Richards Bay to Ntumeni (Khamba Pot) and back

The route, Richards Bay - Empangeni - Eshowe - Ntumeni - 130km

Ntomeni - Goedetrou Dam- Mhlatuzana- Empangeni - Richards Bay - 140km

Departed 06h15 Richards Bay - arrived at Kumba Pot - 12h00

Left Kumba Pot - 13h15 - arrived in Richards Bay 19h00

Ekuphumuleni Mission area.

Mhlatuzana area

Pit stop at Mkono stream

Kumba Pot for Lunch and re-fuel

Outside Eshowe one of the side-by-sides clipped a tree stump. Some damage to the steering rack & pinion housing.

Some Days start better than others

Q + A : What to eat on race day

What to eat on race day

Q

I am new to cycling and I am not sure what I should be eating for breakfast before one-day events and what I should eat/ drink during such an event. My ride usually lasts 2-3 hours. Please advise.

A

The goal of your breakfast is to top up your glycogen stores after the overnight fast, and so should be primarily carbohydrate-rich foods.

Depending on your tolerance and the amount of time available to you prior to the start, the portion that you eat may vary, but it makes sense that you should eat as much as you can at this time. This is particularly so if you find you are unable to fuel regularly throughout the race.

So a good breakfast could be a large bowl of oats porridge (made with milk to contribute a good value of protein) with a large glass of fruit juice. You may then like to have a bottle of your favourite energy drink to sip on whilst making your way to the start. Then from the start of the race you should aim to fuel at regular intervals using your choice fuel to provide approximately 30-60g of carbs per hour.

These can be given in the form of fluids or solids, and in fact a mixture of each would be ideal. An average energy bar and 500ml of most sports drinks will provide about 30g carbs. Any additional fluid requirements can be met with water.

The goal is to keep topping up your stores to prevent the drop in blood sugars which brings the onset of fatigue as it is very difficult to correct this without some impact on your performance. Ideally a strategy should be calculated individually during training sessions to avoid trying anything new on the day.

Article : Hardtail or Soft?

Since the dawn of time, mountain bikers have been debating the merits of hardtails versus full - sussers.Well, since the dawn of useful rear suspension, anyway, which was the mid -1990's. Ask around and you won’t find any fence- sitters on this one– you are either a rigid rigid follower, or a suspensions of tie .No middle ground.

So why do manufacturers still pour thousands of research and design bucks into new hardtails for their ranges? If full suspension was the way to go, surely it is time to trash the moulds and focus purely on plush? Fortunately,we are not quite there yet.There is still plenty of room in the market for the hardtail – it has two areas where it clobbers the full-suspension brigade hands-down: race performance and price. Full-suspension bikes are still, as a rule, between one and two kilograms heavier than similarly-specced hardtails.

This weight difference grows when you compare by price rather than spec – a R15 000 hardtail will boast race-winning componentry, yet a full-susser for the same price will be a boat anchor, by comparison. Yes, it is possible to buy a sub-9kg full-suspension bike, but it will cost you as much as a small car. For the purpose of this article, let’s concentrate on affordable bikes!

More, from the Bicycling website......

Ride Reports : Fish Eagle forest trail

2 reports by email, after rides on the newly-created Fish Eagle Trail....


Report #1 by Stef

I died 3 times. I almost killed Adriano on the narrow bridge and ate Vincent’s gel. Through the loose sand Adriano and Vincent were riding in front of me when a sand monster came out, grabbed me and sucked me into the sand. Luckily I was able to poke him in the eye with my pump and I could escape. This is the only reason Adriano and Vince had to wait for me. It had nothing to do with my 97kg digging my tyres into the sand.

Later that day Vincent fell asleep while we were talking to him, and I had the best beer(s) of the whole week.


Report #2 by Indi


Hi All,
I went out on the Saturday trip and had a good walkout. Just that after a quarter of the cycle I lost the team, either due to my pace or lack thereof. Needless to say it was then just me against the elements. I ended up taking the 16km loop as I was clueless where the 25km loop was (relying solely on my instinct given we did this at night!). It was a bit uncomfortable at times going through the isolated areas. Overall though I was content with my workout.

My appeal is that we should maintain the ‘Broke Chain Gang’ approach doing these trips together. At least 2 should be available for these cycles.

Looking forward to the next trip.
PS. I am still trying to get my bike out off reverse gear