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I'm going to start comuting soon
Just one question; How do you get your 'work' clothes to work without creasing them? Better to have some at work?
I commute home in the afternoons and back in the mornings, so I bring extra clothes and lunch along on the day I cycle home in the afternoons. It eliminates having to carry a heavy back pack with me and ensures that my rides can be proper training rides. I also have a car at the office and my wife's car at home if I need to go anywhere. You also are less inclined to bail out of a morning ride if your car is at the office already.
Where do you commute from?
I live in Parklands and work just off Old Oak Road Tyger Valley.
Just for interest sake: A golf membership can cost anything from R2k upwards per annum. And then you still have to pay Greenfees on top of that. I saw the coverage last night on Super Cycling. I'd like to give it a bash when I get around to it, Looks a bit too manicured for my liking though. Not sure it simulates technical riding in any of the big races, bar Sani 2 C
Oh and another trick:
I commute home in the afternoons and then back in the mornings. This way I have a car at work, and my wife's at home if I need to go somewhere. Its also not that easy to bail out of a morning commute if you feel a bit lazy, as the wife works in Pinelands and I work in Tyger Valley
Time spent in the car is often wasted, time spent in the saddle is rewarding
Master a solid bunny-hop and it may save your life one day
Make eye contact with drivers that are about to turn, you can tell a lot looking in someone's eyes (ie wether they know you are there or not)
Use the full lane when turning in a traffic circle, this way the cars cannot ride you off the road
Hand signals mean very little, but keep using them.
There is a pecking order when commuting:
1. Busses and trucks have right of way
2. In the absence of Busses and trucks, Taxis have the right of way
3. In the absence of Taxi's BMW's have right of way
4. In the absence of BMW's, the most aggressive driver has right of way
5. The cyclist have right of way
6. The pedestrian have right of way
If you have to choose between confronting a motor vehicle or a pedestrian while riding, choose the pedestrian.
3
It happens to most sealants. It is accellerated when you play with your tyre pressures, have extreme temprature fluctuations and I suspect that change in air pressure may also play a role. I topped up before this year's Sani2C and removed a marshian the size of a golf ball after puncturing on day 1.
Fantastic route on the 70km (although I see about 130 riders did not finish ?) Maybe the 70 was a bit too hectic for them - and some technical bits too, will be back next year - great event !!
I assume the Sunday distances did some of the single track we did so they should have had fun too.
BUT
why did I get a medal with the Karate Kid on ?
Seek the answers on here
http://www.diemersfontein.co.za/
The subtleties of branding on the medal seems to be lost on some. I thought it was done tastefully. Goes down well with the Diemersfontein Pinotage after the ride.
I didn't appreciate them only telling me at the startline to take off my GoPro. This could have been communicated early on the website and theHub, but the rest was simply amazing.
I prefer well orginised events over Kerkbazaar rides, even if they cost a bit more. Lets hope that some of the money gets used for developing an already awesome trail.
Last weekend I just made it to cut-off on the PPA Koringberg ride. I felt like a back marker (even though half of the riders were out on the field). Saturday I felt like a champion, even though I came in more than 2 hours after the winners.
I try to build a relationship with my bike shop. I in fact have a good relationship with more than one shop. I promise you that if I walk in, ask the owner to source me something and walk out, I'll get a phone call in a day or 2 with feedback.
Bike shops are probably more prone to spend time with their regular clients. These clients are his bread and butter. If you walk into a store for the first time, introduce yourself properly and chat to the owner or sales person for a minute or 2 before getting down to business. Try and remember their names, so when you enter the store again, you can greet them properly. Any bike shop owner worth his salt will remember your name after the second visit.
I am in no way condoning bad or "unpersonal" service. The really good shops will treat even a small request like to order cycling kit for a total random stranger like its just come from their best customer, but these are few and far inbetween.
Great to see this trail developing so nicely. Hopefully you are planning a race through the trails at some point to get some more exposure here.
If I was in the market for a 29er, I'd look at the Niner Jet 9 RDO
http://www.ninerbikes.com/jet9rdo
Or if you are a little more adventurous, the Niner R.I.P. 9
http://www.ninerbikes.com/rip9
Why would I choose a Niner? I tend to trust they guy that specialises in one technology more than the one that is simply moving with the times. Many of the 29ers out there looks like modified 26 inch bikes and that to me is a clear sign that they have not yet commited to the concept.
Its never been an issue for me. Of more importance is that it seems to be much more accurate on the measuring of altitude (GPS based vs baromoter based). When I ride a hard mtb race I look at how many meters I still have to climb, not how far I need to ride.
Watter roete het hy gedoen helloise? Die vinnige 40km ouens het die middel van die 70km roete pak gevang so halfpad teen Koringberg uit. Ons het so in die pedal vir hulle plek gemaak sodat hulle kan aangaan met hul race en nogal 'n "thank you" van al 3 van hulle gekry. Well done aan die juniors wat oor die laaste jaar of 2 begin maniere leer het.
This was no easy ride! The headwind was unkind and route marking especially on the first half made it feel like an orienteering challenge. Fortunately the riders in my group seemed to know where they were going, so I simply followed. Soon we were on Koringberg. The climb was not overly technical and the 40km race snakes soon caught the mid pack 70km riders. We let them get on with their race. The descent down Koringberg was quite something. While we snaked up we went straight down the other side onto water point 1. The next section took us over rolling hills for 30kms and soon we were back at the same water point to approach Koringberg from another angle. By now the pace was well down and we were all looking after our legs for the last stretch. Again we were faced with a death descent down Koringberg and rollers for another 15kms into a nasty headwind.
On about 1:30pm I noticed that the PPA was packing up the timing equipment and heading home. I still noticed riders about 10km off when I was on my way back to Cape Town at 2pm. I am concerned about this as this happens just too often. Surely if PPA sanctions a race, they need to sweep the route to ensure that all riders are taken care of.
I ended up with 1580m climbing over 67km. With the 20% extra on the climbs, we really were made to work for the finishers medal. Pity some riders would not get one.
Go and try a few ones on, and don't skimp! It becomes very important when you actually need to use it.
Some mtb helmets offer nice all round protection (like the fox Flux), so if ripping it up is your thing and you want to take on some gnarly stuff on the trail without going full-face and body armour, look at this one.
I ride with a Bell Sweep XC helmet (same as the normal road Sweep, but with detachable visor). Its time to replace this one as she's served me well over the last 2 years. Bell offers a replacement deal where you get discount when you return a damaged Bell helmet. If anyone have experience on Bell's replacement strategy, please comment, otherwise I will try and share my experience in the next month or so.
guess where they got the idea from:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=58001
Friend of mine just went onto the website yesterday, entered and received his confirmation this morning.
just kidding!
Good luck to all waiting-listers. I'm sure the wait is due to Farmer Glen putting together a third event, especially for you's
I used both the super revolts and the XR jones before. Had endless issues with sidewall cuts, so from above I deduct that the Schwalbes are DEFINATELY not for me
In my humble opinion the Transbaviaans is harder than the Attakwas. Fortunately we had absolutely NO mechanical issues (thanks to Anton at Summit cycles, a genius mechanic) and all 4 of us in the team survived and got to the end in one piece. I was the weakest link and my team did a great job in motivating me all the time and physically pushed me along on many of the climbs! I missed my Niner though. It was great to see our friends from PE and they kicked our behinds good
On this year's routes, maybe. On the usual route for both races (remember that Atta was easier this year to accommodate the UCI's ultra marathon requirements) Atta is tougher for me. You can protect yourself from the cold, but there is little you can do to protect yourself from 40deg heat on Atta.
2700m of climbing over 130km hurts more than 2600m of climbing over 230km (and don't tell me that TB is down hill for the first half, Attakwas is also down-hill for approx 60% of the ride)
It doesn't matter which is tougher in the end either as this is down to rider preference and how we cope with certain conditions.
Parktool = 1000 streetcred points. It works well and looks cool in your lounge when your cycling buddies come over. Just don't let the wife use it as a laundry rail.
To add a few in the 2-4 days category:
Hell and Back
Nothing technical here (no single track etc), lots of climbing. Back2Basics type of race with basic facilities and accommodation.
Grape Escape
Heard good things about this, but being staged in February, the heat may end up overriding your race experience
Ride the Rhino
Small field and was reasonably well orginised. Day 2 had a huge sand pit for about 7kms so make sure you know how to handle this. I had a very bad experience with the same orginisers on the CA2C in Feb where many things went wrong from an event orginising side. I will wait and see what the feedback is on this year's edition of the Rhino before considering this events company again
Wild Ride
On my bucket list
Rhodes Extreme
On my bucket list
What makes you think I've been looking into this.
If anyone has gone any, please let us know what they are like.
Work around the following parameters:
- budget: Not just race entry, but accommodation, travel etc play a big part. Local races will end up being much more affordable
- timing of the event: How much leave are you willing to burn to do the race? Is it a relatively "good" time to be away from work. When you need to travel, add 2 days going there and coming back to your leave counter. The time the event is held is (sometimes) a good indicator of the conditions you may experience. I will think twice before considering a multi stage race in the Cape in Feb / Mar. Generally the best window to do a race weather wise is between March and May and then again between September and November.
You will then end up with a short list of events. Then you go into the reputation of the orginisers, previous route comments etc. to make a decision.
I recently bought a secondhand merida. It's fitted with maxxis crossmark tyres but they need replacing. I need a tyre that is both affordable and a good all-round tyre. So far I've looked at Kenda karma and continental race king tyres, but I really don't know what I should get, any suggestions?
What type of riding do you prefer?
What is important to you? We all want tyres that can do it all, but that is never achievable.
Never skimp on tyres (not on your bike or on your car). Its the only thing on your bike touching the ground and its a surprisingly small patch of it that needs to handle all your riding needs (and often mistakes).
The more aggressive tyre you choose, the quicker they tend to run down when riding on tar.
Here are my 3 favorite front and rear tyres and why:
Front
1. Geax Saguro 2.2 (Bi Directional tread allowing you to change them around for more grip on the front if required, very durable, so worth spending the extra cash on these)
2. Conti Mountain King II 2.2 (Durable tyre and withstands most conditions - my training tyre of choice)
3. Kenda Nevegal (Durable, but on the slow side. My wet weather tyre of choice)
Rear
Geax AKA 2.2 (super fast with plenty of grip, runs off quickly, so not a first choice training tyre)
Conti XKing (Durable and predictable on most surfaces, reasonable wet weather handling unless its a mud bath)
Geax Saguro 2.0 (Best training tyre as they last for ever and have good all round traction and corners well too)
I am not a huge Crossmark / Monorail fan. It does not suite my riding style and the type of races / training rides I do in the Western Cape. These tyres don't like rock gardens or tree roots very much. Not so much an issue if you ride in Gauteng / KZN.
I cannot comment on Schalbe's range as I have not tried them before.
Why should the top guys get preference? Sani is the very antithesis of top guys and racing. It's all about the back markers, the water points, the pampering, the awesome scenery, the fast manicured single track.
Very true for the adventure. I did the adventure and loved the prize giving in the evenings (the top teams had to eat donuts and spoungecake to as "punishment" for being so fast.
The race is however a very different animal. The racing is as hard as any other race. You should have seen Evans and George this year after taking a wrong turn on the final stage and losing the race. #Devestated!
It is quite normal for races to have a certain number of entries for the top pro teams in the country. It helps them to sell TV time and raises the bar for the sponsors as well, so ends up being a win-win for us all.
Just one question; How do you get your 'work' clothes to work without creasing them? Better to have some at work?
Burry go back to basics
in The Bike Room
Posted
If you want to get technical, they only raced about 5% of the epic route (to create breaks and push in the last 5kms or so). For the rest their Ave HR was around 140bpm. So re-do your maths homework and give us the new %.