ChrisF

What a lovely morning to ride. Can see the World Champs is done ... very few cyclists out ... Wrong tool for the job 🤪 jip, went up and down ... up and down ... eventually had to ask the gps where G Spot is 🫣

Ruan also consider "integrated cables", i.e. through the bars then through the stem and head bearings ... It looks nice. Costly when you need a basic head set bearing service.

Ruan where in Namibia ? Rather, general condition of the roads you will be riding ? In the Western Cape we seldom experience worse than corrugations. Depending on the season, recent rain, and grader schedule we have experienced some extremes on the Namibian gravel roads .... it may be absolutely perfect, or it could break vehicle suspensions .... Your ride conditions will dictate if 2.1 is needed or not ..... Giant Revolt .... it is not on your list, but I am biased as I love mine. Titan ... we have owned a couple of Titans. Excellent experience. Friend just completed a years worth of training and then the Cape Epic on a Titan (yea, not a gravel bike). Bike held up perfectly !!! The only item that hicked up three times in all of those rides .... sram electronic gearing A friend has a Cube .... he swears by it. Trek ... bad dealerships in our area soured me on the brand ... EX5 was a high maintenance bike .... As to your question ... previous vs new gen Titan ... sorry, no personal experience to assist with this.

We did 2022 and 2023. Happy to be going again this year.

info@transaugrabies.co.za Email Ree, she may have contact details of places in the area.

As of yesterday there is still ample open challets at Augrabies. Pretty sure some of the spots outside the park will be a bit cheaper. Lots of guest houses just outside the park. Look between Dundi (local landing strip) to Marchant Now those were nice business trips ...

Commutes have turned DARK the last few weeks .... Now still pitch dark when I get to the office ....

Extra little side project .... specific to the Tygerberg trails (no idea how or if it applies to any other trail hubs) 7 March I met up with a couple in Houtbay. Came down from Pretoria, riding the Argus. Then a week till they ride the Epic ... Currently no way for them, or any other visitors, to legally use any corridors .... Please wisper in the right ears that some sort of a "holiday permit" function is needed .... heck, get the clan leaders together, make it a much wider "holiday permit" ... visitors pay, ride legally, funds gets split amongst the participating clubs/hubs. PS - as a new Bottelary card holder I must have a look at your videos of these trails ... Thank you

I was most fortunate to have projects on farms and solar sites from Keimoes to Springbok. The people ... The tarrain .... The VIEWS .... Very few get to experience the raw nature deep into these farms. Trans Augrabies is one of the only events where we get to experience this, AND .have the safety of a race (staff, medics, etc). For each and every nature lover ... this needs to be high on the bucket list. Costs .... we opted for a river view challet (mid price, though camping is much cheaper) + fuel from the Cape + entry .... still cheaper than a W2W entry. Sure, it aint cheap, but certainly affordable when looking at other stage races. And how many of those cater for the mountain biker, the gravel and the trail runner in the family ... all at the same venue. Heck, I opted for one long MTB day, then a 19km trail run the next day.

Event Name: Trans Augrabies 2026When: 14/06/2026 - 15/06/2026Where: Augrabiesvalle, Northern CapeCategory: MultisportTwo days Mountain biking HEAVEN Gravel routes Trail running Short routes Long routes Combinations of all the above .... Heck, even an option to pre-book meals ... regte borde vol plaas kos ! The event is hosted INSIDE the Augrabies national falls park. Camping or chalets make for a stress free long weekend. Finally that ONE event which accommodates each and every member of the family, all in one convenient spot. Go to Event Page.

Are you in the Cape ? We have many seeding events. Joburg hardly any ...

Thank you. Good to know that Polar and Vitality works together. PS . Garmin now als does all its sports screen settings from the app. Certainly much easier than 5 or 6 years ago. But this the thing with software ... every so often one leads in a particular aspect, then the rest plays catch up .... facinating to have lived through the single floppy drive era to todays powerfull devices in our pockets .... from lines of GW Basic programming to graphic interface programming from our phones .... heck, in the 90's you could enroll for PLC cources, now school kids can do more on basic phones ....

Can you load "Polar" events to Vitality, without gymnastics with the fit files ? Interesting comment about the UI .... my first watch was a Polar, then a Garmin cycle computer. This was 2017/8. Used both for almost 2 years. Swings and round.abouts, at least back then. ... now so used to Garmin Cinnect that it does what I need. 18 months ago I was looking for a watch with longer battery life .... I looked at all brands, from Samsung through Polar to Garmin .... it can be a wormhole digging through the specs and how each concentrate on something else .... I chickened out when I saw a special on a Garmin Frontrunner ....

Garmin "promotes" some watches with the option to increase the font size ..... NO ... it makes no real difference .... cant read any notifications without my glasses .... Only real solution ... . Basic screen with large font . Sports screens limited to 3 or 4 data fields, thus larger font still no work around for reading notices without my glasses, i.e. when out doing sports .... The fact that they advertise the option for larger font suggests they know there is a need .... but then increase it by o,5% 😬

Just watch cut.off times .... Couple of riders got hot and bothered for missing the 109km cut off at the turn from the M3 ...

All of the above .... 2022 I started second LAST ... traffic at the very back is an experience best avoided. 2023 I started just after 7 ... much better ! Until people get tired and the swerving starts on Smits ... and again at each steep section. 2024 I did the charity ride thing ... falling back and starting around 8 ... demmmm ... avoid the traffic that far back Last 2 I started just after 7. Much nicer .... have to wonder what the 6.30 to 6.45 traffic is like ....

The irony being that there was an event in Montagu a few months back. Most of these trails were used/tested during that event. Friends that did that event a few months back and did CE2026 certainly had no complaints about the terrain .... well nothing other than the traffic caused when a few realised they cant ride loose single track DOWN, and then started walking.... causing an Epic traffic jam. Keyboard comments aside (or then 2nd hand info from my friends that completed this event) ... 1 in 3 did not finish .....

At its core, the Imbi is a velcro strap with some protection. Cut a 20cm length of bicycle tube, nice 2.4 MTB tube ... put some double sided velcro through it .... And if you need some "spacing" .... pool noodle as and where needed

It was bought out by Thule .. sit down before checking the current price. Wonder if Temu or others online have anything "similar"?

As stage 1 showed .... nice gravel roads ... fast flowing riding .... first real single track, and a few decide to WALK ..... STOP ... hundreds of riders simply had no option but to stop and take videos of the traffic jam. 12 months of hard training in sy tjops, daar STAAN jy ..... It sucks, but it is part of the race.

At 175 I enjoy my 27,5" more than a 29". Sure, the 29"Scott Spark was a perfect fit for me.... with a slightly shorter dropper post. Okay, a dropper post is not a biggie for a gravel bike, though I have consideted adding one to mine. 26 to 29 made sense, for some 90% of riders. Still a good couple of shorter hubbers on 26" bikes. 29 to 32 ..... a no brainer for my 205cm buddy. At 175 .... no thank you, just too many numbers dont add up. (Again, from a MTB perspective) .... as a gravel bike .... I would need a good long test ride to figure it out .... unless it gets stupidly long, just imagine the pedal/shoe interferance when doing switchbacks (already an issue with my large shoe size) Marketing is one thing .... one most untrustworthy thing. Living with a bike is a whole different thing ....

Sunday a nice coffee ride to Philladelphia ...

Saturday To Devonbosch, for a trailrun. Did enjoy the lap of the blue route on the bike after the trailrun. Then a commute to get home.

@DVille Cyclery @Titan Racing Bikes 27 PB's for Charlene on the final day ... Shout out for Alpine coaching. Excellent result and consistant progress for a first time team. Long 12 months of consistant training certainly showing dividends 🏆

And it takes ONE team to start the hike .... no way to get the cycle wave going again .... Saw it on Stages 1 and 2 ... Super frustrating for those that worked so hard to cycle to the end ..... but this iis just part of the reality of finishing tje Epic