Helpmytrap

Thank you. I've got a Camelbak with water, bottles with some High 5 4:1 stuff, in my pockets I have packed sandwich bags with cashews and droewors as well as one or two jelly babies and some gels for in case. At the fuel stops where my support vehicle will be I will have some boiled potatoes with lots of salt and some chicken drumsticks which are also quite salted (salt is to balance out the sugary drinks so that I don't get nauseous from them.) As for HR zones, I'm riding with a power meter and will try my best to keep it below 75% of FTP which is 220 watts and lower for me. I'll definitely pick it up where it is mostly flat/down hill which would be from about 200km onwards. We start with a climb to the highest road in Namibia, and there after we will have a few sharp rolling hills and most likely a head/cross wind most of the way to the coast.

Off topic... Today is D day, I start the Namib Desert Dash at 3pm. Rather nervous as I imagine it being very long 16-17hrs in the saddle. Although it is only 369km from Windhoek to Swakopmund after all.

Congrats to Wyatt and Carpet, you guys were doing a really solid ride together. It's a pity that you had to pull out, you had racked up a serious amount of laps till that point. All in all, what a blast! But as for that MC, why was he still there this year?? That is our camp site in the centre of the photo.

Well done to everyone.

It was a nice picture though, happy Friday to some.

I agree with DJR. Things tend to happen in threes, so your luck has definitely turned. First sign thereof is your daughter being elected prefect. Heal up soon.

Real WCS flat bars look like this, http://ritcheylogic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/6/image/640x480/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/w/c/wcs-flat-wet-black-bar.jpg http://ritcheylogic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/6/image/640x480/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/w/c/wcs-carbon-5-degree-flat-ud-bar.jpg http://ritcheylogic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/6/image/640x480/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/w/c/wcs-carbon-flat-10-degree-gloss-ud-bar.jpg edit: as per their website.

Slight hijack, where can one find these specific ones?

And here is a link to the gallery so you can see how the crank fits on. /0/"]http://motopeds.com/#prettyPhoto[gallery_recent_2]/0/

Other than "put it all back together", no. In the Hope Technologies YouTube video, the guy simply slides the insert back in without any effort at all. He also just slid it out to begin with, after sliding the olive down I had to cut the hose down layer by layer in order to get the insert out because if I just rotated and pulled, the inner hose pulled with the insert.

I had no issue with the olive, what I landed up doing was prying it open and sliding it down the non-braided hose to the point where I wanted to cut. I then used it as a guide/surface the keep the blade against while cutting, it worked out quite well that way. It was the brass insert that I had trouble with (below). http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mgqssDEnFmTC_35OhyvgX1A.jpg I'll try bleeding them again today, my time has been limited over the last few days.

While I understand what you are saying, I don't think any of us on this thread (I could be wrong) go out to eat 1500kCal just because our Garmin/Polar says that is how much we burnt. From the start it has been "do not count calories", "eat when hungry" and "stop when full." These 3 simple steps make it very easy to get by. Take your theory and consider how many guys on here say that they don't have "recovery meals" because they are not hungry after a ride/race. While your theory my not apply to the LCHF people, it may ring very true for the weekend warrior type of people that cycle for fun and aren't worried about what they eat because "I will cycle it off tomorrow." Not trying to be personal, I just don't know how to type that it comes out calm and collected.

24.

It could be so many things: loose QR skewers, creaking seat post/chain ring bolts/headset bolts/BB. Best advice would be to tighten or grease the components listed above one by one to see if you can find the culprit. edit: sp

Okay, then do the same thing with it in the small blade and the 36T. If it catches the inside plate of the FD, then either adjust the other limit screw and/or decrease the tension in the cable (by rotating the barrel adjuster at the shifter, clockwise. Anti-clockwise will increase the tension.) There should be a 1mm gap between the chain and FD side plate. Once you have done this for both the small blade + 36T and the big blade + 11T, put it into the middle ring and see if it still catches the FD. (If this is the case.) Since you say that it is at the 28-32-36 end of the cassette, I highly doubt it would be the lock ring then. But if you still want to check it, you'll need a tool like in the image below in order to tighten the lock ring (which is black in the image.) http://www.singletracks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/lockring-tool1.jpg

I just checked my bike which is Italian thread, both left and right sides tighten clockwise. Edited in light of the info posted below.

When you put it in the big blade and the 11T at the back, does the chain sit up against the FD? It is possible that the front derailleur is not shifting far enough over when engaging the big blade, this could either be the limit screw that needs adjusting and/or the tension in the FD cable needs to be increased. Else is the cassette lock ring tight?

As it is my first, what all does one pack for the event as I imagine it being a fairly long list?

I was riding a 38T with a 11-34T for a week as I had cable tied my FD shifter to the bar while I was awaiting the arrival of the correct matchmakers for my new brakes (only had the one new brake on at the time.) Although I got by in the flat area that is Pretoria, it definitely is not a go-anywhere gear ratio.

Front feels good, I've done a few rides with it. I've only done one ride now with the rear brake, so I can't yet say as the braking I did was just to get the pads bedded in. I do need to bleed the rear brake though as they are spongy, air probably got in when I shortened the hose. It was a real mission shortening the hose, the insert refused to slip back in and I could only manage to get it 2/3 of the way in.

The matchmakers arrived today and my bike is finally up and running again.

Off topic. Which saddle replaced the 2010 Spez Phenom SL, the Phenom Expert?

Surely if you tighten the thru-axel properly it will sort out the issue?

Out of interest, what is your view on cabling? Like in the picture above, you can see that it is top top quality and obviously very expensive. But at what point does the salesman's talk become smoke and mirrors? It obviously goes hand in hand with your equipment (referring to your source, amplifiers and speakers), so let's assume you have THE best. Can one physically hear the difference between different (quality) cabling or does one simply think that they can hear "more" because they dropped a ludicrous amount of money and the brain is "filling in some gaps" to try and justify itself? One obviously draws a line where say R150/m (as an example) for cable is the point at which one can no longer justify the quality vs price. edit: this was a case of verbal diarrhoea, sorry.

Quite a close call!