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More and more effort, for less and less reward. Let me see, walk less than 1km to the PnP, or drive 30km to the Checkers so I can maybe save a few cents but only if I spend enough. The only thing that still seems worth much, for now, is using the Nike discount combined with Sportmans' Yellow Ticket sale. Assuming they work for you - I got used to them after initial arch discomfort, my wife went back to NB.

I would love to do this one year. I did the last stage of the Tour of Good Hope in 2020, finishing in 40+ degree heat up to the Taal Monument - it was "fun". 5 days of getting smashed should be good prep for the CTCT, right? 🤣

Number 28 this year. Theoretically I should be fit enough for a decent time, but with the lack of races who knows. The Herald this coming Sunday should shed some light (or induce panic training). Time to start holding thumbs and toes for non-bad weather, and no cancellations for weather or other reasons.

I'm in the opposite boat, I use TrainerRoad, and have not been a Zwift subscriber in years. Luckily I don't mind the blue bars while training 😅 TrainerRoad on its own is almost R430 per month (I should really look at a yearly subscription!), and I guess Zwift is only a little bit less? For me it would not be worth it to add Zwift, just to use Zwift as the workout player basically. I do have a TrainingPeaks Virtual subscription, although it is much cheaper than the other two - annual subscription with a Black Friday discount. I use this for some nice races, or if I feel like just doing my own thing rather than a specific workout. Nothing against Zwift, in terms of course variety and the social aspect TPV doesn't come close. Just not worth what I would get out of it.

I got the Garmin RT515 for my wife on Takealot in December last year for R3k on special; otherwise I'd have gone for the Magene as well.

I am so many generations behind with consoles... just not worth the cost for how often I get to play. PS3 and Wii U gathering dust in the living room. I wouldn't mind something like the ROG Ally. With a docking station, I could use it in place of the current PC in the exercise room (for Rouvy, TrainingPeaks Virtual, Netflix/music), and of course to play games that don't need the more powerful GPU in my desktop PC.

Definitely, and I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything. I just think even a list of the events most likely to be in the series would help those that might be interested in the series to plan their year a bit better; and if you can get one or two discounted early entry fees it might sway you to add another race or two in the series to your plan. I'm just dipping my toe in the gravel thing this year, with only the Prince George planned. So the series isn't a deciding factor. Depending on how it goes I might consider more next year, or sell the gravel bike 🤣

Which is way too late to take advantage of any entry fee discounts. They really should coordinate with the event organisers, so there is at least a pretty solid idea of which events will form part of the series, at the time the early bird specials are available.

I see the Prince George normal entry fee is not much less. I entered with the Black Friday deal, a big discount! At these full-price entry fees, one will have to be rather picky, and be on the lookout for race reports from previous years, especially if you have to add accommodation as well. At least for Ronde van Swartberg and Prince George I could just drive through very very early the morning of the event. The entry fee for Around The Pot seems quite cheap, relatively speaking?

Based on this site: https://www.gear-calculator.com I think the current gear setup should actually work out better than I thought it might! And compared to my MTB up some steep climb at a low cadence:

Have you tried with the Compatibility Mode on/off? https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/31340775240717-TrainingPeaks-Virtual-Trainer-Feel-Virtual-Gearing

Mine is finally finished, a few minor things left - saddle height is a bit low, and I need to put on the bottle cages, probably some other bits and bobs as needed. I put on L-twoo R9 11spd road shifters and front derailleur, and gr9 gravel rear derailleur. With Onirii cable/hydraulic brake calipers. Partly to keep cost down, but also to see what these Chinese groupsets are like. Shimano non-series compact crank, and Deore 11spd 11-42 cassette. Only one short ride done, so far it works OK. Shifting doesn't feel as distinct as with the Ultegra on my road bike, sometimes I am not sure I pushed the shift levers far enough, other times the click is more solid. Frameset, handlebars, stem, crankset, wheels, tyres and saddle all courtesy of Bikehub 😁

Similar here. When they changed things a few years ago it became near impossible for us to get to diamond. We both make our exercise goals easily. But since no amount of exercising will cure my wife's autoimmune disease, she doesn't get enough points with the health check. Unsurprisingly this is not very motivating to try and get back to diamond, so now it is what it is. No doubt it will eventually become near impossible to even get to gold, unless you happen to already be in perfect health AND can afford to stash huge sums in the Discovery Banking accounts.

You will need to record your ride on your Garmin watch/head unit. It will create a "duplicate" in your Garmin Connect, but you could just delete it once it has synced to Discovery.

Looks like it