Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2019 i Bicycling South Africa

THERE WAS MORE GREY HAIR IN THE PELOTON THAN AT A FRIDAY MORNING LAWN BOWLS SOCIAL, and I’d worked out that at 49, I was probably the second-youngest rider in this Sunday morning chain gang. THE WHATSAPP MESSAGE FROM RIDE MAG EDITOR TIM BRINK HAD SUGGESTED A ‘RECOVERY’ RIDE; AND AFTER A TAXING CYCLE THE DAY BEFORE, I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A GENTLE PEDAL WITH A GROUP OF OLDER FOLK, AND A COUPLE OF STIFF CORTADOS AFTER. // We rolled out of the shopping centre into a gentle breeze (more on this later!), and soon the group was pedalling sedately along the marked cycle route, chatting excitedly about – I SUSPECTED – SUCH THINGS AS PENSIONER SPECIALS,…

Be as visible as possible. Even though I was RIGHT IN FRONT of the car, the driver said she “didn’t see” me. Wear flashing lights (front and back), and bright clothing. Make your intentions clear. Indicate using hand signals, and try to make eye contact with the driver so you know they’ve seen you. Expect the unexpected. Take note of the cars on the road, be mindful of the pedestrians on the pavement. You never know what any of them might do. Follow the rules of the road. ALWAYS. Stopping at suburban stop streets might be an inconvenience, but being a few minutes late for a ride is better than not arriving at all. (In my case it was the motorist who didn’t stop, but you get the point.) BEING…

A natural alternative to ibuprofen. An antidote to anxiety. A sleep aid. A post-workout recovery booster. Those are some of the benefits attributed to cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis extract that’s being widely touted as a health booster that comes without the drawbacks of marijuana. And because of potential legal changes, you’ll probably be hearing even more about CBD in the next few years. Already, a growing number of athletes consider CBD a key part of their regimen. But before you add it to yours, here’s what you need to know. WHAT IS CBD? // Cannabidiol is one of more than 100 cannabinoids found in cannabis. CBD products are said to deliver their many claimed benefits by boosting the body’s endocannabinoid system, which “is a unique signalling pathway that controls the…

STAY CLOSE TO THE FRONT. You’ll be less likely to get caught up in a crash if it happens, and the pace is generally smoother. FIND YOUR ‘BEN’. Identify the strongest riders in the group and try to stay with them. You’ll need better tactics later, but this is a good one for beginners. PROTECT YOUR FRONT WHEEL. If your front wheel goes, you go down. Avoid overlapping wheels – riding in a position where another rider’s back wheel could take yours out – for too long.…

3 TIPS YOU WISH YOU HAD THOUGHT OF! 1 Standard alloy cages are nearly as light as their carbon counterparts, and get the job done with no fuss. Pay a few extra bucks for your water bottle, on the other hand, and you’ll get practical upgrades. Or even better, fun graphics that inspire you to get out and ride! 2 A more expensive pump will fill your tyres faster and require less pumping effort than basic models. If in doubt, bomb it. 3 Banish foot pain by making sure your shoes fit just right. “Bike shoes are meant to fit snugly, but not uncomfortably. If your foot feels pinched or constricted, your shoe may not be tall or wide enough, especially if your feet swell while riding.” – Curtis Cramblett,…

Headwinds are energy-sapping, and make descending slower; crosswinds on descents require caution, as it’s easy to be blown aside when riding a bike, and will also significantly reduce drafting benefit. Wind gusts can send a ripple through the bunch and cause a pile-up. Rather than drafting tight behind a rider, draft a little to the side. The extra space will provide safety from unpredictable changes in rider line. In the wind, reduce your frontal area by flattening your back; keep your forearms parallel to your back, and your shoulders low.…

At a big race, try to avoid going to the loo before you head into your start chute. “One year I asked some kind stranger to look after my bike while I popped out to the portaloo, only to discover when I got out that my group of 100+ riders had moved forward. Cue panic, trying to find the guy who’d been saddled with my bike!” If you have the option, catch the train or a bus; or better still, stay with someone close to the race start. While the vibe is amazing, it’s also chaotic, so it’s best not to have the stress of finding parking.…

Every weekday before dawn, teams of cyclists gather all over San Francisco, shivering at street corners and in parking lots. They synchronise their watches to leave precisely on time, often as early as 4:30am. When the appointed minute hits, they charge through the city streets, a pack of Lycra-clad, gear-shifting machines, avoiding the despair faced by drivers on the highway. Who are these cyborgs who brave the long, harrowing 60km ride every morning? They’re a club, a band of techy bike commuters called SF2G, shorthand for San Francisco to Google. It began in 2005 as a way to avoid the 50-80km bumper-to-bumper car ride between San Francisco and Google HQ, but the participants now head variously to Facebook, Apple, LinkedIn and Nvidia. Most could drive, take the commuter train, or…

Crashes happen. Even when you do your best to prevent going down, it’s sometimes unavoidable; and the resulting road rash is like a cyclist’s rite of passage. When that’s the case, how you respond immediately after and in the weeks following the crash can mean the difference between a quick recovery and prolonged misery –or worse, permanent scarring. These tips will help you heal, so you can get back on the bike fast. FIRST COURSE OF ACTION: CLEAN & DRESS YOUR WOUNDS // When it comes to road rash, an infection will probably have more to do with negligence than with the crash that caused it. Aaron Goldberg, an emergency medicine physician who has served as team doctor for cycling teams, says the first thing you should do is clean…

DO YOU GET HIGH ? CBD is non-psychoactive, which means it doesn’t produce a high. IS IT LEGAL ? Kind of. Almost all commercially available CBD products are made from industrial hemp, a cannabis plant that, by definition, contains no more than 0.3 per cent THC. Hemp-derived CBD exists in a legal grey zone. In terms of athletics, hemp-derived CBD was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of prohibited substances in early 2018. HOW DO YOU TAKE IT ? You can ingest it (tinctures, oils, capsules, even sports drink mixes) or apply it topically (creams and sprays). For ingestibles, look for what are known as ‘full-spectrum’ products, which contain other compounds of the hemp plant in addition to CBD. To determine proper dosing, you’ll have to experiment. Effective dosing…

F Face your fears. Research shows that gradual exposure to aphobia, followed by experience that disconfirms the negative (like jumping into acrit, then not crashing), can decrease anxiety. T Try again ASAP. A 2010 study found that the brain can rewrite traumatic memories if they're updated with non-fearful information between 10 minutes and two hours after a trauma. Jumping back into the race minutes after my crash prevented the development of a hardwired association of road racing with crashing. B •ring friends. Having familiar people around provides ‘safety stimuli’ that decrease your perception of a threat, says a 2018 article published by the Association for Psychological Science. Having Ben – and later, acouple of other mountain-biking friends – at the crit helped me keep my cool. F Focus on technique.…

“Rain makes the road slippery – which causes tension in the bunch, jittery riders, and bad decision-making. Riders don’t hold their line as well in the wet, and ripples frequently move through the bunch because of this.” – Mark Carroll, cycling coach and chair of CSA’s Coaching Commission In the rain, lower your tyre pressure to increase and soften your tyres’ contact. A good average is around 90psi (6.2 bar). In the rain, get into abreakaway if you can. A smaller group is faster and safer, especially when cornering. Always take the inside corner. If there’s apile-up, it will slide outwards; on the inside, you’re less likely to be caught in it. In rainy conditions, use clear cycling lenses for maximum visibility, and wear a cycling cap under your helmet…

SUB5 The secret here is to get your pacing right. Know the average speed you will need to hold to go under five hours (22km/h). “Don’t get caught out by your enthusiasm in the beginning, and start out too hard. The first 40km has some high-speed sections, such as the Blue Route, so your average will be higher in the first half and lower in the second. And don’t sit at the front of the bunch for long stretches, or force the pace on the hills.” – Dr Jeroen Swart, cycling coach at Science2Sport SUB4 Tactics start to play a larger role when it comes to the sub-4 Cycle Tour. You will need to make use of the bunches, and save energy by drafting. Beware of the accordion effect near…

Expo Legs “In the build-up to the Cycle Tour, it’s crucial not to waste energy unnecessarily. However, as we all know, the hype and energy of the Lifecycle Expo sees riders literally spending hours on the their legs as they meander through the maze of stands checking out the latest bikes, clothing, accessories and nutritional supplements. After registering, by all means have a look around at the Expo – perhaps get your blood pressure tested, and purchase any last-minute things you may need –but don’t get sucked in for hours. Keep it under an hour and a half.” – Oli Munnik, former pro The Classic – Nothing New! “Unless it’s absolutely unavoidable, the pros will never try something for the first time or change their routine in the build-up to…

1 // Don’t Skimp On Spares // Whether you’re riding tubeless or not, don’t skimp on taking a tool kit and some spares just because it saves you a couple of grams. Be like a Scout: be prepared. 2 // All-Weather Tyres // Make the ride in any condition with all-season tyres. Go for durable, strong, super-grippy and preferably tubeless to limit punctures. 3 // Light ‘Em Up // Be seen in daylight. Most bike lights now offer a flashing option that’s ideal for attracting attention when the sun is competing for attention. 4 // Front Lights // Whether you’re riding pre-dawn or during the day, invest in a good front light. Aim to buy a light with at least 1 000 lumens of LED light, and aflashing function to…

IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. I got off extremely lightly, for which I’m eternally grateful. Fortunately, all I suffered was some ugly bruising, a scraped elbow, two buckled wheels, a bent derailleur, and a heap of inconvenience. But it could also so easily have been avoided. Sadly, bikes and cars connecting is a common occurrence. Here’s my story – in the hope that it will help you avoid this happening to you, and so you know what to do if you can’t. SETTING THE SCENE It was a balmy, windless summer morning in Cape Town, and I was on my way to my first club ride in what felt like years. But it wasn’t until I was halfway across an intersection that I saw the car barrelling towards me.…

While we hope it never happens, it’s important to be ready in case of a crash. Always carry basic bike tools – a multi-tool, chain link, spare tube, and mini-pump, at least – plus afew first-aid supplies, like a large bandage and some Ace wrapping, to handle minor issues. Using an app like FindMyFriends, wearing a helmet with an ICEdot tracker, and opting for a ROAD iD or a device with emergency features such as the Apple Watch or Garmin Edge are other proactive steps. Perhaps the pinnacle of crash preparedness, though expensive, is to ride with a device such as a GoPro mounted to the front of your bike – the footage you capture may provide evidence of what happened if an unfortunate situation causes you to go down.…

I just had not expected I’d be racing against so many children. It all started when one of my mountain-biking buddies, Ben, began raving about how fast he was getting from doing the local weekly training crit. I race mountain bikes. Road racing had always scared me, until Ben – and his newfound speed –convinced me it’d be good for my fitness. I signed up for the training crit. Because I had no experience, I was assigned to the early ‘B’ race with the juniors. The few other novice adults and I looked like chaperones on aprimary school field trip. The race turned out to be much more harrowing than that. When the whistle blew, I was gripped by a fear like I had never experienced on a bicycle. Disaster…

There was a time when every new pair of cycling shoes had some kind of Velcro strap, plastic knob or buckle-closing mechanism. Now that laces are making a comeback, it’s baffling that they were dumped in the first place. Laces are lightweight, they can make a shoe fit better, and they look good. (And if you tuck them away properly, they won’t snarl up in your drivetrain.) Giro is leading the lace-up charge. Their retro-inspired Empire is a beautiful road shoe, and their inexpensive Rumble is basically an all-day takkie with cleats. Now the Privateer Lace has joined the Giro lineup: a lace-up version of their popular Privateer mountain-bike shoe. I own a pair of buckle Privateers, but I wish I’d held out for these. The laces allow your feet…

1. Roll up at a comfortable speed and crouch out of the saddle with your pedals level. Keep your elbows and knees loose and bend at the hips, so you’re positioned over the saddle but not behind it. 2. Pull the front wheel off the ground with your arms while pushing your feet into the pedals. 3. With the front wheel up, hop the rear wheel by flicking your ankles and straightening your legs. Then pop your butt out to get the wheel over. It's been described to me as if you're twerking.…

“I don’t pace myself. My objective is always to stay near the front of my group. I just have to ride the group’s pace and dig deep on the climbs that can potentially produce splits. “I don’t eat breakfast less than three hours before an event. Because mystart time is usually around 6:30am, it’s impractical to have breakfast at 3:30am. “I have what I call some ‘critical points’ in the race. It’s at these points that I have to be in the right position, and go deep into the red zone. Leading up to race day I will visualise the points and how to tackle them. This usually takes place while I’m relaxing in the gym sauna after a good workout.”…

Pirelli P Zero Velo 4S tyres Like many other cyclists in South Africa, I’ve done most of my road riding on good old Continental Gatorskins. You can’t fault Gators on durability; but these Pirellis take things up a notch in terms of grip and ride comfort. The SmartNET Silica rubber is soft and tacky, and hangs on to the tar like a lion on a springbok. This 4S version (it stands for ‘four seasons’) has a beefier compound and features better puncture protection than regular P Zero Velos, but it’s still a lovely, fast-rolling, lightweight tyre (250g for the 28mm version). Pumped up to 8 bar (120psi), the ride was much cushier than on Gatorskins at the same pressure – I kept looking down, because I thought I was losing…