River Rat

If having it 5 times makes me an expert here goes, the first time I got diagnosed they picked up that I had the parasite for something like 4 to 5 years, my only symptoms was tiredness. They were able to track the number of cycles of eggs the worm laid in my system. The treatment for bilharzia usually only stops the egg laying part of the cycle and traces of the parasite can remain in the system for years. I was treated with the drug that preceded Praziquantel however, this egg laying part of the cycle is rarely eradicated completely on the first treatment and as canoeists we treat ourselves at least one a year we don't even bother with tests as they inevitably come up positive. So my advice is to take the Praziquantel on a regular basis obviously with the doctors recommendation. I hardly ever get symptoms anymore but every blood test usually produces evidence of the parasite mostly old infections.

Having had a relative go missing sometime back we soaked up every bit of social media to find him and then it turned toxic as people started speculating. We found him unharmed but not in a good mental state , this case could very well be different but from my experience the best for the individual and family is to let it go. They'll tell us when they're ready if ever, once the person is found our job is done and it's now up to the family.

I have heard of a number of people that now have enlarged hearts after COVID some are so bad that their doctors recommend no strenuous exercise.

Time of day is important here as most of trails are quite busy and unless your dog is trail smart it could lead to problems. I go to Big Red Barn or Wolwespruit in off peak times with my dog but if I see it's busy I just take him for a walk and leave the bike. Hedianga Farm also works but the trails aren't up to the standard of the other two.

I would add that UCI are equally complicit by being lax in the application of their rules, this leads to TNT's argument that everyone's doing it so what's the issue. The rules are there for the safety of all competitors if you don't apply, abide or comply then you should face the music when things go wrong as they did in this case.

I said nothing of the sort rather read my post again.

I don't buy this logic because in another application you are suggesting that a drunk driver who kills someone in an accident should be given the same censure as one that causes a fender bender. I prefer a world where actions have consequences so sprinting within the rules is cool break the rules and face the consequences, it's your choice.

To put things in perspective this was not just a minor infringement his action nearly killed a fellow competitor. For a fan it's a case of he served his time so let bygones be bygones for Jakobsen and fans of fair play it's not so easy because they believe that the punishment did not fit the crime. I can see this issue dogging Groenewegen for the rest of his career, so the win at all costs approach has the rest of the field recalculating the cost column.

I would contact Brett his details are here https://www.lowveldchaingang.co.za/

Can't seem to find broadcast times on DSTV?

Our cat Batman absolutely loves hanging around when I work in the garage and I recently built my own Lithium power pack for my camping fridge, I would say Batman is quite chuffed with his contribution!

Good news is that this route now has a champion and will be upgraded and brought back it's former glory. Watch this space.

Then it all fell apart for Roglic, on the ground twice losing 3 minutes. Kudos to him for never dropping his head fighting all the way to the end although it was apparent that all hopes of the winning were gone. This guy has serious heart, respect.

There has been a lot of effort in terms of sorting out of the security at Klapperkop and we seem to have this under control thanks to the efforts of various security companies. There is currently an effort underway to start clearing the trails and a Strava segment named Fortgetmenot was cleared on Saturday but it is far too technical for most and I can't see anymore effort going into this segment down the line. However, although quite short 660m at (-10.5%) it could make a great Enduro route with a bit of TLC. Anyone interested in taking up the project?

This^ 2 weeks ago I had piece of wire jam into my derailleur while doing 60kph on a gravel road, longest skid mark I have ever made and there was a long one on the road too. The end result was that the chain got caught between the spokes and the derailleur, ripped off 8 spokes on the RHS and pulled the derailleur into the cluster wrecking the inside arm. Replaced the broken derailleur parts including a pulley wheel but try as I might I could not get a smooth gear change going up and down the gears, it will be fine in the one direction but jumpy in the other. The give away was the fact that I dropped gears when I back pedaled so the remedy was to remove derailleur and using a large shifting spanner over the hanger (with some cloth protection) I bent the entire system to align with the frame. It's actually easily aligned by eye with bike upside down. No problems back pedaling and the smooth gear changes all round.

In a similar vein we had some fallout at Klapperkop when council decided to exercise access control into the reserve. COVID regulations state that all reserves and parks must have these in place otherwise they should be closed to the public. So the guards were asking for masks to be worn and hands to be sanitised before allowing anyone access and the outrage that followed was something to behold. I tried to explain to the cyclists that it's actually in our interest to comply so that we can keep the reserve open regardless about how silly the regulations are. Man did I cop some abuse and I decided to walk away before I belted some loud mouth, I don't get paid to take this sort of crap. My guess is that the reserve will soon be closed thanks to some idiots that can't think beyond their own entitlement.

It was a hot day at Wolwespruit.

Not so much today but between Christmas and New Year we were on a bush walk in big five country and I smelt popcorn, turns it was a leopard that had marked it's territory.https://wildlifeact.com/blog/the-smells-of-nature/#:~:text=When%20leopards%20mark%20their%20territory,the%20area%20marking%20its%20territory.

Which is why we developed the same day discharge protocols, I was in for an arthroscopy in March for some meniscus repairs I was in hospital at 12h00 and I was home at 19h00. The chap in the bed next to me was a a patient of Dan Du Plessis in at 11h00 and was home the next afternoon. The main difference was that I had no drains in the knee while Dan dup is old school being 70+, Dr Duwayne Vermaak is 40 and at the cutting edge of the latest techniques and being a MTBiker helps too. Once again full disclosure these are my business partners and other than Duwayne ( Life Groenkloof) the other doctors in the Surge group are - Dr Faf Labuschagne - Life Groenkloof. Dr Sean East - Kloof Mediclinic Dr Toni Monni - Life Wilgers Dr Chris Snyckers - Life Eugene Marais Dr Theo Potgieter - Rustenburg. These hospitals are are generally sticky about taking on board patients under lockdown but we have arranged for many procedures to be done in a day clinic, which has kept them going despite lockdown restrictions. The other advantage is that there is an a built in peer review of difficult cases because of the association of the doctors working together.

You are going to struggle to get an op done under lockdown, full disclosure my doctor partners have perfected same day discharge for most lower limb procedures over the past year, even complete hip or knee replacements. But they're in Pretoria if you're interested.

Try this one https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/184979-stolen-colnago-m10s-2012-cape-town/?do=findComment&comment=3619624

We haven't had an incident in the area since August when two cyclists were robbed in Klapperkop. Within 15 minutes we flooded the area with 20 security guards with myself and my dog sweeping the area from the fort towards the circle, I know from my dog's reaction that we were very close to the perpetrators although we did not catch them. I think it was very close call and they got a huge fright and they have stayed away from the reserve since then, we have also had a continuous presence of security companies in Klapperkop in the mornings which has acted as an additional deterrent. There are groups starting to ride off road in Klapperkop on Saturday mornings if there's interest I'll post times on here. All the activity in Klapperkop means that the criminal activity should move to Groenkloof but I have noticed a huge amount of Metro Police activity at fountains circle, heck someone was even arrested for illegal dumping last week! So my general impression is that Groenkloof is safer now than it was in the beginning of the year but as always rather ride in groups and if you are alone rather avoid the area closest to the circle (north).

I paddle the nearby Crocodile river quite often and after my body went pear shaped thanks to COVID I really don't need the competition from a hippo.

Rule of thumb a 40w light @ 12v uses 3.33 amps per hour so a 7ah battery will give you 2 hours of light. Alternatively a 7ah battery has 84 watt hours (multiply by 12). Just an aside a 40w LED is like a security light and I find that a 6w LED gives me more than enough light equivalent to a 60w normal globe. Two routes to go make up your own lights using these modules https://4x4direct.co.za/138-modules or get these solar lights https://www.takealot.com/cob-solar-power-motion-sensor-wall-light-pack-4/PLID54512447which have a built in battery gives about 600 lumen per light at circa R60 per light I got 4, they give about 4 hours of light per charge because with the motion sensor it only switches on when you need it. The latter option is really cheap and cheerful but painless if you view them as a consumable item, although I have yet to replace one.