GaryvdM

On the topic of how long it took to get the test result to DI: I don't think that it has much bearing on his innocence/guilt, but I do think it is very unfair on DI, because: 1.) Due to the timing, he does not get to ride the TdF regardless of whether he is innocent or not. 2.) There might be facts that he has forgotten due to the delay that might be important to proving his innocence. What is your source for this?

He explains why it has taken 9 days (23 June -> 2 July) from when Daryl was informed to when it was made public. He fails to explain why it took so long from when the test was done (6 Feb) to when Daryl was informed (23 June.)

I just noticed MC's twitter account and hub account have both been deleted. Anyone know if this is recent or if it happened a while ago? https://twitter.com/michellecound/

Long, but interesting read. Thanks for sharing Thug.

Well, the point of my post was you to encourage you to go checkout the clubs yourself. I ride with Northcliff on a Saturday (warning they only have 1 group that avgs 30km) and I ride with Cresta Wheelers on a Sunday. Both are less than 5kms from my house.

Something I did at the beginning of this year is I went and did try-out rides at most of the clubs in my area, which was Cyclelab Fourways, Club 100, Northcliff cycles, Cresta Wheelers, and Complete Cyclist Bryanston. I would highly recommend doing this. The factor that affected my choice the most was the travel distance to the start. You probably want some thing that is less than 10km so that you can ride to the start (packing the bike into the car becomes a schlep.) All the clubs I road with are sociable on rides, i.e. if say hello, a conversation will be struck up.

What's heaver, a ton of lead, or a ton of feathers?

Prev years: Start elevation: 1540m Finish elevation: 1454m Difference: 86m 2014: Start elevation: 1420m Finish Elevation: 1390m Difference: 30m So yes, there is less descending due to the difference in start finish elevations. But the change is small compared to the increase of assent/decent with in the route.

So I got a sub 3 last year on much less than 6-8hr/week training. Yet there are riders in my club who do much more training than that, training that as far as I can tell is good quality, and yet they are happy to just get a sub 4. We all have different starting points, and there is a limit to how much training can make us faster... (I do agree about the bike.)

That's all correct. I did a bit of time on the front of the bunch that day which was completely unnecessary...

If some one fails to get a sub 3, assuming the cause is poor quality training is foolish. There are so many different factors involved, like say natural talent....

On this topic.. My goal for 94.7 this year is 2:40. My current seeding index as per http://results.racetec.co.za/findme.aspx?ss=1 is 19.82. Should I work on improving this, or do you think it is sufficient?

I'm making a video like I did for Argus, and since there are no street view images in Steyn City, I took a drive out there with a dash board camera. I spoke to the Steyn City COO, Mr Gary Lees. He gave no reasons, but I was not given access. Based on this interaction, I would phone them first.

Good idea. 4-Ways mall is 6.9km, Monty casino is 8.2 km. I'm thinking I'll park at Epson Downs. That's 9.7km. (Since we starting with a uphill, I think a good warm up is necessary...)

Tanya Harford said that she has guarantees that the work to make it dual carrage will be complete by CC Sunday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C0AyiMtSKI

Looking on Google earth, I see that there is a underpass where the route crosses William Nicol/R511. (a good thing for traffic....) (Blue line is the route.) What the start line currently looks like: In case this worries you, Tanya Harford said in a interview, she has assurances from the engineers it will all be finished by Cycle Challenge Sunday...

@Underachiever: I never met you. What kit were you wearing?

I found that ride tough. It felt like alot of climbing. How strong was that guy on the old Avalanche. That just shows it's really not about the bike. Well done to all that rode.

If you skip the Boschkop short cut, and skip the loop, it comes to 204km

Classism !!!

Ok, Then the route sheet is wrong. A - Should have a additional TR here B - Going straight back to pro cycles. No loop. I'll ask Eddy on Sunday. See you there.

I'm looking at the route sheet, and it's a little different to the strava route posted. http://goo.gl/maps/HN7Vp The loop in Benoni is only done at the start, and not at the finish. Rather, coming back from Dusville, we skip the Boschkop short cut, and take a longer route back to the R549.

Ok, I owe you an apology. I did read misread you, and I apologize for my ad hominem attack of reading skills. I was having a **** day. I always try keep my discussions civil and objective, but I let slip here. I would like to come back to you on some points, and back up mine with data, but I think it best I do it tomorrow. Like I said, having a **** day... Edit: Aggh the hub is censoring my language. To put in to other words, I'm having a fecal matter day...

Also glade you are ok. I know how you feel. This makes me very angry.

@V12man: Can I just point out: in your line of work (which I understand to be some position in a ER room, please correct if wrong,) you get to see a large percentage of people who would have benefited, or who did benefit from wearing a helmet, like the boy you just told us about. Do you ever consider, when treating a middle aged person for a heart attack, the possibility that might not have been there were not for helmet promotion convincing him/her that cycling is dangerous, and put them off it. (Then consider the majority of people who would have benefited from cycling, who don't visit you, but go straight to the morgue.)