Mamil

The favero look very nice and I've seen lots of positive reviews. Just had my 4iiii crank based warrantied (brilliant service) and the new version is installed and working nicely. Also supports apple find my which is a great bonus feature one hopes not to have to need.

I use a 1.5k Redmi smartphone. Allows Garmin connect to send live track, gives access to Uber if a mechanical means I need one, can whatsapp and I have my discovery Banking on it which is a card I have simply for the vitality stuff so that if I'm in a situation where stuff is being demanded of me, I can give them a few zars without giving them access to my bond, business and savings accounts. It's a decent enough phone too... Very slow to boot but bluetooths my Spotify to the open run pros too. Loves me a gadget I do

Did a lot of last years munga traning piecing bits of these two loops together into big all day expeditions. Depending on where you start can make it 100 miler or longer - even make a weekend 2 day trippie out of them. Nice generally safe riding I found. Did a few other ones as well headed out brackenfell way to Paarl and over paarl mountain to Wellington side which was also fun. I also did a 3 day solo epic to Montagu and from there to Hermanus and From Hermanus to Franschoek where I met SO and MIL for lunch - routes for which I'm also happy to share although the road outside Robertson was not lekker at all - very dangerous. malmesbury bits and bobs.gpxprimary loop.gpx

Ja - and continuing over the Malmesbury road right through to Darling - quick Sarmie and a cappuccino at Evita's and then on to Moreesburg, round the back towards the two Riebeeks, then either Hermon on to Wellington then Eenzaamheid back home or the other way to Malmesbury ... km after km of semi rural gravelly goodness.

This is how cyclists should be able to ride on the roads were it not for the climate controlled lounge suites encased in metal armour and equipped with 200 kilowatts at the flick of an ankle that make it dangerous to be an unarmoured human in public spaces..... #mamilisonhissecondwhiskey

Reflecting on this race and also a message to the organiser (if they are monitoring the thread) - if no access to the trails in the area is possible, convert the event into a gravel ride and make it longer - there are epic gravel roads around Darling, out to Moreesburg, and even further. Do a lot of my ultra distance training our that way - 100km to Darling from the southern suburbs along the railway line and from there North and North east - plenty to see. I'd definitely make the trip to do a gravel ride that pushes the riders further out than say Ronde van Riebeek does -

Ja - that's why I want to see the route before committing an entry. I like gravel riding but not travelling to Darling for 80km of it.

Cycling to work is recreation for me

I wonder what this is relative to weight Hmmm - makes me wonder if it might not be a better idea for me to take my chances in Cat 2 for the crit in Atlantis or go down to Cat 3 where I think I belong more - or maybe even Cat 4.

What if a team could get 2 or 3 with @Kelson Elena Da Cruzinto a break with perhaps one or 2 others and then leave him on the front of that break (we know he just wants a solid 2 hours at his threshold) and then have one or 2 blockers on the peloton. Is there a team in Cat 3 who has 5 or 6 riders?

I'm not sure he's being bashed - but the presence of a super strong rider in a lower cat changes the race dynamics, that's undeniable. I think that in the next Cat 3 race we need to gang up on @Kelson Elena Da Cruzand see if we can push him into some discomfort -- it might take 5 or 8 people taking turns and maybe it ends with him exhausting us and riding away once we're all spent but maybe it's worth a shot -

Increasingly I am opting to own the lane - moving over to give space seems more likely to me to be an invitation to disregard my presence and squeeze past. I also find I'm choosing to do less riding on the road these days which is a loss for me because I love it - Sundays generally and I'm more likely to be heading north out to Malmesbury than through the south and peninsula.

If you doing 320 watts for 2 hours I WILL die if I go with you.

I remember an Eddie Murphy routine from the 80's talking about airline safety protocols and the brace position - he says what those really mean is "Put your head between your legs and kiss your @ss goodbye". We want to feel there's something we can do in a situation like this because that's comforting but in reality, if the door opens late and you're doing 30 or 40kmph --- the fingers won't even have closed on the brakes when impact happens

What a horrible horrible thing. I actually can't think about it for too long. Makes me feel ill. And very scared.

But maybe also, just a little bit, you enjoy hurting everybody - I know I would

That was me ja!! Broke a spoke on the way home and punctured my spare tube so ended up getting rescued from Blouberg .... My riding is like good draught beer - long and slow!

I can't think that's the case - I'm a slower rider and this was the first time I've ever been as low as C. We'll see at the next one because I made lengthy stops to chat to other riders and help one guy who fell and another who was cramping and my total time was 5 hours - for wellington then I should end up in the last group - I'm looking forward to it, maybe I'll get to overtake someone --- I might even yell "track" at some poor unfortunate....

I'm not aware of any tricks you are missing - I have heard that the radar works with non garmin head units but I think you pretty much are headed for the upgrade - I'd look for a second hand 530 and there is a radar only option from garmin that excludes the (excellent) light which might save a few ZAR. It is in my view, money well spent

I think loyalty to the event is one of the main criteria for seeding. I was one of the C that you would have passed, demoted there cos i did the half last year. I've been as high as B but objectively I'm a D, maybe an E. Lovely day out, some manicured trail, some rough and techy bits, well organised, route nicely spread out to avoid queues at the singletrack. I appointed myself unofficial sweeper and played good Samaritan Florence nightingmamil sharing out my cramp medicine. If I'm holding someone up on the tech bits I.always stop and let them through, I can't stand the pressure of being tailgated.

Can the marathon really be only 1500m ascent? Can't imagine that at banhoek

Let's see a Pic of your bike...

Unless you're a buyer!

I know OP doesn't want to splurge on new shoes but the wide toe box on the Lake shoes has been very good for my feet which are a biomechanical disaster. I also use the pricey G8 insoles and the metdomes which have helped - still fine tuning them.

No - these okes will push one rider off the bike, cause a big crash, and be gone before we've even uttered out first expletive.