Fat Boab

I'll let Tombeej et al field the direct questions, but...... .....my plan for warm-up is to take a trainer in the car and warm up in the parking area. 15 mins or so of light pedalling with a couple of minutes of race pace to get switched on, should help make Pooks Hill (if we're talking about same) a bit more bearable. Yes I'll look a bit strange and I hope the inevitable chirps are good ones, but I'll be the one who's smiling......

I'm doing a bike swap at Witkoppen to a....tandem.

That sucks! All the best with the healing and rehab.

Sound like? No. Hung like?.....Not that either!

Communication... got it! I'd suggest you watch some Shrek DVDs to better understand me on the day......

Absolutely mesmeric. Nice use of the solid white line to guide them - and in live traffic to keep them alive!

I know nowt' about pacing, this race or any other, but let me share some numbers which I found surprising: Last year I found the whole race REALLY hard. I had an off-day, was hungover, unfit, ill or whatever....bad day from pedal stroke 1, literally. After riding solo for most of the way, I got to the top of Witkoppen in about 2:50 (+/-26 kph) and thought I was done. Managed to keep going and the rest of the ride passed in a grey cloud - on Cedar for most of that hill my cadence dropped to <50 rpm in 34/28 and I limped through Steyn City and finished in 3:40. But somehow I still rode from the top of W'koppen to the finish in 50 mins. That section may hurt, but it rides quicker than it feels, particularly when looking back in time. With the benefit of a working-group to W'koppen, legs still feeling good hopefully, riding that section in 43 mins or so, doesn't seem so far-fetched. Then again, what do I know?!

Yip, I suppose there are always (in my case, a multitude of) skills to master!

If I tried one of those tucks it'd be "Man stuck on bike with jersey pocket hooked on his saddle."

We'll be that quick, you won't need more than 2x700 ml bottles........

Sounds like wisdom-in-a-can to me....!

Yessir, I was indeed cool....about 10 degs C cooler

If the Wilds is the hill off the M1 up past St Johns, then I don't remember any blockage from last year - I think I started around 0700. Infact I don't remember a watering point at all! Shows how alert I was......

Fixed!

Well one thing is for sure; 15 Nov will be a school-day for me. Bring on the school bell!!

Well I'll have been dry for 46 days on the 15th, so I'll certainly be sprinting the first couple of post-race beers......

It's sounding better and better......!

It's all your fault........

As you say, pacing seems critical. How do the Comrades 'buses' do it?

Thanks for these Tombeej. Have to admit, I've only done this stuff in small groups, for short periods, and the thought of +/-20 people of varying ability and experience and it seems daunting. Throw in 'outsiders' jumping in the line unannounced perhaps and it seems to get super-daunting! A couple of questions, if I may: 1. How are we going to set the pace on the road, and how will this be modified/updated? 2. Setting pace up hills? Seems like there is scope to drop people here, if we don't have a plan and aren't disciplined in sticking to it, or modifying on the fly? 3. How many old-hands do we have in the group and can they be identified on the day to keep us in order? It might avoid a lot of well-meaning, but misguided advice being distributed, by A-types and others? Or am I over-complicating it all!?

Sounds good!

Isn't a 0700 depart from circle-D, for a 0705 start time, a bit ambitious, if we want to be near the front of the pen? I recollect a recommendation in the start-pack from last year to be in the pen 45 mins ahead of time? If so, we'll be at the back...

Go back a few pages....cable tie on our helmet with a yellow sticker to be provided by Scott at the rendezvous. Or put some yellow tape (insulation or otherwise) on the cable-tie before arrival? OR....we'll be the good-looking riders! We are Hubbers after all....

They haven't been communicating the socks over the shoes thing as they did last year, so here's hoping? I took an old tooth-brush last year and cleaned cleats in the pens - helped enormously...

From the venue map, it looks like Roundabout D is where the entry to the pens is, with no-access at roundabout D from the south or east? It might be wise to have one meeting point at the venue rather than 2, cos you know we're likely to lose people that way. Roundabout D as the final meeting point, with sub-groups meeting off-site at their discretion?