Robbie Stewart

By being a vigilante you are no better than they are.

I suppose its because these people know that the odds are in their favour, even if they get caught in the act. Prosecution in this country is a joke. Unless you say the wrong thing, then all hell will break loose to ensure you are sufficiently made an example of. But for the rest, its a free for all.

It does look like a fun trail, and as Andrew said, it has a couple of creative lines from what I saw on the video. @Warren Melissa Go Riding, maybe you guys could do a video showcasing more of the trails available there? I have been meaning to go ride for quite some time, but the trek from Sunningdale to Somerset West has deterred me to date, mainly because I keep hearing things about this enormous climb that then leaves me wondering if it was worth the effort and expense in getting there. But from this video those lines do look fun.

I was riding back from Jonkershoek via the R44 once and when I passed Cloetesville, There was a couple of unsavory characters standing on the other side of the fence, drinking. When they saw me one of them commented to the others to chase me down and take my bike and phone. There was a fence between us, so that kept them at bay. I wouldn't risk a pedal through their village because of the 1% chance of the same happening again.

Yesterday I was passed within the one meter separation distance by two CoCT Law Enforcement vehicles on Marine Drive in Blouberg while I was cycling in the demarcated cycle lane. So much for expecting that law to be enforced if the people who are meant to uphold it don't even care.

I agree with @MORNE about the "wrongness" of the transitions at Bloem. Once you have dialed in places like Hoogekraal and the rest, riding Bloem makes no sense. Those first few jumps until the wall ride are semi okay, but from there onwards it just goes wrong in all the bad ways. Their lips are too short and steep and the landings are too far away that the mechanics of the jumps just don't make sense. Also they are way too close to the exits of the berms that you can't maintain proper speed, and lastly that bottom section demands pedal strokes between every berm and jump, and if you absolutely want to face plant in your chops, guaranteed, try pedaling on a supposed jump line. You are meant to clear any jump line at trail speed and if you can't then its likely that the line is built wrong. This is why if you want to learn to jump, just go to the Leatt skills park at Hoogekraal and spend a morning there. I started back in 2020 after the end of the coof lockdowns, and could barely clear the smallest line. Regular mornings spent riding there doing the same thing over and over again until I got it right has made me progress to where now I ride whatever I want apart from the line of insanity that Mike built on the far right with that massive cannon and drop into oblivion. To my mind I probably would be able to ride it, but at my age (going on 49) I have decided its for the laaities.

that is a pretty subjective list with some notable exclusions. What about passes like Montague Pass from George to Herold and Prince Alfred's Pass from De Vlugt to Avontuur. These are just two that immediately spring to mind.

the only reason for that is because those jumps are built, well, let's just call it "sub-optimally" . . . [edit] - I left if off the list intentionally. I don't rate Bloemendal anymore. Rode there in December and remembered again why I don't anymore, but that's just me. [edit edit] - also, I'd be interested to know the ratio between broken collar-bones and clipless pedals.

depends... how well can you jump and where are you based? In the north you have Hoogekraal which is the best jump line in Cape Town that isn't Darkfest / Hellsend and accessible any time you want. It has a dedicated skills park with some progressively bigger jump lines. It also has a proper flow line that has a good few nice sized jumps. In the east you have Plaisir de Merle. Has a flow line with a bunch of jumps, but it hasn't been maintained all that well. Hellsend of course is close by, but it is not open to the public apart from open days, but it costs a ton to ride on those days. Avondale - haven't ridden it, but everyone I know who has says they won't go back. They claim to have the longest flow line for what it's worth. Some honourable mentions: Zevenwacht DH line in Bottelary has some largish jumps, but it is primarily a DH line, but it is fun. G-Spot in Stellies - has a bunch of some proper jumps. It is fun riding there. Banhoek - it has a few mid-sized jumps across the valley from hellsend. Fun day out if you're in the mood. There are a few informal DJ bike parks around, but they are very much underground and the people who ride them are a special breed. I haven't bothered to visit one myself so can't say where to find them. In the south you have Tokai which has a line with some ungroomed jumps. A bit meh, but it is what it is.

Well done on the successes you've achieved @love2fly. I think it's time I take this serious again. I've been riding a bunch lately but my diet has been junk so I haven't gained any but I'm certainly not losing any either.

My average HR used to consistently hover around 160 - 165 BPM. Then I weighed much more than I do now and rode on weekends only. The last two years I started riding in the week, staying in zone 2, 3 max for around 1h45 per ride. Since I've been doing that my resting HR is around 47bpm, ave hr of 130 and I would ride hard and not touch 160 very easily. Today I did a longish ride in a strong headwind and managed to get the HR up to 186 for around 2 minutes. For the first time in a long while my ave hr was 155 today. My take away is that regular rides not beyond zone 3 for around 1h45 has made a significant improvement in my hr, as well as my strength and speed on the bike. I do around 4 rides during the week and then play on weekends on the trails. I'll be hitting 49 later in the year for what it's worth

Rode Hellsend last weekend. That flow line middle section is F A S T ! ! ! and not really all that difficult. Nothing out of the oridinary if you ride the Hoogies Hammer from time to time yet I really had to check myself a few times and came close once or twice. I agree that speed is a "silent" villian more so than a techy trail is. With speed on a flow line you don't really notice the red line creeping up on you before it's too late and you're almost guaranteed a crash. I may have veered off-course into the bushes once or twice.

Sure, but that isn't confined to e-bikes only. Many top manufacturers sell with low end components like wheels and brakes, which to my mind should be where the money should really be spent. My Stumpy Evo for instance came with the same rubbish wheels you find on a Kinevo and Levo SL eeb. Thankfully we have 4-pot brakes, but the point being that you need to spend extra anyway, and with Spez Roval entry level wheels that happens sooner than you want or expect. But why does anyone need a e-mtb that can go that fast? There have been some recent crashes at Contermans for instance where people got badly hurt on the Rhino going fast. On normal Amish bikes. Now to add speed to the mix, but still have mediocre brakes and wheels is just asking for trouble. @MORNE can elaborate about crashing on the Rhino at speed. There have been other incidents as well.

Not for me. I find that distance between my bed and km 001 to be a million miles long.

I dunno hey, this new Levo G4 that Spez just launched has a pretty powerful motor producing 111Nm and 720W. That's pretty powerful and the touted top is 45kph...

he should. Who in their right mind eats that crap anyway . . .

My take on this for what it's worth. Should you decide to carry, whether on or off a bike, just make sure that you are 100% committed and capable to getting rounds down range, onto the target, as soon as you draw your firearm. The same goes for if you carry a knife, the difference being you had better be ready, willing and very able to stab your opponent until they stop moving, or else you are the one who will pay the price in blood. Now, place yourself in that frame of mind while riding a bicycle and then ask yourself if it's even feasible, and if so, must you carry? If you can answer yes, then my next question relates to your proficiency with said firearm. How often do you practice using it? Once a week, once a month, once a year? Less than that? If you are not firing that gun at least weekly you are merely bluffing yourself and placing anyone in close vicinity to you in grave danger. If you haven't fired your gun in the last 12 months, what do you have it for? Safety? How long do you need to find the keys to the safe and open it, then to unholster the firearm and get a round in the chamber, and fire off some needed shots before you're in trouble? Hopefully at least you have it unholstered with one in the chamber already but people are known for doing dumber things. But I digress. Good luck to anyone who thinks cycling with a firearm is a good idea. And in saying all that, I agree that crime in SA has gotten even more out of hand, but carrying a firearm while cycling just doesn't strike me as being very smart.

Arrive Alive make some "proposals" for handling a roundabout. Legal legislation has the final say. Note that it legislates right of way to traffic already "within the roundabout where such vehicles constitute an immediate or imminent danger". Also note that it does not say to yield to all the traffic on that road that hasn't even reached the roundabout yet. In that case, you have right of way.

The rub for me comes in when spending the kind of dosh the ACE requires for entry and then getting held up by people who couldn't give a toss about actually being up to the terrain expectations of the day because they don't have technical skills. And as Diesel has said, then when passing these people they get aggro. If I have to choose between getting frustrated to the point of a near-cardiac event and just skipping altogether I would choose the latter. (Edit) There's more to MTB'ing than just pedaling far for long.

Nah, Mamil is correct. I said that after getting slammed into a pile of rocks at the top of Hoogekraal Cobra. At the time I was nursing some rather unpleasant injuries, but it is strange how once you're mended again how you forget about those incidents. But it could also be that Morné feels the same after his last time coming off the bike.

Hi, my name is Robbie and I'm a mountainbikeaholic

Potayto potaato

Upskilling is something I will always get behind, and if that was the intention of yesterday then that is a good thing. My only concern would be to not leave it until a few weeks before the event. I'll be honest and say that it always intrigues me to notice the amount of people who pedal past the Leatt Skills Park on a given weekend without ever taking enough time to observe what's on offer. These are usually the people who also enter these events, and to my mind they would benefit greatly from just riding there even just once a month. You can learn how to properly ride berms, drops, skinny's, even rocks and not once need to jump anything if you don't want to. That park has so much more to offer than big, intimidating jumps. And the best part is that there are so many folks who can help most weekends that you don't need to be stressed riding there the first time. Since I started frequenting that skills park my trail side technique has vastly improved and now I ride down very technical trails with absolute confidence. And that is 90% because of the skills park. People don't know what they lose out on by not riding there.

I went for a ride at Conties yesterday and saw a bunch of people attending some event promoting Sani2C. Didn't think much of it and did my own thing. Last night I came across a reel on Instagram about the day and there was some drone footage included of people descending "Cheeky Corners" which has got to be the easiest trail on that entire network. It consists of nothing more than a few bermed switchbacks that aren't very tight, yet from the drone footage it looked like just about everyone was having difficulty riding it. To me that just confirms my bias to stay as far away from these types of events as I can get. Thankfully the lines I rode was untouched by these people because they'd probably end up in the ER if they tried.

I just renewed the drive train (1x12) on my bike. Consider the following: Cassette, Chain, Chain ring. Best guess is about 3k or thereabouts. I did replace the bottom bracket as well which was an extra 900 odd. Labour to get it done was 450. I have a SRAM NX set so I got an el-cheapo SX cassette and chain on special from CWC and new ring and BB from Evo bikes. Shop around for components and deals and save a bunch of cash.