Ratty

I think thats only if you are riding along with them :-) I'll also be there, taking my 3 1/2 year old son. He did the one at Knysna last year and loved it.

I think I beat that drop !!! I'm starting an hour later than last year. Damn annoyed. I'm in XX. My dad who has ridden the last 2 Burgers and Argus Cycle Tours with me i.e IDENTIAL times is starting almost an hour ahead of me. Explain that one. He has not ridden any other seeding races.

I used to do races so that I could experience different trails, routes and terrain. Since then, places like Oak Valley, Welvanpas, Tygerberg, Bottelary, Schapenberg etc have opened and I've also met up with people who know the trails at places like Jonkers and Tokai (no fun if you don't know where the singletrack is). I can now choose between so many varied trails, there is no need to attend races. I think one of the big factors is the quantity of mtb races these days. There are so many that people pick and chose and attend the best ones. Some weekends, we will have 3 races all within an hours drive.

Whats the big deal about the speed. Ride at what speed you are comfortable at and as your skill levels increase, so will your confidence and you will surprise yourself at how fast your are going. My first ever mtb race we did the short route. Got to the one "scary" downhill and the long route guys were passing us. We couldn't believe how fast those guys went. Now we are those guys. Part of the fun of mtbing is riding tracks where you don't know whats coming up. The quicker you can react, the faster you can go.

I would love to to the Epic, but the reality is I will never have the time to train. I think since they had made it harder, people are more scared of being undertrained and there is nothing worse than bailing half way through due to lack of training when you have spent R35000k. I'm stressed about Sani and well thats a LOT less of a financial commitment and they allow you to continue if you don't make stage 2. As a supporter, I LOVE the Epic. I love that its on familiar trails (those guys ride them so much faster) and that we get a few chances to see some of the top riders in the world right on our doorstep. I can't wait to watch the highlights every day.

There is nothing wrong with a hardtail for a beginner. My dad started cycling at 60 and rode a hardtail for many years. Even after buying a dual suspension, he still rode the hardtail his rides to Koeberg (2-3 hours ride from his house) and places like that.

Thornman, i've seen guys with the CTM shirts riding on the road just before the paddocks, was about 2 months back. I wouldn't mind if the people that choose to ride on the road had respect for the cars. To ride 3 abreast on the section between Sunset beach and the Paddocks is just plain rude and pisses the cars off as they then can only make use of one lane. As for the section between Paarden Eiland and Town, I unfortunately am not brave enough to venture there on my own and will only ride that section if I'm in a group. Had a great ride to Paarden Eiland yesterday afternoon in the wind, love having the cycle track.

He could maybe have sold the bike?

I got interuppted with my last post and didn't get to finish what I was saying. Rudo my son is a little older than yours which I think makes it a lot easier. He also has been riding on a balance bike for 2 years so has lots of confidence. The method to teach really depends on the kid. With Sean, we can't push or force him as he will just go backwards, but with other kids that works great. Whatever you do, just give it time. I think us parents buying the first bikes expect too much :-) As for blood on the carpets, luckily we replaced the carpets with wooden floors in Jan. Had blood dripping on the floors yesterday from a fall (not off the bike though). Now I just can't wait until he can come ride a little trail with me.. so exciting.

Well my son got a stunning bike for Xmas and told us after his first attempted ride he didn't like his bike. He also wasn't able to pedal, got the pushing part right, except it was with both feet. On boxing day he decided to give it another go. It was early morning, he was fresh and ready to be taught (helps alot). Took me about 30 seconds to explain that he only needed to push with one foot and that was it. He was cycling around the house (our poor furniture). Took him outside and he managed to cycle round the block.

We were advised to only use social media (twitter, facebook etc) if we are prepared to have someone monitor them daily. If someone comments, you need to reply straight quickly otherwise you will just annoy them more.

I can understand them rationing the coke, times are tough as we all know. But to ration the water??? With the last water point running out of water, people were forced to drink coke, so it actually cost them more not to have water. Saying that, I was stoked that 2 of the water points had water / powerade with little bits of ice still in it, thats a first for me. I'm used to drinking luke warm drinks. I think its only fair to be able to fill up a water bottle. Its said you should be drinking 1 bottle per hour which means the people who do 4 hours plus would need at least 4 bottles which is not very easy to carry on a bike.

My chiro gave me advice once for my knee (ITB) and that was to use Traumeel tablets 2-3 days before the ride and during the ride. However that is a NATURAL anti-inflammatory. If you need all the things you specified above, you should not be riding.

Our Nanny gets a bonus rather than a 13th cheque. That means its at our discretion if it gets paid and how much.. I don't agree with not giving an increase and then giving a 13th + 14th cheque. I think its better for the money to be spread over a year even for people who are well eductated in finances. The temptation to go blow the money on nice things is way too high and then people suffer for the rest of the year as food prices etc keep going up. This is my personal opinion though, I'm not saying you were wrong. I just happen to be one of the people thats not very good at keeping money in my account.

Thats my point in my previous comment, paint a clear picture and then your staff won't quiet as upset.

If there are no bonuses, then at least take the time to explain to the staff or managers why there are no bonuses. Don't just say no and walk out. We get kept update each quarter as to how the company is doing and based on that, we can have a good idea on the bonus we will get at the end of the year. If the company has a bad year then our bonuses aren't great, but at least we don't have the expectation and then get let down.

Wow, internesting reading all the negative comments. I went on a new spinning bike at VA Tableview the other night and I absolutely loved it. It was so smooth, quiet and a lot more comfortable. I wonder if maybe these new bikes are designed slighly more to work with male and female as the geometry suits me a lot better (I used to find the length too long on the old ones).

This is probably the same team I got stuck behind on Marine Drive just before Paddocks about 2 weeks ago. They were riding 3 abreast where this is no shoulder. What makes it even worse is WE HAVE A CYCLE LANE !!!!!

Maybe there were just racing each other? Who cares who wins group G, as long as you beat your buddy.

I use a different energy drink for racing than I do for training. I use Cytomax for racing as I know it works well for me and comes in easy sachets and then I'm using 32GI before a race as a loading drink and also on long training rides. Worked really well for K2C. I finished strong. I do however agree that using an un-tried energy drink on race day is not a good idea.

There were actually loads of complaints about Sani changing the route, think there was a thread on the hub as well about it.

I like the way you think ! I'm doing Sani next yaer, but will not be making use of my tent as my OH and son are coming along for the trip and I will be staying with them. It would have been great if the supper and accommodation were removed from my entry free. The jackets etc however I want as proof that I finally managed to get into Sani. The nice thing is that we have so much choice these days so can chose the ones that are good value for money and skip the rest.

Sorry, I'm with Jaco, has to be Justin Bieber as the guy that jumps through the window.

Wish I knew Tokai better so I could know where this is. Have ridden up a few of the trails there, but they didn't seem like downhill specific trails..

Guy at my work also got hit on Friday. Lady said she didn't see him. However she was overtaking on a bend where she shouldn't have been. Luckily he is ok and just got a sprained and bruised ankle.