Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i Bicycling South Africa

MORE THAN ORDINARY ‘Live an ordinary life – in a different way’ is my motto. So when I decided to ride the Kalahari Challenge to raise awareness for breast cancer – a cause close to my heart, because I have a friend and an aunt who are survivors – I figured I had to do something different. So I did it without shoes. This was also about creating awareness for the cause of living life differently. Fighting to survive breast cancer is not easy; fighting to keep on living your life is not easy either. But the race of keeping life interesting is about attitude and perseverance. You don’t need shoes or an expensive bike. You just need to see where you can make a difference… and make the ordinary…

I think cyclists have taken to Twitter and social media so massively because it’s a chance to get close to our heroes. Emoji let you quickly express how the ride has gone. You want to tell a tale about what you’ve done, but you don’t want to be going on and on. I like riding in the early morning. I wake up at 5 or 6 and get in a couple of hours. Then I can spend the whole day with my family. My daughter, Amelia, is two and a half. She’s already got a balance bike. She sees me going out and wants to come along. With the rise of Strava, the KOM emoji could be used a lot. I got into Strava back in 2012. I’ve seen it…

STAND OUT While we may not be TdF pro riders duking it out on the slopes of Alpe d’Huez, it’s still fun to attack during a group ride, or even in a race. The best way to attack is to get out of the saddle, whether you’re doing it on a flat or an uphill. To do this you need to be efficient – and that’s a skill that’s lacking in many cyclists, because it’s rarely practised. To develop this skill, start with lower-intensity-effort uphill sessions, building towards race-pace effort, and then attack-pace effort. Stand for one to three minutes at a time; and focus on feeling the bike. Do this for a few weeks, and you’ll be dancing on the pedals like Contador.…

Weigh your coffee beans – 70g per litre (I do 21g to 300ml). Grind the beans and place the filter in your Pour-Over dripper on a brewing vessel. Pour the boiled water into your Pour-Over kettle. This should bring the temp down to where you want it (about 93°C). Rinse your filter with some kettle water, to remove papery flavours and pre-heat your dripper. Place your coffee grounds into the dripper, and tap and shake to get a flat, even distribution. Put the whole coffee maker on a scale, start a timer and slowly pour in a spiral, wetting all the grounds with roughly twice as much water as the weight of your coffee (40-50ml for 21g). This is called the ‘bloom’ – using a little water to encourage any…

“I try to stay calm, but on occasion the situation has gotten the better of me....” BARRING A FEW AMENDMENTS, CYCLISTS ARE SUBJECT TO THE SAME ROAD LAWS AS MOTORISTS. But we’re often guilty of breaking these rules of the road: whether shooting through red robots, riding two (or three) abreast, or hopping onto pavements to avoid roadworks. Bicycling receives many letters from upset motorists about the conduct of a few rebel riders – and their transgressions lead to altercations between motorists and cyclists. Cycling activist Andrew Wheeldon believes cyclists behave in this way due to a sense of vulnerability, and a lack of place and allocated space on the road. He feels that cyclists are hard done by: placed in an unsafe setting and told to find their way,…

BLEEDING HELL If you’re replacing the mineral oil in your hydraulic disc brake but don’t have a bleed pot, use a car bleeding valve you can get at the spares shop. Remove the bleeding screw at the lever, insert the bleeding valve, and run a pipe from there to collect the old oil in a cup. Then, using a syringe, push the new mineral oil through the caliper bleeding valve – which pushes the old oil out into the cup. – Johan Stander Stop And Steer When entering a loose sandy section, keep your wheels straight and don’t steer. Your momentum will carry you through, automatically following the contours of the sand. Steering increases your chances of going over the handlebars. WIN! A PAIR OF BUDDS BY DJ FRESH WORTH…

The pros use psychology to get over the climb. Psychology is like the cement you use to build a wall: if you place the bricks of adequate preparation, tactics and nutrition on top of each other but don't cement them together, says sports psychologist Pieter Kruger, then any pressure will make the wall tumble. According to Professor Pieter Kruger, a sports psychologist at the Institute of Psychology & Wellbeing, North West University and Cognacity UK – who, as a shrink, ‘shrunk’ the Springbok rugby squad last year, and himself represented South Africa at the 1996 Junior World Cycling Champs – there’s definitely an advantage to approaching climbs from a psychological perspective. “Climbing is the ultimate challenge you need to overcome. You can’t hide from hills – it’s like those daunting…

“In road cycling, you’re producing power at speed (in other words, at a high cadence); in an off-road climb, you’re producing power by force – that’s why mountain bikers have a longer crank arm, which allows you to produce more torque. “It’s better for mountain bikers to ride at a lower cadence, especially up steep, rough climbs. If you try to spin up climbs, you will have less traction on your rear wheel – you won’t be able to get over the loose bits. You can control it much better at a lower cadence.” Take-Home Message: Road climbing and mountain-bike climbing use different techniques.…

Every spring, hordes of ordinary people promise to get outdoors. We want them to choose cycling – and we want you, our Bicycling readers, to help us make them do it. So we’ve set up a challenge: by the end of summer, we want you to get at least one person on a bike, and we’re calling this challenge #GetSomeoneRiding. The rules of #GetSomeoneRiding are simple: (a) Find a non-cyclist. (b) Pick a riding goal. (c) Change someone’s life (maybe your own). To help you on your way, we spoke to riders who’ve turned non-cyclists into cyclists, and found 16 of the best tips they have for making the conversion happen. 1 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU Kelly Krause, an author and writer, spends most of her…

STRAVA FILES PHIL BUYS/25 PRO MTB RACER FOR SCOTT FACTORY RACING, 2014 AFRICAN CONTINENTAL CHAMP, CAPE PIONEER TREK WHEELIE-POPPING CHAMP FEATURED RIDE MORNING RIDE (PRETORIA) 16 MARCH 2016 Buys starts with a steep and steady 6km climb that begins at Brooklyn Road, takes a right into Albert Road, then goes left into Sydney Avenue. It follows Sydney, curving into Delphinus Street, then turns onto Dorado Street before the climb peaks out on Polaris Avenue. The route then descends steadily, as Polaris becomes the M9 and the M9 becomes the R50. Buys continues on the R50 until it becomes Jochemus Street, which he exits to go into Wolwespruit MTB XCO. He does two loops of this undulating segment to test his mettle, then exits on Keikama Street, into a climb that…

How do I get rid of a mid-ride cramp (besides stretching)? Cramps are nearly always the result of working your muscles beyond their current fitness level. The best way to ease them is to slow down and “change your position on the saddle to recruit different muscles and reduce the load on the ones that are fatiguing,” says exercise physiologist Stacy Sims. Move forward, back, or to the side on your seat. You can also try popping a Rennie – they’re high in calcium, which is what your body uses to maintain healthy muscle contraction. Some people swear by CrampEase, which is a combination of minerals – magnesium, potassium, calcium, and sodium – that eases muscle contraction by conducting nerve impulses better.…

Educational psychologist Andrea Kellerman has a more scientific reasoning for cyclists’ rebellious behaviour. She points to research papers that suggest some athletes develop a personality disorder that “makes them prone to irrational behaviour, trying to manipulate others, and not seeing their behaviour as wrong.” They also tend to seek thrills, creating dangerous situations that make them aggressive. Kellerman notes that that this doesn’t apply to all athletes, and can be viewed as learned behaviour – which a person may have succeeded with in the past, and thus consistently uses to get what they want. Stress can also be a trigger, she says, as high cortisol levels can “decrease our IQ in situations where we feel threatened, causing irrational behaviour, bad decision-making, and negative behaviour”. Kellerman believes the key to dealing…

Way back in Grade 1, we did a lot of colouring in, and I remember all the cool kids having the rainbow set of Colleen pencil crayons. Recently, memories of outlining and careful shading-in came flooding back when I saw the rainbow set of PB Swiss Tools Allen keys. Made in Switzerland, PB Swiss Tools are manufactured to the highest standards, ensuring durability, toughness and elasticity. And with each size colour-coded to help you choose the correct key for the job, they’re not only hard-wearing, but literally the coolest set of Allen keys I’ve ever laid eyes on.…

If the Vegan Warrior were a pop star, he would be Climb-ie Fisher. With a total of 77 500m of elevation in 32 rides, the Vegan Warrior (a Stellenbosch cyclist) was South Africa’s top climber in June, in Strava’s monthly climbing challenge. That means – all things being equal – he climbed the equivalent of Mount Everest (8 848m) eight-and-three-quarter times. Vegan was eighth on the world list (with Brazilian Bruno Gomes the overall winner, notching up 101 214m). We tracked Vegan down to ask him about his insane, meat-free rise to the top. What’s the most climbing you’ve done in a ride? “8 848 metres – a day I will never forget. Definitely the toughest day on the bike, but the most rewarding. I heard about this thing called…

FAT CYCLISTS UNITE Limited to 40 team and 20 solo riders, the latest instalment of the Fat Attack race takes riders on a fat-bike tour of the Wild Coast. There will be plenty of beach riding, but that doesn’t mean the usual MTB staples will be neglected. The route includes river crossings, floating bridges, and plenty of singletrack to get your heart pumping. If you don’t have a fat bike, one will be provided for you and each evening will be spent in a three-star hotel. 16–18 SEPTEMBER, GONUBIE HOTEL, EAST LONDON TO MAZEPPA BAY EASTERN CAPE ROAD 10-11 SEPTEMBER MAKRO BESTMED ROAD RACE 90km, 30km, 10km Lorraine Primary School, Port Elizabeth. Contact Alex Cooper coopi.alex@gmail.com, 073 152 2125 Web and Online Entries lorrainecycletour.co.za MTB 10-11 SEPTEMBER MAKRO BESTMED MTB…

“A round of sugarless Meias de Leite is ordered even before the first pedal is turned in anger.” COFFEE AND CYCLING GO TOGETHER LIKE CHOCOLATE AND CROISSANTS, SHAVED LEGS AND LYCRA, AND FROOME AND ANOREXIA. You think of one and you think of the other. They are inextricably linked and inescapable. It’s true that sometimes, you can drink coffee without having actually ridden a bike; but a brew always tastes better halfway through a ride (as does a chocolate croissant!). My local roadie group – nicknamed Victoria & Coffee – meet most regularly on a Sunday morning. The fitter among us ride to the meeting point, while some, at risk of high levels of ridicule, actually drive to the meeting point to start the ride; because they live on a…

3/4 THE PROPORTION OF FAT IN AN AVOCADO THAT’S THE CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING ‘GOOD’ KIND. BONUS: IT HELPS YOU FEEL FULL, SO YOU DON’T O.D. ON OTHER SNACKS. READY OR NOT?! A ripe avocado will yield to gentle pressure. Or remove the stem, and check the colour underneath: Stem is hard to remove = Unripe Yellowish green = Go time! Brown = Too ripe NOT RIPE? Place in a paper bag with apples or bananas—they emit ethylene gas, which promotes faster ripening 586 KILOJOULES SLASHED WHEN YOU SWOP OUT 2 TABLESPOONS OF MAYO FOR GUAC I CAN HASS There are dozens of avo varieties, but in SA, nutty-flavoured, dark-skinned Hass is what’s available right now (Jun-Nov). Their creamy texture makes…

PEDAL POWER Improved pedal technique can increase power output – but more importantly, it improves endurance and reduces injury risk. To improve your pedalling technique, do 6x4-minute repeats in a high gear and at a low cadence, with 10 minutes rest in between (cadence between 40 & 50rpm in the high-gear efforts, and at 90rpm or more during the rest periods). One-legged riding (5x4 minutes, with the non-working leg clipped) also improves technique. Just make sure you do five sets for each leg, with five minutes of easy riding (with both legs!) in between.…

As a kid I read books about intrepid female fictional characters – Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew – but where were the real ones? I wrote the book I would have wanted to read. I want to encourage girls to be brave and resilient, and that’s not something we teach them. In fact, we teach the opposite: we teach them fear. Studies show that parents caution their girls – often about potential injuries – but encourage their boys to try new things. High-school girls face cultural pressures – to be pretty, to be perfect, to be nice or liked. In the outdoors, none of that is relevant. Fear and excitement are pretty similar physiologically. Often when girls face a steep downhill on a bike they think they’re feeling fear, because…

Coming undone in the middle of a ride is a response to what you did during the first part of the ride. Here are three tips to stay strong: SAVE YOUR STRENGTH. When you hit it hard early, you tap into your fast-twitch muscle fibres – which are more powerful, but eat up your limited glycogen stores. They aren’t built for endurance and don’t recover very quickly, so won’t be there for you at the end if you burn them up early on. START NIBBLING AFTER THE FIRST HOUR. And continue every 30 minutes or so. You don’t need to replace every kilojoule you burn. Instead, aim to keep your fuel stores topped off by replacing around 650 to 750kJ an hour. HIT THE PITS LIKE AN F1 DRIVER. Stopping…

Originating on the strade bianche (white gravel roads) of Tuscany in 1997, the L’Eroica event aims to celebrate the proud and rich racing heritage of a bygone cycling era. In April, the gravel roads surrounding Montagu played host to SA’s first-ever L’Eroica. Together with other local and international enthusiasts, Italian Paolo Cavazzuti ventured back in time on his original 1935 Bianchi Corsa. WHEELS AND TYRES A highlight of Cavazzuti’s Bianchi is without doubt its tubular rims, which are constructed from Slovenian beechwood by Italian company Cerchio Ghisallo. For most attending L’Eroica, this was the first time they’d ever seen wooden rims – and their reaction was enthusiastic, to say the least. The rims are treated with a waterproof paint to avoid damage, and laminated by a…

MON AUG.10 IT SEEMS ODD TO ME TO TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD TO RIDE UP HILLS. I MEAN I'VE BEEN TO WHISTLER WHERE YOU RIDE BIKES DOWN HILL AND THAT MATES SENSE AS A VACATION. RIDING UP HILL THOUGH?ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU DO TO GET TO THE FUN PART? ALPE D’HUEZ! Alpe d'Huez is known as the Mecca of the Tour de France. It is a 14km climb at an average 8.17% gradient, with 21 hairpins named after winners of TdF stages there. Each switchback is numbered, so you can count how many more you have to go. The fastest ascent was set by Marco Pantani in 1775 in a time of 36:40. The magic time for non-pro racing snakes to make it to the top is one hour.…

DRILL 1: HIGH-CADENCE CLIMBS: “Invariably, riders end up climbing at a lower cadence, because it feels less difficult – so forcing yourself to climb at a higher cadence is important. Do high-cadence drills over at least 10 minutes, and build up to doing five x 10 minutes in a row (with 10 minutes rest in between).” DRILL 2: LOW-CADENCE CLIMBS: “You’ll need to strengthen all those small muscle groups, so that you can maintain that higher cadence and higher workload; and that means doing low-cadence climbs for shorter durations – anywhere from four to 10 minutes. Those can be done as part of base preparation work, what we call ‘functional strength’. So, lower intensity – not beyond the point where you’re breathing heavily. And then later on, do higher intensity…