Jewbacca

Not trying to start anything, but how is gravel any more accessible than road to the same parents? Just trying to understand where you are coming from.

I think it's a joke

The Sky/Ineos success years have been unravelling hard. It's no surprise. You can also look at the successes and form of various riders from the team over that era who left and have never been able to come close to replicating the same performance. To be fair though, TESTOgel does sound like something you would take to help you get a boner..............

Are you allowed to ride curly bars at the event? I know some MTB races have it written in the rules that only MTB/straight bars are allowed. Just something to consider. In my youth, I always advocated under biking as being RAD! My rigid SS did all the major stage races, RASA, big and small 1 day races and even raced some Enduro's. In my 40s I would advocate comfort and less suffering (says the guy who rides a BMX everywhere). It definitely Can be done, but whether the race allows it is your first hurdle. After that it's just a case of how much cement tea you drink or how much you enjoy being an idiot. Me? I'm just an idiot

Dude needed to lose some water weight fast.......... hahahaha Sky/Ineos had their house of cards, Tue's, asthma meds and other dodgy stuff come crashing down. I wonder if we are to see a similar thing here. One thing is for sure, in a sport like cycling, 9 times out of 10, where there is smoke, there is fire. Astana are still a thing after all their super didgy past, so I doubt it will amount to much in the big picture. I see Vino even won a gold at the World Champs last week! I am still entertained, the cheating and the chatter just adds to the 'Days of our Lives' saga, especially the reactions of those who somehow get emotionally involved

It looks rad. How much do you want for it?

This conversation plays out in ALL cycling disciplines.... The mid pack Enduro Bros all want MORE GNAR at the races and some ded. The top 10 are the same whether it's 'too easy' or 'too gnar' The solid mid pack guys remain solid mid pack and those who go on the wrong bike for fun land up walking sections anyway Courses, conditions and preferences aside, you can eliminate risk by putting your ego aside and going slower. If you're uncomfortable going slower, go even slower. Finishing in 4hrs 25 or 4hrs 40 isn't going to be the difference between beating Matt Beers and busting into the top 10. Let's be fair, in most races, in most disciplines, most of us hacking away at our keyboards here aren't troubling the scorers there

I'd regard the atlantic seaboard as safe and less busy! hahaha You always have the option of getting on the brake levers, so just treat it as a road bike with optional arm rests until you get confident. There are no closed off roads or quiet areas in Cape Town unfortunately. The stretch from Fish Hoek to Misty Cliffs and back is about as flat/rolling and quiet you will get. Is it safe? Dunno, but I traverse those roads all the time. I guess it's safe until it isn't.

Looking forward to that picture!

Are you a part of any of the 'teams' like EMBARK, ATC, Multisport etc? I'm sure they have their routes, but in reality I see those dudes with starships for handlebars tapping out a rhythm all over the place. Flat/rolling roads are obviously the best, so I used to do Muizenberg to Cape Point, round the back to Misty cliffs and back (I found that replicated the PE conditions pretty accurately) I wasn't part of any team/club, but spent enough time stretched over the TT bike Good luck, Tri is fun. It just got a hugely expensive and very repetitive for me. There are only so many times I can pay to ride/run the same routes before they get pretty boring.....

More importantly, when does seeding come out so I can complain about it, what will the weather be doing and most importantly, will action Action Photo SA be there so I can decline buying the pictures?!

This! I have done the same and concur 100%

I think it's rad... Some years various champs suits sprinters, some years climbers, some years classics specialists etc In MTB some years the routes are technical, other years less so. Everyone races the same route, everyone there takes the same risks. I'm not in the 'make it as hard as you can' camp just for the sake of it, but in reality one has to race what is in front of them. What suits you might not suit others, so there is always someone who will feel the course isn't what they wanted. But then everyone knows this. Sometimes it is just forgotten when things don't go your way. Looking at the results for the Elite men it looks as though most of the strong men managed to get where they needed to get in an order resembling a reasonable predicted outcome

After her performance at Femmes Tour apparently her form was 'questionable' and 'unbelievable' and definitely doping as per some here on BikeHub.... Those doubting her must surely be blown away by that. She is quite something to watch. Power, tenacity, aware and just absolutely unmatched today What a season. 2 of 3 Monuments, Green and 2nd overall at The Femmes Tour, a few Rainbow jerseys.... That is a Lotte of achievements in one season

By this I'd say Alan hasn't had a good night sleep the night before an XCO race for a few years....... He has spent the last two seasons in the front group until one or two laps to go consistently. I'm not being negative, just an observation. Racing has been fantastic though... Really well put together WCs Really looking forward to the Lady's tomorrow

Well he managed to watch the short track with his DSTV and Dial up so it's not all bad!

I think what we need to remember is that outside of some parts of Europe, cycling isn't actually very popular. Having been to a number of Olympics/Common wealth games etc, the cycling events really don't draw much of a crowd, even compared to random sports like Archery and Hand ball. WE love cycling, but the general population don't. I'd think most find cyclists annoying. So I'm not at all surprised the XCM has no coverage, as it is a globally 'unpopular' event and setting up camera and broadcast infrastructure is expensive. Especially for an event that has a tiny following. The quality of the fields showed how little the top Pro's consider XCM, so if we translate that into watching fans, it's probably on South Africans and a tiny handful of others who are even interested. I don't see a cycling world championship pulling massive overseas crowds and tourists when hosted in far away places like SA, Aus, NZ, Asia or any of the Americas.

Follow the amazing exploits of Nicky Booyens, one of, if not THE most accomplished Ultra Ultra Ultra athlete in SA.... She wears them

I can't remember... Let me have a look. Maybe drop me a PM to remind me

Anal bleeding from bike riding is rad! Some people did it on Mountain bikes with full on pannier bags and stuff last year. It took them until after dark!

I have entered. I'm sure I will be seeded in the snail group off at 2am or whatever, so see some of you briefly when you come zooming past me

Super Mads was cooked... He did SO much work keeping the race together in the early/mid laps and then went with every move later on. He over did it a bit I think and the sheer pace the top 3 put out later in the race buried him That was such a fun, amazingly exciting bike race to watch. I was hooked

For all the negativity, this race has been and promises to continue to be absolutely brilliant. As far as entertainment value, this is top of the pops

I Don't think a full loop is really viable. I can imagine it will be more a case of linking the Front/Signal hill/Deere Park with Tokai/Silvermine and everything in between. I can't imagine they will throw them over Chappies/15 plus km of tar road in one go. But I will wait and see. Often the speculation on things like that is completely different to the final product, so I'm happy to forget about it for a few years and re look at it when it happens

I thought you meant the race/group scene. I love trail running. I still do it most days. I just don't go near many races or groups but occasionally run into people I know in their 'squads'. But I find riding/running the same. I love the dudes I ride with, just like I love the people I choose to run with. But neither of those groups represent the 'it' crowd of either You still need to invite me for a run!