Cocaine

You cant ride anything deeper then a 404 on the front wheel in a road race (UCI regulations)... I think you can race a 808 on the back though... I wouldn't reallly want to use 808s in a road race anyway... rather get a set of 404s they good all round wheels and are managable in a cross wind...

I feel your pain... spelling was never my strong sute... hehe...

Specialized have a stock shortage in RSA at the moment... basically cause the supplier overseas has failed to meet deadlines and has basically botched up the order... very unfortunate cause they have some amazing equipment... Expect stock levels to rise again near the end of Feb... maybe before if we lucky...

Be grateful... hardware problems are simple to fix... I'm busy playing (and I use that word lightly) with the video cards memory to try and optimise the rendering of images in our software... and I'm going to go insane!!!

Okay, this is kind of cool... try this out: Paste the following script into your address bar(Make sure you have some web site open when you do it... ie. The Hub ): javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5; DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++}setInterval('A()',5); void (O); Hit Enter and check out what happens... Okay, I know its pretty lame but us programmers have to keep ourselves entertained somehow...

Since everyone is talking about the local teams, this is what the Acsis-UCT team looks like next year: Clyde Mallon Will Robinson Ian McClarty Matt Eager Lance Muller Gavin Rossouw Chris Vancoulie Dean Hopf

My lowest is 38.... but its usually between 42 and 46... At the moment its around 45, interested to see how low it drops once I finnish my base and get some decent recovery.

I am not disagreeing... I am simply saying that if you say that cyclists will get DQ'd when they cross the white line then the rule must be inforced. By that I don't mean once the situation is out of control I mean from the beginning. Do you really believe that the entire Elite bunch would have been riding in the yellow lane on the right of the road if the comm had given the bunch a warning the first time we crossed that line on bottleray road. The comm could have controlled the situation by enforcing the rule early before it got out of hand. Of course the riders are to blame, we should know better then to ride on the right hand side of the road. However when you are racing (and I mean racing, not funriding) you tend to race aggresively and look to get an advantage on the riders behind you... so pushing the rules and limits is all part of the race... so if you know that the comm isn't enforcing the rules then you are less inclined to obey them. That is just human nature. If the riders know that the rules are going to be enforced consistently then they will obey them, which is precisely why we haven't had this problem in the leagues this year. I mean lets get real, we spent most of bottleray road spread across the entire width of the road (approx. 15kms) then some of the groups road on the right up helshoogte and then we spent 10kms riding in the yellow lane on the right of the road with all the traffic continuing as usual on our left. Only then did a comm come up next to the bunch and give us a warning. Does it sound to you like they were enforcing the rule properly??? Trust me I didn't want to be riding into the oncoming traffic! But if I have to choose between dodging cars and getting dropped I'll dodge cars. As far as I can tell that is the general consensus for 99% of the guys in the bunch.

Yeah, I clipped 2 of those bloody road signs, one on the right hand side of my bar! All good fun! This was probably the most dangerous race I have ever done. The guttering on right hand side was super dangerous! As far as I am concerned that is the organisers fault. Had the comm given us a warning the first time we strayed over the white line the group would have known its limits and ridden on the left... but we were allowed to move over the white line in the first couple kms and we just kept drifting further and further across, until eventually it was completely out of hand. We never had this problem in league races because we knew that we dare not cross that line. By enforcing the rule early in the race the race comm could have avoided a potentially disasterous situation before it got out of hand. As for the roadworks, that was just ridiculous... I don't know how many riders I saw hit signs, and lost count of the cyclists who went farming off the side of the road trying to avoid them. The road signs aside the flipping stones were another story... Surely the organisers have a responsability to make sure that the road is safe and obstacle free. Quite frankly I expect more from a race that charges a similar entry fee to that of the Argus and 94.7.

butafly, I think you are missing the point completely! Why should a sponsor only sponsor teams in JHB? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Sponsorship needs to exist at all levels in order for a sport to develop and prosper. That is how a sport grows, its a basic principle of developing riders through the ranks. If there are no sponsorships at the club level in the western cape then less riders will move up through the ranks and graduate to racing in JHB and Europe. I have been involved in finding sponsors for UCT for the past couple years. I can tell you that there are a hell of a lot of good reasons that a sponsor wants to sponsor a team racing in the western cape. Abvest has moved to JHB and we therefore needed to find a new sponsor for next year. All the feedback from Abvest over the past 2 years has been very positive, and I'm sure if not for them relocating to JHB they would have been onboard next year. Luckily for us we have found a great new sponsor for next year who is very enthusiatic and both UCT cycling and our new sponsor will benefit from this relationship. The point is simply that companies want to sponsor riders in the western cape, and further more sponsorship is very necessary for our sport to develop. Instead of telling sponsors to only sponsor in JHB butafly perhaps you should better use your time supporting the sponsors!

Howcome? Will they still be racing in summer league or does there sponsorship end at the end of 2006?

I ride for Abvest-UCT.

Thats why we've booked 2 nights accomodation... so we can have a celebration party afterwards or to drown our sorrows Either way we party after

Yeah, I have never done a DC for fun... This year will be my third DC in a row and every year I have done it, its been in a racing team... its all good though

How many times do I have to tell you... NO!!!

I have no idea what to expect. I'm riding in Elite... whats the winning time usually??? I'm guessing with Barloworld and all the other big teams racing the winning time should be close to 2hours flat?

Ai ai ai! ...comments like these when he's not online? Shame on you! Yeah fatty, you know its far more entertaining to make those sorts of comments when Donkeys around to react

Umh, The best open riders race in A group at the big events. The best licenced riders race in the elite category with the likes of Barloworld, etc at the big events like giro, 94.7, etc. simply no contest. If you look at all the races over the past 5 years or so... you will see elite simply always post the fastest time out of all the groups... except on the rare occasion where they race to tactically and get caught by SubVets or something. But the big difference between Licenced riders and open riders is that licenced riders race against each other to win and to a large degree open riders ride together to get a good time. Licenced cyclist don't care about time and race simply to win. I cannot tell you what time I did at a single race in the last 2 years. Not even argus, cause it simply doesn't matter... i know where I placed though ;-)

I'm pretty light (around 63kg last time I checked) and I use zipp 404 tubular wheels in all weather conditions. As BikeMax said, the crosswind effect is exagerated. The only warning I can give you is that the breaking power isn't as good as an aluminium rim when its raining. That said I used them this weekend at Bonnievale and had no problems. Except that I hit a railway line and the front wheel went out of true... In my opinion the Zipp 404 is the best value wheel your going to find. (Well the best high end performance wheel) They are light and aero and you will notice the difference when you ride them, I guarentee it. The important thing to remember is they are specifically racing wheels, so if you plan to train on them then buy something else!Cocaine2006-11-07 08:02:24

I concidered that when I brought my zipp 404s... they are about 1290grams for a set which is only 200 grams or so heavier then the 202s if I remember correctly... but the aerodynamic advantage is much more... they are a great all round wheel... and I reckon perfect for our racing conditions. Remember the weight of the wheel only comes into play when your accelerating... It also depends on what level racer you are... the more competitive you are the greater advantage you will notice from a top end wheelset.

IMO it is easy to spot talented riders... they are the ones who are able to adapt to training quickly (and have a fast recovery rate) and require less training then their peers to perform at similar levels. A rider with Talent is also able to push himself to the limit... Of course all this is meaningless unless the rider has the hunger and determination to train hard. You can spot the guys with natural ability in the local races easily... some guys have to train 400-600km to be competitive in the elite ranks whilst others are getting by on 200km... the ones who are doing 200km have more potential if they are prepared to do the extra work... its that simple.