walkerr

Track your rider Have your family and friends follow your progress on the route. Get them to SMS just the numeric part of your race number to 38119 (so to track you they SMS <your number> to 38119). The SMS costs R10 once off. In return they will receive an SMS for each of the 4 timing points you cross. Edit: - include your number not mine !!

Ouch. Will have to get my mum to stuff her suitcase with some when she comes over next from the UK

Agree on expo being a bit lacklustre - did get a pretty good deal on a complete Ultegra groupset though at CWC. Was on my component shopping list for the new bike I'm building up, so I'm very happy with that. Was also hoping to get some deals on winter training clothing and other parts for the new build, but not much of what I was after was on special.

Buddy of mine had close encounter with Cape Cobra at Oak Valley, and another friend ran close by a Puff Adder at Lebanon. I'd sh*t myself for sure, so very glad I missed both of them.

We must all welcome our new comrade on his bike. We must say cycling is for all, not just the rich white elite We must take up our guns and fight for our right to cycle The benefits of cycling should be for everyone .....

Sounds highly plausible. Part of me would love for Yoli to want to do an Argus - but I've also seen how badly that can end when other friends have suddenly had a partner join them one year.

Holy cr*p! Not only an interested, but some understanding of the kit too .... time to be afraid

That's about the reaction I normally get to anything cycling related ... this year though she's suddenly coming to the finish with our 3yr old. Nice surprise change from the usual

My g/f sent me this link on off-the-wall / offensive wallpapers for your PC or tablet: http://imgur.com/a/gjZEc Warning - some are very rude. Don't go there if you have a sensitive mind or dislike bad language Enjoy! This one seems very apt for my cycling: http://i.imgur.com/wYIhth.jpg

Yeah - as I was looking on the site, I figured they probably wouldn't put them up for that reason. Kinda makes sense, I guess there'd always be 1 or 2 people that might be tempted, even though it'd make no sense to me why you would. All good - have told my g/f that the 4th SMS should be around an hour from the finish, or maybe a bit less (assuming good weather, no punctures or mishaps etc etc)

Cheers Kris - now I picture it, I think you're right - do vaguely recall the blue matts on Chappies rather than Suikerbossie.

Wow - brave man, good luck. I think even if went for superlight, I'd ditch extra gels, tools etc but I don't think I'd be able to lose at least a spare tube or patches, pump & lever. But as before, I am a pessimist!

I see there's an SMS line for our family/friends to get progress updates as you cross the intermediate timing matts. Sounds quite neat, especially the last matt as it'll give them an idea what time to look at the finish. I might be being dumb here, but only thing I can't see on their site is where the matts are. Anyone found this info? Seem to remember top of Smitswinkel usually has one, and I think maybe Suikerbosse or around there. Don't remember where I saw the others though - Boyes or Edinburgh drive come to mind.

That's great news, thanks for the update. Hope his recovery continues well

Also use Gators or GP 4000s. So far both have been good for me.

Haha - thx. The funny thing is, I keep forgetting to put it back on my bike. Thanks for the reminder!

Constant debate I tinker with - good question. Current plan is: Frame: Edge 500 1x Bottle Hammer Perpetuem, 3 hour mix 1x Bottle water - plan 1 quick refill stop at least busy point I see from top of Smits to Slangkop. Hope to avoid 2nd stop unless really hot 1x Lezyne mini pump (wonderful bit of kit for the small size) Jersey: 3x Hammer Gel - Expresso I'll take 15 mins before start, 1 other on ride, 1 spare 2x bars of some kind (probably Jungle or Balance) 1x sachet Perpetuem just in case I end up riding much longer than expected for some reason Saddle bag: 2x spare tubes 1x small Lezyne small with chain-breaker 2x tyre levers 1x home brew tyre boot 1x glue patch kit (what can I say, I'm a pessimist and have had more than 1 puncture on a ride!) I carried cooked potatoes on my 1st Argus, and despite sounding disgusting they were great. Might swap the jungle bars for those.

:clap:

Now that does sound borderline in terms of rules - "working", surely a typo?

I also enjoy a good bed time serving .... oh wait, you meant the Glutamine ... never mind

Yeah - I also get scared of fitting sessions in case I find out too much of what I have is "wrong" One other Q was whether this is something that has developed recently/suddenly? If so, I guess there could also be an underlying medical reason. I did a ski-ing holiday in US many years back, and spent the whole time wondering why I was hurting so much and so short of power compared to usual. Found out weeks later I had Glandular Fever, which was the underlying cause of the pains and lack of energy. There's quite a few bugs and other things that can affect joints etc - uric acid (aka 'gout') can be another cause, especially in fingers and lower leg. Doesn't even have to be caused by alcohol as I understand it, although that's the common cause. So if this is something new, maybe get a panel of blood tests to rule out possible bugs, deficiencies etc

Wow! ... what he said Wealth of info there, that's going straight in my "might need this some day" file.

If your shifters are indexed, I would guess not - you might be able adjust it to shift across 9 of the gears, but unless the lever has a 10th index, it won't be able to shift to the lowest/highest. You also might have chain width issues - I think 10spd chains are generally narrower than 9spd, which could then be an issue on your FD. Edit - oops, sorry, misread - you're keeping the 9spd cassette just changing the RD unit. Hmm, in which case I'm not sure, sounds more possible, not sure if the RD cogs might expect a narrower chain. I'd guess the RD unit itself won't mind using a smaller travel than it would normally have on 10spd.

I'm assuming what you're talking about is something more than just usual post-ride exertion pains i.e. stiff or aching muscles and joints? (I've had them so bad I couldn't walk or climb stairs when I've pushed too far beyond my limits). Ruling out the above, have you had a pro do a bike setup check for you? Could be your overall riding position (fore/aft, and up/down in terms of seat height) is putting undue pressure on your knees, ankle joints, tendons etc. If you can be sure that neither of the above is a factor, I reckon you might need to seek help to look into the exact area/cause of the pain to help relate it back to the part of your cycling motion, or maybe just overall endurance which is triggering it.

For me, hot weather is a big factor - with a solid example from this year: 99er - nice and cool, wind quite light - time through 94km in about 3:15, with 2 water bottles drunk Wellington lions ride - hot, but wind also quite light - 94km time was 3:42, with 3.5 water bottles needed Same bike, setup etc - and if anything, on the 99er I was starting to go down with a cold. Can't necessarily put all of that 30 minute difference down to heat, but I reckon it was biggest single factor.