Ozzie NL

Sure but that is something you know before you start the race and will have to reconcile yourself with as the faster rider (that you will be riding well below your own pace) ... it should not cause any hold ups for other riders as in this scenario you will be riding O batch pace

Given people are seeded in batches based on their race results, there are not many "being held up" issues at Epic... Exception can be Prologue depending on how accurate your estimated time was. There will always be the issue of some people climbing faster whilst others descend faster ... I cannot see a way around that

I rode amongst the back markers and did not encounter a water shortage

I do not NEED to do anything🤪 All can use their own definition but to me this is a team event and if the team did not make it, you're out. Finish and klaar!

Agreed ... if they would have stuck to the all who made it to WP3 rule the drop out rate would have spiked

Yes, team drop out rate According to me the main difference from 2022 onwards is the percentage of single track as opposed to gravel road riding ... that also gels with less distance but more elevation OK fire up the flame throwers as to why I an wrong

For what it's worth I use drop out rate (defined as 1 - (No of teams finishing stage 7/teams starting prologue) as proxy for how hard the edition is, see graph below

Skok en ry daai fiets mater

Echo Pieter's comments. There are several group rides over the weekend catering for different levels as well as two weekday rides which are typically a bit faster. Weekend rides start from Virgin Active Honeydew and weekday rides from Honeydew Shell garage (aka HQ)

Basically all smart trainers cater for your described needs. I have a Kickr v4 and it integrates really nicely with Zwift as well ... which makes that 50 min at a said power output a lot more bearable.... but am sure other trainers have similarly smooth interfaces

That's a 7% annual price increase. Does not seem absurd?

You'll love Girona ... I thought it was awesome as a town and I did not even ride but did have coffee at La Fabrica

Think Dexter is referring to the route during the race... i.e. cannot really choose to start earlier ... have to earn that ride through better seeding

Stans for me. Note on their race sealant .. it works so well that you have to break the bead to get in the tire. Through the valve core it simply blocks the hole

No idea whether these are any good. I also use the Spez inners which come in three colour coded models, shallow medium and high

If you're up for a longer ride, you can park at Van Gaalen

Clavicle when I ran out of skills on single track Wrist when I got attacked by an opfok bossie

Read somewhere that she is looking at doing gravel and not MTB

The pathway to retirement, whether at 65 or in the 30s after a career in sports, is best handled with care and diligence. Agreed, best to start easing into it from the age of 40 i say

Spot on ...... this rig does the job and you are happy.... bugger the rest You will know when the time comes to upgrade

Bought a Spez there. No issues. As always when buying 2nd hand... just make sure you know what a fair price is before going in

This is very interesting and I am keen to watch his dot. Am I correct that I am looking out for Henk Gouws?

You beat me to it... spot on I think

Nope, Johnny is the guys crouching in front of the rainbow jersey. Kluge is my guess

See my 2c below. Enjoy the riding Bibs, cycling shorts, mtb shorts, jerseys, special socks? Where do you guys recommend we start? To keep this entry an enjoyable hobby, I want us to be as comfortable as possible from the start. If we're going to need it soon, might as well buy it now. Start with bibs. Main benefit of proper jersey is back pockets but as long as you do not go out for longer than 3 - 4 h you can solve the storage in other ways Start with bibs, cycle shorts, cycle shorts with exercise shorts over them? What's the most comfy for longer distance mountain biking? Normal pants (I already know this out)? Start out with loose technical shirts, tight shirts, cotton shirts? Are all bibs the same? All technical shirts the same? 🙈 In terms of value for money I would recommend Monton bibs. If you are in JHB, you can cruise past Northcliff cycles, if elsewhere order on line. I would not go too cheap on this as crappy bibs can cause havoc on your @ss. Is one bib enough? They are quite pricey. We have a holiday coming up where we can basically cycle every day. Cycle, handwash/rinse and use again the next day? How hard wearing are these bibs? Hard to research... Use Mr Price cycle shorts for the 30-40min rides, use the bibs for the hour+ rides? I would recommend getting two each as the shammys take quite long to dry and you do not want to ride on a wet one (makes skin soft and thus can more easily result in saddle sores). Do not use a cheaper one for shorter rides as 30 min on a crap shammy will still result in bum issues Both of use are starting out with flat pedals. Are tekkies okay for a start? Where do we go from there? Tekkies are fine. Can then progress to SPD cleats once comfortable on the bike