SARA

beer. tick.

what the nurses there already?

I got electrocuted on one when I was in school. the idiot drove down a road with low hanging wires. snagged one and next thing there were 50 screaming little girls with their on end. not funny. ok little bit funny. esp since no one got hurt.

OK who's in for a pedal on Friday morning? We can do everything (all the sneaky local secrets) except Jonkershoek and then if there are still diehards do that too. Buff? Carbongirl?

ja I know you'd think you'd learn.

and try not to jump my bike into the pool when dared.....

no just have the right attitude. It will get you much further than what you wear,what you look like or how good you are. the right attitude? Well you're trying out mtn biking arent you? That's a good start

yup. hair. baggies. crazy twinkle in the eye. mtn biker. excellent. really I never had a prob riding baggies. was very comfy. you get some really nice ones nowadays.

my big, beautiful, sexy yet soft blue eyes.

I totally got into baggies while I was living in Canda. It is SO nerdy to wear lycra there. Took me ages to get back into lycra in SA. If you get the right ones they are awesome, Plus people underestimate you. You just come out of nowhere looking totally unpro and not at all intimidating and kick some ass.

ditto....

this is a very academic..erm...discussion. point a) only cycling makes a more POWERFUL, effective cyclist. point b) crosstraining is a good idea for all- round healthy and functional for the rest of your life. the muddy unscientifically proven bit is whether these are linked?

--just because they haven't proved it doesn't mean it isnt true. If there is one thing I have learnt in science this is it. So now someone has to do the science.

BikeMax Hi. Since we are being so very polite.... Cool fair enough. One more question, since I'm pretty clueless especially with regard to road stuff. Again heard many opinions and am interested in yours. If you are aiming to race for 5-6 hours how often would you ride 5-6 hours in your training week?

I understand what you are saying and I agree with you. I've just found personally that if I do a very long race it's the arb, odd little muscles that tire first and hurt the most afterwards. That's all. Yes if one could train for 5 or 6 hours a day that would obviously give them a proper workout but if you don't have that many hours then couldn't some form of cross training be useful? I'm only asking because I am interested.

Bear in mind that if these "2nd order" muscles needed to be trained to improve cycling then they would get that training while on the bike... The fact that they don't get stimulus while cycling is generally because you are not using them to help your cycling. have you read the whole thread? what about... if you've got these big strong cycling muscles you will rely on them to do all the work. The less used ones that could be helping out with the workload get "lazy" in a sense. If you could recruit these lazy little bastards as well how much faster could you go!? You would take some of the pressure off the big guys, faster...longer? perhaps if you considered them they could be put to better use? It's just something I was thinking about, after chatting to my physio and yoga teacher.

Running is good for anaerobic fitness' date=' and anaerobic fitness is good for hill climbing. And time-trialing. I think my training over the last two months since I returned to road racing would be of some interest here... a handful of training rides. no gym. 3-4 runs a week. a bike race every weekend. [/quote'] . perfect. nice little eg Will.

Mud dee. This is perfect. Can I get you to argue my thoughts so eloquently for me more often? I'm nodding and smiling with all your points.

Logic tells me though, that any muscles that get used while you train for your goal, will become stronger and not weaker. Why should some muscles get stronger and other ones weaker. Those muscles don't suddenly start being used 3 hours into a ride, they are used from the start. Just don't enter a cyclist in a bench press competition 'cos he'll lose! because if you've got these big strong cycling muscles you will rely on them to do all the work. The less used ones that are still NB get "lazy" in a sense. If you can recruit these lazy little bastards as well how much faster could you go!? You would take some of the pressure off the big guys, faster...longer?

absolutely, if you have 4-5 hours to ride everyday.

2 c again. I'm no expert, this is personal observation... So when you are cycling there are a bunch of muscles doing the majority of the work. Then there are a bunch of muscles doing a little bit less work but they are still important. These lets say "2nd order" muscles operate fine over a shorter training period, however if you do a 4/5 hour race as apposed to say the 2 hr ride you have time for everyday, these "2nd order" muscles are the ones that slow you down, they get tired/hurt. Meanwhile the 1st order muscles are still going fine. So by targeting these 2nd order muscles with some form of "cross training" you can strengthen them independently of the "1st order" muscles. In my pleb opinion.

Doing some core strength stuff makes a big difference too. that's my 2c. My back hardly ever gets sore anymore now that I use my stomach muscles effectively.

Hoe kan jy nou so s?? Ek is gere?ld in die gym en ek is defnitef nie 'n bunch of miserable uptight people nie. Skaam jou om my so in die gesig te vat! I was generalising. Most people in gyms are like that. Fair enough I had limited experience. I don't particularly want anymore. They just aren't for me thanks.