River Rat

In the beginning left is best until you hit the fence at the R21 from there on the right section is the better but tougher option. After the 4x4 section keep left and you will get to a fence line next to the residential area with a stiff climb, beware if you turn right before the houses as you will have a very technical climb. It is extremely steep and rough but doable, the fence line option is easier but you need to turn right before the crest onto a jeep track which leads to a left turn into some awesome single track. At the end of the single track (2 sections) you come to the west fence line where you can either stick next to the tar road or turn right and take on the infamous onion hill before returning to the start. Enjoy!

I didn't have a problem with the marshalling but that might be because I finished before 14h00. However, this was not course conducive to overtaking and mixing the 40 and 80km was disastrous. I really do not have a problem allowing the faster riders to pass but the only way this could be done todayon the single track after halfway was to stop and pull over to let them pass. This would seem reasonable but picture this, I would get stuck behind guys in my own race and I would have the 40 k guys trying to pass I would try and do the right thing by stopping and moving aside, everytime I did this I would be passed by at least 3 - 4 40k riders plus some 80k riders that I had passed earlier. Only to find myself at the back of the bunch effectively behind the same riders just 7 places back. You can imagine how irritating this was and after a while there was no more stopping which led to some wannabees trying to barge past and push me off the track. My humour was long gone when some skinny runt tried to push me into an Aardvark hole well my elbow adjusted his glasses and redirected him into that grasslands. His downcast looks and quiet demeanor when I could eventually let him passs tells me that I might not try that again. The organisers of races seriously need to consider this aspect when deciding on the different start times for the various races. As for the Sondela Race they may want to name it the Berg & Beach with the amount of sand we encountered today.

That was a quick aha moment hopefully followed with a facepalm!

I agree that the std one should be fine. I can see how the wing clips would break off but it can surely only occur if the rubber band used were too tight, if you use the appropriately sized rubber bands there should be no problem. However if you want more bling logic is not going to change your mind.

And here I thought you had a problem with the Jedis!

What a ride, I reckon as tough as any day on Sani. The additional hill in the last 10 kms of the second lap certainly added some spice, thank goodness for the delightful team on the last waterpoint they were a treat, I hope the Yorkie made it. Loved the bull run, once again I found out that Avids are not up to muster when it comes to heavy braking,time to get some Shimano brakes. Strange how much sand there was compared to last year, which made the going quite tough. The funniest was the monkey that decided to hop onto the track on the downhill with his back to me and started catching ants or something. I realised that I was going to hit him at 30km/hr and I whistled, he heard my whistle and instead of jumping off the track he jumped straight up and landed on my camelback and off. Thank god he did not have a bowel movement! Thanks to the organisers, see you next year.

Any idea of the starting times?

When I saw this post this morning I bet myself that it would go nowhere. Voila,I won and I'm off to buy myself a six pack. Shame on all of you for not reaching agreement but thanks anyway!

Clive have you guys sorted the online entry process yet? Last time I tried it was seriously frustrating and I have avoided this since then.

At least you're riding enjoy!

Who is up for this one? My first long ride after Sani2c and really looking forward to it. Maybe too much recovery I guess I'll know when I watch the Boks whip the English later that afternoon.

I can only give you some anecdotal evidence, I bent my Dt Swiss 450 SL front wheel on Sabie I have replaced it with a Dt Swiss M520 which seemed to hold during Sani2c. Added 100g but I could not feel it.

Looks like a wet and cold start for the Trail. Good luck to all and be safe.

In theory you should be okay, just watch for the trick where they say that they inadvertently made a payment into your account. They then ask you to refund them, only to reverse the original payment once your money is received.

Huh?

From the wife ...... Softtail.

Wave when you pass!

Just checked my batch. G for the race, someone has a higher opinion of my abilities than reality. Looks like we're going to see most of the field on day one. Anyone else in G batch?

Can you buy bombs at registration or starts?

Ag man it is our party and we'll stress if we want to.

I am afraid that without those fancy syringes its off to the LBS. Even with the syringes its a bitch so save yourself some pain and pay the LBS to do it. Just becareful the dot fluid used in Avids is prety nasty stuff do not get it on your paintwork.

The short daily coverage certainly give me the impression of a great adventure. Well done!

It would be great if you could post the profiles on the Hub as well. Congratulations by the way, how was your ride?

So I downloaded this software and right now I'm not impressed. First of all it does not support the Garmin Edge 500. it supports the Forerunner 305, edge 205,305,605 & 705 virtually all outdated and replaced with new models. Okay so I find an app that allows you to download directly from your device only to find that the datafile is too large and gives an error reading. My first impression is that this software is rather archaic and the only way to get value out of it is to buy more apps.

Was there 3 weeks ago, great hill training. Try Bobby's Cycles, also great riding at Oribi Gorge.