Mamil

Not really a recipe - Maltodextrin and fructose in a ratio of 4 to 1 mixed with enough water with 2 biogen electrolyte fizzys dissolved in it to make a syrup consistency. A teaspoon of salt - smash it up in the nutribullet until it's a syrup - let it settle down and then decant and freeze. The fructose is extremely sweet and so the 1.08:1 ratio the oft quoted research suggests is way too sweet to me - even 2:1 is too much for me. At 4:1 it's still plenty sweet but gives the same mental boost I've had from the gels and certainly it's getting the carbs in quickly. Can fuel me for a 4 hour ride but any longer than that and I supplement with real food, maybe a bar or 2. Sometimes I still use the perpetuem drink from hammer to augment this on really long, 8 hour plus rides.

I make my own with fructose, maltodextrin, salt, electrolyte tablets and water mixed to a syrup consistency and decanted into hammer gel sippy flasks. Make big batches and freeze and defrost for use. Way cheaper.

https://gearchange.co.za/products/emonda-sl-6-etap Currently clearing stock at 74k Use the change to go on an overseas holiday.

I wonder if I can persuade my team tomdo the race and the repeat next year

Strange times. Release a flood of cheap bikes that are so "last year's thing" and three weeks later announce the next wave of bikes with absurdly dear price tags. I understand why but it really does seem like madness.

CP2 had plastic scoops for the sweet bowls which is very civilized - except for the muppet who pushed in, ignored the scoop, dug his porta potty gloved hand into the joob-joobs and elbowed his way out chewing with his mouth open. It might have been the same idiot wandering around CP3 with a LED strip light lifted off a jeep's roof on full blast pushing his way into the soup queue. I quite often am not enamoured of my medemens. I like to take my own nutrition on most races and I then cruise the tables and pick up anything I see that I think I might like - I'm a huge fan of orange slices and watermelon. I usually finish a race with one or 2 mashed baby potatoes in the bottom of my handlebar feed bag.

I knew it was going to a long ride in the dark setting out because my partner, who is usually a stronger rider than I am, was spectacularly undertrained. Predictably we made excellent time to the first climb and then we didn't anymore. I will say this for my friend - the man knows how to suffer. He was variously, in his own words, "moer toe", "in my moer", "completely f@#d.", "had enough now" and "... actually doing quite well on the downhills". We crossed the line in 14 and change but you must know just how "moer toe" you are when the Mamil is pushing you up the never-ender. It was his fith one. I told everyone it's not such a great achievement and that I deserve credit for the 5th one but he just said jealousy makes you nasty, reminded me that he'd waited for me on Bergplaas last year when I ate too many sosatie wors and told me to 'vlieg in my m#$r'" Our support driver just shook his head and told us we were idiots. Then the "3 stooges do Transbaviaans" movie started. We realized that we hadn't told the guest house we were checking in late and the kind lady who runs the place had left a message at midnight and then gone to bed. Doorbell unresponsive, phone not being answered. We were headed out of town to change out of bibs at the Shell garage and "just sommer drive home" when someone remembered the control point boxes. At 2am we were parked on the field at the finish venue contemplating sleeping in the car when a phone call to the very larney sounding Savoy hotel put us in a 6 sleeper single room with breakfast included. On the way there my bike dondered off the bike rack and smashed the carbon handlebar and the brake lever. I shrugged my shoulders. There's a curious peace that descends when you reach the lowest point of the curve. You can't fall off the floor so now you can relax and just let the experience take you. Someone stopped and asked if we were OK in the way we all do when what we mean is "Jammer om van jou *** to hoor". ________________________________________ J-bay at 2:45 at the Savoy hotel is not pretty. A batch of hardened barflies who were also "moer toe" were being gently escorted out of the lobby by a very friendly bouncer who was actually making sure they DIDN'T fall down the stairs. Friendly staff opened a room to leave the bikes in, something I would normally be anxious about but now didn't give a hoot about (cf previous comments about the floor and not falling off"). Then two of the stooges were congratulating themselves for opening a beer by using the edge of the medal before the support crew stooge said "This medal is actually a bottle opener, what is wrong with you people?" I almost wet myself laughing. Half an hour later I was lying on the bottom of one of 3 bunk beds in the room, between two of the worst snorers on the garden route, reminding myself not to sit up too quickly and smack myself "moer toe" on the wooden planks 18 inches above me where a split in one of them suggested that I wouldn't be the first one. There and then I vowed to myself that my next transvaviaans will be part of a week long garden route holday,

Any bike hub members in that crew? If so I dare you to step forward and respond to this post. As for the "we cannot be held responsible for safety" line in the post ... Sounds like open season on anyone in lycra to the morons in the comments.

My SO have a recurring discussion about confrontation after I saw someone overtaking on a blind rise on the n2 some while back. If you said idiot at the one stop should you say something to.him? She says no. As a thought experiment, ihe drives out the one stop and pulled the same move on another blind rise as a family is cresting the hill from the other side. Freeze the movie. If you asked that family if the mamil should have said something to the offender at the petrol pump on the .1 percent chance he would think twice before pulling out to overtake they for sure would say "yes please talk to him. Even if he calls you a pxxs and threatens to beat you up".

I almost failed form 2 geography (on those countour diagrams my rivers almost invariably flowed uphill along the hilltops) but do I magine that the forecast is for a stonking tailwind most of the way on Saturday?

The pedestrian crossing red light / flashing / green man is another example of the motor-centric design of public spaces. Walking to the local spar from my workspace is a case in point - a 3 or 4 minute wait while cars are given ample time followed by a 5 second window of green mannetjie.

2 Taxis on my commute this morning coming down Durban Road through Mowbray - on the wrong side of the road. Left side was at standstill because of traffic - these two doing 60kmph plus down the wrong side of the road the whole length of the road from just after the robots at the common to past the fountain .... that's about 400 or 500 meters. Lead one had no headlights, flashers on in the dawn light. Cracked windscreen, mirror dangling .... On Friday there will be a speedcop parked on Liesbeek parkway with his sandwiches and a camera waiting for my full roadworthy car to be doing 68 in an empty 3 lane road. While I'm thinking about it- rode through the new intersection next to that monstrosity being erected at the old Riverclub - so encouraging for the cars to see that there is vokkol consideration being given to non-motorized transport.

I've pretty much decided I'm pulling the trigger on a varia camera on double miles day - I wish I had footage of my most recent experience with being deliberately swerved at with the car because I was riding away from the curb and "shouldn't be on the road" because I would lay a charge at the cop shop. I know it's futile and nothing will come of it but I'd rather do that than just fume and rant about it here.

Future archaelogists are going to shake their head and think "What the f was wrong with these people"? It's going to be the same as lead coating plumbing in Rome.

"What can we know? What are we all? Poor silly half-brained things peering out at the infinite, with the aspirations of angels and the instinct of beasts." Arthur Conan Doyle

My partner this year is usually a bit stronger than me and is a demonically fast descender but his currently rather more than a little under trained. I'm anticipating a long day but really looking forward to it.

I would buy the varia camera tomorrow and generate a tidy income for the city of CT

Plus the unconscious perception that goes something like "I'll be ok - I'm in a suit of armout, this crash won't hurt me"

He was spoiling for a fight. There were no cars around and he had plenty of room to overtake, I was away from the curb but riding fast. After initially going quite pale when I caught him he recovered his bravado but I do think he got the message that you can't attempt intimidation like that and count on you car to outrun the person you've attacked. I feel good about dealing with them. I've changed nappies on tougher and older customers than that.

This individua,l a passenger in the Renault pictured close passed me at about 10cm at 40kmph just outside Seapoint swearing and yelling to get out of the road. These two kids got a big fright when I caught them in Seapoint and confronted the passenger I also informed a corpulent policewoman what he was going and she shrugged and said "he's still drunk" before picking her nose. Our encounter in which he informed me of his view that cyclists should not be on the road, ended with me telling him he is still smelling his mother's milk and he should look me up when he can grow a proper beard. I think the cop was right about him being p1ssed. I think he will pause next time he thinks about buzzing a rider. why

Bontrager road helmet has magnetic clips for rear facing light and headlight / go pro on top. Seldom use the top mount but the rear light has my ion red flasher on all the time. Mtb helmet has no rear light but a very usable magnetic mount on top for light or camera. Very good.

Most recent firmware update for the kickr core enabled automatic calibration. No need for calibration using spindown. https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015740780-Auto-Spindown-Calibration-KICKR-v5-2020-MOVE-and-CORE#:~:text=and earlier models).-,What is it%3F,accuracy throughout your rides %2F workouts. Doesn't solve your issue though.

As mentioned the wind over the last 40km was brutal on shattered legs on the 200 miler. Only a few mud patches. Very cold overnight. Down to 2 degrees with a little bit of windchill making it feel colder. Well run event. Good refreshment stations. Lots of patrolling event crew also. Loads of cameras. Not many brides have their photos snapped as often. Spent a good few hours redecorating the dark place. I'll do the 100 miler next time. Rolling hills not a mamils natural habitat. Some of those rollers could pass for mountains. Quite a few of them at 11 and 12 percent for longer than you'd like. Only 34 entries for the 200. They treated us like royalty at the control point so I think they want to grow it.

Wrong forum

There really is a shortage of MTB events isn't there. I love it all, gravel and road and MTB somill probably do this Enduro but I really do miss somemof the oldtb events. Trail seekers wellington is still on the cards this year