GaryvdM

From the horse's mouth: http://www.cyclingsa.com/member.aspx

They don't let you do that any more. Most races have this in the conditions:

L = Long route. Used for races where there are different distance to chose from. Alphabet soup (AL, BL, CL etc.) is the open seeded category. Entry requires CSA Membership. Elites, Woman's Elites, and the different age categories (vets and the younger categories) are all licences categories. Entry requires a CSA Racing Licence, and your seeding index must be less than 20. If your seeding index is not less than 20, you are wasting you money on the licence. (Also, I think that Elites have some other requirements, like I think you have to be a member of a team. I'm not sure of the details though.)

I was watching the wind, and this was happening in head wind. Maybe they where miss reading it, or maybe I was miss reading it. I was staying on the left of the bunch when this was happening. I just get nervous when I see other people on the wrong side of the line. I would understand if it actually caused a split. That would make it a tactic. But it did not do anything to the size of the bunch.

I achieved my goal of staying with the A bunch till 50km (I got drop on the climb at 56km.) Finished in 2:46. One thing that was happening in the A bunch that really don't get; the riders at the front move over to the right, until they are on the white line. The result is 10 riders back where the bunch becomes 3 or 4 abreast, riders start riding on the wrong side of the white line. Why do they do this?

Results are up.

Maybe print out your receipt and the website where it said there number pickup on the day. Have that and your cell phone with the number sms with you, so that if a start marshal gets stroppy with you, you have the evidence to back you up with you.

According to the guy handing out the numbers: 3x101km open seeded groups, ie AL, BL, CL

Yes, but as far as I am aware, training with low glycogen/carbohydrate won't increase you bodies ability to oxidize FFA any more than training with high glycogen/carbohydrate.

Here is the video on youtube. (I battled to play it on the DailyMail site.)

Don't stress. I rode in AL for the first time in then KDorp classic 3 weeks ago. Like you, I was also nervous. You would not have the seeding if you were not ready for it.

Ok, Expect to see me wheelsucking you then....

http://results.racetec.co.za/findme.aspx?ss=1 - Just ignore the PPA branding. I'm quite certain that they use the same data/formulas for non PPA races.

What is your seeding index? I'm in AL too. (My current seeding index: 28) Any know how to see how many groups there are?

Yhea, why the hell is he wearing a baseball cap? It has to be a cycling cap!

Here is some reading on the matter: http://www.gssiweb.org/Article/sse-59-fat-metabolism-during-exercise-new-concepts

Funny, we don't have this problem in JHB. I get waves back from about 80% of the riders I wave hello to.

I hope my boss does not read this....

I guess so. Rather deal with the sunburn issue during training, than in the middle of the tour.

Why would he use that jersey when training in SA? I'm sure he know about the sun here. Why not use one of their white jerseys? I understand the thin jerseys when you are racing, marginal gains and all, but when you are training, it does not make sense.

Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplements will reduce doms by 30% (source). My own anecdotal evidence: I have found that in addition to reducing doms, BCAA supplements make me much less hungry after a ride.

Almost everywhere that cycle helmets have been promoted, cycle use has fallen. Where promotion has been strong, or the use of helmets made mandatory and the law enforced, falls in cycle use have often been substantial. http://cyclehelmets.org/1020.html There is good evidence that the most important factor in enhancing safety for an individual when cycling in traffic is the number of other people who cycle. When cycle use doubles, the risk of a motorist hitting a cyclist goes down by about a third. http://cyclehelmets.org/1186.html So if helmet promotion/law has the effect of causing cycling to fall, this has the unintended effect of decreasing the safety of cyclists on the road. I really don't want to get into a debate about this on TheHub right now. (I know from experience how quickly the quality of the debate decreases.) This will be my last post to this topic. If you really want to convince me otherwise, pm me and we can talk about it in person.

I know that helmets are not optional (they are required by law when riding on a public road in South Africa.) However, I believe this law is bad, and helmets should be optional. If you would like to know my reasons: please go and do some reading here: http://cyclehelmets.org/.

What type of riders were they? People training for sports, or commuters?

One of the things I have heard pros say is have you race meal 3 hours before the start. (here is one: http://cyclingtips.com.au/2009/08/what-should-i-eat-before-a-race/) Interesting how many of you use Future Life.