slowpoke

And as such you are advocating that cyclists take no accountability either? Great logic 101 FAIL! Now go back to school...

Heal up soon. Just blame it on the heat. It was sweltering along the Cradle today. We were silly and only started our ride from Broadacres at 7:30

He just glided past so fast I don't think he even heard us slow folk greeting! Man it was hot out there today. My friends and I rode (suffered and crawled) from Broadacres and decided next week we have got to start earlier.

Give Linden Cycles a call. If they don't stock they will know where you can get one. I know they sorted my new TCR out with a shorter stem.

Chubba, glad to hear your bud is ok. Hope he's completely better and back on a bike soon.

You might and I might but most SA drivers won't. What do you not understand about that simple fact? As such it is idiotic for cyclists to blatantly ride illegally and endanger other cyclists.

TNT, what you are constantly trying to sweep under the rug by shifting blame is the fact that NC were riding illegally and in a manner that would logically lead to other road users getting upset. Yes, so the OP did eventually get fed up and also behaved illegally. Yes, two wrongs do not make a right. They are BOTH wrongs. The second wrong does NOT negate the first wrong nor should it ever detract from any attention the first wrong should get. In fact, address the first wrong and the second wrong may very well cease to occur.

The law does allow it whenever passing other vehicles, even if those other vehicles are moving, eg on a highway. Intelligence is what determines the speed differential at which you do it. Passing a car driving at 110kmph by splitting at 120kmph is neither illegal nor stupid. Either going at 130kmph is illegal. Passing a car doing 40 on a bike at 80 is stupid. Lack of knowledge of the law is not an excuse, and just because you don't personally like a law does not stop it from being the law.

A 3 or 4 wheeled vehicle has to change lanes to pass. Motorcycles and pedal cycles may pass in the same lane. Hence lane splitting is legal - you are PASSING the other vehicle. As to motorists having to wait, this is South Africa - With you as a prime example of the mentality we know theymwon't wait. The NC guys had a car blocking all vehicle from behind so when the passing vehicle eventually gets fed up because of people breaking hthemlaw and deliberately preventing them from passing (combined with cyclists riding in the middle of the lane when there is a demarcated lane for cyclists) it is the cyclists in the opposite direction who are not protected by a vehicle who will get hurt. When you stop trolling you might actually understand a bit more about life, the universe and logic.

I used to support the shop if my usual place couldn't help (either not stocking a specific manufacturer or me being in rush for repairs), but things have changed over the past year or two. I've had really bad service from shop assistants on two occasions and the vibe in the shop simply isn't what it used to be. As to this morning in the Cradle, I saw them going in opposite direction to me, and was glad that no car was trying to pass them as we re directly opposite because even though there was a cycle lane, any vehicle would have had to cross to their oncoming direction to go past. Have to admit I was highly disappointed with them.

You can also find it posted on The Pink Ladies' page on FB http://www.facebook.com/MissingMinorsThePinkLadiesOrganizationNgo2007?ref=stream

Wolverine and the family suspect Pura may be sedated/drugged as she is terrified of the kidnapper. She is an adorable kid and my heart is bleeding for everyone affected. I hope the piece of trash gets caught, Pura gets home safe, and then the piece of trash gets given community justice.

I am 5'0" so I know the feeling of struggling to find the right size. I have had to make the call to stay on a hard tail because I simply can't afford a dualie that will not weigh a whole lot more than my hard tail. Most top end bikes are available in XS but as mentioned are not imported to SA as a rule so you need to bring it in yourself. Do not look at the WSD that are brought to SA as they tend to be lower end, heavy bikes.

You realise they are thinking of dropping you off at the nuthouse, hey? ;-)

I also usually clean my chain on a regular basis and have it *looking* clean and shiny. The shocker was what was hidden inside the bits and pieces of derailleur and the jockey, not just the visible from outside and reachable by screwdriver bits. Having actually dismantled it all and seen it all for myself I will never use ANY dry/wax type lube. I don't use that junk on my motorbikes, now I know why I shouldn't use it on my bicycles either.

Use an oil based lube, any oil based lube that will stay on the chain. I've been using one of thoses chain cleaner things that you clamp around the chain and turn the pedals and everything looks so clean. On stripping and opening up, the build up of wax inside the jockey wheels (snuck in past seals) was disgusting. Having thoroughly cleaned it as can only be done by stripping it all down, everything is actually in 100% perfect working order and no need to "look at replacing the rd" as had been suggested by another bike mechanic. Shifting is also perfect and crisp, so clearly no need to replace the shifters any time soon either (another recent suggestion by a shop mechanic). Also, the mechanism of the chain needs the lube to be in liquid form for optimum functioning... As it pulls the lube is forced out from between the rollers and the links etc and then as it is no longer under tension the lube needs to be able to move back between the bits. Johan explains it very well on the course. For now I'll use good old Castrol! (have on hand for my motorbikes, so why spend more money?)

It was very good. Johan explains the why's and wherefores so that you understand how the bike works. Stripped my mtb down at every component and other then the actual fork and the spokes, but having totally removed, inspected and cleaned my derailleurs I will never again use any wax type lube. Dumped a bottle of squit and about 1/4 bottle white lightning in the bin when I got home. Drop him an email for info johan@yellowsaddle.co.za

Strip bike, clean. Grease on all bearings, some Q20 or suchlike on moving joints of derailleurs, good oil on chain. p.s. I've just finished the Yellow Saddle bicycle maintenance course... The test ride on my Mongoose is the best it's ridden and changed gears for a while :- D

I will shortly be selling a Scott Aspect 30 for R3500. The components are brand new, the frame has done about 5-600km and does have one chip on it. I bought it and put my usual components onto it for a tour (I needed a frame that I could fit panniers on). I will have the Scott rebuilt within the next few days and will post a pic. It is a small (15 inch or whatever) with Acera gears, tektro brakes and suntour xtr fork.

With the high road accident numbers we have in SA we all know at speeding, jumping lights, driving drunk, driving high, dicing and jumping railway crossings will MOST likely result in death. As such behaving in such a manner IS premeditated with the motive being personal convenience. Precendence is being set,mnot just in this case, but in others. So far 2 cases have resulted in murder convictions. Precedence is a legal concepts. So this case is not "making a martyr" out of your friend, it is simply following the precedent set where others have been found guilty. Mr Gouws' parents should have thought about the consequences of raising a miscreant a long time ago and taught him from a young age to take responsibility. A simple "oh, it was an accident" DOES NOT cut it when you have taken deliberate action which has caused harm (in this case death) to others. He must man up and take his punishment, which will hopefully be a very lengthy prison term.

I am wondering if this is perhaps the lawyer trying to set a scenario of some point to use in either the criminals defense or in mitigation of sentencing the criminal should justice actually be served in this situation.

Stronger legs, have an ice cream bike waiting for me to pull it around again next year. Current legs took strain this time round.

Anyone caught with an iPod or other mp3 player should be DQ'd. They are a freaking danger to everyone around them.

When the road is wide it's nice to have them there, and to let them know what CHOC is about and how we support ChOC, but trust me, we find it even more hair raising than you do when the road narrows! Some of them also cause the "pushers" to have to let go of the bike and then we lose momentum which really sucks :-( We were, I think, the second last bunch in... I'd rushed to just in front of the finish line to make sure there were no exhausted riders who would get run over by our brake-less bike :-) Then I crossed the actual line with the team :-D

I saw things from a COMPLETELY different perspective. My respect for folk who do crazy things and sit out there for hours on end shot through the roof (and I already respected and admired them before). I did two "crazy" things for the first time. 1) I rode in a cow suit. Due to the heat I did end up rolling the sleeves up and tying the arms around my waist at the end of the M1 section. 2) I also helped to pull an ice cream bike for a bit. 60kg of unstable treacherous ice cream bike. The guys and gals who are on those things need nerves of steel. Difficult to steer, impossible to maneuver in order to "dodge" other riders and NOT the best brakes. Our bike started with only 3 "helpers" and me for support. About 100m after the start some guy at the side of the road stepped backwards into us (don't know why as he was looking over his shoulder right at us) and took out one of our helpers by proceeding to stand on our guys' back wheel. I'm no good at pushing (prefer both hands on the bars) so I hooked up the tow rope and helped on some of the tougher spots until our Apocalypse Cow got to us on his second lap. We then lost our brakes completely about 15km from the end. Boy was that scary. Watching from behind as the pushers became brakers to stop the ice cream bike gaining too much speed. I did take strain and stopped for a leg rub just after the last water table, but not having stopped with my team they passed me as I was getting back on my bike, so we finished together in just over 7 hours, the longest I've ever taken to do a distance like this (heck, I did the Jock in less time!). My goal for next year is to be fit and strong enough to help pull from the very start until our Apocalypse Cow gets to us ;-) Must say I was shocked at how many people ride with mp3 players so loud you can hear it riding next to them. Back markers seriously also need to learn to not just stop in the middle of the road and to keep left if they are walking.