PhilipV

It was the middle of winter, in the midst of a cold snap, and yet Baloo went swimming. The funniest was how he kept looking back and calling me with a little bark because I didn't join him this time.

You've met me, do you really think I have the patience for fishing? Especially with a handline? I'm not bourgeoisie enough to own a Landy. Maybe they shared tne spliffie and that is why Johan is driving north instead of going south as requested?

Error 404: front teeth not found.

Why is Johan driving a LHD in Namibia? But I agree with Mrs Patches. Then again, the rod I know how to use doesn't have a reel.

Best tip I got when I planned our Nam holiday was to not take any beer or meat over the border. To this day I prefer Nam beer. And I miss inexpensive Gemsbok meat.

No ways! Real boets drink their beer on boats. Pap gooi is for poor people. Disclaimer for the Boating Karens and the papgooiers, the above is written in jest.

Dammit, I missed the beer bellies and pap gooi fishing in my description. Will have to remember those.

What happened? Did a bakkie driver steal your girl? Can't have been the brandy drinking, two-tone shirt wearing, blue bulls cheering, suburbian crowd that has been fuelling your prejudices, because they are all lekker.

Mountain Tax bru!

1: mountain streams or available water.2: fanny pack with a second bottle 3: hydration pack

Rich people on expensive bikes at the back of the pack has always been part of mountain biking. I remember as a school laaitie I would scoff at the middle aged overweight guys on the Cannondales as I dropped them. And then one day I realised that while I can train after school, they are working in an office and probably have families as well. And that they are probably working hard, so they can buy what they want. That changed my attitude, and I told myself that I will probably be the slow guy one day on a nice bike. Well I've reached the middle point, I'm not fast anymore, and I don't buy exorbitantly priced fancy bikes yet.

If I was to ride Epic now, the Epic Evo Como would be my bike of choice. But 80K ZAR for an SLX spec bike just makes me sad. So much so that I'll make a point of riding my SS a lot more just to remind myself that the brands have gone mad and that I don't have to buy in to the golfing mentality.

mostly all the big soil moving was done by diggers. That helped a lot. So the spade swinging was mostly shaping. Make no mistake, some of the uncles put in a lot of time in the form of marking out the course, lobbying the council, organizing sponsors etc. I reckon they are the real heroes.

I have no idea what a Fish us or where Dunes are, but I know how a feet-up two-wheeled drift feels on my hardtail, so we may be speaking about same amount of rad.

Lot of lobbying at the council by the wannabees followed by lot of sweat by school kids and a couple of dads followed by continual maintenance. Hopefully we'll get some good maintenance done during/after winter, but with things being weird it might pass over the rainy season. I might do some therapeutic spade swinging as well.

Yes Southeys is open. And you won't need day permits like at the wannabees trails. I'm not sure whether you can get wannabees day permits as well right now? Maybe ping them in email or fb and confirm if you choose to go that way. Another popular option is the G-spot and Eden in Stellies. Open, Free and loved by many. Maybe pop some love for the Stellenbosch Trail fund via snapscan if you ride there. Jonkershoek also has a family friendly green trail close to the gate that doesn't get the love it deserves.

I also have friends who keep me humble when I suffer from delusions of grandeur.

Consider putting a spacer of some sort between the bottle cage and frame on the lower bolt of the bottle cage. That way it tips the front of the bottle a bit lower, making it easier to get the bottle out, and reducing the chance of rubbing on the top tube.

You want a lekker frame. Silverback Slade is my pic. You want a lekker fork. A stiff one, RS Pike, Manitou Mattoc, Fox 34/36 or similar. You want strong wheels, and you want rims to be wide. 29+mm inner width is where id buy. Pay attention here during planning, as the wheels need to have the right freehub for whatever groupset you get. Dropper seatpost is a must. Lyne gets my vote. While you are there get Lyne stem and handlebar, or take a look at Rapide components. Get a 1x groupset. 11 or 12 spd in whatever your budget allows. I'd get Deore 12spd. Get decent brakes. I'd get shimano zee or the new deore 4pots or 4pot Formula Curas. Get your favourite saddle, grips, pedals and bell to round off the picture. Remember: Een man se lelik is 'n ander man se vrou. Get what YOU want, it's your bike after all. My build would be a mix of solid reliability and value. Hopefully in stealth black.

You must be a hoot at parties.

My dogs sleep inside, but that's because I am scared of then being poisoned at night. There is still risk of that in the day as well though.

Our modern vehicles go through many recalls that is done at service time that we don't always know about either. I've even had one on a Hino truck that was essentially a wire bracket and couple of zipties. Glad you're bike is getting together. Enjoy!

I'm curious, is there a clause saying you can't claim from your own medical aid if you work on your son's teeth? Or is it better to have a colleague do it so that son can't blame you later?

Sounds good as new to me?

To the English speakers, my apologies in advance. @DJR, mag my liefde vir my kinders ook eendag so opreg en eenvoudig tog kompleks en duidelik soos joune vir jou seuns uitkom.