Ratty

If it was safe I'd happily ride by myself. The reason I want to ride in a group is purely for safety. I know two people who have been bike-jacked near the N7. As a female, I have to be even more careful. I can't take the risk of just being dropped and left on my own.

Description of the ride was that is was a leg loosener, think they said avg 24-26km's per hour which I know I can do on my own. Wasn't on the big ride! The avg clocked was 29 and that was with slowing down for the last few km's. We got left at the Tryall road robots. Rode back to where we started and found no one there. They knew it was my first time (ask if there were newbies) but no one thought to explain that it finished at Driftwood (which I would'nt have known how to get to anyway).

I disagree with that. Went along on a ride and for majority of the ride the pace was great. Then we got near the end and it was increased. I managed to hang on no problem, but got split when at a robot. They didn't bother to wait !!! Carried on at their pace and left people behind with no way of catching up (There were a few more people that had got left behind at the previous robot). Had no idea where to go so ended up waiting for the other stragglers. It was my first and last ride with the Outriders. Maybe I'm too used to mtbing, where if you ride in a group, people wait at certain points to make sure everyone stays together and doesn't get left on their own.

I'm giving up my entry so my spot will be open. Done it twice now and got lots of other races on my bucket list. Think the waiting list is quite long so unless you already on it, not much chance of getting in that way.

Love the taste but yes Very pricey. But then what's R30 for a good energy bar when u spend 1000's on a stage race. I'll keep them as a treat for the special races.

My 29er HT did replace my 26er dual sus. I just prefer the HT and wasn't riding the 26er, but that's personal preference. I like being thrown around by the HT and find it more fun as its slightly harder to ride. Had a blast at Jonkers on the weekend. I think the friend needs to ride both and see what he prefers. In most cases, the 26 FS would be the better choice.

What annoyed me when I sold my beautiful carbon FS bike recently was the ridiculous offers I got (50% of asking price). Excuse was always its a 26er, no resale value, you won't sell it for that price blah blah blah. I had taken into account the fact that is was a 26er which why I was selling it for only 30% of the original retail value. My problem was that I stared believing them and dropped my minimum price in my head. I accepted an offer of 85% of the my price. The same day I agree, someone offered me the full price. I should have stuck by my beliefs that the price was right. It is a great bike!

I don't think they are being unfair not refunding or letting you do another race. You knew the rules when you entered and took the risk. They work on numbers for food, medals etc and lots of their costs are upfront. It would be nice if they would do substitutions though so that if a competitior can't make it and finds someone else to go in their place, an exchange can be done at a small cost. Sani etc all allow that.

Unfortunately u will get those people on every race. We had a girl who refused to let us passed on the descent from Spionkop and gave attitude when we asked nicely.

My dad is almost 70 and loves his Epic. Rode Sani on a 29er epic (first time ever riding a 29er) and he was super happy. Camber is definitely a good option.

B&B is better than Sani if you like technical riding! It really is an amazing ride and the water tables are WAY better than Sani. There is a competition for the best so they go all out. We even got Jacobs coffee on the last water point on day 1 (we had a tough day with mechanicals and riding in a strong head wind were seriuosly losing our sense of humour. It just made our day).

Bad or Good news??? We still do Puff Adder Pass. I can fully understand their reason for changing the route. Last year the Great Trek had to finish on the road because we couldn't get across the river. Distance : 68km A climb up to Bullers Cross and Wesley’s way early in the day allows great views of the Drakensberg before an exciting descent down Big Red. We go up Mikes Pass through thick African Bushveld. After following many kilometers of single track along the crest of Naval Gun hill we rattle down Puff Adder pass and swoop down Mazambaan. This time we cross Schietsdrift in reverse over the bridge and make our way back to Emseni via Earls camp and the Steel Bridge.

Not talking about A group!

I completely disagree with you. I am a weekend warrier and I certainly don't walk and cause bottlenecks on the singletrack. Yes, I walk on some of the uphills, but never get in anyone's way. I have such limited riding time (1 day on a weekend) that I spend as much of that riding the fun technical stuff and not just training on boring jeep tracks. I was with Patches and Hayley on the Umko descent and we saw SO many people who couldn't even ride around a switchback, but yet they cruised up hills. One guy was from Zim and said there is no singletrack there to ride and admittied he was struggling.

And day 1 is NOT technical which means the roadies can all get a good seeding for day 2.

Thumbs up for this rave. I've also had excellent service from them in the past few months. Took my bike in before Sani for a full service and she came back working better than when she was brand new.

You guys missed out on so much of the good stuff !!! I was lucky in that I did the Great Trek last year and got the best of it. Doing the descent this year so hopefully it will good weather.

Maybe you should be asking the Tygerberg club for some of these statistics. Don't know how anyone here would know?

Why may I ask did you go to a 5:30 spinning class on your day off. You could have joined all the stay at home mums etc at a class around 10am. My problem is that I love this cold and have way too much energy. Need to ride or do something (other than spring cleaning the house).

I've got Berg and Bush to look forward to, can't wait to go play next weekend and start the training.

I only put my bike back together yesterday. Spent the previous weekends catching up on family time and was supposed to ride today, but while i don't mind riding in rain, today was a bit much. Just finished a roast lamb and home made custard :-)

I get that he is doing it for a cause, but I am in agreement with the cycle tour banning nudity. If it was your teenage daughter riding would you really be happy for her to be riding behind or near a guy that is almost completely naked?

Every race I go to Spesh and Giant are the two main brands I see. This includes mass races like Knysna etc.

I will never again travel with a cardboard box after what they did to my dad's. Whole corner of the box was missing and lots of holes in it. We now travel with the Thule boxes and they are fantastic.

Then you are more friendly than me. I want to pull zap signs at the cyclists riding past me when I'm in my car. I do have a wicked little smile when they are riding into the south Easter :-). (It's just jealousy because I can't ride to work)