Bub Marley

Had a feeling they going to use that cliffhanger trail this year.

You say this but Jonas and Primoz dis not seem overly enthusiastic at the finish line.

Sunny weather?? It was literally pouring this morning so I do not trust these forecasts at all. I’m planning for a wet and muddy race.

Does anyone have info on the 4 Water points? Where are they located and at what point in the race? Will there be food etc or just water? I’ve emailed the organizers and no response. Stuff like this really annoys me as we are 2 days out and you’d think the organizers would realize that we would need to plan how to fuel properly.

You can give handouts for stage wins. You can’t gift someone a grand tour win. I understand he’s a teammate who’s helped them over the years but we’re talking about a winning a grand tour. Both Roglic and Vingegaard will be thinking about their legacy here. For me the winner of a grand tour should be the strongest rider over three weeks. You have to earn that and at the moment I think it’s clear that both of them are stronger than Kuss. As much as I want Kuss to win and I will be rooting for him, he needs to prove that he’s the best by staying with the other 2 when they attack the next mountain.

Ive actually had experience with accidents with both MIPS and non MIPS helmets. The non MIPS helmet was actually a cairbull brand I had. Got hit by a car and was left concussed on the side of the road. Had a slight bruise on my head but the helmet did it’s job. Also had an accident with an Oakley MIPS helmet. This was a much lighter crash but the helmet was destroyed again. My skull seem to have survived this crash also. Now I’m not really sure how much difference MIPS technology makes but I don’t think it’s the be all and end all if the Helmet doesn’t have it in. I also feel like of the technology made that much of a difference it would be in every helmet.

Looks like a slight improvement on the forecast. No rain on race day but some rain on the Friday and Saturday leading up to it. Fingers crossed its minimal.

Mine was like that. The first time I had to force it and then it started spinning smoothly. It seems to be okay now. That initial turn still feels slightly stiff but after the first revolution, it seems to spin freely. Just out of interest, which bearings did you need to replace?

I thought about servicing the bike but then I figured I’d just do it after this race as this is my last off-road race for a while. If I had just spent R4k on my bike i would definitely not risk a mud fest again. Im hoping the weather changes though and we get some relief. The forecast for the weekend seemed better this morning compared to yesterday.

Any helmet has to pass certain safety standards. A R400 helmet is right at the bottom end, probably a makro helmet. Those helmets are obviously designed for different things but it’s still needs to meet certain safety standard. I was actually referring to R 1500 helmet vs R6000 helmet. You’re paying for aerodynamics and weight here.

I’m in the same boat but I’ve already paid for my entry. And I’m not going to just throw a way R1000. Not even sure why the entry is so expensive but it is what it is. If it’s going to rain all week, I wonder if the organisers might postpone the event. It seems like loads of events are getting postponed. I think the farms where all the start/finish is held will probably also have a say. That farm was pretty much destroyed after Old Hermon. Not sure these venues will want that to happen. But I suppose we’ll see how it plays out during the course of the week.

Buying an expensive helmet doesn’t actually make you safer. You’re paying more money for performance benefit i.e weight and aerodynamics. From a safety perspective though, there isn’t any difference as all helmets have to pass certain safety tests. That crash replacement policy is great though. I made use of it with Oakley and got a nice discount on a new helmet.

The terrain you do will determine how comfortable the ride will be. I have a hardtail and i use it for everything. On rockier trails, you will be sore afterwards i can tell you that. But for most of the trails here, it’s more than sifficient. It’s also great for use in gravel races. So if you’re looking to do more chilled out riding, you cant go wrong.

Im gonna do the road race instead. Been a while since we’ve had a proper road event so looking forward to this one.

Id love to be in the Jumbo team bus right now just to hear how they play this. Kuss is leading but he clearly has 2 stronger riders behind him. What’s the tactics now? Are the likes of Primoz and Jonas just going to allow Kuss to take a GC win when they are stronger? They probably want someone like Ayuso to attack sometime just to give a reason to shut it down and then hope Kuss can’t follow. Gonna be real fascinating to see how this plays out.

Any early weather predictions yet? Really not lus for another mudfest. Feels like every event I’ve done this year has been mud mud mud. Not sure my drivetrain can handle another one 🤦🏻‍♂️

You’ll be covered up to your insured amount. So if you adjusted your value to compensate for the upgrades and you proof of purchase for these parts then it should be fine. Otherwise they’ll pay you what you’re insured for.

Yeah I was just comparing it to road position tbh. I suppose with the hoods further forward you’re automatically increasing reach so perhaps not necessary tbh. I suppose or comes down to how you want to be set up? If you have an aggressive road position, and want to replicate this or if you want a more relaxed/endurance position for a gravel bike.

I’d have kept the suspension fork and rather swapped the bars for drop handle bars. This way you can run nice and wide tires and have the benefit of being more aero in position. Surely you would need to increase your stem length given how upright you normally sit on a Mtb? This way you are a bit more stretched out and more aero. Unless I have it all wrong?

This seems like a good starting point. If you’re very strong then they’ll probably be too slow for you though. Will you have a car? If you’re mobile then I would suggest you park at the Virgin Active in Greenpoint and ride from there. You’ll see plenty of cyclists on the road but I can send you a few routes if need be.

Where in Cape Town will you be based? And what dates will you be here?

I also checked the weather and it was rain for just Sunday but I see that’s changed now. The official reason they gave was they wanted it to be a camping experience and the weather would not allow this to happen. I do think they jumped the gun on the announcement as the weather actually looks good for the weekend. I also think having it the same weekend as Race to the Sea & Vines to Views was not the smartest idea so that could be the reason for the change.

Wow. You must really love these bibs to still bother repairing them given they’re 7 years old.

Event postpone till December.

Right, so anyone else doing this event? Hopefully the weather is decent in three weeks time 🤞