walkerr

Bushido here too - happy and works well. I find I use TrainerRoad most though, so if I was buying again I'd either go upscale to a KICKR, or downscale to a solid but more basic IDT. Maybe even rollers for the comedy value

Sometimes the harsh advice is the best advice ....

Nice one thanks. Wish I'd known last weekend, was down that way at the Junor Argus

Going with recommendation from my LBS for their "secret sauce" once back from my next ride in Jozi. Have a shelf full of others I've tried and won't try again, but that's not on there so maybe it'll get a look in

Cool thanks, that's good to know. They replied to my email, seems like suppliers have no stock of my fave lube. Think I must change my regime. Back to my fallback, Finish Line Dry for now.

Definitely a mental element as well as a physical one - every Die Burger, always used to cramp at the exact same spot (close to top of last ramp before the run down under the N1). Also, tended to cramp just over the top of hills - mental release. Some mind games can really help with that - like the turning distance off. The first Burger where I didn't cramp was the one I'd forgotten the Garmin at home!

Cramping sucks - can totally empathize, have been plagued by them since I started cycling. A number of things have helped, none have totally cured them. Mostly what others have said here: pushing my distances up on low intensity/base training rides, and pushing my intensity up on IDT training. Increasing how much I do of both also. paying care on hotter days with fluids and electrolytes - I sweat like a mine worker. Without concentrating, I can easily forget to take regular sips from the start of a ride. About an hour in, if I've got behind nothing will catch me up - drinking more just bloats me proper bike setup, which I get checked every so often too. fitting a cassette (11-28) with a crawler gear for rides with lots of climbing. I've found I can carry on spinning a light gear even with cramp, sometimes to the point of riding through them. staying positive and trying to focus on something else - I know this sounds a joke, but I managed to stave them off this year beyond Suikerbossie which is often a trigger point for me. The legs almost froze in cramp under the blue bridge with the finish line 500m away - I know from past rides that is my mind suddenly relaxing at being almost done, and the muscles responding by seizing up. There's definitely a mental element - staying positive and not dwelling on them helps. Other guys I know swear by Tums or Rennies, even mixed with Coke is supposed to help. If I had to pick 1 of the above that I'd say has made the most difference it's more effective training. A 90 or 100km event can't be compared to a 90 or 100km training ride - the intensity factor is way higher, and that to me is what causes the real differemce and the cramps. Next up would be bike fit. Stick with it and try a few things - you may not get rid of them, but you will get faster and further before they hit you.

Definitely the way to enjoy the ride!

Just rang around all my local Somerset West stores, and seems no one locally supplies this any more. Anyone know any good sources to get this? I see Cycles Online list it, just emailed if they actually have stock though - websites aren't always current in my experience. Never dealt with them before though, so not sure what they're like

A special on GP4000S now is R499 each - jeez, doesn't seem long back you could get 2 for that when on as a special offer. That currency rate bites. Glad I still have some spares - might need to find an alternate brand at this rate! Good to see the High5 guys there - was just running out of supplies I brought back from UK last time I was over

Cool, glad you came right. See you out there!

I'm gonna sound like my old man here - bu sadly I find most/many products I buy these days have issues. Too much tech/weight/cost saving, and too little design and build quality for long life - which I guess is exactly what they want, have it break one day out of warranty so we have to buy more.

Cassie's not entirely wrong there - for the long audax rides, I leave the HR monitor at home. If I'm anywhere near a zone where I'm thinking about HR then I'm drifting into DNF territory. Guessing for the 600 in March will aim at something around 27 or 28 hours ride time, and probably 33 to 35 overall. That makes for a low enough Avg speed that HR should never really rise too much. If an audax route has big climbs on it, I'll stick an 11-28 on so I can climb in the saddle at low intensity too Edit: One guy on LEL reckoned by the 3rd day, even if he tried his HR would not go above 80 - some kind of physiological effect on ultra endurance that the blood becomes more efficient at carrying oxygen. Have no way to verify this, as I didn't have an HRM on

Have messaged the guys on FB - I'll also tag John in the post, the current chairman, see if he can get you some help

Ah - wonder if they changed it lately. Renewed mine end last year, and was working ok then. I'll message the guys on FB

Feel free to PM me if you haven't got a response. Can put you in touch with some of the guys. Anything specific you were looking for?

Had mine 3.5 years now - still get several 3 or 4hr rides out of mine between charges

"OT apology ON" Perfectly legit using OSM on Garmin - saves you money, and sometimes they are actually better. Also http://www.velomap.org/ - which is OSM based but with more details. I found Velo map had a tendency to route me down dirt tracks on a road bike tho - OSM was better on that If you're in SA though, and you do any 4x4 - then Tracks4Africa is awesome and works for bike too, Loads fine onto etrex and therefore I'd think Edge as well. It isn't free, but is more detailed than the above, especially with offroad trails. "OT apology OFF"

Truly the best spirit and mindset to go into the ride. Hope you have a great one!

Or maybe not everyone holds the same point of view

I find opposite - Smits is my favourite hill. There's often that nasty plug of riders to get through after Simon's Town. Once the proper ramp starts it thins out, and you can make nice quick progress down the right. And it's not such a bad climb, and you have those lovely fast stretches over the top to look forward too. My problem is always keeping enough in the tank for a proper go at Chappies and Suikerbossie - usually over done it by one of them and am battling cramps. FWIW - my best avg speed usually comes on Die Burger. Xmas breaks up that and I struggle to get back to anything close afterwards.

Good luck - my 6th was last year, and I finally broke the magic 4. Now just hope I'm fit enough to hold onto that this year, my training has been focused elsewhere so it's not a given!

Lost my market already - didn't renew in 2013 and won't in 2014. It is a business, and they don't offer me something I feel is value for money. Have quite a few friends who feel the same. We all have our own views and make our own choices

I disagree if the fat cats are still there, you didn't solve the problem, you just spent money. If you really wanted to solve the problem you'd go after the fat cats - get rid of them, prosecute them, clean the whole system up. This just masks it - like the whole UCI silently ignoring doping - it'll come out eventually, in a worse and bigger way. The only way to fix it is do it properly. Eject anyone from the governing body who is incompetent or looking to line their own pockets, and put in place a structure that works from grass roots and social level all the way up to national support of Pro riders. That is the only way to actually right the wrong .... this is not even a band aid, the root issues still remain, if anything they have now been made worse I also like to dream - but if you're gonna dream, dream big

Agreed. Rights and wrongs aside - money left the sport here that could have gone to help promote and develop cycling.