dave303e

a big adventure race was in Lesotho last year. Included a mammoth 220km bike leg, no one had issues, it was tough. But it was spectacular. I would try avoid tar as much as possible. Also pack a tent and get off the main road for some wild camping.

Ya I am note sure what type of seals are in either the honda or my old scott mtb. But both didn't take much to let water in, hence my thinking that the bearing failures may be more to do with the seal letting water and dirt in, than the bearing itself. But both seem to do better when they are taken out, cleaned and fresh grease packed in regularly.

had such a laugh at a skit on IG about how to make this setup fit any bike. It was at like 3am this morning so I forgot to save it. But it involved a grinder and a vice and a carbon frame...

On the enduro and motocross bikes I always found the suspension linkage bearings took the worst abuse. My Honda right now needs the linkage bearings replaced. I had a Kawasaki that I managed to tap a grease nipple in and that was a game changer being able to flush the bearing with grease often. But with most bikes and definitely bicycles a grease nipple is not an option. I find the bicycles don't have the best seals to protect the linkage bearings so it doesn't matter what you put in there it is going to take flack especially if you go anywhere near it with degreaser and any form of water pressure. Stick with standard bearings and get into a routing of taking them out and cleaning and re-greasing more often.

Training has been interesting the last few weeks. Plaas gym is 100% functional now, adding proper leg(and other) strength work has made a huge difference in both running and more so in cycling. Squat, deadlift, quad extension and hamstring curls are on the up rapidly. Have had to throw away a bunch of shorts that are now too tight on quads. But the max power on the bike and the explosiveness running has been really good. Also noticed my stride stretching out a bit. Also been good to add more foam rolling and stretching to the regime, nice to have a lot of dedicated space for it all. A recent addition to the family has got me up most mornings at 4:30 so it has been 5am training consistently for a few months now and it is also been an interesting one. For years I have trained after work in the evenings. Definitely get more out of the sessions and get a lot better at eating early. Finally got a full diagnosis on the GERD. Did multiple tests like a gastroscopy(swallow a camera), Barium swallow(swallow fluid while X rayed) and then the worst was a probe with a ph meter down the nose into esophagus for 24 hours. I have a small hiatal hernia and then proper GERD. Operation is an option but we going to try treat with a ppi and a strict diet for a bit. Off to the nutritionist next week. Cut caffeine and alcohol already, started with the basic gerd diet and it seems to already be a little better. If you struglle with throwing up/heartburn/stomach, I can suggest getting it thoroughly checked. But ya been a good year so far, 10km pb, consistently under last years 20km pb time and ftp is up. Long year to go to Adventure racing world champs though. The powerbi training dashboard. It has been really good to be able to compare Q1 to Q1 of previous years and so on. Far more insight than a strava total number at the end of the year. It has been good to track though and target key weaknesses. Coach has really tightened the screws as well with the feedback so it will be an interesting build to November.

doing a big ride/ increased mileage is nowhere near as dangerous or tough as stretching and doing a long run. If you can do a few 80km rides in the next few weeks and then maybe a 100-120km ride then you will be fine to cross the line. I didn't ride more than 60km at a time for the whole second half of last year and then in Jan I managed a 160km ride. Yes 160km is not a huge ride in the grand scheme of things for me, but it was a long time since I did a big one. It wasn't pretty and I had a good few cramps, but it was a lot faster than expected and really not too bad. Eat well, ride at a level you can manage and you will probably be fine. I find like day 1 of Amohela will tear your quads apart far worse than a 160km gravel ride. Those climbs are short and steep so it is like a few hours of intervals with big watts and big heartrate spikes. 160km gravel you settle into a rhythm and just grind with a steady heartrate. Shovel food in one end and watts out the other...

Also to the organisers - Litter zones are not socially acceptable, especially in agricultural areas where it can all blow into fields. Riders can put it in a pocket till they get to a dustbin. And when you make the signs for the next event. It is cyclists not cyclers...

like I said, you do you, if you deem it to be within your personal risk limits then there is no issue, carry on. It makes no difference to me. A support car makes no difference, a taxi driver was killed in one of the numerous spiking incidents on that road. But ya, just sharing my knowledge of a road.

I live between Rayton and Bronkhorspruit just north of the R104 in on a farm so it is the nearest tar to me. I drive it a lot hence my input. There are a lot of animals either side of the road. I think the one development farmer has lost 3 goats this year alone hit by cars, if you lucky it is a sheep or a goat but there have been incidents with cattle as well this year. I know one farmer regularly walks 100 head across the road. There is a sinkhole in a certain section that opens up as soon as there are heavy rains, that thing kills a few tyres a year and usually in spectacular fashion. Lots of pedestrians and drivers randomly pulling over to buy stuff. Then you start with the coal trucks, tractors, taxi's and bad drivers over taking on the numerous blind rises. The other issue is that some are doing like 120kmh and others 40kmh. But you do you, if it is within your personal risk limits then all good. I am just sharing my insight into a road.

Glad to hear it was only there where there was an incident, I hope the rider was ok. My mtb ride crossed the route a few times and I thought to myself thank heaven I am just crossing and not on the road as part of the event. R104 is a death trap at the best of times in a car. And the R515 down tow's se pass is also a nightmare.

I like it. I like that it is simplified and without the brain to me makes sense. The 4 pot brakes and 120mm front end show how they were prepared for heavy tech and then had the watts to overcome that same weight on the less tech. Some cool choices. Awesome to see a breakdown of what the pro's choose. Especially as they could easily have gone standard epic.

I tend to do a lot of riding in MX shirts and gloves if that helps? save costs by using for both sports... But I did throw up in the back of my mouth a little when I saw that alpinestars tech 10 boots are pretty much 15 grand now

hip flexibility and skills go a long way.

I guess I always knew it took less brains to go downhill faster...

This^^^ I may have been late to my old man's 60th birthday braai because I was glued to the tv to see if Beers and Blevin could get the win. Been a long time since I have been that glued to a cycling event on tv...

I must have missed something. But when did brain shocks fall out of fashion. Or are they still there?

I am mostly a gravel grinder so my tyres tend to last. I have always been light on tyres though. But chains and cassettes for me are a joke. Take an NX and XX1 eagle cassette. Now you can run any 12 speed sram derailleur and it will work with the either cassette. So from a practical design function it is the same part and can be used interchangeably. There is likely only minor differences and then material differences. How can they justify an R11k price difference on the parts given that there is only 350-500grams of material and they are essentially the exact same part. I just can't work it out. When I get shafted buying carbon plated shoes over normal running shoes. I at least can see an improvement in performance. I doubt I can feel a 100grams on a cassette... Brake pads is also big. But some more interesting ones- 32 or 34mm fox fork seals for mtb are more expensive than the fork seals for a 48mm fork that does a lot more work and far out performs the mtb forks. If you want nice grips for a mtb. R400 for esi grips. For an MX bike Pro circuit pillow tops are R210. MX if you tear or wear through the seat it is just replace the cover. MTB you have to buy a new seat for twice the price. Actually eff it. If I think I need to go back to enduro

and chains

This is very true, also the form of food is a big thing. High carb drinks and gu gels are not sustainable. How long after Epic did it take for your stomach bug to settle? I caught a proper stomach bug in Lesotho at an event last year. It took 3 courses of antibiotics and nearly 2 months before I could trust a fart...

Shop around. I paid 995 for brand new ones last month...

At least the top end racing shoes with carbon plates only really give you a return when you are running faster than 4min/km. So they quite literally make no difference to the okes who are throwing cash at it for the sake of it. It would be like an advantage you can only unlock when you hit 5w/kg in cycling terms. This^^^^ as soon as you uncleat, you get off the trail and hike through the bush next to the trail to the top not to kill other's momentum...

The mrs has a small frame. I actually swapped it out for a shock without remote lockout. It is easy/close enough to reach and flick and the cable is out the way of getting bottle in and out.

I pulled out of my main race of the year last year with a stomach virus. Thankfully having multiple courses of antiboitics and still 7 weeks of the trots backed up that I made the right decision. But boy am I a lot more pedantic about treating water now. Running high is becoming quite a big thing in a few ultra sports. 100mile trail runners have been up to it for a while. I know a few adventure racers as well. Seems like marijuana edibles are the secret weapon. https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/how-run-stoned/ drips can really change lives. Now you see these drip bars popping up all over the place and you realise how much doping you can do for hangovers...

Does anyone have a more precise location along the Delmas road where this happened?

most are also mountain bikes and not on the road so they are 'legal' I would not be despondent. 1: how many police officers are going to know or be able to differentiate an e-bike from a normal bicycle. 2: Even if they can spot it, how many of them know the 250w law and know how to prove it is over 250w. 3: How often have you been pulled over on a bicycle by the police. My 2c is that our police have far bigger money makers to chase. If you are riding within the laws like a civilized human on the road they are not going to care at all if you have a 250 or 750w bike. If you are doing 60kmh in a 40 zone you may get in trouble but some sensibility should prevail here.