walkerr

Funnily enough I am one of those dumb enough to go for something because it seems crazily tough ... I did ponder this one for a bit. Timing didn't work for me this year with other rides I'm already committed too. But actually it wasn't the high entry fee alone putting me off. I would have been one of those aiming to finish and not racing for the money. You nailed it above - it just looked like a long, hot and probably quite dull ride which ultimately I wouldn't be able to say was actually tough or interesting enough for the money and time I had spent doing it. I'm an endurance rider, and hence a potential customer of this - and it didn't appeal to me. You've got to fix that unless the event is just to be for Pros and Elite racers. I did actually exchange emails with Alex a few months back - but nothing came back in the responses to change my views.

Agreed. Anyone of those with the potential to win it could do - whether that's 20, 50 ot even 100 teams. But do all 450 teams have that potential? That seems doubtful. In which case, what's the motivation for spending such a high entry fee to be there then. Seems to me, to make this a success, you need a pretty solid motivation beyond the prize money for the rest of the field. $5k is a lot to pay for bragging rights alone.

Honestly I can't see it - maybe there are 20 to 50 teams that could have a chance at winning this thing. But if you need 450 for it to work, what's in it for the other 400 or so? It's 4 times longer than Baviaans, and 3 times longer than 36One - but the cost per person of those is R1k to R1.5k depending on your team size. For that small sum you get bragging rights, great scenery and awesome support and a ride. If it really was 'The Toughest Race on Earth' then I'd agree with the extra bragging rights - but 1,000 on gravel might be up there with some of the tough ones, but I don't see how it's tougher than them. Again, if you're racing for the money, that is sure as hell going to be tough - but for everyone else just aiming to finish who also shelled out the same $5k to be there? I'm less convinced.

I'm an endurance rider myself (road rather than MTB). A lot of mates asked me why I wasn't entering and it was hard to define. Definitely the high entry fee was off-putting, but it went deeper than that. I'd have no hope of winning it, in fact I'd most likely be a back marker. Again, that's no issue for me, it's how I like riding. Also, there was still some prize money drawn for one lucky finishing team not in the elite. So why not? And there's my problem - the money is the problem. I ride with buddies for fun. My day job is about money. When I get on a bike I want to get away from that stress. I certainly don't want to spend a few days losing a good friend I'm riding with because either I can't keep up, or he can't, and the pressure of not being in for that big prize draw is too great. I get the big prize fund for Pro riders capable of winning this - other jobs have the ability to earn big, so why not MTB riding if that is your career. But how many amateur riders will that tempt, where prize money is not a factor in your choice of rides. Just my 10c - bring on the flames!

RIP fellow riders

I offered that but he's too decent to take it off my back

Ok, phew, just got through by phone and looks like EcoBound can help me. Cancel that!

This a long shot I know. I messed up a bit on our team entry, and as a result we didn't get a T shirt for our support driver. Feel terrible, because on the day he was awesome and saved us from finishing with no lights. Have been trying via EcoBound, but no luck yet. Anyone know any contacts there who could help, or even have a spare (unused) M T-shirt I could acquire for him?

Both beautiful roads. Def fancy this one by bike some day - hopefully as part of this event

Yep, agree. Would have done it this year if wasn't already committed to Trans Baviaans

I took it to be the Ouberg Pass - is it a different road?

They certainly getting the old-school-hardmen-of-cycling experience that this was billed as. It'll look even bleaker when they post some arty B&W shots

Damn that MAC soup was good - had 2 cups and was set from there on! Really useful info, thanks

I've had something similar on long rides - in my case, I don't think these symptoms are necessarily carb related. Carb related issues for me come on more gradually, with an increasingly intolerant and upset stomach. If I rest a bit, and eat real food, I can usually calm them down. The symptoms you describe sound more to me like hydration issues - note that drinking a lot can cause these just as much as not drinking enough, especially if what is going in is plain water. I've been doing a lot of reading lately as someone who sweats a lot and suffers hyrdation issues. First up, is that a typical electrolyte tab has around 200mg of sodium in it. If you sweat a lot, your requirement can be as high as 1,000mg per hour. OK, that is on very hot days - 40C plus - so lesser heat, lesser sodium needed. Bottom line is though, 1 electro tab per hour may be ok on cool/warm days like Baviaans, but not enough on hot days. The other part is the type of Sodium - USN Cramp Block for instance uses Sodium Bicarbonate (which in fact most do). The problem with this is that 200mg of Bicarb is only around 80mg of actual sodium. The other aspect is that Bicarb is an antacid - if you have an upset stomach this could be good, but if not you're lowering your stomach acid and reducing nutrient absorbtion rate. A few Salt tabs use Sodium Chloride - which is 100% Sodium (so 200mg is 200mg of Sodium) and does the opposite of Bicarb, it increases stomach acid. I'm still experimenting here as to which form of Sodium works better for me on longer rides - there are pros and cons to each depending on whether you have an upset stomach, or an issue absorbing fuel while riding. I find when my hydration is out of whack, I physically cannot get food down. Gag reflex and cannot swallow a thing. Only cure then is a significant time off bike, and gradual/steady introduction of electrolytes to get me back in balance. In my case, it's pretty much a DNF if I've got myself into this state - Carb or improper fuelling issues I can usually recover from during the ride.

SWAMBO just spotted the following study on Keto diet: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16652223 Interesting that it's quite a while back (Jun 2006). OK, before all the naysayers shout up, it was a small study (66), but the results are interesting nevertheless.

Mines been fine. Took it off my Giant Anthem the day I bought it and stuck it on shelf. Sat there ever since - no signs of wear and tear yet, still looks almost new

I've had that problem on several long rides - the worst was an Audax 400 in UK back in May. Every part of my body was ticking over nicely towards the end except my stomach - legs, lungs, back, bum, all 100%. I joke that the only thing which would have caused me to DNF was running out of Rennies! I'd already been riding with several people on an LCHF plan for some time Having seen how well it worked on long rides, it was in my mind to try it - that 400 was the trigger. This year I have 300,400,600 rides from Oct thru Dec. And then next year I'll have a similar set too - culminating hopefully in PBP in August. So should be plenty of on the road experience to judge it against.

Love the concept. On my list for a future year hopefully.

Agreed that is the part really lacking - is full studies. I don't really care what anyone else eats TBH. I was very reluctant and sceptical to try it myself. My beef is with the pedalling of flawed and sometimes non existent studies that claim to show the diet is bad, which could well be putting off those who would benefit from trying it. Anyone who is IR or borderline diabetes should be at least be considering it as a way to avoid going full blown Type 2. I also don't give a stuff about Noakes himself - he's popularised LCHF, but he didn't invent it. He's certainly enjoying the spotlight and getting a lot of flak in the process, but beyond that he's just another advocate. The red bible is a godsend though (as is the Wheat Belly book) because it's a darned hard eating plan without some tasty recipes to follow. My personal problem which I came to teh diet to solve is gradual and building intolerance to carbs after many hours on the bike. If it solves that and lets me perform at a decent level I'll be a happy rider. If not, I'm gonna enjoy that first bowl of pasta! As you say - we all need to find what works for us.

This is the part in the CycleOps piece that also resonates with me - and some others I've ridden with. In my case though, I know I've not been fully fat adapted over the last few months. I was riding in a MTB team, and had to be careful of my personal needs and slowing the team down so I kept up some carbs, albeit way less than I'd have used prior. Now I'm purely solo again and only working on endurance events I'm going to knuckle down and get fully adapted. I still expect some top end power loss, but that doesn't bother me for long low intensity events. I will add some carbs back if I want to go quicker on a shorter event like Argus. But that's a long time off, so we'll see how it's working by then. I'll hopefully have 4 or 5 long distance rides under my wheels by then, and the 6 monthly blood panels to see what is going on inside.

Good for your dad for ignoring all the bad science being pedalled and sticking to his guns. Statins are a much bigger evil than anything you'll encounter on a low carb diet - and cholesterol is not the enemy we have all been led to believe. Again, not my view, established in studies

There are other studies too - it has actually been disproven in many such studies that there is a link between ingested fats and heart disease. Just because something is a long standing and popular myth does not make it true.

Have a 24hr one coming up in Nov, and a 35hr one in Dec. Hope it scales up well!

Not a big fan of concider - Apples not a good choice on LCHF Prefer conbeer or conwine myself

You missed all the fun 'Dale. We should have picked religion - it'd have been a less heated topic