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Tokai is a bit of a beast on a hardtail. I sometimes do it on one but its harsh and many of the climbs are quite rough these days. If you're from gauteng or Kzn you might find the rocks down here pretty violent.

Jeez, some of you okes should be on Zwift Academy! I was happy with my time of 3h57 bearing in mind the absence of proper training and some tendon and ITB issues. I had energy and felt good the whole way, above my waist, below that, things were not so good. My legs gave up the ghost at Chappies. Hoping to tackle it next year with my by then 13 year old out back on a tandem. Well done to all.

Weird, everyone suggesting a road bike. If you're a roadie then yes, but if you have a MTB then bring that rather. Traffic in CT is still k@k and I'm so happy the CTCT is done and I can return to the mountain. If you're a typical SA MTB rider, you'll have a marathon bike with fast rolling tyres that you can happily tackle some tar with. I laughed when I read the comment about a 30 minute drive to Tokai. Its an easy 30 minute ride to Tokai - why would you drive?

As someone else said there will be lots of people heading to the start along main road. I think you could make it without a bike light.

I survived a 90km ride after some physio on Friday. ITB seems to be on the mend. Newbies and late arrivals in CT, be aware that the route has become even rougher and potentially more dangerous then ever. The short descent after the Black Marlin looks as if small mortars have been exploding on it and there are quite a few other areas where the tar is very poor and just uncomfortable to ride, especially at speed on descents. At some point the City is going to have to start investing in public roads, especially the tour route which is a tourist drive as well, instead of wasting money resurfacing the barely used highways of Constantia for the 0.5% .

We always park in the city closer to the start than the finish, but anywhere between the two is good.

ITB has struck - overstressed the knee with belated training. Physio tomorrow. Assuming its not 100% better, should I just swallow my pride and some PED's and ride the damn thing?

AMG with Sturmey Archer 5 speed....

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/commuter-e-bikes/795546/immaculate-and-unique-n-mercedes-amg-ebike?referrer=homepage I had to put this here...

Just seen posts above - sounds like it was on Friday, not teh weekend.

Have seen a whatsApp report of a two eBike robbery above Rhodes Memorial this weekend. Two attackers, one with large knife and the other using a rock as a weapon. Victims were not harmed thankfully but their bikes were stolen. No doubt all the relevant authorities have been notified and the crims are long gone...

I have some Skull Monton socks - look cool and no chafing. Hope this helps 🙂

I wonder if an alloy rim would have survived Matt Beers better? Apart from the spelling a good article. Let's hope Luke finds a team. Maybe he and Candice should privateer together?

A long pant or even a jean pant are lekker to wear when its cold and you not riding a marathon.

Spoken like a true South African MTB rider. Tight DH clothing and lycra bibs have nothing in common really. DH riders don't ride with any kind of ass padding and plenty of body and knee/hip/shin protection . Your question should rather be "I wonder why South Africans insist on riding in super thin lycra which does nothing to protect them in the event of a fall when the rest of the world ride in trail or DH shorts over lycra or even long pants at times".

No it's a fashion death sentence and makes no sense if you're actually looking for more protection i.e the knee pads. Your hips are uber vulnerable in a fall and lycra is totally useless as skin protection. The trail shorts you should be waring with knee pads need not be super baggie or thick but a decent pair not only adds protection but saves you from a style faux pas par excellence.

MTB as a competitive sport is actually booming in the gravity zone. Red Bull are adding more Hardline races and urban DH events and there are continental series being started to get newer riders into the DHWC which is now more limited in team numbers but will be highly competitive. I certainly don't support the "Big Media" take over, but its not all doom and gloom.

Its pretty rough out there. I'd get a 160mm enduro bike if I were you.

I used to cast from my phone but found lots of buffering and video and dialogue out of sync asa result - not a problem until you notice a woman talking like a man or vice versa.

In this case, I had no time to react at all, so if it was a bus, I'd have slammed into the side at 30km/h. I was just lucky, but it does illustrate that sometimes doing nothing can be the safest way out of trouble.

I've never been doored but I have had a car pull out right in front of me from a side street. I didn't even have time to brake and I did a full summersault over the car. I landed safely with negligible injuries. Had I managed to swerve who knows what might have happened. All I meant with my suggestion that you need to consciously train yourself not to swerve in certain situations such as - narrow road with parked cars and following traffic, roads with a high likelihood of pedestrians crossing the road and so on. I didn't say this was the solution but rather that its part of defensive riding, which includes checking what's coming from behind as often as possible. Some of you wallies just want to argue about nothing and deliberately infer your own nonsense interpretations onto what is said for effect.

Okay, you just want to argue. Should I post twice too? Nah, you win.

Of course we don't get to see what the motorist did to incur that reaction...

Probably not criminally, but there is a potential civil claim that would be based on negligence and causation.

No, he does. Yes, we've all had close calls multiple times with cars. Yes they don't give a toss, but you can mitigate the risk by riding ultra defensively. That's all.