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aah, my old friend General Opperman. All money raised will go to the upkeep of the Voortrekker monument and Afrikanerdom in general. I must commend him for his efforts. But for R2.50 less I can support the Tswane metro and cycle at Groenkloof/fountains.
Canaris listed a bunch of spots for an analogy of technical trails.... but sacrilige has occured' date=' he left out Teak Place and van Gaalen, both meccas in their own right. Especially van Gaalen!Shame on you Canaris, a month of commuting by tricycle!![/quote'] my apologies. But I have yet to taste those trails. I ask for my sentence to be commuted to 4 laps of Groenkloof on a single speed.
I'm not asking for anything to be made easier as I have aspirations to be a good techinical rider as I'm not built to be fast ( unless its downhill)
.
What I need just some idea of what I'm in for when I enter an event. If a grading system is too much to ask for maybe a simple comparison such as' date=' if you can ride every part of Groenkloof you will be able to ride everything in this event or there are two or three sections that are more technical.It is true that some events give a description of what to expect but until I do the race I have no frame of reference as to what do they mean when they say challenging!As for Shakes .... are you actually trying to contribute?[/quote'] my experience is that if you can ride Groenkloof you can ride most if not all races. Furthermore, I have seen that pros WILL climb off on short over-technical sections and portage their bikes, largely because it is FASTER to do so and there is less risk of falling and injuring themselves. (Lessons to be learnt here?) It is a race and not a dance competition, after all.
Man check the testosterone on this thread.....As a noob I have no frame of reference in terms on whether the events are too technical or not. But it would be useful if there was some sort of technical grading reference for the different races.The canoeing fraternity not only grade the rapids but also the rivers. Rapids are graded 1- 6' date=' 6 being the life threatening whilst rivers are rated A, B or C. C being the easiest with nothing more the Grade 1 and 2 rapids.Having something similiar for MTB events would certainly help in terms of determining which events I am ready for.Anybody else have the same need?[/quote'] even a grading system has its poblems. In PTA Groenkloof is seen as entery level, with very few mtbkers even considering to call it more than slightly technical except for that little bit at the back, or that dropoff into the river, ext, but generally a noobie can do it with a bit of guidance, prodding and support. Fountains is seen as maybe challenging and KLapperkop is there for hill training. Dial your skills on these three routes then you should survive most things. In Joburg they have a BLACK route at the MTN bike park, and the only thing difficult at Northern farm is to finish your ride with your bike in your possession. Mostly, portage is acceptable over technical stuff, so long as you walk off the trail. (Ettiquette, you don't walk all over the green in golf, so why walk on the best lines on a mtb route? get out of the way, furthermore, especially in Groenkloof, if you can't ride on the trail, don't make new ones, get off the bike and carry it around the technical bit, stop destroying the berms and technical sections, especially the root sections- rant over)The best way to get better is to"Shut up and ride!"
This depends on twothings:
childhood, challenge, fitness, escape, technical mastery, because it is there? MTB can be non threatening, non competitive and fun.
In PTA:
I just wish they would open up the climb to the radio tower - its a really good climb to train on - long and tech. As Regard said' date=' its good training ground but hard on the bike. Would have been awsome if they could join Fountains and Voortrekker the way they did Fountains/Groenkloof. It would give you a very nice loop with all kinds of terain.
Voortrekker is just very hard to race especially when its wet. I recon if they make some more tarils and they get time to set propperly it could be on par with Groenkloof.
[/quote'] at this stage the Monument and Groenkloof are managed by two different insititutions. namely AKV and Tswane metro. Klapperkop and Fountains are an extention of groenkloof. Klapperkop has now fences and guards.
We are all aware of the bike jacking taking place across the country, and the reality is that SAPS are not going to do anything about it , so the only people who can is us!
Bike jacking in the past was opportunistic, it is now organised planned and executed with military precision.
The question is what can we do and this is the reason for this thread:
Let?s put our ideas down and see if we can make something work.
I think this is what we must stop doing:
1. Having and us and them approach to other cyclists and cycling clubs we are all one community! And need to act as such
2. Thinking that the place where you cycle is safe! It is only a matter of time until the rest of the criminal?s cotton onto the easy money and low risk of bike jacking vs. carjacking they may claim your riding grounds as their jacking grounds?
3. If you are buying a 2010 top of the range bike that retails for R65 000 for R20 000 make sure it is not stolen.
4. Don?t be penny wise and pound foolish, if we all have to pay R100 per month to hire a security company then let?s do it.
[/quote'] LukeP: military precision is not all it is cut up to be. Deliverying tonnes of munition to the enemy has never been very precise. Colateral damage is a part of the game. That is why war is not nice, and is more gory than glory. Rather say surgical precision.Point 1. Join a club and join in in club activities, then there are more us than you.Point 2. never ride alone, and never ride near building sites and informal settlements.Point 3. Get a clunker, Single speed, a whatever bike to train on. Race on the R65 000 bike.Point 4. Ride in places that are guarded, like Groenkloof behindpushers monument and Klapperkop (and very softly MTN bike park).Point 5. map your routes and check for the nono's in point 2.Remember for a crime to occure a victim and a preptrator have to meet at the event. Out think the organised criminal, be where he is not waiting. (Sun Tzu) Be wary and don't do places on your bike where you would not take your kids.
but why?
At last Joburg exposes itself.
hate to say it, but the cars look better looked after than the girls.
maybe if it is a 2008/9 frame
saddle too high perhaps ?Then one tends to over extend the hips to compensate' date=' leading to bobbing. Could also be that you were tired and the core and stabaliser muscles could not offer enough support anymore hence the excess movement.(im no expert but this is what ive heard/read/seen/experienced)[/quote'] one way to check. Put a handfull of coins in your back pocket (middle) and ride down the road seated. If the coins jangle then the saddle is too high.
The dual sus is the one that is bobbing. THe shock does take a lot of clatter and movement out of the bike. When you return to HT the bikes response and rigidity is more severe. You will have to relearn to ride soft and unload the sadd le, ie stand a bit over bumps, or else it will feel as if the HT is bobbing.
normal. sort out your pedal stroke smoothness
on the left there is a "star" in the head tube of the fork. Go the your lbs and either get a new head set or explain that you want the plug/star and cap that goes on the top. Once you have that you push the star/pub into the head tube. Put the fork through the head set bearings. Put the stem on the tube. Lightly clamp the stem on. Place the spacers on the tube that sticks out of the stem, or trim the tube. Put the cap on top of the stack. PUt the bolt through the cap and tighten it into the plug/star that you shoved into the tube. When the star has bitten and the cap is tight, tighten the stem bolts.
get flow.
Roll call
Roll call
If money is important to you then quit cycling and take up chess
why all the gears, only adds to confusion and chances for mechanical problems......
interesting is the offencing rider rode for DISCOVERY, which also was a Bruneel/LA initiative. At this level doping is not accidental or once off, but often habitual. Furthermore, riders that get caught are normally "off the reserve" and have taken ADDITIONAL measures without the team doctors directions of knowledge. Something like, if one pill is good, five must be better. THe business of sport nutrition is very cutting edge.
belt drive & geared hubs...
in Technical Q&A
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