kamikaze

yawn.....

but DH'ers do it for the love of the sport, if it was a stage-DH-race over three days you could charge R2450 per entry and get rich! (and people would pay it)

from the OP the cost of a grape escape entry is R2450. so using your estimate of 300 entrants the pot goes up to = R735 000 please, look me in the eye and tell me it costs three quarters of a million Rand, or R245 000 per day (by the same estimate), to herd a bunch of riders around the same course that the PnP MTB challenge does for R54 000 per day? someone somewhere is making a LOT of money!

R.E.A.D. my post - " it's so lucrative, she doesn't have to work at all above and beyond that." how do you get from my post that she "sits on [her] bum for a full year from the proceeds"? she works her arse off before and during, yes, but the proceeds of one race covers her years' earnings comfortably , which is why she decided to take on a few more, because she has the time. i don't have to back up anything, i know that i'm telling the truth and that's good enough for me.

that's right, stick your head in the sand. just because you refuse to believe it doesn't make it untrue.

the reason races are so expensive is because people are willing to pay it. simple as that. it's a business. your bulk of money doesn't go towards anything tangible, but rather for the perceived "privelage" of getting an entry in a race where there is so called "limited" space. tell someone that they have a slim chance of getting an entry and suddenly they are willing to pay top dollar for that entry. i have a friend who organised one race each year - it's so lucrative, she doesn't have to work at all above and beyond that. one race takes care of her years' earnings. she has now decided to stage another two per year because there is an unlimited amount of suckers out there who are willing to throw cash at her races.

i find it worrysome that any guy (assuming you ARE a guy) knows how much body fat he has....yawn....no one cares! this rates right up there with other useless info like telling people that you can perform oral sex on yourself.

yeah, not gay at all

+1

mega tjop! there can only be one lance armstrong, let it go stevief

interesting point you raise there - these days it's ALL about fitness and skill doesn't count. try riding for quality instead of quantity, you'd be surprised how much fun it becomes when you dont have to keep to an average and force yourself to complete a pre-determined distance! which begs the question, why race at all? it seems the natural progression is: 1. newby - no skills , no fitness, lots of enthusiasm which leads to the next level 2. racer - limited skills , fitness increasing, hence the desire to compete 3. recreational - lots of skill and fitness, no need to prove it to the world anymore by racing

most of the "racing" takes place on the trail over weekends when you ride with half-wheeling half-wits who think it's a race. i know someone who has a 29er and only rides it on the road. maybe it could be price - what does the typical entry fee amount to?

@ prisma, maybe this will look less like mtb and more like roadie because the bulk is spread out over the same area as where your jersey pockets are - http://www.camelbak....lashFlo-LR.aspx

seems legit, go for it! seriously? if you have to ask you already know the answer.

i refuse to believe that having bag-fulls of cr@p on you lower back - having pockets filled with pumps, water-bottles, tire levers, tubes, chainbreakers, bombs, gu's and banana's - is more comfortable than putting those items a camelbak. and how does having a plastic bottle and pump sticking out of bulging pockets on your back look less of a tit that wearing a camelbak?

and there you have it folks, in black and white - peer pressure defies logic! there are those who lead, who don't care what others think ie. the trend setters, and those who follow blindly. i bet if lance or contador had a signature model road-specific Camelbak in the next big race,all of a sudden it wont "look dumb" anymore. peculiar thing, human nature. they might laugh at you for wearing it, but win the race and i promise, YOU will be doing the laughing.

yes i do, but let's see what the next guy says.. OK, well there you have it - this guy get's very close to a good solution. i'm thinking...if only there was some sort of back mounted hydration system that was light and comfortable and had the added benefit of hands free drinking on-the-fly..... oh wait, there is! it's called a Camelbak!!! i REALLY dont get why so many overlook resist the obvious solution? why on earth would you want the discomfort of a plastic bottle in a back pocket, the added weight and clutter of bottle cages on your frame, the limited capacity of bottles, and the inconveniece and loss of control associated with having to reach down with one hand to un-cage and hold a bottle, when you can have a 2l Camelbak solve all of the above problems in a neat and comfortable package?

and the cyclist did ALL of that without being provoked?...yeah right!

i think this belongs on the front of this and could probably be substituted by THIS

Uranus deep-space probes

you have gear indicators?!?! what is this world coming to?

and cool looks = better rider

OK, i've heard some convincing arguments, but nothing yet that makes any sense

precisely! +1