walkerr

- Heckflosse - JGR - Mads - leet22 I just dropped you guys a PM.

Agree. I might be able to get my company or a friend's company to ante up some dosh to help kit out B riders - will tackle that one at some stage once things look like they're gelling together.

I'm scared from here .

Least he didn't ask you for your number ,,,,,

I reckon you'd prefer to be with the A teamers - list would now be: - skistar15 - SuperSix3 - Wannabe 3 more, and you're in business !

Wow - great response guys. At this rate, we will actually have enough for a team - so I hope everyone is upfor the next painful stage - getting out and doing some riding - Heckflosse - Walkerr - JGR - Mads - leet22

You're in! - Heckflosse - Walkerr - JGR - Mads Just need few more, some nice team shirts, a backup driver - and a training plan

Amen to that - never been a great climber, but steadily improving and the core strength work at gym seems to be really helping. Trainer has also got me doing hill rep sets too - hurt like hell, but definitely work

Like other guys here, I've had great service from both BC and CWC - will definitely use both of them again. Sounds like a glitch, I'd chase them by phone.

I also upgraded to EA 90 SLXs last year. The ride is superb, love them. Was disappointed though that I had a rear spoke break inside first 1000kms. However, to counteract that the service from Omnico was excellent - fixed and back within a week. I'm just a little nervous now to put too much distance on them in case of more breakages, tend to just put them on for races and train on my old Shimano RH-500s. That's probably crazy though, I should just put them back on and run up the kilos on them.

Rob Walker in South Africa. I've been bugging him with emails for months, so he should recognize my name! Frame is pretty much done and ready to ship I gather

Yep - been collecting components last few weeks ready for the big build up when it arrives.

Nice - say hi to Justin Burls from me. He's building me a bespoke Ti frame as we speak. Can't wait for it to arrive.

So that's 2 so far for the 7hr "hub team A": - skistar15 - SuperSix3 And 3 for the 8.5 - 9hr "hub team B": - Heckflosse - Walkerr - JGR

Cool - I'll let you know if I hear of any teams, and maybe you could do likewise. 8h30 is a bit above my current fitness level, but plenty of time to train towards that.

Definitely right size - tube and post are the original ones the bike came with and were fine for few years. Only started slipping recently. Will try the shim route first I think - nice and easy, and means I get excuse to drink some beer

But then I'd need an empty can ... which means I'd need to drink some beer ..... ah, nice idea, I like !

No - hadn't heard of either of those, will take a look. Cheers

The saddle on my old, now spare, Marin MTB just won't stay set even if I crank the clamp down hard. Even tried a new clamp but no use. I'm thinking over the years it's got worn, and hence is slightly too loose to fit the sea tube well. Would it work / be sacrilege to just wrap some thin insulating tape or something around the post, to give it some more width to clamp against? It's a spare bike that friends use occasionally so not sure it's worth the cost of a new seat post really.

Sure .... kudos! When I get to 80km/h my bike is still rock solid - but my sphincter starts to get twitchy!

Definitely also interested in DC team - that's bit quick for me, I'm looking more in the +/- 9hr social category. Good luck though, and if anyone reads this and is also looking for members for a slower team, looking to complete the ride rather than get a fast time then feel free to PM me.

Looks like some pretty decent climbing to me, although I'm no expert. My trainer at the gym has just suggested the following for my weekly winter training: - 1x gym core strength session with trainer - 1x LSD (100km to 120km) on road - further if time allows - 1x session laps of hill circuit (2 or 3 laps, or keep going into I can't do more as I get stronger) - extra shorter ride or hill session if my schedule allows I'd reckon 2 or 3 laps of my hill circuit is probably +/1 900m of climbing and maybe 18 to 20km by the time you've looped around. I'll post a session when I've done it. His comment on the hill circuit was take it in highest gear I could manage each lap, and alternate grinding the climb with a few short bursts of high pace intervals each lap So I doubt you're wasting you're time if it's something a trainer would advise. Enjoy!

1st time I rode the 99er. Went back for more punishment year after, was my next-worst ride. Went back again this year and finally slayed the beast and had an ok ride. Agree with @manbearpig - "worst" is relative, still a lot better than my best day in the office!

Yep - I could have saved some space with a "not much" summary ...

I have so say what a crock of sh*t the Cartes Blanche interview was last night. I'm not saying that the new Tim Noakes regime is good or bad, or the guy himself. But what a lightweight bit of puff journalism the interview was - barely better than a thinly disguised ad for his new book. No questions on what sample size he had used for this new study, other than himself and a few select athletes. No hard questions about why we should trust his latest research/findings/opinion this time around, when he himself admits that he published material in his last book that he now says was wrong and should be ignored. Presumably that way, the new book sales will be higher. Sorry - any "scientist" who does 180 degree U turn on his own research better be able to prove he's been more thorough this time around. That didn't come across last evening. Oops - maybe I should have posted this as a "rant" ...