Robbie Stewart

I decided I don't race cars on that cycle path anymore. If I see a car I slow down until it's gone or if I'm too close already I stop until it goes. I've given up trying to be right all the time.

I've always wondered what that route was like. Now that I've seen I will continue to drive to the V&A and ride from there. As much as I agree with him, I just don't see anything changing.

Saw this and decided this is exactly the medicine my tired looking Camber is wanting. Doing some investigative work following @BrandonH comments about Montague Gardens, I found this. https://derustit.co.za/chemical-cleaning/#coating

Same. I park at the V&A and ride from there. Also if you park at Battery Park undercover parking over weekends, you don't pay. Shhhhh, it's a secret.

Thanks, I'll let you know. I'm still in two minds if I should rather fit a set of narrower XC tires like Vittoria Barzo or something similar with a lower profile for faster rolling. My thoughts are geared towards maybe doing the K2C later in the year and then slicks won't work.

I also considering fitting smooth rubber on my wheels, but I'm riding Rapide TR29-36 rims with 36mm inner width. I'm not sure if I can even fit a pair of cheap 700xnnC tyres. Maybe I'll end up with a set of very low knob xc tyres. Currently I'm on a set of Maxxis Assegai and DHR 2 Minions and they are super slow. Not fit for purpose at all, but that's what I have for now.

I got my seeding and as expected I'm probably right at the back. Which is probably cool so now anyone I pass is like winning a race each time 😂😂

fahgeddaboudit . . . Race day is waaaay too far to make weather predictions now. Accuweather struggles to get tomorrow right for the most part.

I hear there were plenty bottlenecks on the Tankwa Trek prologue day as well. I did Trailseeker at Hemel en Aarde a few years back and there were bottlenecks as well, and that frustrated me no end, to the point I don't do these kinds of events anymore. When I am riding single track I want to flow. I don't want to get stuck behind someone who is unskilled and struggles with the course.

I mean, to each their own, but I would recommend riding with two wheels rather than just carrying your one-wheeler to the finish.

and here is the rub. How do you retrieve a holstered firearm from concealment during an attack, when the perpetrator already has the advantage? Now, try that on a bicycle. And I am pretty confident drawing first will be tough to defend if the perpetrator hasn't attacked you yet. If, in this case, the two chaps chucking rocks see you approaching and watch you draw on them, if they don't do anything, can it be argued that they were going to attack you? Now, I am not against the right to carry and use a firearm. I am just not convinced that someone trying that on a bicycle is the best choice. I don't know what the right choice is either, but carrying a concealed firearm on a bicycle ride is pretty pointless. It's akin to having pepper spray on your back in the camel back.

Last week I quickly stopped off at a shop on the way home from a ride, and as I got back to my vehicle, I happened to look up and saw a Airbus A400M depart Ysterplaat overhead. That was quite interesting to see, and I'm guessing it was because of the German contingent being in town for some exercise with the SA Navy. I don't know what they were doing though, as the SA Navy probably consists of two rubber ducks and a SUP. I saw 3 x Luftwaffe Tornado's a couple years back also around Feb come low and fast past my house on the way to TFDC Overberg. They did a detour over Cape Town, and those were three really cool planes to see in the flesh. In 2012 I was in Israel, and saw a whole bunch of F16's doing BFM maneuvers overhead on the afternoon before I returned to SA. It was quite cool to see that. They were busy probably for over an hour. I was with a tour group, and they were doing a guided walk along Caesarea, but I opted to park myself on the grass at the start and said I will join when they return. Spent the arvie watching the airshow.

very loud indeed. And so awesome to hear. I won't soon forget one of the original AAD at Ysterplaat in the 2000's when Mike Beechy Head and another pilot flew a display and then they departed to altitude before coming overhead and caused a sonic boom. That "bha-"bhaaa" and the roar of those Rolls Royce jet engines was unforgettable.

Got treated to an impromptu airshow directly above my house late afternoon when the three SAAF BAE Hawks and two Gripens formed up and did race track laps waiting for the SONA fly over. Then afterwards the two Gripens were back doing very tight circles again directly overhead at full afterburner, setting off car alarms, rattling windows and making small kids cry. What a treat. Apologies for the very poor quality pics. VID_20240208_224053.mp4 VID_20240208_223438.mp4

This morning I had the same happen to me. Actually, this has been pretty consistent of late along the west coast cycle path and surrounds. This morning I was approaching a circle and the car with right of way yielded to me. A courteous wave and a smile was met with the same. Methinks if we as cyclists actually engage with cars and acknowledge the human behind the hunk of metal we will go a long way to mending perceptions. but like the boy throwing that one star fish back in the water while on the beach surrounded by millions of beached starfish, we can't fix the problem, but we can make a difference to that one starfish. One tree doesn't make a forest. But if everyone plants a tree after a forest fire . . .

I distinctly recall a bike jacking around Somerset West circa 2014 when a chap riding around the Helderberg trails* got a firearm shoved in his face before he knew what was going on. He was riding with a go-pro strapped to his helmet and the jacker even looked straight at it before telling the cyclist to beat it while he mounted the bike to ride away. That video was widely circulated, even on here as well. The point is, the rider had NO time to react. All he could do was dismount, hand the bike over and leave hoping he doesn't get punched full of holes with hot lead. Had he been carrying I am 100% sure he would have been dead. * I stand corrected, it was a decade ago.

There is a term for this kind of behaviour. You can refer to it as psychotic, or you can consider it behaviour by someone who is patently stupid. Either way, shooting at someone flinging bricks or pulling people off bicycles is going to be interesting to defend in a criminal court, provided the moron with the gun doesn't get taken out first when he runs out of rounds. Anyone cycling with a firearm is looking for $h!T

That is a really unique perspective. The pic is also great 😉

Are you kidding me? You got knocked down AGAIN ?!? Jeepers, get well soon.

uhm. I would like to point out that I ride amish bikes with no electronic or other form of aid other than my legs. And I would also like to say that I can reach some seriously stupid speeds when I point the bike downhill and at my 120kg mass and the speeds I manage to achieve, I would probably cause some serious damage to anyone who would venture across my path causing a collision. And that is best case outcomes right there. I prefer not to ponder the outcome in the worst case scenario. I am not too sure what e-bike limitations are supposed to achieve if that is the intended goal? By way of example, I was catching, and overtaking, cars descending Suikerbos into Hout Bay a couple weekends back simply by lowering the dropper and tucking behind the bars and not even bothering to pedal. My momentum was enough to get me to hovering around 70kph with little effort.

On Sunday morning well before sunrise I departed for a quick spin up from Sunningdale to Melkbos. Approaching the traffic circle by the Total at the Mall, I see a polo approaching from the left. Despite being lit up like a christmas tree, I get the sense this guy is going to mow me down if I take the turn despite already being in the circle. I do the safe thing and slow down and watch him pass, swing wide around the circle and rush to the garage, probably for a pie to soothe his alcohol laden body as he heads home. I cross the R27 a minute or two later, and there I see a taxi approaching from behind being passed by a hot hatch at speed. Hot hatch understeers to the point that it passes me on my lane. Again, most likely gesuip like no ones business. I am starting to see why I mostly ride trails again. None of this happens out there.

thanks, although I reside in Cape Town, the street names elude me. I know one or two, and that's about it.

This route, which I forgot about, is much less of a climb, and you can easily navigate back to Camps Bay from the Stadium.

Let's chat about timing chips. Are those orange racetec jobbies still in play? I think I recall reading somewhere they (racetec) are no more?

Isn't the Glen closed?