sweat a lot, and only consume water.

Ahhh seeding season again! I think that there are two components to it: Firstly, the latest seeding run. And then, secondly, the yearly readjustment (if so required) of the seeding parameters, such as the seeding index, size of each index group for this season, etc. So, maybe, indexes might change in size and/or spread/value; or the required league index might (!) be adjusted, or, or …. And then they will redo the seeding run to give us our new season’s seeding. So we must wait till the end of the month (and I am not telling which month) and see where we stand. I am not a fan of PPA’s seeding process. But I decided to not to let it get to me – at least I’ll try. Cycling and its pleasures come first, the rest is just garnish. Personally, my cycling is improving, but I am still in the same seeding group. Correction! It’s not seeding season; it is our training season!

Okay – normally those things are a total con!!! But at my cycling club there are two guys (father & son) who bought some top end bikes from somewhere in Asia (I think it was Indonesia). I know those two fairly well (not a story of – a cousins friend’s ex-girlfriend’s boss told them …). They got totally scammed and lost money. But wait there is more – then they decided to do it again but took a different approach. And it worked! Now they have two top end bikes with top components. The bikes are total eye-candy and cycling-porn!!!! Personally - i think you should stay away from this offer.

+1

The Tour d' Afrique website has tons of info. Cane Creek Thudbuster seat post is strogly recommended. No hydraulics, no carbon, and just keep it simple. Get a good comfy seat. 3 sets of tires – (road marathon Schwalbe, a MTB one, and a in-between type of tire). Plenty of tire sealant and puncture fixing stuff. Wow – what an adventure (the ultra cycling, not so much the Africa “safari” trip) (PS you will lose 10-20kg)

Many, many moons ago I worked for a national shoe manufacture (logistics manager). Regarding your fit and shoe size – here in SA we normally use the EU/UK shoe sizes or the USA sizing. They differ: a USA size 9 is +- a size 8 UK. There are many different sizing methods. But have a look at the shoe/sole/instep and see if you can find the “scientific” size = a 8 UK is a size 262 (by measurement). That way you will always have your correct size. All shoes (lasts) have a specific fit (slim, wide, extra wide, etc). Here in SA we do not show which fit each shoe has – and that really is stupid as all shoes have a specific fit. What often happens, imported shoes get “dumped” into the SA market and sometimes they have an odd fit, but it is not shown which fit the shoe has. So the customer just thinks that they don’t fit well, while it actually might have been the wrong fit for that customer. In the EU, USA etc, the customer knows their shoe size plus their fit. It works really well, but the shops need to stock and order more carefully. I hope that made some sense. It might also be that you just have a weird toe

Had the same problem a year ago. Foe Fighter - you must phone (not email) Racetec, explain it to them (be nice but firm), and follow up with them. There is a good chance that they will fix it. (my time was off by 17min, was late for my start group, and non of my friends believed me. . .)

It is their/everyone’s prerogative to move back a group or more