eitan

The best upgrade you can make is to go tubeless. You can even do a Ghetto conversion on the same wheels you have there. I did a lot of races (including the Attakwas) on a Merida Matts 20 V - thats as entry level as you can get! Did a ghetto coversion on the Merida / Alexrims and upgraded the fork to a secondhand Rockshock Judy.

My rule with the paths on Paarlberg is that after winter you must first be able to ride them up before attempting to ride them down. But then again I am a banggat.

They don't call that path the Eliminator for nothing.

I was called "Oom" for the first time on a group club ride on Saturday. En dit nogal deur 'n girl wat seker al 'n hele paar jaar uit die skool is!

Check out www.paarlmtb.com for regular group rides in Paarl and surrounds.

But then again I weigh almost double what some of the TDF riders weigh.

According to my HRM I burned 8045 kcal over 9 hours on this years Attakwas. The Knysna MTB cost me 4039 kcal over 3:45. So for me 1000 per hour seems reasonable with hard riding (90% hr max and over).

Santini - Bought at Argus expo for R750 - best Bib shorts I have ever owned. Beats Assos F1 mile in my opinion.

The Knysna long race is actually only 74.5km, so definately tougher than the K2C. the average rider will probably take 30 to 40 minutes longer on the K2C.

Did the 2010 Epic on a new Merida TFS 800 hardtail with XT/SLX. Only problems were with my back tire after I damaged my tubeless setup and had to fit a tube. I replaced the chain after the epic as a precaution, but apart from that have had nothing replaced. I have since done another 1500km's without any problems. All my training including the Attakwas and Argus before the race was done on a R3500 Merida Matts 20V.

Could'nt agree with you more! Going Ghetto you need the best sealant. Slime works well for plugging holes, but to get the sidewalls and rim/bead to seal Stans are the best.I also add 50ml of sludge to the 1.5 cups of Stans.

Respect! I was quite chuffed with my 3:43 on mtb with slicks, but you brought me down to earth!

The reason why Rennies (and Eno's and Bicarb) works is because of the antacid properties. Lactic acid is supposedly neutralised by it.

JB, I have done about 3500km's since the lbs declared my chain as stretched after checking with a park tool. Because they said that it was worn to the point of not saving the cassette I decided to ride it until it starts to give problems. So far no skipping or shifting problems; I also did the Attakwas on Saturday with the chainset. What are the dangers of riding like this e.g. can I damage any other parts of the bike (bottom bracket, bearings etc)? When will I know that it is really time to replace the cassette, chainrings and chain if a worn chain wont cause skipping?

No, it is dragons with a "s"

think its Dragonz

If we can take Bospaadjie's word the chaos is to be laid at the door of the PPA, I am not surprised. Their officials were very unhelpful on the day. By the way - the "Outannie" was from Diemersfontein - she saw the chaos and volunteered to help! If more mountainbikers had that type of spirit we would organise our own races without the CSA or PPA having to dictate.

The registration process was indeed a disaster - with only 3 people manning the process. There were also no proper signage and no-one knew where to queue for which race. Took me about an hour to get through the process. I pre-registered, but some of my friends who entered at the event got through registration quicker than me. The race started 30 min late. I must add that all the frustration was forgotten when we hit the first section of single track - awesome stuff.

Paarl mtb has a website where regular rides are posted. You are more than welcome to join. www.paarlmtb.com