River Rat

Agreed, the mud certainly was a game changer.

Results appear to be strange. Winning time for the 47 is 1:47 and 2:05 for the marathon which my Garmin shows was 72km. I did not think that plus 30km/h was possible on that route if I'm overtly suspicious I know who my money is on for the Epic!

Bikes are checked in and we're ready to go and then the flight gets delayed by an hour and half. Ah well more beers at the airport lounge which should flatten tomorrow's hills. We're really looking forward to riding in another province and to sample the local fare. See you all tomorrow!

Thank god, we're travelling from Pretoria!

Desi, I know this may seem like a small thing but the fact that you are posting about this at all is good. Our country and the world for that matter is really tough on a woman's freedom and I agree with you that with a little forethought and organisation we can create an environment where you can at least do what you want to without restriction. As a backmarker I often find myself escorting one of the ladies and it is no problem for me at all. Hopefully your post will motivate others to do the same.

I won't argue with facts!

Nice words but I'll top it with one MUD!

Take the other pedal off and what you will have in your hand is a bearing and a locknut. The bearing will cost you less than R20 and the locknut less than R2 but get a washer that fits the shaft just past the thread. I believe this is the flaw in this design. It would appear thta you have lost the oring as well so go to the plumbing section at the hardware and you will find one that fits (R4). So for less than R30 you're good to go!

Clean green and a pressure hose will clean your kit. Come to think of it clean green and a pressure hose might also get the guys to ride on the right side of the road as well!

So it looks like I'm trying to solve a problem that I don't have, I put so much lube on before the race that there is a permanent oil slick in the parking lot at York Sportsground sorriieee...

Come to think of it I also have a clutch rear mech and I had no chainsuck at all, perhaps this is the diffference. Anyone with a clutch rear mech that had chainsuck it would be interesting to hear from you.

Thank you!

I had no issues with my SRAM 2x10 and chatted to one chap running 1x11 who kept dropping his chain.

I saw 2 guys arguing at the end as to who was going to pay for the damage to their drive trains. I think the Sani partnership ended right there.

Don't spoil my delusion with facts now!

Wessel, while I really enjoyed the challenge that the marathon offered I do think that I am in the minority. I say this because there where only 410 finishers which is quite low IMO, I think you might have lost some following from other weekend warriors who found the event simply unpleasant. The Bushpig single track is a case in point as I saw many riders taking the shortcut home after that debacle and I don't think they'll be back. I would suggest that in future those sort of sections be carefully considered before leaving it in the race as it did not add anything to the race but rather detracted from it. But then again when a back marker like me finishes a race when hundreds don't I feel kinda chuffed, so maybe leave it as it is and let the survivalists wear their finish as a badge of honour.

Fortunately, doing the marathon but looking at the rain at Sabie this weekend I'm not sure which race worries me more!

You can't scare me I can fall anywhere!

Hey Riaan are you doing the marathon? Would be great to see you get some revenge on the Mamba after Sabie X!

Just entered, time for this upcountry rider to enjoy some of these Cape trails that I keep hearing about. So, my wine guzzling cousins what can I expect from this race?

Because we paid a lot of money for these fancy toys and we want to do cool stuff on it so that we can feel chuffed with the purchase.

Leona, we have all been bitten by the African bug. It is a bittersweet love that you just can't walk away from, I hope for your sake that you find something on the work front that will at least allow you to decide weather (pun invented) you want to stay or not.

In the words of our Pres hehhehheh!

Now that's how a MTBiker rolls

Marathon looks like the 2012 route and that was 1900m of climbing !