The Ouzo

I have no dog in this fight, heck I dont even recognise most of the names being thrown about, but as a general comment. Would you, as a DH rider that has made the sacrifices and jumped through the hoops to qualify, be happy that someone that did not do any of that, gets a "free pass" just because there are slots available ? Surely the mere fact that that could happen, will then make the next batch of riders next time around decide to no be bothered with qualifying, because they can gather the funds to fund themselves and grab a free slot.

everything is blocked here, might have to hijack the boss' private wifi

And DSTV decides to not show todays stage on SS Maximo which is the channel I've been watching on at work as we dont have the variety channel. going to need to make a plan

True The problem is no1 (to little or to much) can have serious repercussions on 2,3 and 4

maybe because you are in KZN, they didnt have an issue with 1 battery for me (although maybe they changed couriers or something else changed)

yes thats the one i used too.

I thought you had jinxed it, as the days after this post saw the unit having zero battery life when turning it on in the morning. At first I thought I forgot to charge it. Tried again. Second ride, zero battery. Then I thought it was not charging properly, tried again, made sure it was 100% charged, turned it on this morning, zero battery. When this happens I tape a powerbank to the bars and ride with the unit plugged in. This morning whilst riding it decided to restart itself, but because it was dark out I did not notice. So only have half a ride recorded. But I monitored the unit after taking it off the bike this morning and found the problem, Auto Power Off is disabled. I dont know if it was a Garmin update that did this (wont be the first time the screw up a setting after an update), or if it was me. I know I was thinking about changing it, but remember deciding not to for this exact reason.

road looks a bit narrow, and watch out for the furniture

apparently naked running is running without a phone/watch or HR monitor....... I wish someone told me this an hour ago. ^^^^^ This is a joke, I dont run, if you see me running I'm either being chased or running away from something, either way please help me as I wont make it more than 100m

forgot to mention, the previous set was changed because of a cut that would not seal. I gave them to a guy at work that commutes around 60km a day (round trip), he put them on his bike around January or February , with a set of tubes and is over the moon with these tyres.

previous sets got in excess of 10 000km, last set was 12 000, if I recall the set before that was around 11 000

Never had it with the last couple of sets. Same tyre. only 7900km on these, will keep a close eye on them.

My front tyre has been making a "tshh tshh tshh" noise lately. Basically a squish type noise on every rotation. Initially I thought it was a cut that I had shoe glued and that was making the noise. Closer inspection on the weekend revealed a bulge in the tyre. But its not bulging sideways, only pushing on the tread part. Had there been a tube in the tyre I'd blame the tube, as I've seen tubes bulge in one spot often. It also does not affect the ride, you can only hear it on the bike, but you cant feel it. Inspecting the rim shows no sign of the same high spot on the rim, and if you follow the line on the sidewall of the tyre is does not appear to be at a higher point at that part of the tyre. My only guess is that I hit a pothole and that "bruised" the tyre somehow causing a slightly weaker point. Right now the only concern is the annoying sound. Anyone else experience anything similar? Oh and its on a road bike. Tyre is a Pirelli Cinturato Velo

So I ride one of these and overall I'm pretty happy with it. Except for 2 things 1) The stupid half cable half hydraulic braking system. Dont get me wrong, it works well, but it takes up so much space in the cockpit and I'm guessing adds weight. 2) see if you can get a newer one than mine where they went through axel on the wheels, mine with quick release really limits your options when it comes to replacement wheels. And then I'm guessing for your preferences being limited to a max 28mm tyre will be a problem for you, but I recall the newer ones allowed wider tyres. If I recall mine is circa 2018 model

extra virgin

I'm busy installing this one and will compare with ClicktoChat edit. First and foremost, I tried one chat and NO ADVERTS. hallelujah !!!!!

So since I work in an environment where alot of people prefer to chat of WA but, like you, I dont want to save numbers to my phone for no reason, I discovered an app called ClicktoChat. Apparently made by whatsapp. Annoyingly the free version has a brazillion ads, but it allows you to type in a number and initiate a WA conversation without having to save the number in your phone.

I have not put it to the test yet, only had the occasional splash and some light rain since doing it. The tolerances between the glass and the unit are close, so with the shoe glue around the entire rim I dont foresee any water ingress. Even in heavy rain its not like the unit is being held under a pool of water.

Its holding up very well, even in this cold. I do 4 rides with it before charging (thats around 6-7hours total on time), and the charge is just precautionary as I do a longer ride on a sunday and dont want to risk it dying on me.

My bet is that he is biting his tounge (or typing hands), he probably wants to correct everyone but the risk of revealing info that should not be revealed is to great. I'd love an indepth view of the behind the scenes stuff. Training, nutrition, performance matrixes. I'll probably not understand half of it, but for the stuff I do understand it would be very interesting.

100% and there in lies another problem, one of the sites has an automated system, when you hit send it immediately connects your phone and my phone together, it will look like I'm phoning you. But the only information I have at this stage is your name (mostly incorrectly or incoherently pronounced by a computer) and the car you're interested in, any other notes or info will only come through AFTER we have had a conversation. So if you've requested to only be contacted via email/whatsapp or only wanted a brochure emailed to you, I wont know until we've spoken and put down. But old school mentality making the decisions says customer MUST be called. but we are digressing from the OP.

there is that, but if you've requested that a company call you, surely you'd be expecting a call

100% agree with you. but you know that saying about repeatedly hitting your head against the wall and expecting a different outcome, that applies to our marketing. And its not just this company, but others I've worked with too.

you would think that because this is more of an informal buy/sell platform that this kind of behaviour would only exist here, but it doesnt. Its not secret that I'm a Car Salesman, I deal with new cars. Daily we get responses to our social and web adverts requesting a call back regarding x model or other. The system is setup in such a way that its almost instant once the person on the other end has entered their info and pressed send. 99 out of 100 requests you do not get hold of the person. Phone will either go direct to voice mail or ring and then go to voice mail. You can send an email, nadda, nothing, not even an echo. People just dont care anymore. But the worst part is that because this is a business, these queries are logged, and then at the end of the month you get told you've had 200 enquiries but only sold 5 cars, what is wrong with you.

First solo ride in a while. Weather report warned of strong headwinds coming home, they were not there when I stopped at the 55km mark, but soon picked up and nearly took me off the bike on a few occasions as gust from the side. I’ll be doing this route a few times over the next few weeks as I’ll be checking on my folks house whilst they are gone.