slabs

Perfect! I have always heard that you must ride yourself fit into the race and that guys that go in over trained tend to do well the first few days, but then bomb out towards the latter parts of the race. For me it was just the question how much is too much!

But what do you do in those weeks leading up to the race? Just do some longish rides at low heart rate or do you still add one or two big climbs or endurance rides?

I am not sure how long before a stage race like Joberg2C you should start tapering. Training should be done by the middle of April, but what do you do in those last 2 weeks before the race???

Best thing was the uphills. You felt like a taxi going through everyone, specially knowing your gear ratios are better and the bike is bigger!

A lot of these guys also did not have the comfort of the bunch and rode the race basically on their own. makes an average of 30km/h plus quite an achievement.

Saw some guys flying, but 3.04 without slicks sounds dicey....

What was the fastest time on a mountain bike with knobblies????

Would be interesting to see how many people actually buy these pics. I will not be one of them.... Old adage of sell it cheaper and get higher volumes or overprice and sell nothing. Question is to get the right price where enough people will be interested. Am also sure that most of us that did the Grape Escape do a lot of other races as well, so just buying a pic as memory does not feature high on my list!

He is not doing to badly on the girl friend side either...

Hi, what do people on the hub think of this bike??? Comes with XT components, tubeless tires, etc..all for less than R20K... See people have also done the Epic on these bikes.

From order mine took less than a month. From the day it was posted in Hong Kong - 8 working days to arrive. Have ordered twice and in both cases took around that time. Just had to pay extra R100 VAT when arrived here, but still a lot cheaper. Looks exactly like magiclights and works a treat!

Which would you go for Sensor 1.0 or Teocali Super (which has better travel and higher spec I think)...

Again, my body should be fine. Ass - no comment. I heard the guy that did the Epic with Breyen Paulse last year threw out all the weight he could (even had v-brakes). Theory - he knew that he would be in the saddle for a very long time and would rather have a light bike that could go uphill better than a heavier one... Also if your front suspension is set-up well there is a lot less strain on your body. In other words spend as much as you can on the front and then worry about the rest?

Here is another question? Does duel suspension really outweigh hardtails as a buy? Just looking at weight difference (unless you have plenty $) and maintenance, hardtails become a lot more atrractive...A good duel weighs about 13kg vs 10kg for hardtail. That 3 kg's over distance can make a big difference. Also a good setup on your front shocks should be sufficient if you are a middle of the pack rider. Riding in bad weather or dust also means lot less things can go rong on your hardtail. Anyone disagree?

I need to make a decision on one of these 3 bikes: GT Sensor 1.0 vs GT Marathon (Carbon) vs Specialized Stumpjumper. Am looking at reliable and comfortable bike that can handle long distance events such as Trans Baviaans, but will also be good for the shorter distance MTB races. The GT Sensor is not carbon, but has great specs and apparantly a very good ride. Prices all range in the mid R20K.

Thanks Cassie. Just for you I have changed it to the Cape AND as an old die heart province supporter have updated my profile and allegiance!

Hi, any suggestions on clubs to join in this area?

Very short sighted. Those 5000 that did not enter would have payed more than R50 each on post race food and drinks, not alone other products they may have bought. That is what many people (including rugby) are missing these days. There is profit in numbers and making the quick buck will in the long term always hurt you.

Just realised they call this a CORPORATE challenge so that you can sucker your company to pay for it and then to screw SARS with the expense write off...

Now we're talking value for money!

If you thought the rugby test ticket prices are insane, have a look at this MTB event in Muldersdrift that is being run in September. R500 per person for a 45km race??? Maybe the meal is going to be served by topless FHM babes or am I just crazy? The Kloofzicht Corporate MTB Challenge Cost to Enter ? The cost is R2000 per team of 4 The entry fee includes: Entry into the race <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> A fantastic and fun event Goodie bag for all riders with race T-Shirt Post race lunch at Kloofzicht Hotel with select liquid refreshments for participants, courtesy of Nando's, our co-sponsor Nutrition at watering stops, such as coke, water, Powerade and snacks. (Riders are expected to bring their own personal preferences.) Bike wash Secure parking Free entries into the ?kiddies? race ? each entrant will receive a kiddies ?goodie? bag Lunch vouchers for partners will be available at a nominal R100 per person Live entertainment

FYI tickets can still be bought for Saturday on Computicket. These are apparently ones that were returned by BIL agencies that could not sell their quota. As was the case last week and is the case next week - tickets are still available. These prices are insane, we hear they even blame the recession and IPL for the lack of intererest. The reason: they did not know about it when the prices were fixed.... Maybe one day our administrators will wake up that it is full stadiums that increase advertising revenue and ultimately revenue and not insane ticket pricing policies. Maybe one must ask why Mallet was fired for hinting that prices of R300 was too much. That was not too long ago.

There is a report on News24 with a pic on this incident: http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/c15a813a65cc4b0c8d978edf26cceccd/23-06-2009%2008-06/Cyclist_shot_with_air_rifle What next for cyclists???

Strange how we are creatures of habit - collected my race number for Magalies Monster and all I got was the number... no goodie bag. BUT thinking of it both the medals I get and the goodie bags get discarded quite quickly and thats it! So unless there is something to market, there might not be much point in getting anything but the satisfaction of doing the race... Saying that people like to get things for 'free' and ask anyone completing their first race whether they want a medal and they will say YES! As for the Magalies, I actually was also one of the lucky ones to get a T-shirt. Another one to add to all the running t-shirts and golf shirts you get. Hard to please everyone...