Cape Epic 2017

It doesn't matter how I disappointed I felt at the news that Ironman took over the Cape Epic, I can't but help myself to be totally engrossed and excited for this year's race. 

The women change in combinations in the women's field will bring an exciting race. I would still love Ariane Luthi to take the overall title. She is an incredible rider, down to earth and races her heart out! This year she will be teaming up with Adel Morath from Germany who rode her first epic last year with Sally Bigham. Adel is quite light and got blown over when the helicopter followed them closely last year. Annika Langvad is finishing her studies in Denmark so Ariane and Adel will compete as Team Spur! This will be the first year that Team Spur will have a back-up team in the race. 

Malcolm Lange team owner of Team Ascendis Health flew in the legendary Sabine Spitz who competed for the first time last year to race with Robyn de Groot. De Groot raced with Jennie Stenerhag last year, Jennie had to abandon the race after experiencing an extremely high heartrate which she later needed an operation for. The combination of De Groot and Spitz signals danger for all of the other teams. De Groot has been hungry for victory and Spitz's appetite got whet last year as she finished on the podium last year and got the hang of stage racing towards the end of the week. She also loves the heat which will definitely count in her favour!

Jennie Stennerhag is racing for Meerendal Cape Town Brewing Company with experienced and previous winner, Ester Suss from Switzerland. It will be interesting to see what the two of them can do. 

Team Dorma Kaba features local girl and Olympian Candice Lill and Namibian Vera Adrian. They have been racing together before and did extremely well in the Tankwa Trek which serves as a good training ground for the Epic. Lill also won the Tour of Good Hope road tour two weeks ago. They are in good form and it will be great to see what the all African team will do in this year's race. 

The men's field is back to the Epic battle for 6 Epic victories between Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser. Sauser is such a force to reckon with that even being retired from racing puts him right up there in contention again. Jaroslav Kulhavy asked him to be his partner and Sauser couldn't resist the challenge. My question is, why not? He has won it five times, twice with Jaro and he rides actively with the young guns he coaches and is an allround walking legend. My heart skipped a beat of excitement when I saw the news. 


Manual Fumic will be back racing on their Cannondales with Brazilian, Avancini and I think they might have their eyes on a stage win or 2. 

Jose Hermida, the funniest Spaniard and great character are back after a year's break to race with road cyclist Joaquim Rodriguez from Bahrain Merida (also the new team of Vincenzo Nibali and Louis Meintjes) road team.

Team Scott SRAM brought Nino Schurter current Olympic Champion and rising star Mathias Stirnemann as their lead team. If they can win the overall title we will have to see, but they will surely fight it out! Mathias is in my opinion Nino's strongest team mate for the Epic and that makes me excited. 

Since Erik Kleinhans joined Team Topeak Ergon I really hope there bad luck has run out now and that Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek will get a fair shot at the podium. They have the charasmatic team of Jeremiah Bishop and Erik Kleinhans to support them. 

South Africans Phil Buys and Matthys Beukes are now racing on local designed Pyga bikes and they will sure hope to mix it up in the African Jersey race with Waylon Woolcock who will be teaming up with roadie HB Kruger this year and NAD Pro Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck. 

Further exciting news is that young Jenny Rissveds, Olympic Champion also from Scott SRAM will be racing with legend and team manager Thomas Frischnecht. 

No-one can say that the Epic doesn't have an exciting line-up. 

Good luck to everyone racing! Hang in there and keep on pedalling! 

Follow me on @tangocycling for live tweeting where I can. :-) 

My 1st 100 miler!

We were meant to do a ride from London to Cheddar Gorge with Strongher (a movement Marianne Vos and a whole string of other pros launched, their aim is to get more women to ride bikes) but unfortunately that ride got cancelled. 

Claire and I decided that we still wanted to ride, but that we didn't want to take on such a big ride by ourselves. 

I've only cycled to Brighton with the Heart Foundation back in the day on my first MTB with slicks that were too small for the actual wheels. Claire had an awesome route that she did with her club a few weeks ago so we decided we will do London Brighton and back to London instead. 

I left my house at 6:55 and met Claire in Leatherhead from where we cycled to join the route just before the back climb up to Box Hill. 

We cycled down to Betchworth, crossed the A25 towards Newdigate, Faygate and through the ever so quaint  Rusper. 

The route followed quite country lanes and it was honestly such a beautiful ride, we missed the bigger towns. We saw village names such as Bucks Head and Colgate. 

Stuffing my face with potatoes off course!

The route only got busier as we approached Devil's Dyke and as we dropped into Brighton.

At the top of Devil's Dyke

I have felt great all the way through and it was important for me to keep eating to make sure that I didn't run out of energy. 

We didn't stop for the normal fish & chips at the sea as it looked like a storm was brewing and we knew we still had some hard work to do. 

We stopped to fill up our water bottles at a pub in Shoreham-by-Sea,  a visit to the ladies and bought a sandwich from the Co-op. 

I was fueled by my trusty salty buttered potatoes for most of the route. They are the absolute bomb! 

As soon as we past Shoreham we were back on quite country roads passing through sweet Steyning. 

The route back was hard work, the whole route actually. It was never really flat, it was always going up or going down, generally very lumpy. 

Claire and I each took our turn on the front and whenever I wanted to slow down a little, this voice from behind haunted me... "Get a wiggle on TC!" 

It was good to have the encouragement from behind as if I was on my own I would've just given up to freewheel a bit. 

We stopped a few more times as fatigue started to kick in. We were so delighted once we got back to Newdigate as we knew from there we only had to get to Dorking before it was the last stretch to Leatherhead. 

My favourite part was coming back towards Dorking from Newdigate along a long flattish drag. It was awesome just to go for it. 

Once we arrived in Leatherhead we headed towards the nearest tea shop and treated ourselved with cream teas! 

Celebrating in true British fasion with a cup of tea, scones, jam & cream

I had an absolute ball and it was for sure my best day on my road bike so far. 

My lower body was tired after the ride, but I felt great considering the distance we covered. I have felt a lot worst after cycling before, so I think it could be one of two things, I either didn't ride hard enough or I am fitter than I thought at the moment. I don't care which one of the two it is though, as it was just so nice to cycle along beautiful QUITE roads with great company! 

Ps. I think I rode myself thin. ;-)

My activity if you wanted to check our route out. Don't follow my way to Leatherhead though as I followed my nose

https://www.strava.com/activities/613155548

REVIEW: Specialized Women Specific Cycling Clothing

All of my bike accessories are already Specialized, but I've never splashed out on buying my own Specialized cycling kit. 

I happen to have met Olivia the Brand Manager for Women at Specialized UK on the Bella Velo rides and she kindly surprised me in June with this Specialized ambassadors outfit. 

I had to take the selfie to capture my excitement, it doesn't quite do it justice, but if you look closely you'll see that I dropped everything in the kitchen to try on this outfit straight away! 

From the moment I started trying it on, I could tell that this was good quality kit and understand why people pay the price for this kit. It is just so soft, it doesn't cut into love handles or upper thighs, it just feels great. This might be a strange thing for me to say and also very cringy, but you feel like a women! Oooh I said it! 

The cycling tights are my favourite, it is awesome bib shorts with a magnet fastening on the back which allows you to go to the ladies without taking all of your clothes off. You literally just drop your tights and go. 

Below is a video from Specialized demonstrating how it works! 

The padding is thin and ergonomically shaped for the best comfort. 

Soft finishes on the arm

The sleeves of the jersey and legs of the tights both have base layer material finishes which doesn't cut into your skin and doesn't ride up either as it has nicely spaced out elastic on the inside. 

Same soft finishes on the legs

The back of the cycling top has 3 pockets, including a waterproof zipped pocket. 

If you look closely you can see the magnet dropper of the bib shorts underneath my top.

I love this outfit even though it has pink it. :-) The bib shorts is a must! 

Tango Cycling Diva Ride

On Saturday we had our monthly Tango Cycling Ride again. Marie & Sara who rides with me often and my university friend, Marize came along.

Marize was riding on my 'new' bike and I was riding on my old bike as it needs a bit of maintenance and I didn't want her to suffer more than what was needed. :-) 

She absolutely loved it, moaned when we had to go uphill, but thankfully my recent fitness came in handy and I was able to give her a needed push at times. 

I love seeing and hearing how people enjoy it and it was an absolute joy to introduce her to mountain biking. 

Marie was trying out her new Specialized bike in Surrey for the first time. Marie started riding on a hand-me-down heavy bike with v-brakes and hardly any suspension, but it did not stop her from riding. 

Riding with my girls is so much fun and something I look forward to every time. We ride hard, chat even harder and love hanging out! 

My 1st go at wrapping handlebar tape!

I bought my roadbike from my housemate second hand so I had no choice in the colour. My bike is very white which looks beautiful but it is hard to keep the bar tape white and clean.

 

I replaced the very uncomfortable white saddle with a slick looking lightweight Specialized Ruby at the end of last year and have now finally made the plunge to buy new BLACK bar tape Gerhard van Niekerk recommended to me.

 

Those of you that know me will know that I have the best intentions for taking on bike DIY, but they don't always work out as they should. Opening the brakefluid caliper instead of calibrating my brakes on my MTB , replacing my jockey wheels, but tightening them too much so the chain kept on bouncing around to mention only a few of my mishaps. 

 

I've been procrastinating this job for over a month. My biggest concern was how would I know where to divide the tape so that I have an equal amount for each side... Duh... I only realised once I opened the box that the manufacturer's did that for me! 2 rolls containing bar ends, a handy extra little piece for the hood and some tape to cover up the end was all rolled together. No mess, no fuss basically, all I had to do was roll the tape.

 

With a simple search on Mr Google, I found this very helpful step-by-step written and video guide on how to do it. Thank you Road Cycling UK for the great instructions.

 

Can I also just say that because I know myself too well, I made sure that I read and watched this before I start edas I really didn't want to mess up this job.

 

http://roadcyclinguk.com/how-to/maintenance/video-how-to-wrap-handlebar-tape.html#k83g8yjgxh5cOD5S.97

 

All the ingredients for the task at hand... oh and electrical tape.

 

Remove old bar tape first

Ta-dah right hand side done perfectly the first time!

Mmm spot the difference...

My friend came over for tea whilst I was doing the left handside so I did the 2nd side a little bit quicker. All looked fine until I came back from Waitrose, I noticed 2 bubbles. So I unwrapped everything again, did it really tightly and then ended up with perfectly wrapped handlebars only to then realise somehow I twisted the tape as I came over the hood onto the straight part and now had perfectly wrapped handlebars, but they looked slightly different.

The BIG question was, would I be able to cope with the difference?

Well the next photo is the answer to that very important question!

The answer is NO, NO I couldn't deal with it.

So I had to unwrap the tape for the third and final time again to correct it. I think it was a case of not wanting to deal with comments from the perfectionistic roadies I know. (I won't name and shame them, they know who they are.)

TC Tips for wrapping your own handlebars:

1. It is a simple task, but can take longer than anticipated
2. Get all your 'ingredients' ready before you start
3. Don't rush it, keep concentrating
4. Make sure you leave an overhang at the ends, I found this one of the more tricky parts, the first one in particular was hard to wangle in again

I'm well chuffed that I managed to do it even though it was a faff. I rode with it yesterday and it was all good!

REVIEW: My water bottle!

Spot the water bottle and then spot us!

I know it is only a water bottle, BUT for those that have known me for a while would know I ALWAYS have a water bottle with me. My water bottle often gets referred to as the ‘stupid’ water bottle as it always turns up in photos. Sorry. J

From hardly ever drinking water a few years ago I started drinking water and always carry a water bottle with me.

On my recent trip to South African I lost one of my 2 water bottles and the 2^nd one got destroyed by my mom’s beloved/spoiled bull mastiff.

So I’ve been without my famous waterbottle for a while. My sister did give me a water bottle with a screw top for Christmas, but I find it hard work to screw off, sip, screw back on.

In February I received a voucher from Sweatshop and they had running water bottles on sale and as we were about to run Bath Half Marathon I thought it would be great to purchase one of those for myself and 3 friends. Oh well what a disappointment. The water hardly comes out as the nozzle slips back before you can take a decent sip. Seriously what a waste of money.

On Saturday I went out for a ride with a women’s only bike shop in Surbiton, Bella Velo.  

They are a dedicated women’s only bike shop. Anybody is welcome to pop in, all of their stock is smart, well presented and you literally just want to get your credit card out and buy new kit. They stock women’s specific Specialized Bikes and also have Liv Giant bikes in store. Liv is the women’s specific brand of Giant. Men if you would like to get your girlfriend or wife into cycling this is the shop to go to. They will understand her needs better than you do. Ultimately that will be to your benefit as we as women have different needs. For instance we need to be comfortable on our saddles and we also like to feel pretty even if we don’t look pretty.

Back to the water bottle. I was using Julie’s bottle on the ride and it was hard to get it in & out of the bottle cage whilst we were riding as it was a tall bottle so I decided to buy one of the Bella Velo bottles they had on offer. 

I am delighted with this water bottle. It is not just ANY waterbottle. They are made by Purist and the nozzle design is as if it is inside out in comparison with the old water bottle designs and it has a valve on the inside. If you squirt the bottle a stream of joyous water pours into your mouth and your thirst is instantly quenched, unlike other water bottles where you have to suck on the nozzle till your cheeks go blue or those that when you open & close them catch your lip which could be rather painful. This bottle is exactly what I would expect from a water bottle! Thank you for the treat Bella Velo! I am happy to fly the flag Belinda! ;-)

Sign up for the Bella Velo newsletter to find out more about their events and shop rides.



Introducing Tango Cycling to Jonkershoek!



Some of my cycling Besties!



I'm not sure why you ride your bike, but I ride my bike because of the people I ride with and the fun I have when I ride my bike.  

On 3 January I had the privilege to ride in Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, South Africa with 3 of my besties, Christiaan (MC), Elisca (Dolla) & Liezl (Pokkeltjie). (Listed in no particular order. :-))

I've studied in Stellenbosch for 4 years and cycling was my mode of transport to lectures but that is how far it went. I knew guys who cycled in Jonkershoek & washed their bikes afterwards but to me that was a weird concept and something I never heard off before. 

I remember how I chased down the hill in true last minute TC departure style to try and be on time for my lecturew. My granny flat was in Uniepark and there was a shortcut down a grass field towards Stellenbosch High school. The people that were on their way to work had to skill fully jump out of my way because my green mamba had no brakes, it was metal on metal and one hell of noise going towards them. With a bit of luck and grace I managed to get my bike to stop in time at the pedestrian crossing. Maintenance of my bike was not high on the priority list or included in my budget. Hanging out at Tollies on a Wednesday & Saturday night were more important!

10 years later I returned to Stellenbosch, older, wiser and knowing what fun I had missed out on for not riding my bike in Jonkershoek. 

The plan was to borrow Steph's bike, but unfortunately we were not able to ride together due to logistics and timings so I contacted Specialized & Ride In via twitter and found out that I can hire a bike from Ride In cafe for the day. I've been following the cafe on Twitter and many a day wished that I could rather be there than sit at my desk in London

To my delight they rented out SpeciaIized bikes. I requested a small hardtail for the day. Gavin contacted me in reply and said unfortunately they don't stock small hardtails, but he had a small full suspension bike for me to rent.  I've never ridden with a full sus before as I know that I would want one if I did ride it and that I won't be able to afford it so it would be best to avoid the temptation. 

Upon our arrival at Ride In Cafe I spotted my favourite women's mountain biker, Ariane Kleinhans. Liezl met her the week before and wanted to say 'Hi' to her, but I was too shy so we didn't go over. :( She is phenomenal and a mean Swiss Cycling machine!

My hired bike wasn't just a full suss, it was a Specialized Camber, full suss, 29er! I was sceptical and overwhelmed and the same time.



With the awesome Specialized cycling machine!

We set off to Jonkershoek from Ride In Cafe. We climbed up the Canaries which is an ascending & descending trail. This climb reminded me of the first climb in Afan from Clyncorwg Trail Centre. Rocky, twisty & technical. I was worried about my fitness when we set off, but soon learnt to my surprise that this bike was just too willing to roll over everything without too much effort. 

Selfie time in the fog.

Typically TC I kept the rear shock locked so that I won't get used to it too much, but after some stern words from Christiaan that I paid to ride this bike I might as well enjoy it to its full potential. So I started playing with the suspension settings. Hard, trail and soft... I don't like it when you sink in too much at the back when you go over an obstacle. I don't like that lagging feeling. It is like you are halfway down the trail but the bike is still following you. I prefer the medium or harder setting. 



Going down the first singletrack I crashed in the first switchback turn as I didn't concentrate on what I was doing and corners are a lot more tight than on a 26" where a late response is very forgiving. 



Trail side support

On the last section I was following Christiaan's wheel. This is always a dangerous move as he just flies down the hills. I was not too far behind him until almost at the end of the trail where I missed a corner and travelled about a metre parallel to the trail. Don't fear with the tractor wheels it didn't seem to turn into a crash thankfully. The bike just continued rolling whilst I was laughing in amazement. I did slow down though for my own good as it is better to arrive alive! 

 



Beautiful Stellenbosch!

From there we went across to the other side at The Quarry. This downhill was the favourite for the others, but not that much for me. I think I was getting tired and didn't know the trail and were a bit more weary. 



Happy times, awesome ride with great friends. My cup is overflowing :-)

We rounded off our ride with lunch at Ride In before heading to Cape Town for a kuier with my favourites! I am so thankful that I finally got the chance to ride in Stellenbosch and that I was able to check out Ride In Cafe. As mentioned in previous blog post, "Call me Maybe" I think that running a café like this would be my dream job; ride my bike, share cycling stories, serve nice food, share the trails ... what more can you ask for?! The food was great! Most of you know I love my meat, but I actually went for a salad with roasted aubergine & off course feta cheese (my meat replacement) and I thoroughly enjoyed that. Filled me up nicely and I didn't have too much food envy over the others burgers. :-)
 





Lunchtime at Ride In Café

 

TC's Observations of riding a Full Suss 29'er: 

Pros: 

• It can roll over everything without any effort and as Iain said its like cheating, I can not agree more! 
• It is fast going uphill 
• And equally fast going downhill
• I loved the 2 x 10 chainring - the transition wasn't too much from a 3 x 10

Cons: 

• Downhill switchback turns are somehow an art to be mastered
• Lifting the 29er for a little bunny hop seems to be harder or not yet possible for me (Christiaan had the same trouble when he hired a 29er)

Myth buster: 
 

Small/Short people can't ride 29ers - They can! 

I can conclude that I would DEFINITELY consider a full suss when I buy my next bike. In terms of wheel size, I will definitely consider a 29er and not just 650b! 

Ps. As we got ready in the car park people asked us about Tango Cycling... we were just too happy to tell them more. We also overheard others asking who we were, but left them hanging, they can figure it out or just think we are the newest MTB Racing Team in South Africa on training camp. ;)

https://www.strava.com/activities/236059887/segments/6080535761

Gear: My Favourite Things

We all know the saying, all the gear and no idea... in this post I'd like to share my favourite gear with you, why I like it, why I use and where I got it from.

As you already know, I hate waste! I don't like paying more than what I should for a product, but I don't mind paying for something that I know will last and is of good quality.
I don't have lots of stuff/gear, but my philosophy is that, what I have has to be practical. I thought I'll give you a few tips on where I shop and which brands work for my figure, taste and budget. :)

I usually shop around, see what I like and want and then search on the Internet for the cheapest provider. There is so many good providers out there. Evans, Wiggle & Chain Reaction would be your best options most of the time, but don't think that they are necessarily the cheapest. They all offer free delivery and easy returns which make life easier. I prefer Evans & Chain Reaction's websites as it is more user friendly and easier to navigate around. Some shops also offer price matching, so do your research.

Apart from your bike number 1, 2 & 3 would be the essentials that you would need when you start riding, the rest you can buy as your need for them increase and as you get into the sport more.

1. Pearl Izumi Tights
I try and buy these when it is on sale. Expect to pay £34 - £40 on sale. Evans stock Pearl Izumi. In principal going into an Evans shop can be painful, but their online store is great. They have a great return policy, you can pick up in store and they also offer free home delivery, so you can order and take it back with no drama if it doesn't work for you.
http://www.pearlizumi.co.uk/ride/road/shorts-and-knickers/p/womens-quest-short

2. Specialized Gloves
Your hands need protection for a few reasons. Firstly, so that you have good grip on your handlebars. Secondly, your hands take a lot of shots and shocks so good comfortable padding is essential. Thirdly, your hands are also exposed to overgrowing plants as you swish past them and if you fall over you will avoid the graze marks we used to get when we fell on the school playground. I am a big Specialized fan and like their body geometry philosophy.
http://www.specialized.co.uk/gb/gb/ftr/gloves/womens-road-gloves/womens-body-geometry-gel

3. Helmet
Specialized... :-) It was a birthday gift. (I chose it though...)  

4. Repair Kit
It is also important to always carry with you, a pump, a spare tube (the right size - check on your tyre if you are in doubt), tyre levers and a multi-tool

5. Camelbak Classic
Travelling light is key and my 2 litre water bladder is enough for the type of distance we do and also living on the island it is not often that you need to fill up your water reservoir. I usually fill mine to the 1.5l mark. The classic has one small pocket on the front in which I store my repair kit. Because I don't fill the reservoir to its maximum, I always have spare space for my rain jacket, house keys or anything else that needs to find a place to live.
http://shop.camelbak.com/classic/d/1043

6. Squirtlube
It is essential to keep your chain running smoothly, happy chain, happy bike, happy pedalling.:-) I prefer Squirt, less messy, works great in winter and summer and doesn't get clogged up with all sorts of gunk like other lubes. I can highly recommend it, a few places in the available. The latest shop that stock this is Specialized Concept Store and Wiggle also sells it online.
http://www.in2dust.co.uk/

7. Kalenji Rain & Wind jacket
Best £12 ever spent, this jacket is perfect in the intermediate and early winter weather as my 3rd layer. It is light and packs away easily and cheap from Decathlon.

8. Buff
Absolutely love these. They have so many purposes. In fact there are 12 things that you can use it as, so yes you pay about £12 - £15 for a tiny piece of material, but there is so much that you can do with it. I use it for sweat wicking in summer and to keep my hair out of my eyes and in winter for warmth over my ears and head, sometimes also as a balaclawa/scarf.
http://www.buffwear.co.uk/buff-headwear/original-buff

9. Shimano Clip-ins
They are cheap and cheerful and do the job, I bought all 3 pairs of mine from the cheapest Internet free delivery provider. A good sale price is about £18 for entry level clip-in pedals.

10. Shoes
Again I love Specialized so I've only ever had Specialized shoes. Even though I love their brand I know that their shoes don't really cater for those of us with a wider foot, so it would probably be best to go for a brand like Shimano. I've bought both pairs on sale so keep an eye out for sales.

11. Short sleeve cycling tops
Thankfully I don't get cold easily and feel restricted in cycling tops with sleeves, so I basically buy any brand as long as it has the right material, I stay away from those shiny material that sits on your love handles. :-) Pearl Izumi, Altura and Bontranger, but I think it comes down to personal preference.

12. Clif Bars
Some of you might know that I don't really like fruit, very sweet stuff and can't stand peanut butter. So Clif Bar is the only bars that make an all chocolate chip bar, raisin and oat bar and their latest new flavour that was unlikely for me to like, but I LOVE it, is white chocolate and macadamia. I would usually only take a bite and then later another bite, but this white chocolate and macadamia is so nice that I had the whole bar in one go which is not preferable, but hey ho.
http://www.clifbar.co.uk/food/products_clif_bar/

13. Clif Shots
Clif Shots are like jelly babies, but in the shape of an icecube. I don't like jelly sweets and sweet stuff as mentioned above, but these are great to take on any ride. I don't use any gels as you have to have the whole gel in one go which is just revolting and if you don't have the whole gel, then you are basically wasting it. So clif shots are very convenient and handy to have. I always have them with me and they are also great to hand out when someone has fallen or crashed to get over the shock.
http://www.clifbar.co.uk/food/products_shot_bloks/

Winter Apparel

14. DHB 3/4 Thermal Bib Shorts
Wiggles in-house brand DHB has been an absolute treat. I'm short, so the 3/4 length works perfect for me, I usually wear my South African arm warmers as legwarmers and it does the job. The bib also provides warmth and you feel nicely tucked in on your winter rides.

15. Seal Skinz winter waterproof socks
These babies have saved my feet from freezing plenty times. They have merino wool on the inside and are waterproof, don't misunderstand me, your feet still feel the cold, but at least they are not wet and cold, they are just cold. Don't get me wrong, they are nothing to look at, but they do the job.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealskinz-Mid-Light-Waterproof-Socks/dp/B001E66XK0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376994606&sr=8-2&keywords=waterproof+socks

16. Signature South African Arm Warmers
I use these all the time, they were the best gift given to me by my sister during the Fifa World Cup in 2010. Wearing them as arm and leg warmers all the time and we've used them as a make-shift bandage before too. Multi-purpose in many ways.

17. Gloves
In winter your hands and shoes feel the cold a lot more than other parts of your body so to keep them warm is going to make you a happier rider.
I use Gore wind and rain proof gloves, they are not tight fitted enough to my liking, but they keep my hands warm in most normal winter conditions.

18. Overshoes
Overshoes, neoprene material, wind and waterproof overshoes will help a lot. Overshoes will be the most unattractive item of clothing you will ever own, BUT for the benefits you will get from them, it is worth investing in them. Warmer, dryer feet, cleaner shoes!

I hope you found this useful, if you have any other kit relating questions, please drop me a line and I will try and answer your question. tangocycling@outlook.com




Wearing my Favourite Things
1. Specialized Shoes
2. South African Arm/Leg Warmers
3. Pearl Izumi short tights
4. Kalenji Rain & Wind Jacket
5. Specialized Gloves
6. Buff
7. Specialized Helmet (my old one - not a gift)
8. Borrowed Camelbak Classic which convinced me to get my own



My 2nd MTB

Specialized Rockhopper SL Expert 2010 Mountain Bike

 

After pure indulgence and money burning in my pocket I just happened to find this bike on offer whilst I still had my bonus in my bank account. Fate had it that only one of these were still available on the whole of the island & it happened to be my size. Christiaan gave me the go ahead and said that I was getting a good deal. I didn't need much more encouragement than that! It was meant to be.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/rockhopper-sl-expert-2010-mountain-bike-ec019999

Biggest noticeable comparisons

Rockhopper vs Hardrock

- The Weight
- The SHOCKS - what a difference
- The Brakes

Biggest Adjustment to get used too

- Narrower wheels, took time to get confidence on the jumps

Tips on buying a bike (especially for the girls)

- Ask that question that you think might be stupid
- Demand proper bike set-up or play around with your set-up (make sure your brakes are within reaching distance & that your shocks are set-up for you specifically)
- Buy a women's specific saddle (I've learned the very HARD way)

Did I say? I ♥ my Phiets!

Phiets @ Peaslake