Andymann

I hate bikepacking......

So I wonder if our good friend Mazepin has been called up to go and fight in Ukraine? Or are some soldiers more equal than others......

I had the opportunity to meet RjvR at a wedding this weekend - he stayed in the room next to us and also sat at our table. What a top guy. So down to earth, not a hint of arrogance whatsoever. I kind of imagined a bit of a Mark Cavendish type of character - but couldn't have been more wrong!

So it was bugging me who the guy was so I phoned my old boss and we both remembered it was Pieter De la Rey - he the famous Drag racer. We always thought it was so weird that a guy who was a top drag racer was also an expert at winning fuel economy runs. Another interesting story involving Pieter De la Rey was that he drag raced an R1. That in itself isn't that impressive. It's the R1 that was impressive. In 1997 Yamaha brought out a pre-production R1 to South Africa for testing - engine number 00001 or the first R1 Yamaha ever built. When the Japanese testers left SA, they insisted that the bike and engine be destroyed as it was pre-production and was for assesment and testing only, so the plan was to take the bike out by ship into the Durban harbor and drop it overboard. Somehow, that never happened and it eventually made its way to De la Rey for drag racing. When I left Yamaha it had been returned and was standing in the entrance hall of Yamaha in Pinetown but Yamaha has moved now up to JHB so I have no idea where it went. But somewhere, in SA is the first ever R1 pre-production R1 ever built.

Many years ago we helped prepare a TDM900 for the Total Fuel Economy run. I forget the guys name who rode it, but he was a big BMW man and we poached him to ride the TDM. You really do have your hands tied when it comes to preparation because you aren't allowed to do any modifications but he knew a trick or two! He leaned out the mixture to a point where it was almost damaging the motor, and then also put in super thin oil. Last trick was to tape up the Radiator so that the bike warmed up almost immediately - all so that you didn't waste any unnecessary fuel. I think the TDM ran under 4l/100km which for a big 900 Twin was impressive!

So that was interesting - we drove down last week from Gauteng and returned yesterday. It was different to what I expected - I was expecting Race to the Sun bunches and a lot more Chirp - I was with A-bunch to about halfway up the climb and then never saw another bunch until right at the end - most of the route I rode alone or had maybe one person passing me, or me passing them. My Wife started 10mins ahead of me with the racing Ladies and we honestly thought that given what happens in Race to the Sun we would catch up to each other by the first or second Water Point. I never saw her again until the end. Wasn't an issue in the beginning but the last 40kms it was really soul destroying having no-one to chat to, to keep the motivation going. I might go back again - we went in with Race to the Sun type training which is way different to what you need for this race - we didn't do nearly enough hills, so I would change things a bit. And I will definitely fit different tyres to the MTB! The Gravel bikes just destroyed us! I

I think the Trinity series, along with 5150 Bela Bela have all been canned. Can only suspect it's a money thing.

We're plebs. We just call them Rally Boxes 🤣

I've made a public album with some pics and vids on Facebook for those who want to have a look. https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=andy.robertson.9047&set=a.10159981653041142 Unfortunately the 125 broke down on Day 1 - I'll pull the motor this weekend to see exactly what went wrong but I hope it's not too serious! The 175 lived up to it's reputation and apart from one 10mm bolt that came loose on the back mudguard, I never touched it once. Just cruised along with zero problems.

Ouchie.....

Get her one of the aircooled 125's or 175's. They are really easy to ride, very forgiving and if she has a bit of an oops, parts are still available. The LC parts are becoming pretty scarce.

All Done. Went out for a test ride, no issues. Running really well but I took it easy because it's a new engine. It's probably a bit loud for 50yo Andymann, but 17yo Andymann would probably have put on the full Bosson system and not just the tailpiece and thrashed it everywhere he went. Ironically, my 85yo Father who will be riding it in the rally behaved like a teenager yesterday and kept on blasting it up and down the road. Something about running it in and it needs to go through heat cycles etc. Apparently these old guys know a thing or two because when I rode it again later its really flying now. Gives the 175 a good run for its money.

A little sneak peek - it's not done yet but I just had to see if the idea I had worked. Just needs some gold rims now and it will be perfect!

I'm eagerly waiting to see what bike Giant has designed for Kristian Blummenfelt for the upcoming sub-7 challenge. There's been some grainy pics of something pretty radical - but all hush hush from Giant

And then, just because it was looking a bit tatty I sent the Tank, Sidecovers, Rad guard and Headlight cover off for a paint - going for a mini-YZM500 look....

So I decided if we are doing this, we need to do it properly - the little 125 was running well but it was a little rattly and when I bought it the nut on the end of the crankshaft had come loose and damaged the threads so it was on with Loctite. I had collected all the spares so it was just a case of engine out and rebuild. Nice and quick. I also decided to put on the Bosson tailpipe I had bought years ago.

I'm doing something completely different in May - I usually join my Dad on this rally http://www.ncmc.org.za/natal.html on one of the classic bikes - but his back is not that great anymore and age is catching up - not so easy starting a 500 British single and riding it with crap suspension and terrible brakes. So I've convinced him to do the rally on DT's - I'm going to ride my 175 and he's going to ride the 125LC. Nice and light, easy to start and the long travel suspension will be easy on his back. Going to be a hoot I think!

Thanks. The Revel is a Medium 29 and the Liv a Small 27.5

My Parent's neighbor in their retirement estate is cleaning out their garage due to her husbands unfortunate illness and she is wanting to sell her Husband's Giant Revel 1 and her Liv as well as a Thule rack. Someone in the Estate told her each bike was worth R4000 and the rack must go with the bikes for free. My mom asked my opinion, and I thought that was a bit of a cheeky offer so I thought I might get some opinions here from those that know (I'm a bit short on entry level bike prices). From the pics they don't look used at all and in really clean condition, but they are obviously very entry level. Any comments?

When I read about how tough it is for a South African cyclist to make it in Europe it seems like we are too protected here - big fish in small ponds. DR has done the team thing and let's be honest it didn't really open up a bunch of paths for South Africans to get over to Europe. Maybe he needs to bring everything he has learnt from running a team in Europe and set up an Academy here in SA where he can prepare riders for what it takes to make it as a pro. Somewhere remote where the riders are away from home, have to cook, clean and fend for themselves and basically live in conditions similar to those they will experience in Europe. If you read Jens Voigt's book both he and Jan Ulrich were part of a Academy where they were identified from very young. It's great that he supported Malawi, Eritrea and Rwanda but I bet there are a whole bunch of Nic Dlamini's right under our noses here in SA. MAybe we need to be a bit selfish and develop our guys first. I suppose not having races in SA is a challenge and funding is always going to be an issue but I suspect there might be more interest setting up an Academy in SA from SA companies than sponsoring a cycling team based in Europe with very little African ties.

Ralph Pitchford is the Chairman of the VMC Club and he was chatting to me at one of the meetings about when he was part of the Red Bull VW Touareg team for the Dakar. He had to present himself at the Red Bull Fitness Center in Austria (where all the Red Bull sponsored Athletes train) in October three months before the Dakar started for a fitness test before he was even allowed to start driving.

I'm taking a bit of licence here because it does have a picture of a motorbike on the cover, but RIP Meatloaf. And he did have a few bikes in his collection so it does count.

We run the GoSport Cross-Triathlons at the Cowhouse and we are very cash-strapped - no fancy frills, no split timing, basic waterpoints and it's held off-road and in a pool to save costs. We even do the swim lap-counting ourselves and then when everyone is done swimming, we become the sweepers and ride the routes to help any stragglers. At R350 an entry if we don't get 15 participants we lose money. It's a very fine line to try and hold a professional event which people want and expect, and to keep the entries realistic. What we try and do is market our events purely for beginners to get into the Sport - that way, we can control the things that are important (but free!) like teaching the correct rules of Triathlon, but we also don't create an expectation of an IM standard of organization. R750 is expensive, but if you need10 lifesavers on the day, it quickly adds up.

I'm afraid it didn't. If I recall the program lasted about two years before it was cancelled.