River Rat

Eish that's not great news, having been down this road before it is tough on the family.

My reading companions for the last two weeks!

I dumped my avid 3s and changed to Shimano SLXs I used the avid rotors which were fine. But when I changed to the Shimano rotors the difference was noticeable especially when it came to the squeal.

You have asked yourself if this is caused by metal fatigue and it possibly is. So doing a repair on a fatgued rim will only shift the problem to the next spoke. I think the advice to get a new one is sound so go treat yourself to a new set, you deserve it afterall it is christmas!

Was posted on the website yesterday afternoon. Another huge plus for the organizers.

Great race well organised, I see they even sorted out the bike wash. Well done to all.

Chain Reaction will be your best price. Bought a set of Flow 29ers and they were well built.

Or tired!

I have to share this with you guys. My wife who was not riding thanks to a dislocated elbow decided to watch the action at the floating bridge some 4km from the start and she told me about this incident. A rider stopped and asked her for directions to the finish she inquired whether he had a problem that caused him to quit so early. No he replies its just that he was at the end of his prologue but he had somehow got lost and this was the 3rd time he had done the floating bridge. He had done 42 kms on a 31km stage, this guy was caught in a loop and kept on making the same mistake or got the wrong way by the same Marshall. Not to long after this he appeared again doing the bridge for the 4th time the Marshall at the bridge then got on his radio and told his mate "jy sal dit nie glo nie maar hier is die ou weer" This must have been a real Groundhog Day for this poor chap!

Time enough for a bike service.

I'm in for the 4 day solo. If last year is anything to go by expect mud on at least one of the days.

After my ride I went back to our corporate zone which was halfway up heartbreak hill. We had an unfortunate incident where a rider blacked out from what appeared to be heat exhaustion. We managed to flag down an ambulance but that one was unfortunately already occupied. We tried desperately cool the guy down before a second ambulance arrived to take him to hospital. I hope he's okay.

I'm in for the 70km.

Somehow the rain just makes Groenkloof better. Had an absolute blast today the single track was simply awesome. There were a few puddles but just enough to ensure that the bike gets a wash. Only problem was the congestion with the 4 x 4's getting stuck, funnily enough it was a Landcruiser station wagon! You don't see that too often.

I agree and I saw this on Mankele. A nipple broke on day 1 which I fixed. On day 2 I replaced 2 more, by the end of Day 3 I was nursing the wheel home. When discussing this with the LBS they suggested giving it to a good wheel builder. So hence the request but I also want to build a bombproof wheel set with ZTR Flow rims and Hope evo2 hubs. Haven't yet decided on the spokes, maybe some suggestions.

Enjoy but beware of the potholes!

Think of a cool blue ocean.

Works for me!

Thanks

Can Anyone recommend a good wheel builder in the Pretoria area? After the Mankele carnage I'm looking to build a set of wheels for my 29er.

I'm not surprised, what has been highlighted throughout this whole messy affair is how the focus has been on trying maintain the status quo and the future of the sport is not on anyone's agenda. I hoping for a cometh the hour, cometh the man outcome to this. @JCZA I don't believe that this event is quite the same as the past. I don't think you can relate this to a simple case of a top rider being caught for drugs, it does suggest a systemic problem and perhaps Wonder Women (+ others) might be onto something with the suggestion that the riders are simply being pushed to far.

I agree I see that a reset is required ( I bet UCI looking for the ctrl alt del function right now) it is going to be interesting to see where the leadership going to come from.

I also can't see anything new. But then again I only skimmed through it.

Should make for some interesting reading but watch that list grow when you add to list in terms of those simply accused by other cyclists but not necessarily caught in terms of testing.

I believe that you might find point 4 is where all of this falls apart. How far down the finishers list would you have to go find a true winner? I think there is a lot more pain coming before the sport of cycling can move forward and what makes it worse is that I'm not sure that USADA is concerned about it. Granted the fortunes of cycling is not USADA's mandate but put yourself in UCI's shoes what do they do now if the strip Armstrong and go to the second placed rider all that is required is for some of that rider's teammates to state that they saw him take drugs and the merry go round starts all over. The only way that UCI can bring back credibility to this sport for me is to effectively have something akin to a truth and reconciliation process. Something that I doubt USADA will support unless they hold sway over the outcome which effectively means that the future of cycling lies in the hands of USADA.