TyronLab

Gave Taroko another spin yesterday. Mixed it up with the 10km loop plus the last two fun downhill / techy rock sections, then did the full 30km loop and 6x Tar Climb repeats. The repeats were partly for the climbing training but mostly to blast down that fun singletrack back to the bottom. Trying to catch as many riders as I could while heading up the tar road was a great motivator, and I tried my best to give words of encouragement to the obviously-new riders slogging it up there. If you're just getting into riding that climb is a killer (and nearly caused my premature divorce one blistering November afternoon). Trails were the busiest I'd ever seen them, riders and hikers alike. 99.9% of users were courteous and friendly though, so that was awesome. Although I can feel my skills starting to improve I managed to have a spill 5m from the place I previously took a spill. Flat, sandy, tight turns are my nemesis, and my moto-x roots aren't helping. I can't manage to get comfortable with my body position in those situations, and not having a dropper on this bike isn't helping.

Seems like a ripper! Interested in pricing and how many shops will actually stock them, especially in GP, as it isn't a 100mm dual sus XC "racing bike". The forest green is gorgeous but the red accents make it look like a christmas tree.

It baffles me how that could happen though. I can't see such a massive torque being applied to the pedal axle, or such a large axial force, that you'd strip the threads completely. I'd definitely give that a fair chance at a warranty replacement.

I recently did a few rides in Kathu (see the Where Has Your Bike Taken You Today thread), so I can actually give some practical advice here. There's not much in the way of technical riding, or elevation, but a lot of very sandy dirt roads, pebelled road shoulders and rocky footpaths. I was on my Trek Stache hardtail and I actually think it was the perfect bike for the job, especially on the sandy, corrugated dirt roads. The 3" tyres gave me a lot of float and comfort but still pedalled well due to being a HT. I'd definitely go for the biggest tyres you can fit for float and comfort, as its a generally sandy area. If it was hardpacked dirt or corrugation like you find up in JHB / Freestate I'd suggest something slimmer, but for the red desert of Kathu I'd go as fat as you can.

Hey! I recognize those roads. It seems we swapped places this weekend. Got out to Thaba trails for the first time and was absolutely awe struck. If you're in GP and think you're a gnarly, bearded, gritty, mountain munching badass (like I did) then take a trip down south and get ready to eat some humble pie. Well, that's what happened to me at least. Made the trip solo, and "rode" the majority of the blue trails and the XCO course. I mean, how hard can it be, its Joburg? I rode all of the descents with a modicum of control, even though I sorely missed the dropper from my previous bike, but the climbs... Man alive, if you can ride up all of the blue trail climbs without dabbing or walking then you're a ******* monster, especially on a HT. It was the first time I felt that I would have loved some suspension on the rear as my rear wheel got hung up (due to my lack of skill) on the treacherous rocky climbs. That broke my momentum and forced me to stop, and once you were stopped there was no way you were getting on and riding up that same incline. I only managed to clean probably half of the climbs on the blue trail, and had to hike up from the ~3/4 point onwards on the rest. The XCO course A-lines were too big for my britches, especially alone. Jumps I can semi do, technical rocky descents I can do, but gap-drops terrify me. If I was in a group and had someone I could tow in, maybe... Even though I was taking punishment (my hands, forearms and shoulders are still sore today), I was literally laughing out loud every time the trail kicked my ass. Had an absolute blast and I can't wait to go back and practice until I can clean those lines. That is real, proper mountain biking, not the pretty-doable-on-a-gravel-bike riding we seem to have so much of in GP. What's more, the trails are impeccably maintained, varied, well thought-out, well marked, and located in an absolutely beautiful location. I made a point of going to Wendell, the trail builder, after my ride and giving him my thanks and telling him he's a "sadistic genius".

Yup, in that same boat. My email to the organizers was for some admin reasons, but in a sense I knew that if they replied with lots of detail and sold it well I'd be able to part with the dosh. But now they aren't and I'm wishing they would as I need something to tip me over the edge.

I'm guessing the organizers must be crazy busy as they can't seem to respond to my email requests. Who's signed up and attempting this beast?

Your location says JHB but your picture says otherwise... If not, please share where this was taken!

Well, that sucks! It seems that riding the Sani pass (the proper, off road Sani pass) is looking as likely as seeing AC/DC live in concert some day... A case of too little too late.

This has been on my personal bucket list for a year now. Strongly considering doing it with a few friends as a weekend getaway in December (assuming we're allowed to by then). Initially thought of riding down from GP, partners tag a long as backup vehicle and meet us at the dorpies on the way, ride the pass and all drive back together as a few day trip. Alas, I doubt I'll have any takers from the limited pool of friends/family I have that would be willing and able to do that.

With the rapid rise of recent bike jackings, wanting to start riding at 04:30 to be done by 10:00 and not having a partner to tackle a ride like this with I did my first endurance ride on Zwift. I decided to swap headwinds and rough roads for the single-positioned monotony of an IDT for constant Z2, mental toughness training. zPower was being very generous (I can most certainly not hold 226W for 5h30m, probably closer to 160-170W in Z2 where I was riding), so the distance and elevation gain is overestimated. Still, great way to give the bums and legs a cement cocktail, and I got to explore what was a very interesting and varied landscape. Weirdly I wasn't bored at any stage of this ride. I think being a veteran gamer (the PS1 was my first love) helped me get immersed in the world and not go crazy. Having my own soigneur (i.e. my wife) was awesome as I got fed, caffeinated (with rusks!) and rehydrated without needing to leave the bike. She even joined me with a treadmill run which was fun. I've also been struggling with the fit on my bike (specifically saddle tilt, fore-aft position and height), so I used this opportunity to get it dialed in. Left the saddle clamp bolts loose-ish and played around with the position while riding, and finally got it to a comfortable position.

Went out without a route and without a target but with a 2hr window. Y'know, like when you were in high school and just got on your bike and rode around just for the sake of riding around? Granted, I'm not nearly as badass as 15-year-old, Trek T.I.1 (which, coincidentally, was also green...) riding, Kangol-cap-wearing, wheelie-machine me.... Well, I've been keeping up with wheelie practice, so at least there's that! Man, now that I've googled it, I loved that bike so much (not mine, but pretty much an exact replica of mine)... Had a pretty good time, and managed to conquer this short little rocky climb with much more finesse than I did in December 2018 (last time I rode it). I'd like to think its my general fitness and skill, but might just be these wheels that give me hero-abilities off road. Starting to warm up a bit in general, but still rather frosty in the shade and when the wind picks up.

Yes! That's the exact sound it made while it was circling above me, on the way to scaring the bejeesus out of me with its next kamikaze strike.

With the recent rise in bike jackings across the country and general paranoia decided to go ride Modders (or Taroko rather). Big ups to the Taroko gang, trails are looking great! More on that in the Modderfontein thread. First trail test for the Stache. Crazy how much confidence this bike has given me, as I was blitzing sections of trail at much higher speeds than I usually did and even tackling some new trails at speeds I wouldn't have dreamed of on previous bikes (even managing some top 10% times on strava on descents I was riding blind). Can't pinpoint exactly why, and pretty contrary to what the ginormous balloons visually imply, but this bike just wants to pop over everything. Picking up the front wheel is effortless and it feels like the bike wants you to turn every bump in the trail into a little launch pad. Ridiculous fun! I did miss the dropper from my previous bike, but I've realized that body positioning is 90% of the battle and getting in the right position is a hell of a lot easier on a bike that fits you better. Hell, I even managed to (accidentally) drift the rear wheel on some corners where I used to always wash the front out first. Interestingly, I went out to just have fun and enjoy my bike, not worrying about times or HR or goals, but managed to ride my lungs out. After last weekend's 110+km ride my watch told me I had 37 hours of recovery. After this 40km blast it said I had 68 hours of recovery (both starting on 0).

Rode there yesterday for the first time since December, did the 40km red trail in its entireity. Big ups to the Taroko team, I've never seen the trails in as good a condition as they are now. Lots of very obvious work has gone in like trimming of encroaching grass and shrubbery, filling in of some of the deeper ruts and general upkeep. Think some of the grass burns helped with this. One of my previous comments still remains that there are a lot of sections where the single track is uphill but the following jeep track is downhill, think there has to be some way to switch these around and have some more downhill goodness as there's definitely some elevation to play with. Second half of the red is definitely the best section of the entire trail. Had a spill on the long flowy downhill ~35km in (highlighted below). Tip for anyone riding there, some of the corners there are off-camber, and that specific one has a secondary track that's been created where other guys have obviously overshot the corner, and the transition to it is even more off-camber. My front wheel slipped in and caused a washout. Could be remedied with some maintenance (and ideally a berm to keep more momentum), but that's minor. Also got harassed by that bird at the river, which is probably the tightest / fastest section of trail that I was really enjoying trying to ride hard. Bird just took it up a notch haha! Great job guys!

Thanks guys. Not on Facebook so tough to follow. I'll keep an eye out for the longer ones. If this one started earlier it'd be awesome but I try to be home by 11 after rides as to get some time in with the fam.

I'm rather keen to give this a go too, but unfortunately my XD driver is throwing a spanner into the works. I rode BMX for yonks back in school, so I should acclimatize pretty easily!

Do you need to be entered into the race to join the minis? If not, please share the details. I'm going to enter the Grit closer to the time once it's been confirmed that it is actually happening on that date, don't really want to part with R5k for longer than I need to. Really excited and nervous for it!

Anyone get confirmation whether they're open again under the new regulations?

Out of interest, where'd you source the 29x2.6 tyres and what rim width are you running them on? I'm using your bike as inspiration to make my Stache rigid, so might as well copy pasta your wheels too.

Although other people have expressed concern I've ridden much dodgier routes than that solo before. The only parts where I would have been nervous without our backup vehicle was some of the early road sections. No shoulder on the road and a 100kph speed limit means inevitable close calls (I swear, a black downhill mtb run scares me less than a road like that). As far as geographic safety, I wouldn't have been concerned being solo so although the roads are pretty deserted they don't go through any dodgy areas. Keep in mind most of my family and colleagues say I'm stupid and take too many risks, so do with this info what you will. As far as gearing goes, if you're riding solo and you're very strong it could limit you, but little old me can't maintain 30kph solo for any extended amount of time past 1.5hrs with my bike on the road. Sure, on downward gradients into no wind you might spin out, but there's enough off-road riding and undulations to make this a non-issue.

Nice one! Mind sharing weight, internal width and what it cost you?

Did the SxSE Hustle gravel virtual race yesterday with a buddy. New record for coldest I've ridden in; -10°C. Fingers and toes took turns burning, then going numb, then defrosting and starting the process again. Only got into positive digits after 2.5hrs. Both bottles turned to slush, to the point where I had to open them and shake out the slush to get something in. Great route (albeit with a bit more road riding than I was expecting). Developed a numb pain in both knees after 3.5hrs. Played around with saddle height, but could feel I was overextending with my bum rocking on the saddle. Could be the running. Could be the partner I was riding with being a bit stronger than I was and suddenly tackling a 6hr Z3/Z4 ride after months of 2-3hr jaunts, with him being on a bike that was much better suited to road riding. Still, had a blast, and pushing through the knee pain and constant, long miles of undulating gravel is as good a training for Munga and 'Baviaans as I'm ever gonna get. Think the new bike still needs some fiddling, but it absolutely shone on this ride (well, on the off-road sections at least). I wasn't nearly as beat up as I used to be on my previous bikes, and I tested out the fork in locked out position and actually enjoyed the directness. Methinks there might be a rigid fork in this bike's future...

Of all the Iron Maiden albums that's the one they chose?!? I am disappoint. Number of the beast, the trooper, their eponymous album, all of which are legendary.

Look for the "SexyGorilla" contact on your mom's phone if you ever want to connect. I had either an unknown evil twin or a your-mom joke lined up... and I couldn't resist