Bub Marley

Just finished cleaning my bike now. Everything seems okay. Will probably need a second wash as well as there still mud stuck in some areas but I couldn’t be bothered anymore after 2 hours cleaning. Bearings will probably need replacing but will probably do it after the Boland Gravel monster race as that’s the last off road before focus on the DC.

Can I also just say that I am now over this Cape Town winter. I get that the rain was needed and everything but Im done with this now. Can summer just please come already.

Difficult to actually give a race report but I’ll try. I mean the conditions were pretty horrible. I rocked up at the start venue and the car guard tells me to park in this one spot. I look at the spot and tell him, if i park there i ain’t getting out. He tells me not to worry, they have a tractor there to pull any cars out that stuck in the mud. I thought that was pretty hilarious. That tractor was really put to work though. Literally pulling so many cars out all day. Anyway, as for the race. As bad as the conditions were, the entire course was rideable. Yes there was loads of mud but it definitely wasn’t that unbound level of mud. I think it was more just the accumulation of mud pretty much the entire route. There was not much dry sections anywhere bar the few km’s of tar. Bear in mind I rode a 29er hardtail, so maybe it was different for others but i could ride through/dodge everything mud related. The only 2 times I dismounted was for 2 streams which we had to cross. I did see plenty of people dismount though but for me personally it was all rideable. I was hesitant last night to ride it, but I’m glad I did. The first 60km I thoroughly enjoyed despite the mud but I went into the red the last 15 or so km’s and then it was pretty miserable and by then I was just fed up with the mud. I think the accumalation of constant mud took its toll today. My heart rate did not want to drop at all for some reason. I did have the flu earlier in the week so could be that but I also think we just had to work harder today through everything. There were no free miles at all today and because the ground was always wet, you’re constantly pushing harder than what you normally would do on dry gravel where the bike just rolls faster. Those last 15km were torture. Just constant rollers but I suppose that’s kinda expected in that region.

Im pretty much fed up with this rains now if I’m honest. I’m also in 2 minds now about this and it’s probably still gonna rain more this afternoon.

This tour will give us a pretty good idea as to how close Remco is to Vingegaard. Also curious to see how Jumbo plays this. On paper Vingegaard is by far the strongest rider out there, but Roglic will want to win as well. Should be nice and exciting. Pity Pogi wont be there but I guess he needs the rest. I’m sure he’ll throw everything into IlLombardia now to make it 3 on the bounce.

I got one email from them where they confirmed payment and details for registration etc. Im sure well get another email this week with start time details etc. Looks like its going to be a muddy one with the recent rainfalls.

Why would anyone suggest you stay away from that bike?

If you’re looking for racing, fast rolling tyres, I’ve had the Pirelli Scorpion’s RC Lite and they’ve been fantastic. Really fast rolling with enough grip. They might wear faster than your usual tyres though.

Send me a PM. I can arrange something for you if you’re interested. I am a Financial Advisor.

I don’t agree with changing rules last minute but I also want to see the best competing with the best. They need to figure out a better way to resolve a situation like this going forward. Moving on from that, I gotta say Pinarello really smashed it out of the park. What a way to announce yourself to the mtb world.

Make sure you keep all your invoices for all your upgrades. At the end of the day, the onus is on you to prove that your bike is worth that amount.

People will hit on these bikes and Pinarello in general always stating they’re way overpriced and all that jazz. However you can’t deny they have proper racing pedigree. They win bucketloads of races. To win with Pidcock on debut with the full sus earlier and now again on debut with the hardtail is pretty amazing. They definitely have a knack for identifying the correct talent and team.

How was the customs process with ordering from overseas? And did you ship via DHL?

I’ll be honest with you, I find it very difficult to trust someone’s knowledge. Part of the problem is, I consider myself extremely knowledgeable with most cycling related stuff. I’m very stubborn and I believe that I have my fit dialled in 100% after years of riding. I don’t suffer any pain anywhere so that helps as well. So in my opinion, I wouldn’t waste my money on something that I don’t believe is going to make much if not any difference at all. However that Selle Italia machine at Cyclelab intrigues me. It’s made me consider maybe trying it out because at least this way it cuts out any human element. However I still haven’t done it yet. Maybe i will though.

That obligatory Chappies pic.

They recently upgraded the game board. If you want the guaranteed coffee then you must click for instant reward. Otherwise wait for the game board where you can either more or slightly less. The upgraded system does allow you to earn more miles based on your card spend or exercise points.

Anyone know if they are going to update the Team Vitality calendar for the last quarter. just comparing it to last year, there’s hardly any races qualifying for cash back. In 2022, so many more races qualified for cash back.

I love refreshing my bar tape. Gives your bike a nice fresh look so I don’t mind spending a bit. Currently using supacaz hologram. It’s a bit bling but really pops in the light.

Pidcock focusing on XC.

Yeah. So my question was basically how do i use Buffalo if i want to ship something from Aliexpress?

I would definitely go bibs over traditional shorts.

How does this actually work? If you buy on the shein website does it automatically ship via Buffalo? And what about Aliexpress?

When I lived overseas in the UAE for 5 years, they had an option where you could add insurance to the entry fee if the event got cancelled for a very small extra cost. I’m surprised we dont have an option like this here by us.

She won because she was clearly the strongest. My previous comments still stand though. SDWorks tactics were shocking throughout the tour but at the end of the day the strongest rider won. If they’d worked for her from stage 1, she’d probably have a 5 min lead she’s that strong. Congrats to Ash. She stuck it out with the big guns today. Was hoping she would have a bit of a kick at the end but alas still a great achievement. One massive difference between the men’s and women’s races are the strength of the teams. Bar SD works, i feel there is a big drop off from the team leader and the rest of the team. You don’t really have much leadouts or trains at all and that’s on sprint stages and mountain climbs. The men’s GC leaders have far stronger support which i feel makes a huge difference.

And just as I posted this, this morning. SDWorks yet again show just how incompetent they are. This team is going to cost Vollering this tour. I can already see how this is going to play out. They’re clearly a team of individuals who all want their own things. How no one waited for Vollering is beyond me and she actually got lucky that the penalty was only 20 seconds. It’s comical tactics at this point. Reusser attacks up the road then all of a sudden just stops working with Movistar. Kopecky way to far out and they lose another stage. It’s hilarious 😂