sias

Joe-cogs - If you do the 4 man thing, see if you can do stage 4 if you are not that strong. I've played around on Google Earth and can send you the file. For a first time, the four man team will be a better bet. Pieterg - what time are you hoping for?

Rad006 - it's not 190km, it's 161km. I checked on my profile from last year and double checked Google Earth. What will make it a bit more dificult is that you have to pack your lights and food/drinks in the bacpack. I rode last year and got my camelback at checkpoint 1 and my lights at checkpoint 2. It will just take a bit more planning. Joe-cogs - It's a blast! Until you find yourself alone in the middle of the desert at 2 o'clock at night... I found the vibe very nice and the sense of accomplishment at the end is something else... If you don't want to do the whole thing solo, you and your mate can do the team thing but then you do "only" 200km, if that. If you start training hard now and do a few marathon events, you should make it...

This will be my 4th! Got the alarm set for 00:00:00 on the 16th... Will be a bit more dificult for the solo's now that we can only get to our cars on the 3rd checkpoint - 162km into the race!

Has anyone got a map of the route? They still don't have it on their site. If you have one of each of the two routes, it would be appreciated.

And now him and his family claim.... wait for it... wait for it...RACISM!!!!! http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/Athletics/Mamabolo-a-victim-of-racism-20120621

I didn't know he was such a short-****!

You could do much worse than this: http://www.autotrader.co.za/carandcommercialpricerangeszar/175-000-to-199-999/carandcommercialpricerangeszar/200-000-to-249-999/bodytype/suv/bodytype/mpv/bodytype/tourer/stock-item-id/8a70757236c75c020136c87878eb1579/advert

I dont know what they cost, but PEZ cycling had a review of the Mavic Helium bib and they were well impressed, saying that it gave much more expensive Italian brands a good snotklap. Have a read here: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=10387&status=True&catname=Tech News

The Passo Stelvio

Has anyone done the Desert Dash as well as the TB? How do they compare as far as route difficulty is concerned? The Dash is 110km longer than TB and I completed that very comfortably in 19hours23min.

Warm up very well for about 45min before the TT - you should be sweating when you get to the start line. From there it's flat taps for 20km. Don't worry about eating, you can re-swallow whatever comes up from your stomach...

Strength training will up your strength but you will also gain some muscle mass, so your power/wheight ratio won't increase drastically.

Tubeless and slime. And stay on the path and out of the bushes.

Just saw on the Desert Dash homepage that the entry fee for this year is R1750 for a solo rider! I think this is a bit high, considering that last year it was R1200. Don't know if it is worth it to travel 3000km in all. Come to think of it, I did pay R1605 for the Trans Baviaans...

Fork-it, the race is only this coming weekend...

Oh. My. Word... http://www.beeld.com/Wereld/Nuus/Vroue-maak-julself-lelik-om-MIV-te-keer-20120515

Scalpel, you can enter on the day at the venue, according to the race office.

CL for me in the road and open men for the MTB...

I'm a Nedbank client - it's fake. Scam...

Maybe you haven't smelled a dead mineworker lately? Give me a ring, I'll hook you up next time we have a fatal underground...

Had a guy disappear from beside me on Saturday due to a grass covered hole! One moment we were chatting, going about 30km/h, next moment he had torn shoulder muscles and a cracked helmet and was on his way to the emergency ward...

Then ride the new one...

Make sure you haul ass on the flat open road, so you can get to the technical section first and have enough time to dismount and walk. By doing this, you will keep the other guys behind you as there is not enough space for them to pass. As you get to the flatter parts, you can mount again and go flat out till the next technical bit. Do this every time and the other guys will thank you at the end because you gave them ample opportunity to rest and enjoy the view... Lekker ry!

If he was black, we'll soon read about it in the papers. If he was white, who gives a toss...

I knock off from work at three, so I will continue with the 45km MTB ride back home 3/4 times a week and then the 3-4 hour rides on Saturdays and Sundays.