Jewbacca

Super Mads!!!! I see Caleb Ewan has withdrawn. It really is difficult to look past one of the 'big 4' but my gut tells me it's going to be someone we don't expect. Would have been a good course for Valverde too.

2nd bike should always be a road bike.... Doing a quick 50km on the road at decent clicks is the business and it is generally super cheap to maintain.

Western Cape Search and Rescue/MR has already conducted more rescues this year than any other and it's only the start of August. I'm not judging them, but people do arrive wholly unprepared and ill equipped. Yes, you can 'see' civilization, but it's a long way to the tar road if you're dehydrated, hypothermic, hypoglycemic or a combination of all of the above with a twisted/sprained/broken leg element. But ja, the trail running scene is just that unfortunately, a scene. It's name dropping, influencing selfies and 'sponsored athletes' who can't actually string together 50km but have killer socials. Yoh I'm old and grumpy. 😝

One of the things a bigger bike does is create more speed without effort. Whether or not you are comfortable at that speed is the next question. I'd try rent a bigger bike or test ride a few before making any decisions. Personally, I don't like going faster. It puts me in situations I don't want to be in and multiplies the consequences when you get it wrong. Going fast enough to be comfortable but not always on the limit is a very happy place for me. If you want to push the limits, go fasterer and fasterer then yes, a longer travel bike will also invariably come with a longer wheelbase, slacker HA, more upright riding position, lower BB and all the things that allow and make riding at speed 'more comfortable'.... Until you run out of skill Test ride, then make a call on the pro's and cons. Sometimes a longer, bigger bike feels dead and junk on our trails. It needs steep, lively trails to really come alive, which in general, we simply don't have. I see bikes a bit like cars, own one for the riding you do 95% of the time. Too many people drive their big 4x4s and Bakkies around town for the 'one time' they 'might' need it every year. But if you're going to shred the gnar envelope and smash PRs and road gaps then hulk smash that.

I'd have agreed 10 years ago.... Now trail running is just as stuck up and pretentious as anything. All the kit, all the advice, all the excuses with very little to back it up. I was lectured the other day by someone I didn't know on how to train for an ultra and what I was doing was obviously wrong. 'Have you even run an ultra?' I was asked scornfully Adventure Racing is where the real vibe is. Where it's always been

I read this morning that he has no injuries from the crash..... The Visa thing does seem ridiculous though. It looks like some african teams in the past have been denied and given up even applying or going to events in the UK. Such a sham

If I recall, Pidcock doesn't even drink Coffee, never mind beers or booze.... He is from the North, he drinks Tea! For me it is probably a combination of his association with Patric Lafevre, his whining and whinging and blaming race organisers and other racers a few times after getting dropped or blowing up and a general 'I'm better than you' attitude he seems to portray. Whether that is true or not I have no idea. Maybe the media drives it and he is actually a super chilled, rad dude who just believes in his talent and everything him and Pat have put into creating him.

I mean, my gutter mind says her Taco was probably as contaminated as her blood

Maybe it will pay off and he will be the... erm.... Victor?

It's why a lot of doping positives are for masking agents and not PEDs. Guys and girls will do anything to hide their dishonesty

I hope Super Mads or some other relatively unfavored human wins. I'm not sure why but Remco does not leave me hoping he smashes. I really don't know why. I'd be stoked with Jalla too, but my bet/pick is an unmarked 'random'

Yoh... you were close by and didn't even let me know.... 🥹

Tramadol is a pretty specific medication. I mean, it's a last resort pain killer/opiate. You don't get that by accident and I'm pretty sure any team doctor knows not to keep it, never mind administer it.

Exactly! Instead of banging on about what the racing groups feature, aim at providing the masses the right information and product to get them there to hack around behind the racing groups. A basic info sheet and some sort of assurances that you will be safe and looked after will go a huge way in getting people to events.

Ah ok... But I am still hazy on the who. The people CSA/Events need to get involved won't be interested or good enough to go to Inter provincials or SA's. I think the barrier for most average/hacker cyclists and getting them at road races is perception and assistance. Most road events market prizes or winning times etc instead of explaining what the cut offs are, slow rider procedure and assistance as well as on route support stations I was always super interested in doing the WC league races, but was scared of getting dropped and then being left out in the middle of nowhere with no support. The whole focus of the offer needs to change in order to get more people involved. Good riders who simply don't know how it works and the information isn't available or that level of support doesn't exist. If CSA wants more members, more revenue and more people at bike races, they need to offer things and market things at a different crowd entirely.

hahahaha kids! I'm also loath to drag my kid and wife around the country doing stuff I want to do that really isn't that cool for them. I have entered Velddrif 222 Velddrif again this year which I'm looking forward to, but the wife has a cross fit competition on the same weekend. Juggling that involves Gran and whether she has plans too! I'm also happy to pay 'normal' prices for events. I do so few these days that it doesn't bother me. I mean, the Velddrif 222 Velddrif costs R222.... I will spend more than that at the Engine one stop on sweeties and a pie

The thing is, the money isn't in the Elites. I'm also just going to suggest that almost nobody racing CSA Elite is making a career out of cycling. The Elite group will always be there. They exist to race bikes, so realistically they are the group you need to focus on the least. The issue is sustainability. In order to keep the lights on, Events and the governing body need more bums in seats. They need to appeal to the opposite of the Elites to up the numbers and finance the top end side of racing you're after. Those at the top end already exist, you're not suddenly going to have more top end cyclists. What you need is more middle and bottom end hackers paying the bills. CSA and Event organisers need to appeal to a wider audience and make things accessible and less daunting for average people. Elites will piggy back off the financial gains

Same... I don't know what I'm doing next weekend, nevermind the 2nd weekend next May! Early bird entries usually pass me by before I even know the event is happening.

Yeah. I agree. After getting 2nd at worlds last year, I reckon she is chomping at the bit to get there and hulk smash Her 2022 and 2023 form has her right at the tippy top of the woman's world tour. I see her as a female WvA

Aspen and Tourmalet are not steep climbs though. I think Aspen is avg 6.5 and Tourmalet 7 or 7.5 ish AVV weighs 63kg. So on less than very steep climbs on a less than 90km stage, I'd be very surprised if someone who has won a monument, 2 spring classics, was top 10 in 6 of the 7 big races she rode early season, won both national titles (road and ITT) as well as winning a bunch of smaller races, wasn't able to give it a massive smash. I guess I'm just saying that as someone with that many wins, current national title holder and a marked, top woman's world tour rider, I'd suggest she gets tested a LOT. Like a lot a lot

Then this isn't for you? CSA isn't going to create new races as the ones on the calendar currently aren't getting enough bums in seats. This is a very simple way of making the current races 'more appealing' and try to get people who may have done one or two, to do three or four. This means more people at the races (hopefully), which is better for the organisers and cycling. It's a start, not a finished product, but if nobody buys in, it won't get off the ground. If it doesn't appeal to you, then that's cool, but there is definitely merit and appeal to linking already existing races into a series. Some people will see the appeal and hopefully get to an extra race or two. The events still exist as a stand alone entity too, so if you are a 1 race a year person, then it's business as usual. I don't work for CSA and I don't even do road races. But I do see the appeal of creating a series out of existing races and how it might attract more people/outliers. As a very avid bike rider, my main issue with road races is the competitive nature of it's portrayal. Much like Epic, the Elites actually need the buffalo backmarkers to finance the sport. So CSA needs to find a way to make road riding more inclusive and less intimidating. The elites/top guys gatekeeping don't help

Just playing the devil, but how is her performance less believable than others? She is an extraordinary TT rider and rides exceptionally well. Weighing 66kg she isn't exactly 'massive' and her form over the last 2 years has been phenomenal. I'd have been more surprised had she NOT been up there trying to defend her GC position. She was always going to be flying in the ITT.

I made one that flat packs away and has an attachment for wheels, so it goes under a bed when not in use and the axle slides through one end for wheels when leisure travelling. My next project is going to be a flight regulation size carbon fibre one. Laminate it over some insulation foam, pop it off and reinforce it with alu strips where the hinges and clasps etc, add straps and wheel and boom! Light weight and practical

Yeah. It sucks. I'm sorry. I just say it may be best to wait. Cancellations and things gone bad for an event can be devastating. If they don't roll entries/offer discounts etc for next year, it can quite often spell the end of an event after everyone feels they didn't do what they could have. Especially a relatively new event like this. I'm sure they will work through the initial shock and then make some educated decisions on what is left and what they want out of the future. I hope it goes ahead and you manage to get there, but I know those roads well and some of them flood pretty easily in weather like this. The roads on either side of the Pont on the Van As land are often completely submerged after rains like this. So the event gets tough for everyone and access for emergencies gets impossible. This is the real event killer. If someone has a heart attack or goes hypothermic and no one can get to them, it kills them and the event

It is the standard way of saying 'the age you turn this year'... So if you are 14 now but will be 15 by the end of the year, you are eligible for the 60km (seems young). Most age group sport is worked out this way. if you are 39 turning 40 in 2023 you are a Vet. Not the animal Dr kind