Journosergio

ROCKET Compression Socks all the way. You'll feel the difference immediately. I often get disappointed when my rockets are still in the wash before a race and I'm forced to wear my FALKE's...

There is no specific cadence for MTB as its dependent on not only what suits you specifically, but the terrain you're on. It could fluctuate quite a lot as you're negotiating all kinds of obstacles and switching between climbs and downhills. I find that, although a higher cadence and lower power output can conserve energy (proven?), my heart rate tends to be a lot higher and I get a little out of breath as opposed to being in a slightly higher gear and cranking slower.

Doubt it would have worked with my rims - I have extra wide downhill Stans ZTR Flow EX 29er rims which most likely the tyres wouldn't have seated on properly. I asked about it while I was there and the onsite mechs confirmed it wouldn't work unfortunately. Very disappointed.

Very happy with my Rockshox Reverb dropper. 3 things could be improved/fixed: The overall weight of the post, Mine has started to feature a bit of horizontal play which is a bit annoying, and; Sometimes the hydraulics lag a bit when sending the seat back upwards. Other than that, it does exactly what it's designed for and works like a charm during races where the other XC guys are dismounting for a steep vertical descent while I just drop the seat and cruise right though.

Pretty much a given to most of us that have at least done 1 race in our lives, but am I missing that it is not properly indicated to new riders to Keep Left and Pass Right? When I was on the left, I had guys trying to squeeze between me and the pavement, really? When I was in the middle, I had guys try and squeeze between me and someone else, forcing us apart, and; When I was hitting maximum speed down the right side there were people moving horribly slow, one of which did not heed my warning and luckily I had a MTB to go off the road into the dirt and regain myself at like 50km/h... I understand that there are a lot of people doing the argus as their first race of all, but then whatever committee handles the printed information in the race packs and emails needs to put that point across. Oh - And can the repair centres please have spare 29er tyres next year? I blew my back tyre near Soetwater and they only had a mountain of 26inch MTB tyres and road tyres, none of which helped and I was sadly rendered as a DNF following some failed attempts at inserting tubes into my tubeless tyre with ruptured side wall which both blew. You would think they would have more 29er tyres in the pile lol...

Was riding a MTB. Problem is that I had Continental Sport slicks which I used on my previous Alex Rims for road but I buckled both of those due to aggressive trail riding and upgraded to Stans ZTR Flow EX 29'er rims. The geometry of the new rims are such that I broke a set of tyre levers trying to get the slicks on so decided to keep my Maxxis Crossmark LUST's on with my tubless setup instead. To counter the extra drag factor, I decided to pump the knobby tyres to 4 bars each (4.1 being MAX) and didn't account for the pressure increase when I was flying down the hot road on the stretch between muizenberg and soetwater. That extra bit of pressure obviously found a flaw in the tyre and BANG, no more race for me.

The repair center at Soetwater had piles of spare 26inch and road tyres, but not a single 29inch MTB tyre to be had. I guess it was just not meant to be lol...

So at around 60km's into the race, near to Soetwater, my rear tyre's (tubeless) sidewall exploded off the beading and after a couple of failed attempts by bike mechanics to patch me up I went home in a sweep vehicle as a DNF. A first time for me and a very sad ending to a race that's for sure. Were you also a DNF (Did Not Finish)? Tell us about it here...

I was fortunate enough to avoid any crashing and my dropper post allowed me to tackle the steep sections and downhills with speed. My personal opinion is that, after making our way all the way back to the radio masts after finishing contermanskloof, we should have been given a straight ride home following the downhill into bloemendal. All the extra ups and downs around the vineyards was a bit overkill considering the amount of climbing and work already put into the race. I think they're trying to make the route a little more "pro-friendly" lol

Last year's route was a cakewalk in comparison, even though it had like 100% rainfall at the time ha ha. This year we traversed altydgedacht and bloemendal, coming up the back of hillcrest and climbing to the radio masts. From there we did the full contermanskloof circuit, taking the downhill section first to the lower carpark and climbing around the side and making our way back to the radio masts and down and around the vineyards on the way home. Was probably more that I was unfit than anything, but had a couple of other fit friend riders doing the race too and even they struggled, with a bit of bike pushing in some areas. Apparently this year's route was rated as being harder than any single stage of the epic and had an elevation gain of 1074 metres. EDIT: Scenery from the top was definitely worth the pain though! And yeah, I had to "get in line" on some of the downhill single track unfortunately. Some of the guys in front of me were a little weary of the rocks.

Anyone else found this race a little tougher than expected? I hit my wall a bit too early and found it difficult getting back to the finish line in one piece

This coming March will be my 1 year anniversary as a non-smoker after having smoked for 11 years. No matter how fit you get, you'll never beat any non-smoker as oxygen absorption and clearing of carbon dioxide from your blood is negatively affected. I sleep much better, feel much healthier on the bike and of course don't smell like an ashtray anymore. Used to have high blood pressure as a result of smoking. My blood pressure now is around 110/70 last I checked. To all current smokers, just go cold turkey as I did. It's hard in the beginning but gets easier. Remove all things that will cause you to relapse. I stopped drinking coffee and also VERY RARELY do I drink any booze which removes any excuse I may of had for slipping a cig into my mouth.

That rock garden took no survivors ha ha. Buddy of mine took a tumble there on his second run Definitely want to give the mainline a try to prove to myself I have at least larger balls than the 10 year old that was tearing it up lol. Well Done to whoever he was, flowing at 10 is winning at 18

Nope, its simple science. Taking to account that fitness and strength are on equal levels and bikes compared are of equal weight and component quality etc.

My stepbrother bought the Merida Big Seven TFS 300 that's on as a Christmas special at Chris Willemse Cycles. A very nice looking bike although the components are not altogether amazing. For R7500, down from R10,350 it is a nice discount though. My real bro, who ALSO bought a new bike (no idea where these kids get their cash from), bought the Scott Spark 650b Dual Suspension from a Christmas Special from Cycle Labs for R13,000+- which is apparently a HUGE discount from original price and the cheapest that a brand new full suspension will go for, but that's a bit out of your budget. A very nice bike though - been eyeballing it since he took it out the box lol... I'm a big guy, 1.78m and currently 115kg (put on a lot of weight since quitting smoking nearly 1 year ago), but I ride a hardtail (Scott Scale Team 2012) and yeah would be nice to get a rear shock to absorb some of the vibration - but you only REALLY need it if you're planning to ride considerable distances in one shot. Like 100km rides. Remember full suss is heavier than hardtails and you lose power when climbing hills unless you have a rear shock remote lockout on your bike. 26 inch, 27.5 inch (650b) and 29'er? As far as I've seen there has been a major shift away from 26'ers and more towards 29ers and 650b's. Yes 26'er gives you a technical advantage on tight single tracks with narrow turns and switchbacks, but experience will let you achieve the same with the larger wheels. 29ers have a much higher rolling speed due to the wheel diameter and so you will thrash anyone on the flats or downhill during an XC race. Higher speeds with lower cadence and BPM means you can go faster for longer than the guy peddling flat-out on his 26er. 650b is the bridge between the two, so you need to decide if you want to maximise on rolling speed or get a balance between speed and easier cornering. All those things aside, rather take the time and get a bike that feels good under your size because you're the one that's going to be in the saddle and no matter if the bike is gold-plated and costs R200,000, if it feels like crap you will be put off riding it