FarmerMTB

There might be a light drizzel in Swellendam itself ( It rains a lot more close to the mountain) at the start, but for most of the route I don't think it would be a issue. Some of the area where we are riding haven't even seen rain when Noag launched the Ark!! I do however hope I'm wrong, we do need the rain desperately! (Just not on this Saterday...)

Ten miste kan van die troepe hulle geniet terwyl ek moet werk????

Hi CWC. How about some much needed tools to fiddle with (or destroy) our bikes. You can only polish a bike that hasn't seen the road in days so much! I need the PRO TORQUE TOOL/WRENCH that is for sale at R1,799.99 (1% discount) Hope you can do a proper discount (I need to save money to buy whine after the lock-down ends!!!) Thanks

I did see some work being done, filling of holes in the road, at waterpoint 1 yesterday.

Have a good steak for a good cause!????

Think it’s gonne be a misty start. The mist hang every morning till about 10am. Swellendam might get a little rain Friday, but out on the route it’s dry with no prediction of rain. (We would appreciate the rain, our crops are in desperate need of it!!) All and all I think it’s gonne be a great day for cycling the in the Ruens. I don,t think the road is quite as smooth as last year,( but that’s just me thinking of a excuse if I don’t beat my own time of last year) I’m realy looking forward to a awsome day here on my backdoor.

Wat se Andrew van die voorval of is dit maar net weer n Chris Willimse take-over?

The road is non-technical, but never flat, you will however want to build on your core strength. ( A strong core makes it easier to go up a hill while you are laughing at all the jokes being told in the bunch.) This race has a great vibe!!!

Was thinking about trying to do my first sub 3 this year ,but then I saw the wind prediction for next Sunday! Are there something to be concerned about or is it only me?

If you need a piece of nice meat to eat, this is for a good cause!

The cannonball was actually a nice guy with buckets of skill! He even gave her chocolates to say sorry (After she gave him a piece of her mind!) Not every day you get hit by the winner of the MUNGA Sad to say that finish venue was disappointing, but the woman racing wat great! Kekkel&Kloek finished 3rd in there category!

My wife did ride this morning and had one awsome day!! She did get hit by a fellow rider who rode faster than his skill could handle... all bruised-up but noting broked. Nice to see how they hold there own against the pro-riders! (Who are still much faster than normal humans..) Team Kekkel&Kloek are doing some low-level flying, for two chickens of course!!!

Brandfontein via Soetmuisberg

Hi, there are very nice places to ride from Struisbaai. From the Caltex garage, head back to Bredasdorp till you get the Elim turn-off, turn left.(If there are traffic just ride on the grass next to the road) Do about 10km gravel-road till the Brandfontein turn- Left, After about 5km turn right off the gravel onto single-track This will take you over the little mountain (think it's called Soetmuisberg and down the other side to the beach Brandfontein) The climb up isn't to bad with very little sand, but down are quite eroded and you must look-out for deep holes in the track. Once down you can ride single track back to the Elim gravel-road the way you came or if the tide is low, you can ride on the beach til you get to Suiderstrand. If you choose your lines correct the sand will ride very nice. I will try to attach my ride beginning of the year (Not sure how.) Will also be in Struisbaai later this weekend. Nope I'm to stupid to attach a Garmin Course. Sorry

Finding Container at Checkpoint: You guys that have done the race before, how long does it take to get your container at the checkpoints? At 36One we customized the boxes with something to make it stand-out, but I see you are not allowed at TB. Any tips on this?

Hi got 8000km out of my Shimano XT 11spd Cassette! We did all the hard races like Tankwa, Ride to No where, a very muddy Attakwas and the Cape Epic. I have 8 chains that I degrease, clean and relube and rotate once a week. I will change my Cassette now but 8 chains was to many for one cassette, the chains have some life left, but not the Cassette. This time I will use 6 chains. The nice part of this system is that if you wash you bike, the are a clean chain waiting and you can clean the old chain at some other time. ( BE WARENED!!!! Buying 2- Cassetts, 12- chains and 2- sets of front sprockets,{Have to do my and the wife's bike} can make you want to start plying bowls!!)

Any Race-Reports on the weekend's race?? Mr. Hub how did it go with the Gravel Grinder?

There might be some gravel bikes on the Hub for sale Monnday… Just a joke, the corrugations are few and far apart. The parts where the road was recently rebuild are very smooth, but they are also few and far apart

Kan nie meer wag nie!!! Around the Pot gaan die jaar great wees! ... tot ek besef ek moes dalk meer geoefen het...

Wat's fout? What happened?

Tik tok, tik tok are you ready!!!!!!!! Any last rides before Saturday?

You'll be fine! A big shoulder from Barrydale to Montegue. We ride from Buffeljags, Tradouw pass, Barrydale, Pakstoor(Top of pass between Barrydale and Monteque) and back regularly.

Just somthing to think about...(It all depends from trail to trail, but here it is) a trail of 30km 2X Labourers X R150 per day can do 0,1km =R300/day =(30km / 0,1km) X R300 =300 days of work X R300/day =R90 000-00 That is without any other costs like marking where the trail should be build or supervision to make sure the labourers are doing the job right! Building a trail cost way more than one might think, the thing with the whine-farms is that they have a lot of labour they can use in the off-season.

Malgas Pont is die race se "Golden Ticket" : Mooi uitsig oor die rivier, relaxed atmosfeer en heerlikke roosterkoek terwyl jou bene 'n blaaskans kry voor die laaste 60 of wat kilos. Nog 'n lekker aspek van die Pont en die 45min. neutrale zone is die taktiek wat spanne gebruik om dit in hul guns te laat tel: Jaag jou mededingers weg sodat jy voor hulle by Malgas inklok en sorg net dat jy saam met hulle (In hul slip) die res van die race ry! Sidaar! Julle gaan saam oor die end-streep op Swellendam, maar jou tyd is minder so jy skop hul g*t! Dis regtig 'n race met geen gelyk dele nie en sal jou laat verlang na mense wat jy nog nie eens ontmoet het nie, maar as jy Magas en al die vriendelikke mense binnery sal jy beloon word vir al die harde werk. Die vaart oor die Bree-Rivier was ook 'n belewenis van "Like-minded" mense en 'n gevoel van broederskap voor ek weer jou probeer aftrap! Hulle se dis 'n great race om voor te bery vir die Trans-Baviaans, ek dink dis 'n great race om voor te bery vir die volgende Around The Pot

This was for sure the best race of 2017! Do not expect to trap any flat roads. It is up, up and some more up, a quick down and then up again. Great training for the Trans-Baviaans! The rooster-brood at Malgas was the highlight of the race (My legs appreciated the neutral-zone over the Brede-river with the Pont, witch was the only flat part the entire 160km!) Only two complains: ​1.The Trafic-Police escort on the N2 to the gravel-road, where the race start, was way to fast! I felt like a hamster, spinning like mad to keep-up. 2. I know these roads, they are my training grounds, to have a lot of friendly MTB'ers come and trap my plat are not good for my ego, but sure as hell a lot of fun.