Squier

Fair is fair. It is the athlete's responsibility to ensure that you stay within the rules of the sport. If it's a banned substance and it is in your blood there shouldn't be any debate around how it got there. That being said; I'm really disappointed. Yes, I agree with the verdict, but it just means that this year's tour will once again be a less spectacular affair. In 2011 I waited for the fireworks and it just never arrived... will 2012 be the same? (I know, there's more at "steak" here than my entertainment value, but I'm just that selfish!) Hopefully Bruyneel can work his magic (interpret that as you wish) and get the Schlecks firing! If I have to watch Cadel sitting on a wheel in the mountains again I might just switch to highlights of Graeme Smith batting.

Even though most would agree with you, I don't believe they had a significant influence, if any, on this case. It was a federal investigation, so who ever runs the sport would've been irelevant. And then, reveiwing the evidence is one thing, but starting another investigation 7 years after the fact? That just doesn't make sense! I'm also still curious about George Hincapie's testimony... I think he backed Lance...

Last year we got "Steve's Auto Clinic" golf shirts instead of medals at the Cradle Quest race... that was pretty random. Personally I would've rather wanted a medal. It's a way for me to keep track and remember all the races I have done. I keep all my medals.

To see what Novitzky actually found would be interesting, however, I doubt that we would get to see that. Even though everyone is still waiting for WADA to review the evidence and come up with some controversial anouncement, I don't think that anything will come of this. I'm sure that Novitzky would've had a case if he could prove that Lance doped. That would've been the starting point of the investigation. But now, the story is done. Get over it and move on.

Voortrekker Monument has some good riding! But it's not flat. Even though there are no major climbs, you are always going up or down.

Pretoria East being? Faerie Glen? Moreleta? Wapadrand?

Now that looks awesome!

Single lap! Awesome! Still one of the better races around.

pm KRL747. He struggled with an ITB injury for quite a while and kept on going back to the physio without any success. He eventually got it sorted by a chiropractor. Sounds weird, I know, but a true story.

Demand vs Supply, I’d say. There aren’t that many road races with full road closure on the calendar, therefore the massive demand needs to be catered for by the small supply of races. Many “road cyclists” I know only do two races a year; Argus and 94.7. Then, there are almost an MTB race every week and so allot more races to cater for the demand. It’s also not an issue if you can’t make a race as you’ll just catch the next one in a week’s time.

I did this race 2 years back and won't bother again. Congestion and mud, that's all it is.

One more thing... I think the main differences is that the sweatsucker is made from fabric so will get saturated after a while, while the sweatgutr is rubber so it doesn't. Oh, and the website is www.sweatgutr.com.

I have a polar cs300 and have no complaints. Works well on the bike, works well in the spinning class. If you're not too phased about getting a GPS this is a good option. The only reason I'll get something else is to get a GPS on the bike, but for heart rate, timing and speed this is perfect.

I'm using the SweatGUTR. Same concept. There is a thread on the hub somewhere about it. It works like a charm! I went on 6 hour rides in the middle of summer without having to remove my glasses once due to sweat... and I sweat allot! The agent in SA is Ruan. ruanretief at gmail dot com.

Now that doesn't look like fun...

Taken with my BlackBerry Curve's crappy camera somewhere between Gariep dam and Philoppolis. (Edited with Shendz BB app) The phone tragically died in a pool accident yesterday.

Tubeless. Just carry plugs with you for big punctures and a spare tube for sidewall cuts.

I've had my CS300 for a couple of years now and have had almost no issues. IHF has also always been super helpful. When I had problem with my HR strap not registering my heart rate they replaced it under warranty, no questions asked. I'm uploading my rides to polarpersonaltrainer without any hassles.

Looks awesome! Who did you meet Gummi?

You won't find a 29er dual sus in your budget anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you intend to do long/stage races and spend long hours in the saddle I would go for a 26" dual sus rather than a 29er hardtail. I'm still of the opinion that a 26" dual sus trumps a 29er hardtail when it comes to comfort when spending long hours in the saddle, even though it's not faster.

I use to ride Racing Ralphs (non-snakeskin though) and had sidewall cut issues. The tyres were light but it just wasn't worth risking sidewall cuts every time I went out. I then changed to a Geax AKA at the back. It's a nice grippy tire and I have had no puncture or sidewall cut issues, however, it has worn pretty quickly on the centre part of the tyre (the part that is in contact with the road the most). This is partly also due to the fact that the tyre hates tar roads. Now, I know it's an MTB and shouldn't be on the tar, but I live in a city so riding to a trail wil always involve a bit of tar road riding. Nothing extensive though. I then decided to go with Maxxis Crossmark at the front and have to say that I am impressed. The Geax will in all probability be replaced by a Crossmark in the near future.

They expect the pitch to start detoriorating on day three. If we bat today until after tea we should have a lead of over 500. Then we have three days to bowl them out twice... which theoretically is very possible if the pitch starts playing along. If it doesn't we're drawing another test series that we should've won.

It’s a good idea and something that I would support. However, I would like to start something like “ThinkBakkie” or “ThinkBullbar” where awareness is raised amongst cyclists that they should think for everyone on the road. Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong, the cyclist always comes of second best. We seem to get complacent on the road and even though we don’t necessarily break the law or make mistakes, we start to think of motorists as motorists instead of brainless idiots. I’m not saying that everyone in a car is an idiot and doesn’t follow the rules of the road, but when you are on your bike you seriously need to think of them that way.

So tragic! My heart goes out to family and friends, especially to Thereza's youngest son who, it seems from the reports, is starting matric this year. RIP

Keep us posted. Looking forward to see what you can make out of that "beauty"!