Robbie Stewart

Last I saw on Sunday morning was that the fire was between Bethlehem Farm and Jonkers up towards Saaltjie, but the fire was contained and washed out before it hit Armageddon on Jonkers side with no damage to any trails on either side. This was from Bennet Nel, trail builder in Jonkers.

I'm about to redo the drivetrain on my older bike. Thanks for this advice. I was also looking at steel chain rings today and see that race face one has the steel ring up to 32T. I want to go to 34T but then I saw its alu and R500 more. Seems like a manufacturer collusion to me. I have a 11 speed cassette, derailleur and shifter that came off the bike, it was 2x11, but now has Eagle NX on. I'm thinking I don't need the NX anymore. That 11 SPD cassette looks brand new by comparison. Would this chain swapping idea work or should I get a new cassette? So far so I need is a new chain ring, chain and BB. The crank is raceface aeffect.

I have found this to be true. I recently upgraded to full face and goggles. Suddenly I'm faster and jump higher and further, and no, its not a placebo effect. Its a tangible difference. Mates I struggled to keep up with remain within striking distance on descents, and jumps I was barely clearing now feel much smaller and I go much deeper than before.

I quit surfing before I moved to Cape Town. I grew up in George and was a Vic bay local. Summers the water temps average around 22 ~ 23 degrees. Winters are around 16 ~ 18 degrees. Although, I have paddled out a handful of times at Bigbay and the waters then were around 18 degrees on those occasions. Each time I surfed in my long leg / short sleeve wetsuit and felt fine. I have noticed that the summer water temps in Cape Town are much colder than the winter temps. The main reason I don't surf here though is the very high chance of being infected by e-coli. I am used to crisp white foam when a wave breaks, not the poo coloured foam the west coast is famous for where I live. I refuse to swim here for that reason alone.

I used to surf once upon a time, and never had I had the brain fart to wear baggies over my wetsuit. It was baggies with or without a rash vest depending on the level of sunburn in summer, or a wetsuit in winter. Kitesurfers wearing baggies and a wetsuit is just stupid. But that's my take on it. Maybe a kitesurfer can explain if any visit this forum.

I have fallen so many times and I have a plethora of scars to show for those crashes. Now I ride with full pants and a loose fitting jersey, long sleeves mostly and full face. But also, I don't marathon or XC, so don't pay me too much attention. I am thinking a bib will help keep the bum happy on long rides, but just recently bought a fresh pair of fox trail chamois shorts and I have no issues with that. But I dress for the slide, not the ride - sans knee pads

I was chatting to my brother recently telling him I just got a new full face helmet, and his reaction was "oh, are you one of 'those' guys" while laughing at me. Which is ironic as that is my reaction to wearing bibs on a trail. I also usually laugh at those folks. To each their own I say. Whatever makes you happy. Riding shouldn't be about what makes other people happy but only about what makes you happy. In saying that, I'm probably the minority of riders who doesn't even own knee and elbow guards, but who rides down a black trail without so much as a second thought. I'm firmly in the camp of trusting my skills out on the trails rather than having some level of comfort in a piece of foam saving my bacon when things go south on a ride. My mates (and everyone else likely) won't agree with me, but I'm not a fan. Of knee guards. Or lycra.

I read this quote by C.S. Lewis and it resonates with me. I think it may apply; "I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man's actions, but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner. For a long time I used to think this is a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life, namely myself. However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it. In fact the very reason why I hated the things was that I loved the man. Just because I loved myself, I was sorry to find that I was the sort of man who did those things. Consequently, Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. We ought to hate them. Not one word of what we have said about them needs to be unsaid. But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is in any way possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere he can be cured and made human again. I admit that this means loving people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself. God intends us to love ourselves in the same way and for the same reason: that He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. We have then to go on and apply the rule to all other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves. For really there is nothing in us to love." C.S. Lewis

I mean prolly, but have you driven down Parklands Main recently? I avoid it like the plague.

Thank you for the feedback. I still have the 11-spd shifter and I'm wondering if I should install that and retain the NX derailleur, or won't that work?

I saw this on Malanshoogte once. Termites were migrating and all the birds were having a feeding frenzy. Normal birds, hawks, falcons, buzzards, eagles the lot. I had a few moments with termites being grabbed out of the air right in front of me. This reminds me of that day because then the birds also formed this tall tower with the apex predators (Fish Eagles and Verreaux's Eagles) circling at the very top. It was a sight to behold.

I have a SRAM NX Eagle drive train on my second bike which I only use for "road riding". I don't really want to spend a bunch of money right now to replace the cassette, chain, chain ring etc. I have a Shimano HG 11-spd cassette that came off the bike which is still in good condition and I'm wondering if I can't just put that back with the NX derailleur and replace the RaceFace chain ring and new chain? I don't need the full range as I very rarely go beyond mid cassette due to non-mtb related riding? Any thoughts on if this is a waste of time?

Whatever you do get just avoid their Enduro Rhino sealant. I bought a new tyre and a bottle of that sealant recently from CWC and within 3 weeks I got a puncture, and that is when I discovered that the sealant was a complete failure. I use Goats Milk sealant and I don't have any issues. I'm unsure if CWC / CL stocks it I find that Stan's turns watery after a while, almost as if it has begun to separate.

During my ride this morning I was certain I was about to witness a car completely broadside a cyclist who decided to cross over the road without stopping. This lady, riding a fairly upmarket road bike but dressed casually, complete with flip flops and no helmet, decided to roll up to the stop and without looking to see if there was traffic approaching from her right just proceeded to pedal straight into the path of an oncoming car. I shouted at her to stop but she just waved her hand at the car and told me "ek het hom nie gesien nie". Sometimes I wonder if these people are intentionally living in lala land or if they are competing for a Darwin award. Either way, this antie doesn't realise how close she came to finding out what happens when the lights are forever switched off.

Just looked at my zones this morning and this is what I was doing, which pretty much explains it all as to why I felt the way I did.

Thanks. I will do some reading on getting fat adapted. I intend to do this more frequently during the year to see how I can get my weight down.

so people who cycle to work may not also cycle for recreation? Someone should tell @Hairy

I'm currently doing IF since Monday. I am not familiar with any terminology, but I only eat one meal in the evening and don't pig out. During the day I drink water only. I did a ride this morning and I was struggling. I did one short burst at max effort for about 300m and I was properly shattered when I let off the power. The 18 km return back home was interesting. I did the same last year and dropped around 20kg from 130 to 110. Once winter hit I rode less, ate more and then got sick and injured which led to reduced riding, and I gained about 6kg back again. I am aiming to get below 100kg this year and am really focussed on what I eat and drink.

You're in luck. You got given one. It begins in Paarden Island and ends at the Cape Town Station. Now you can go forth and enjoy whether you ride for fun or commute, whatever you fancy. Oh, wait. Nevermind.

I ride MTB and when I ride on the road at least 50% of the ride is on the West Coast cycle path. The amount of people riding there with flashing lights boggles my mind. It is highly annoying for oncoming riders especially, yet these folks just carry on doing their level best to try and extract an epileptic attack from one poor unfortunate soul. I will say however that the split between roadies and mountain bikers using this stupid tactic is pretty much even from my experience. I have a Marvel front light that has all these options, and I only ever use the flashing feature when I cross the R27 at the Table Bay mall, because I have noticed that traffic has zero problems to cross over my path despite me having right of way. That is when I switch the light to the most apoplectic flashing mode and lift the beam to shine directly into the drivers field of view so that I momentarily harass them to let them know to remain stopped and let me pass. It works a charm, but keeping it in that state drains the battery faster than a fat man stuffs his face at a buffet braai.

I got doored in the early nineties a couple of meters from the school gate. I had zero chance to react and hit the door square, bending it back on the hinges. Thankfully the girl exiting the car was unhurt, but I took a good few bruises into class with me. My bike was also wrecked. These were the days of no helmets and kids cycling to school. Around 34 years later and I can still vividly picture the moment that door swung open ahead of me. I could measure the reaction time in milliseconds, not even seconds. I suppose what saved me was that I was between the pavement and the cars to my right and we were approaching a traffic light that was red. Still, I hit the door pretty much at pace. What stands out for me is that thinking of "what are my options" wasn't available at the time. What I do recall was telling the girl's dad that I am not paying to fix his car, and walked through the school gate with my bent bike and school bag.

Unless this event involves doing laps of Klipwerf and Afterburn I don't see the point

A couple of weeks back a Faircape truck and trailer fell over on the Malibongwe bridge crossing the N7 by Dunoon. Within minutes there was a looting frenzy as people were scooping arms full of yoghurt and milk. In the frenzy some even began smash-and-grabbing the poor cars stuck in that conflagration with no means of escape. Car windows were being smashed at will and the people were having a field day of it. Now, my common sense tells me that acting defensively in that situation will likely get you in some hot sauce, but, then there is a human side to it, and I'd like to think I will man up and do the right thing when the moment presents itself, but I can't say for sure until it happens and I need to make that choice. In my deepest thoughts I've convinced myself that my 4x4 is capable of stepping on anyone dumb enough to cause kuk infront of me. The answer to that riddle remains unanswered.

Well, I am pretty sure people will rip out their pitch forks for what I'm about to say, but whatever. For the last 4 years the US border has been one big mess, costing people their lives. Laken Riley is a prime example. And each time the masses protested the dark overlords remind them that nothing can be done blah blah blah. roll up 20 January 2025 and within hours of the new king in town making his voice heard the BS has seen a tangible and real turnaround at the borders, bringing hope to millions of people living on the legal side of that wall. Which to me proves a very valid point. Where there is a (political) will, there is a way. But seeing as the current leadership (National, Provincial, Metropolitan) all play on the same side of the political spectrum, there is pokkol will to change anything because the gravy is too tasty you see. So that means that people live in cages beside a main highway and mere plebs on bicycles should rather shutup about their first world problems and not complain that they are being victimised, because no-one gives a fork.

This just proves how cold society has become. The lack of empathy and humanity is shocking, and this explains why the people living by the bridge do what they do to survive. I don't condone them, I'm just thinking that this cold heartedness of society in general makes you realise you're truly on your own out there in the world.