Gravity Sux

I have found when going hard for 5 or 6 hours, 32GI gets me about half way. During CPT last year I started with 32GI and switched to coke / water halfway (partly because I did not want to carry powder with me). Also ate banana / apple. This worked well for me and I have used this strategy since. 32GI is my first choice for training rides as it really does help with the excess kgs

I rode Racing Ralph Snakeskin front and back for Epic with no issues. Also ridden Rocket Ron (non snakeskin) at back but this wore quite quickly. I also think the non-snakeskin are a bit soft (have had sidewall with these) and wouldn't try them for a stage race. For interest sake the Bulls were riding Schwalbe Racing Ralph last year (don't know which model) and they came through Attakwas, Sabie, Epic without tyre issues. As far as Ron on front, it is normal to have the more aggressive tyre on the front and I think Ralph is more aggressive so if you are going to mix tyres it should be Ralph on front and Ron on back - but why make things complicated?

If you finish Baberton and Sabie marathon distance comfortably you will probably be ok for the Epic. The Attakwas is as tough as any Epic stage so if you come through that you are on track. Also, the Ultra's have an 80km cutoff time and if you make that your pace is probably good for a comfortable finish. Don't despair if you don't make that mark. There are plenty riders who can't make that time but still manage to finish the Epic. It just means you are in for long days. Your challenge is to get your head right, make sure your team mate is right and make sure you do not fall and do yourself a bad injury. The Epic is more technical than Baberton and Sabie but Attakwas will be a good tester here. On the technical side this is not the time to start trying technical stuff you have not done before. Plenty riders drop out each year in the last few months with broken bones. You are also likely to end up walking the real technical stuff in the Epic unless you are in the top 25% of the field (because everybody else is walking) so you don't need to ride everything to finish. This will be my 4th and I have done about 145 hrs since October so your hours are good. Can't comment on your distance because this depends on what sort of riding you are doing.

Thanks Sabie X for a fantastic 4 days of riding. Couldn't have hoped for better weather and the track was fantastic. Done 5 stage races this year and this one was the best!

Just need to get those prologue start times up and I'll really be in the mood

This is bute... do you thing he has RICAd the SIM. Even if it was bought inadvertently it is still illegal to be in possession of stolen property. Guess the new 'owner' has some explaining to do. On a more serious note, a decent PI could probably make some headway with information like this. It would be useful to see if there is any link back to the bike industry. Clearly there are syndicates behind this crime.

Why does it have to be online. If the price is right it should not matter - I will use the lbs if they are not ripping me off and go to the internet if I can get a better price there. The advantage of the lbs is the support they can give you if you have a problem. I have had 2 warranty claims this year worth about R10k that I would not have sorted out without the help of the lbs. Use the internet as a reality check and buy online only if you are being ripped off locally.

Agree 100%. You can purchase all for around R300 but then they only got 6 pics of me so still R50 per pic for 5 bad pics

I must agree with the complaints about Action Photo. Generally the photos are poor quality and poorly composed. The photographer didn't even manage to fit the backdrop in my Sani2c finish photo (about 10% of the right margin is of peoples feet, etc). Considering the spectacular scenery on the route it should not be too difficult to get good photos that capture the mood of the event. For Sani2c they managed to get 6 photos of me, one on the floating bridge (which is quite nice), one after crossing the bridge, one somewhere above Nick's Pass (in the dark), 2 on the beach, one somewhere else in the dark and a poor finish photo. I may consider the floating bridge pic but the rest are just junk. By comparison I got 200 images from the Epic. Many of these capture interesting aspects of the race. The Poineer Trek sold the press pack which included about 600 images from Oak Pics and Slingshot Media. Both of these were priced somewhere between R300 to R600. This is good value. The argument that I should not purchase pics if I do not like them is a bad one because I would like some decent event pictures and do not have a choice. I have the same complaint about the Sani2c, Joberg2c and Route 69 this year. If Action Photo could put together a decent pack of photos including some good quality images of myself for any of these events I would be quite happy to spend R300 to R500 on those. On this one Action Photo has scored 0/3 this year and much the same last year. Bottom line, in my opinion the only reason Action Photo sell any images is because there are no other options on these events. If most of the competitors feel the same way I do then they are taking a lot of photos that are never purchased (and the business case for them to cover these stage races is pretty poor). Just a pity there is nobody else who can do a better job.

If you saw the hill he fell on that front brake failure = no brakes. It was very steep and rough (tree roots / rocks) and to make things worse there was so much dust that there was no choice of line. On a rough, steep descent back brakes do very little as all your weight is on the front. Also, he was not the only rider to fall on this hill and injure themselves, just the highest profile rider to do so.

Chances are you will find a partner but if not you will probably be able to sell the entry after the lottery closes. A lot of entries change hands this way. Probably easier to have an entry now and part with it later than find one later in the year. Also, if it is your first Epic it is better to know you have the entry and can prepare for the months leading up to the race knowing that you are going to ride. If you take it just prepare properly. There are people who spend all that money and then drop out on day one because they can't cope. That is a waste

I don't organize races but in most cases organizers are trying to make some money / raise funds for a club / school / etc. Don't think there are many who are prepared to run at cost.

Simple answer, yes but there are still people willing to pay that much. It is the Tour de France of mountain biking and that is what it is worth to many folk. Well, early bird entries did not sell in less than a minute this year. If you are looking for a challenging multi day event the Pioneer Trek is just as challenging at half the price. They will still fill the race but I am sure they won't be over subscribed to the same extent they were a few years back.

I am sorry but is is a bit stupid to complain about the cost of late entries. The whole point is to have riders register early so that the race organizers know how many riders to cater for. If everybody entered late you would not know if nobody is going to show up or half the world is going to show up. If nobody shows up the organizer makes a loss and the race does not happen again. If too many people show up then the water tables will run dry, parking, registration and the course will chaos. Also, you are probably doing a 250km round trip in your car to get to the race so just getting there is costing you R250 in petrol alone (probably 5x that is running costs on the car). Just do the events you feel are value for money and avoid the others. If enough people agree with you then the market will determine which events survive and which events die. Alternatively, just ride for fun and don't race

Looking forward to seeing what these trails are like 6 days, 17 hours to go!

How you gonna do that, it doesn't have peddles

Also, drop your wrists. This prevents you from pulling on your bars which helps keep the wheel down.

Don't know if I agree with HRs. From what I understand <65% is active recovery. Endurance you should be looking at 70-75%. You can verify this by looking at training plans on any of the websites of any of the longer stage races (Joberg2c, Epic, Cape Pioneer) or just go and check some of the free plans on fittrack.co.za. In reality it is difficult to have an average HR of >75% with the flat riding around JHB but if you ride Breedtsnek this is normal. It is worth keeping up the hills. From Joberg2c day 4 on you are going to be climbing 1500m to 2000m per day (there are some big hills in KZN). The better you climb these the easier your race

Plug it. Ask cycle shop about plugs. If you get a puncture that does not seal stop ind put a plug in the hole before it goes completely flat. If you need to add air use a CO2 bomb. You can do all this and be riding again in less than 2 minutes. Tubes are only a last resort when the hole is too big or the tyre rim seal has broken and you cant get it to reseal. If you are going to put a tube in check tyre for thorns first. If you have been riding tubeless for a while it is likely that the tyre has thorns in it that you don't even know about. These are just going to puncture your tube if you don't check. Also, if you are going to do a race have your sealant checked / topped up before the race, the stuff dries out over time and you only find out when you can't stop a leak

agree, also, for same braking power on 29er as 26er you need rotor to be 11.5% larger because of the larger wheel (longer moment arm), therefore 185mm on 29er is approximately equivalent to 160mm on 26er. But then braking of course braking is a little more complex than just rotor size. It involves choice of pads, technique etc. If your brakes start fading on the way down the Groenlandberg you may have made the wrong choices

If you have enough hair you don't need sunblock

Epic is a team race, not an individual race. Also with no disrespect to field in Leadville Epic attracts worlds best and they are in form. I would be surprised if he even made the podium

This is shocking news Condolences to family and friends.

Snap, 2009. 3h50 for first 90km, 1h for last 10km. This is when they tell you the race distance is 103km and you hit that mark on your polar and you still cant see the finish becomes a big deal. Couldn't go more than 300m on that lumpy track thru the veld without stopping for a rest. Would have bailed and taken a lift to the finish if there had been one. Damage was done before halfway. My mistake was that I had done Hill2Hill a month before, similar distance, twice as much climbing - how bad could the Crater Cruise be?

Ridden Nobby Nic (2.25) on front for 3 years and have not had a reason to look for anything else. They are not great when the mud is really sticky (Sabie when it stops raining) but then you are going to have difficulty with most tires in those conditions. Did not have any problems with them at Sabie X last year but then it was wet enough that the mud did not stick. I find they have good grip, fairly low rolling resistance and I have not had many flats with them. Guess you can get 5000 to 7000 km out of them on the front. For a rear you probably do not need to go as aggressive. I have ridden Race King, Smart Sam, Rocket Ron and SB8 there. I have found the Rocket Ron doesn't have the grip I want under braking and the SB8 are too soft in rough conditions.