The Ouzo

This would look cool hanging on a wall with a light shining from above and the shadows giving an indication of route profile. But also if the shadows for the logo form the actual logo. If that makes sense.

It’s difficult to say because I’ve not ridden alone in a while. With the group I’m feeling stronger than when I first started, but that could also be down to knowing when the group surges and slows down as well as reading the group better. In July and August I’ll be doing solo rides on a Sunday out to you as I’ll need to check on my parents place whilst they’re gone, that should give me a good comparison to before.

yeah, when I worked at Volvo head office had a requirement of having fika available to client, so we had a decent coffee machine and some sort of pastry/treat available for customers. (although staff ate most of it)

these are crap. They are a 2 piece design. great in principle because it allows the 2 sides to swivel independently from one another, but the mechanisim to hold them together keep coming apart

provided whoever is quoting the C(c)al knows the difference or even takes the time to differentiate

Hoping to do this again this year. Has the route changed at all, or is it still just shy of 200km?

the irony is not lost on me

That video should never have been taken or distributed. As much as I enjoy a bit of vigilante justice, that video was disturbing.

its cheaper too, have you SEEN the price of diet food ? thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

everybody knows a heavier bike is faster, just look at how fast ebikes are ?

cant remember what the Alpina was, but could not have been more than 8 spd. And no wimpy compact chainrings either, I seem to recall running 44/24 as my lowest gearing. Jan Smuts past the zoo with 80km in the legs was torture.

that old route was tough

yeah I remember thinking that too. In those days just finishing 100km was a massive thing for me. Its also the only event where ive done sub 3 hours for 100km.

And was actually a fast one, unlike the current version of it. I have fond memories of this race. - huddled in the basement of PnP in our start pens - cruising at 40-50km/h in groups of 50+ cyclists, the only noises you hear is the whirr of drivetrains and 19mm tyres on the tar - hitting over 90km/h down the hill towards Swartkoppies - cleats melting into the tar in the PnP parking lot after the finish - picnics with the family on the Vaal after the race - meeting the person who is now my wife at one of these picnics

as mcuh as I'm glad some street justice was handed out, I cant help but think this guy will be out there again soon, only this time better armed and possibly violent. Whats the answer, I dont know. The inner East Rander in me would love more PKs to be handed out though.

Lately it’s not often that it’s light enough when I ride for pics.

you know whats really sad about this, that was 2016, 8 years later and its much much worse out there.

this is the issue I have with these things too. If I'm pulling out something that resembles a real gun, then it better shoot real bullets, because the bad guy with a gun is not going to take the time to asses if that thing is firing real bullets at him or not.

There certainly are a good few climbs in that section, but this elevation graph, an extract from my last ride to harties, is from around the kyalami area through to broederstroom in harties. Plenty more elevation drop vs elevation gain.

its wild out there too

From P&S to Harties is predominantly down hill, so I would imagine a much quicker than 30km/h average for that section. I can comment on the Pliansberg out ride, but I've done Drake's Parys outride (also 200km). I elected to take the slowest group as I also had no idea how I would fair over 200km. Our group stopped at each water point (they were 40km apart) and the time taken at each stop was determined by the group. I would imagine all the groups would stop and take in some nutrition, this is not a race but rather a "tour". Given your stats above I would think the middle group would be just fine for you. The slow group was to slow for me at some points, but after 160km when fatigue set in I was glad to be in that group. Although I think a faster group might have made it a little bit better. I never saw any photos or medals or anything that was advertised post ride, I've made peace with it and accepted my Strava/Garmin longest ride badge for it. I may still do this Pilansberg ride, and the Parys ride again. Funds and time will dictate.

washing the helmet after every ride is not really an option, I find, especially in winter, that it does not dry quick enough for the next days ride, therefore mine gets a once a week wash, the day before my rest day,

exactly the reason I dont own a firearm. I know what happens when I see red mist, and having access to a FA would probably lead me to doing something very very stupid. But it also scares the crap out of me sometimes, knowing that I have no way of defending my family should we have a home invasion.

hahaha, also thought of going in with a sub R1k bid.