Bub Marley

Almeida looked like he was really hurting. Could be just the way he rides but i guess we’ll see how it plays out. I think the time trial being uphill, gives him much more of a chance that if it was just a standard uphill. G looks like he’s in amazing shape. If I’m a betting man, I’m probably leaning to G for the overall.

Unfortunately not haha. I felt a bit sorry for him at the same time being extremely pissed off. He first announced the free entries after around an 30 min delay i think. Then they said it wont be longer than a couple more minutes wait. Another hour passed by and the poor oke was so embarrassed. He then announced the free beers and then literally 30 seconds later the ambulance rocks up. Shame man.

As someone that did the 50miler, I can confirm that person who announced free entries and free beer was definitely the race organiser. I would also like to see if they are going to honour that free entry because that’s a lot of dough to throw away.

Perhaps it was different then in the 160km race where you have much stronger cyclists around you and obviously with a higher skill level. In the 50 miler though, i thought my main real disadvantage was gearing where I would spin out. Would I have been faster though on a gravel bike? I think that’s probably a better question and also a difficult one to answer given that I’ve never ridden one so actually have no idea how it even rides. I can say though in the 50 miler the split was definitely more 50/50 i would say in terms of gravel vs mountain bikes. So perhaps the trend is leaning towards gravel but for now, it’s definitely with your stronger riders.

I would say your biggest risk is actually the post office. Unfortunately the courier charge is so much more expensive which is a real pity so we’re almost forced to use the post office and I’m not sure I would trust them to deliver.

So I did my first gravel race this weekend on my hardtail. Honestly didn’t feel that much slower than the guys on pure gravel bikes. Unless the terrain is super smooth I don’t think there’s that much in it. On the tar, I definitely felt slower but the moment I tucked in a bit on the Farr bar it minimised the disadvantage. This disadvantage can also be reduced by fitting less aggressive tyres. I also felt the last stretch of the race with more narrower paths and more unevenness, I was way faster. I could literally fly through those sections compared to some people on drop bars. I have to say the Farr aero bolt on bars actually helped a bit. You can’t use it for very long at a time but if the terrain is nice it helps a lot just with a different hand position. And it’s definitely faster even if it’s not very long stints on it. I immediately dropped anyone on my tail the moment I tucked in. Compared to SQ innerbarends. I haven’t used this one but I think with those you can definitely use it much more because your hand is right over the brakes so you kinda in a drop par position. But the Farr aero is definitely faster just because you’re more tucked in. I think either one helps and would recommend it for anyone on a mtb doing gravel races.

Race report as requested: Positives: An absolutely fantastic route. Gravel bike heaven I have to say even if I was not on a gravel bike. I did the 50 miler and the whole route was gravel bike friendly not much corrugations at all tbh and there was nice stretches of really smooth hard pack gravel. The turnout for this event was crazy. 1000 entries for the very first event is fantastic so kudos to all involved. Negatives: I’m not exactly sure what happened but honestly to delay a start for 1h40m was so frustrating. They kept talking about waiting for an ambulance. Did they not know you need an ambulance for CSA event? And how were the 100 milers allowed to start? Maybe someone else can provide more clarity? Other than that I have no complaints. I’m glad the route made up for that delay because my word there were angry people. I think this also translates into that fast start. Seems like everyone just needed to release that pent up frustration. I had a great race but I do think the delay messed with my nutrition. I should have eaten while waiting but also didn’t want to eat my food up and then suffer on the ride. Next year I will hopefully do the full 100 miler.

I opted for the Farr aero bolt on. Went for a small tester today and I’m quite happy with it. Will definitely come handy on long flat sections. Is ridiculously expensive for such a small part but what can you do.

Yellow

I normally run them around 22psi.

Trying to figure out why they would do this? Surely less stages, over a weekend will equal more demand. No chance I can take 5 days off work.

Any suggestions wrt tyre pressure on a hardtail XC bike? Should I pump them up a bit harder vs regular XC use?

This has basically spoilt the whole Giro for me now. I’m interested in whether all those riders are actually sick or if they have been sent home just because they’re positive. I also think the teams are worried about spreading so it could be that they’re positive but not sick but they dont want to risk it spreading further. However, in saying that surely if they’re on the same team, the likelihood of everyone contracting is pretty high. Either way its just a mess and Covid does its best to mess everything up yet again. I hope this means Remco does the Tour now.

Looks like perfect weather on Saturday.

I entered the 50 miler. Don’t think my fitness is up to scratch for 100 miles anyway. At 87km this will be the longest off road race I’d have done. So a good start and then hopefully build for a proper 100 miler later in the year.

This looks like an awesome event. Will maybe try and do it next year I think. Gonna need a proper GPS it seems and dont have the cash for this now. Also waiting for the new garmins.

Dogma looks way better imo. Although I am biased to Pina. This design looks a bit bland to me.

I got to say Im still confused about this whole gravel bike phenomena. The thing now is to get a gravel bike and then fit the widest tyres possible. Some bikes even allow you to fit a 650 wheel with even wider tyres. Surely going this route kinda defeats the whole purpose of a gravel bike. The only benefit i can actually see is having drop handlebars over flats and even this limits your handling if the terrain is just a bit sketchy. How much faster would a gravel bike be compared to an XC hardtail on a straight, flat road? Does this benefit actually outweigh all the other advantages you’d get with a hardtail? I’ve never ridden a gravel bike before so genuinely curious.

Last I checked, today was Wednesday. Cmon guys. You should know better and leave threads like this for Froiday please.

I was listening to the Lanterne Rouge podcast where they discussed the incident in detail. To summarise, SD Works ****** up massively with tactics. Firstly, not calling Reusser back early to pace Vollering back before they actually hit the climb. What actually happened was by the time Reusser joined them they immediately hit the climb and Vollering obviously dropped Reusser. Then Vollering had to wait for Reusser at the top so she could be paced back. They also mentioned that Vollering waited for one of her teammates as well on the side of the road wrt the peebreak instead of carrying on. So basically questionable tactics from SD Works and you cannot blame AVV for this. They also had more than enough time to get back on to the group. The fact that the deficit never really went under a min meant the chase was pretty pathetic.

Thanks. I see melovelo has them as well. Much cheaper as well compared to Farr although with the latter you’re probably more aero as your hands are further inwards.

Where can I buy this?

I’m also thinking of doing this race and will do it on a hardtail c XC bike. Mainly because I cannot afford a gravel bike nor do I have the space for it so for me the XC hardtail allows me to do both gravel and trails. im thinking of getting one of those Farr clip on aero bars for gravel events. Will allow me to get slightly more aero on the long Flat district roads. Any thoughts on this?

You do you, mate. I was merely pointing out that Meerendal is full of hikers and if you can’t accept that you’re likely to encounter them there then best to use another trail. Majority of people are okay with it and have no issues.