mountain_lion

mountain_lion2007-11-09 06:49:28

Engineers have long pondered why sales folk earn more than rocket scientists. Perhaps Politicians should be included in the list of this immutable laws beneficiaries? The SALARY THEOREM states that: "Engineers and scientists can never earn as much as business executives and sales people." This theorem can now be supported by a mathematical equation based on the following two postulates (which we all accept as true): Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power. Postulate 2: Time is Money. As every engineer and scientist knows: Power = Work/Time Since: Knowledge = Power and Time = Money, Then: Knowledge = Work/Money Solving for Money, we get: Money = Work/Knowledge. Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of work done. Conclusion: The less you know, the more you make.

Since we are getting all theoretical proving theorems etc. ... Here is another power related one (just confuse Willehond even more): "Engineers and scientists can never earn as much as business executives and sales people." This theorem can now be supported by a mathematical equation based on the following two postulates (which we all accept as true): Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power. Postulate 2: Time is Money. As every engineer and scientist knows: Power = Work/Time Since: Knowledge = Power and Time = Money, then: Knowledge = Work/Money Solving for Money, we get: Money = Work/Knowledge. Thus, as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity, regardless of the amount of work done. Conclusion: The less you know, the more you make.

Yip, I also saw that and immediately recognised it as Minty's tip and also noted that the names match up. Not likely that two different Deons will come up with the same tip. Must agree that Minty should have got the shoes. I have seen Debbie of plastic bottle mudguard fame at a few events. Lets just say that Style Man will not approve...

How do you keep a fool in suspense? ... I will tell you tomorrow...

*bump* - anybody who recorded the Durbanville route on Saturday?

I downloaded the kml route generated by Shortlegs from mapmyride.com (route only, not elevation data). Plotting this data on a 90m DEM gives this rough profile (no smoothing applied to the data): Comparing briefly by eye, the shape of the 2 profiles look similar. I get: max elevation 219.6m, min elevation 48.9m Which is similar to mapmyride. However total ascent descent differ considerably. I get: total ascent 651m total descent: 664m I am not doing this ride (will be in the mountains). Anybody who will be recording the ride? Will be interesting to compare with an actual recording.

Most of the consumer type GPS models will do. Garmin are by far the most popular. The latest modes with the "high sensitivity" receivers are great. On the bike, the Edge 305 is a great training device. The most appropriate model to get will depend on your budget and intended usage. If you are just interested in plotting routes and profiles, you might not even need a GPS, especially if you are talking roads. Most roads have been accurately mapped. I have found that measuring ride distances from a map compare very well with actual recorded distances. Often much more accurate than the distances advertised by event organisers. I have also been able to generate fairly accurate profiles of routes traced from maps sitting at my PC, using a DEM - digital elevation model. I have posted some of these generated profiles on the Hub in the past. Madmappers have DEM data of all of Africa at 90m resolution (the Americans have 30m but they do not make it freely available). Various software can work with DEM e.g. Global mapper (but might be a bit expensive) or OziExplorer (basic but affordable). Both of these are available in RSA from madmappers http://madmappers.com mountain_lion2007-10-18 13:44:35

Cheap yes and a decent frame, but does not have decent components. Rather pay a little more for the Anthem 2 (paid R13k in April).

No, man kindergarten teacher! Het sy jou kwaad gemaak Groot Lem??? Jy bly toe nie eers vir die lucky draw nie...

Ag nee kom nou Fanie, dit was heel lekker en daar was niks fout met die gravel nie. Ek het nou wel nie daar voor by julle race snakes gery nie, maar die (2de) J-groep het lekker saam gery. Op die gravel het ek hulle gedrop en nie weer gesien nie. Die results het egter nie 'n J-groep nie. Volgens Winning Time het ons almal in K-L begin. Die bulte aan die einde was hard (ek gaan m?re styf wees), maar Africa is a tough country... Moenie kom moan as jy nie die punch kan vat daar voor nie.

Yes, chains are not fussy, but the plastic chain cleaner gadgets are. I have now fitted an SRAM link to my MTB chain, so can take it off, but after a not so muddy ride, it is quicker to clean the chain on the bike. This one is soapy, so not a pure solvent and I guess should be OK on the plastic. I used this engine cleaner to clean my new MTB chain before fitting it - works fine. Just need to use gloves since this stuff is not kind to your skin. Will get Prepsol when this eventually runs out - I have 5l and I don't clean my car engine that often! I don't use a degreaser on the MTB chain every time. If it was not too muddy I only use water in the chain cleaner gadget, dry and lube. Reasoning being that it is not a good idea to get rid of all the lubricant after each ride. By the way, does it matter which direction the chain runs? I.e. do you have to check that you put the chain back in the same direction after taking it of for cleaning? I know it does not matter for a new chain and can't think that it matters if you reverse the chain when it is partly worn. Just wondering if there might be a reason... mountain_lion2007-09-23 08:42:35

Midas also stock their own house brand engine cleaner "MEC 5". Bottle does not say what it is made up of; is also pink. Does say to rinse of with running water if it comes into contact with the skin, so I guess it is not Prepsol. Anybody know what this stuff is? Was wondering if it will be good for bicycle chain cleaning too since I have a bottle of it.

If Marius punctures, he abandons the race. If he had to stop long enough to fix a tyre, he will loose the sight of the others and then get lost!

Some of the photo's on the site do look like Jonkershoek, but then they also have photo's that are definitely not Jonkershoek... Jonkershoek will be one of the most difficult places to get approval. More bike trails, down hill course, north shore style tracks etc. is no problem - go ahead. But chalets and chair lifts NO WAY! That kind of development will meet with fierce opposition from the locals. Chalets and chair lifts will not fit in with the character of the valley and is not in line with the local IDP. Cape Nature tried to push for a conference venue in Jonkershoek a few years ago. The public participation meetings were heated to say the least. Fortunately nothing came of it to date. I guess they will try again some time in the future... If Jonkershoek is indeed the site under consideration, either scale down the plans or spare yourself the trouble and find another site.

I asked the same question because there was nothing on the website. They obviously don't want to say which site they have in mind yet. Probably because they do not have any plans approved yet. Personally I do not believe that they will be able to build all that they mention on the website. Some of it yes, but chair lifts? Doubt if permission will be granted. A Cape Town bike park will be great though - good luck with it! Hope they give it a local style rather than trying to mirror Europe or Canada as is shown on the website...

Care to give us a clue of where in Cape Town this is planned?

I successfully repaired my tyre last night. Will see how long it lasts. I know the same system is used for car tyres, but they are much thicker, so have much more surface area for the plug to adhere to. Bicycle tyres are thin in comparison, so more chance of the plug working loose. Guess the Stans should take care of it then. Only time will tell... mountain_lion2007-09-14 06:56:55

1. the numbers quoted it the first post is plain wrong (see my post with the actual numnbers for Eselfontein). 2. no excuses just explanation; besides we do not want to fight the crowds for a piece of single track like it seems to be the case up north . Some of the WC MTB events are already too big for me... mountain_lion2007-09-14 06:35:19

Just received the official results for Eselfontein: 70km: 59 finishers 40km: 156 25km: 94 Total: 309 Personally I don't want more people than that at the event.