mtbvip

Correction - Lance's blood sample tested positive for EPO.

It is called motorpacing - look it up. A (relatively) quiet road on a Saturday morning - don't see why it poses a problem. No serious traffic violations either (other than for the dimwit overtaking on a solid line). I hope you remained behind them at a safe following distance until it was safe (and legal) to overtake. By the way, it would be illegal for the car to drive in the cycle lane).

I am in KZN (from Jhb) for the UWCT finals, and walked into the relatively new "Chain Worx Cycles" in Umhlanga to have my tires inflated (too much of a hassle to take a floor pump on the plane). I was very impressed with their friendly service and great looking shop - lots of beautiful high end bikes and accessories. Thanks guys, your shop should do really well!

The amount of guys living along the Spruit is, in my opinion, getting out of hand. I know that they have nowhere to live and personally they don't bother me as long as they don't threaten the safety of cyclist/joggers. What bothers me is that lately I have noticed that, to make fires at night, the vagrants are cutting down a significant amount of trees on a daily basis. This is particularly evident behind the Pick and Pay. To me the amount of trees along the Spruit plays a large role in making the Spruit the special ride it is and I fear that soon there will be no trees left. I am interested in hearing other rider's opinions on this.

I am sure you are a strong climber. Challenging me to come climb with you won't prove anything. At last year's Magalies monster, Clarens MTN and Sabie MTN marathons less than a handful of riders overall managed to outclimb me for overall top five positions...which one were you? My workhorse bike is a steel rigid singlespeed - I'd much rather prefer having a beer to discuss all the other benefits of single-speeding.

The initial question Richard asked was: "I seem to climb at around 7 k/h on longer climbs, how can I get better physically? I do the position on the seat etc. my legs just don't want to allow me to keep the cadence high even in granny gear". I gave advice based on the question at hand. Sure, body position is important to prevent rear wheel loss of traction on loose or rocky climbs - Richard's question clearly suggests he knows about body position on climbs. His question related to his inability to maintain a high cadence (ie. lack of strength and fitness) and never about a lack of technical ability. Your analogy of this discussion being a fistfight "take it on the chin" is misguided. I disagreed with some of the suggestions (including yours) and have already explained my reasons for this. Feel free to disagree with my suggestions. The fact that you misconstrued this as "a Mod making it about himself" is ironic: your direct attack on me have made you the "Mod making it about himself" and highlights a clearly fragile ego.

My intention was not to hurt the feelings of all the cyclists that really know what they are talking about. The point I was trying to make is that there is no well kept secret good cyclists (aka climbers) keep to themselves that enable them to power up hills. The key to being a good climber is a good power to weight ratio (i.e. more power and less fat). Most strong cyclists rarely run out of gears unless a climb has a gradient of more than 10 to 15%. This means that they can almost always maintain a comfortable cadence and rarely need to grind a heavy gear. Being able to push a heavy gear does not make you a good climber. The benefits of hill training does not come from the gradient you are riding up but rather the intensity (high heart rate / effort) of the training. The same benefit will be achieved from any similar level of intensity training, whether on the flat or on a trainer. Cycling and running training is very different. In running you have one gear. Cycling allows you to change gears to maintain a steady cadence. Regards, The climbing idol.

A hill is just like a level stretch of road, except that gravity adds a bit of resistance (the more you weigh the more the resistance) and due to the slower speeds you have less of a headwind (less benefit of wheelsucking). The best way to get better a climbing is to lose weight (if you have weight to lose) and simply get better at cycling: ride more and do more high intensity intervals. Whether you do the intervals on the the flat, a stationary trainer or an actual hill makes little difference as you use your gears to keep your cadence stable. Forget about all this nonsense of sitting back, sitting forward, pulling up or down, relaxing, getting a singlespeed and most importantly DO NOT START RUNNING MORE (doing more of another activity when you are not doing enough of cycling to start with is a no-brainer).

Rather save the money you spend on the supplements and spend it on a set of lighter wheels (with the amount you buying it shouldn't take you too long). There are no trial (medical) evidence that any of the supplements you take will improve your health or performance, unless you have a proven (blood test) deficiency of a specific vitamin or mineral. As for "natural" fat burner: unless you consume the actual plant material there is nothing natural about it. I don't understand why an uncontrolled, untested substance of an unknown dose and purity can ever be considered superior to well researched medical drugs with known side-effects and efficacy.....

Your claims as to what medical science has proven regarding the detrimental effects of dietary fats vs carbohydrates is inaccurate. Multiple medically sound trials have in fact showed that there is no evidence to suggest that a diet where fats make up a high percentage of total energy intake has any detrimental effect on coronary heart disease (meta-analysis by Mente et al : A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease. Arch Intern med 169:659, 2009). Trans fats should however be avoided as there is evidence that they impact negatively on health. Don't believe everything Discovery tells you.

Thanks for the reply. Apparently the sleeve-only option is no good for deep vein thrombosis prevention.

I regularly fly overseas and develop severe leg swelling each time I do. I take my cycling pretty serious and want to purchase recovery socks to mainly help prevent leg swelling, the associated risk for deep vein thrombosis, as well as aid with post workout recovery. Any advice with regards best brands and which shops you recommend would be appreciated. Currently I am considering the Anatomic "legstrong" recovery socks, but am a bit circumspect as I am not impressed with the quality of their cycling gear in general. Has anybody used the Anatomic socks?

I find it very hard to believe that rain drops, even at 100km per hour can penetrate deep enough to cause any significant damage to a bike and it's bearings. That just doesn't make sense There is a big difference between a jet of water directed straight at a bearing and rain drops hitting the bike from a mainly frontal direction. You don't need to be an engineer to figure this one out....

Which one is best, Shimano or SRAM......whichever one is on a 29er.

I couldn't disagree more. I like to see and be inspired by people with above average abilities or those that have excelled despite a handicap.The battle of the race intrigues me. Average people with average abilities and an average commitment to the sport of cycling is hardly exciting to watch.