Squier

There is a tunnel... but it's more like a stormwater tunnel.

I'm going again for the long weekend. If you're there and keen for a ride, let me know.

Thanks Frosty!! Was another fun one! I'll take the Jeremy Roy award - In the running until the end but just not able to pull it through.

You have no idea...

Yep, I easily burn 4000 calories on a 4 hour ride! If only burning calories meant losing weight!

Arriving where?

...

It would be awesome if Voeckler can hang on to yellow today, though that's a very tough ask. I'm sure we'll see some fireworks on Luz-Ardiden which will leave him as one of the casualties. If they leave the attacking for late on the climb he might survive, but if the proverbial sheet ( ) starting hit the fan early I fear the worst... I need some break aways to succeed on the big climb stages to make it through the mountains in a good position. My predictions for today: Evans to crack on the final climb, Contador to attack early on the final climb, Andy to only consolidate his lead and take yellow. Very interested to see what the inconspicuous Mr Basso's form looks like! Please Mr Voeckler, if you don't want to do it for the French people and Bastille day, then do it for Team Squier!

Hoping that Rojas and Griepel doesn't rain on my parade today! Hoping for a Farrar, Petacchi, Cav, Hushovd finish! In that order!! Need the points before we hit the big mountains... that's where things could turn sour for me.

I was happy with the "sorry for you" rule.

Do a search. There are a lot of cramp threads. Eno's or Rennies - short term rememdy.

No singletrack? How long is the loop currently?

Seems like Frosty made a mistake somewhere. Lucky Luke, you're also one of the few that has Voeckler in your team but you only made 7 points. With Voeckler getting second and yellow you should've made at least 10... according to my calculations.

Yep, it does. Would also like to see to points allocation for the stage.

Farrar spoilt an almost perfect day for me. Alejet coming to the party at last!

Oh, you must be a hug fan of the GT Sensor 29er! That is a good looking bike!

I had a chat with the dude at my LBS this morning. Apparently the 2012 Silverback bikes are coming out towards the end of August. He says prices won't differ much from the 2011 prices. Hopefully they're bringing more models to SA than this year.

I ride a Silverback Moda 29er. XT bike with a RS Reba and Fox Float RP2 and within your price range. Nothing compares ito value... if you can still get your hands on it. Silverback seemed to have drop the ball a bit. No stock left anywhere. A mate of mine bought the GT Sensor 29er. Sram x7 bike with Fox front and back. It's a tad more than R20k. Looks like the best bang for your buck at moment. And with the whole "go green" craze, you'll fit right in. Google images... you'll see what I mean. There's also the Giant Anthem 29er, haven't ridden it but have only heard good things. The 2012 Scott Spark 29er is coming out in a couple of months, though I seriously doubt that it'll be close to your price range. Happy hunting!

There you have it... Horses for courses. How many times have this been said, but now the world champ said it! For the 3 XC riders left in the country - 26ers, but for the rest...

I was let down by Farrar and Ali-jet yesterday! Time for a stern team talk! Another day for Hushovd and Gillbert!

I was quite impressed with the way he handled it. Sure, it was still far out but he simply got up, took of his helmet and glasses, wiped some sweat and waited for the team car. No panic, no nothing. They gave him the wrong bike, he looked at and just clmly tossed it to the side of the road, got another one and continued. Even though I expect nothing less of him, another rider could've easily gone into a flat spin after his recent spell of bad luck. I don't like the guy but he's a class rider. 1:30 is a lot to get back, but I'm not writing him off just yet. Here's a photo from after the stage. Bit of a bad angle but you can just see the damage to his back:

That's a good looking bike! Very similar lines to the Stumpy...

Love these early predictions! I'm glad that crash happened; I was preparing myself for a relatively boring Tour with AC being a couple of seconds up when they reach the Alps and just sitting on Andy's wheel and closing it out in the TT. Now we'll be seeing Contador doing the attacking in the mountains. Seeing the big guns defending is boring, now we'll be seeing the biggest gun of them all doing the attacking. Anyway, Cadel looks very confident. He wanted yellow from day 1. Does he really think that he can defend the yellow jersey for three weeks? Quite a different strategy... a bit too bold for my liking. We still haven't seen any proof that Andy has hit some form. I was expecting him to, at least, sit on Contador's wheel yesterday and not concede any time. I'm assuming he was just conserving and didn't want do dig deep so early. We'll have to wait until stage 12 to find out. Though, like I said before, I'm sure he's ready.

Much more than a certain aspiring cape epic rider... although that doesn't say much, now does it.

Question; if you ride a 20" mtb, can you make a 19" fit by fitting a longer top tube and, if necessary, seat post? Surely you can set up the smaller bike to resemble the geometry you are used to with the 20" bike?