Robbie Stewart

No surprise. The three bridges crossing the Kammanassie river by Daskop have all been washed away, so no cycling over the river is possible. Emergency vehicle access is also cut off which makes it a non starter. My parents farm right by that section and they're cut off from leaving the farm other than 4x4 wheeling over the farm into the neighbouring farm. That and the fact that there is no viable cell phone towers still standing makes hosting an event a legal quagmire.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1235128725359552

Don't hold your breath. This is one of multiple such messages noting road closures. Essentially the district got weather bomber into oblivion and fixing this will take long. The images I posted earlier were in the Daskop region.

In all probability the Prince Alfred's pass is impassable after this rain. De Vlugt was flooded and the bridge was likely destroyed. Similar happened in the Kammanassie about 40km away with large sections of road completely washed away. It's highly likely that repairs won't be done before the race date because higher priority repairs are needed elsewhere. The R62 is closed, Meiringspoort has been destroyed and many district farm roads are severely damaged. Prioritisation will be done and I don't believe the PA Pass qualifies as a high priority road presently. These pics are in the Kammanassie valley not far from Uniondale so it's highly likely the K2C route was as badly damaged if not worse given that it was more directly in the line of fire.

The roads should by dry by the time the race is on, but they might not be in as good condition as before. And if they are repaired, I'm not holding my breath for Kom se Pad and the stretch over Gouna to Simola. That stretch will be atrocious. Knysna has just broken every rain record it held before this week. They've had biblical rain so the forest will actually be dangerous for the next while as trees succumb to the water turning the forest floor to mush. There has been a couple of large trees falling this week already, and one person was sadly killed in Knysna when a large oak tree fell on her car.

And don't forget about that 14 km climb in the middle from the Keurbooms river to Spitzkop that just never seems to end. I did my last one in 2018 and that climb stands out as a motivation killer 😂. On a more serious note, those roads have definitely taken a beating with the rains this week in that area. The Kammanassie is in flood with the district entirely cut off from access wherever the river cuts over roads. I know the Eden District isn't slow at repairing damaged roads in the district but this flood and it's associated damage is widespread, so there's a chance some sections could be impassable for a while.

My office is 8 metres from my bedroom. Then when I do need to travel its a 100km round trip from the West Coast to Brackenfell to Melkbos and back, past Dunoon and usually via two highways. Commuting sounds cute but only if you're a desk jockey with a highly predictable job that requires punching your 8 to 5 card every day.

Don't care. Despite Lyne being better quality, and Rapidé being cheaper, I'm still going with Lyne. Also that's my subjective opinion as I've been burnt by Rapidé. I vote with my wallet.

Between Rapidé and Lyne, Lyne wins. I have both. Lyne is the clear winner by a long margin.

The colour of that bakkie is suspiciously reminiscent of a SANParks bakkie.

Colleague of mine and I were at the office working on a presentation for a large client the next day. We finished up and he left the office on his 125cc commute bike, and me in my bakkie. Both of us had about 5km home. Next morning I'm waiting for him at the office for the presentation, but he doesn't arrive. I find out later he got taken out in the traffic circle 500m from the office by an illegal immigrant with no licence, no ID, and no insurance. Thankfully he was only mildly hurt and made a full recovery. The bike was a write off. But ja, best not to pretend that this is a real problem facing everyone lest someone gets offended.

It would seem that the "illegal immigration" mind virus has reached our shores too where calling a spade a spade will get you ostracised.

So a few years ago in the 'burb where I live there was an open field across the street that bordered against open veld towards Melkbos. It wasn't long for Port Jackson to take over that field, which became hiding place for burglars. Garden Cities, the owners of the land were asked time and again to clear the field, to no avail. One morning the message was shared on the street committee that one of the houses opposite the field was burgled in broad daylight, and no surprises where the burglars came out from. That same day I volunteered on the street committee to go buy a can of petrol and fix the port Jackson problem once and for all. The next day that field saw no more port Jackson trees growing there. Just saying, you know 😉

Novel idea but impractically implemented in South Africa given the propensity for corruption. The flip side to your proposal is the absolute spike in false fines and convictions once the police get incentivised to do their work. They simply can't be trusted.

It looks like the perp only had one round in that mag because the slide opened after he fired the gun, and if you slowly look at the footage you can see him waving the gun with it loudly indicating that no more rounds were available. At the very least, he would not be able to fire off another shot without first clearing the jam if he did have more rounds. More than enough time for a competent carrier to end this before it got out of hand, but alas, cyclists don't carry.

After the road gap on Conties Freeride we came across this spoor yesterday morning. Looks to be Aardvark. There's a resident duiker living there as well, and I've seen rooikat and bat-eared Fox there before.

My chest has been struggling with mucus on and off since around October last year. I'm so used to it now I've accepted it as a normal part of life. I haven't seen any doctor but suppose I should at some point.

I was losing my mind looking for the link, which other than yours and Morne I haven't seen elsewhere. I'm getting old, don't mind me.

I suppose this new website is reserved for Bikehub Premium subscribers . . .

I haven't really been watching this year. I caught some of the last days, and watched the final day on YT. All I can say of what I saw is that I have a newfound respect for the people who do this type of riding. I'm not sure I'd make it through maybe stage 2, and then, only just. For Matt and Tristan to pull of what they did coming back from nearly 2 minutes down to winning by almost a minute is absolutely mind blowing. Well done.

For some sh!t$ and giggles go buy a new toilet brush and shove it in the dishwasher when you know wifey is about to unpack it. Guaranteed $h1t-fest of note.

I took my bike to the LBS for a intermediate service two weeks ago. The rear hub needs replacing and due to stock it wasn't done. I was eventually charged R175 for wash and lube service only.

I wonder if the prize money will also be "shortened" for the elite ladies

I was planning on going until a mate who's been told me it involves a full day of just standing around hoping the weather allows riding and that the riders do their own thing, not following any real plan. They basically just party at the riders tent and you stand around on the hill, far from the action, waiting to see people ride. I attended one of the Hellsend open days last year, and although the trails were good, I feel they were overpriced for what I paid, and there wasn't even any cooldrinks or water on sale anywhere. A day at the Hoogekraal Leatt Skills Park is more fun. I'll rather save my money and watch the videos on YouTube. Edit - And traffic is a beeatch apparently getting in and out.

I watched the elite men and noticed very few spectators spread along compared to previous years at Meerendal.