PhilipV

Hey, a few days ago you were worried about not being able to work, and not paying the bills. Now you have a lot of work, so be lekker about it.

Aaai, rus sag ou grote.

Opened the sandpit for the kids yesterday, the biggest kid decided that he misses beach days and annexed it. He also likes sleeping on the freshly worked soil where I am building the pump track.

After listening the the latest Kendall vs Kendall podcast (link below) I was inspired to make the Rooikop Skelmpie a Singlespeed again. Winter is nigh, and by the time we get into the mountains again, this bike (and I) will be itching to get muddy again. This bike as a singlespeed reminds me of why I started riding around the mountains and forests as a laaitie. All the fun. None of the worries. Motivational reminders. And clean cable routing that warm the cockles of my heart. Look carefully and you'll see some emergency gorilla tape wrapped around the fork. https://m.soundcloud.com/jensonusa/kendall-vs-kendall-ep-21-hot-or-not-hardtails-and-single-speeds

Sudocrem is [emoji108] Bemnets bum cream also works for me.

My On One 456 Carbon Hardtail This is my Rooikop Skelmpie. Not my first love, nor my main, unconventionally pretty to me, so tough and yet so rewarding to spend time with. The bike is a mishmash of hand me down and secondhand parts. It spends most of winter as a singlespeed, and does a lot of gravel and base kilometers in summer. This bike takes everything I throw at it. Wether it's a bikepacking trip or Helderberg runs, it gladly comes back for more. Sometimes it humbles me in the process, reminding me of the bad habits I've picked up while riding the fullsus and neglecting it. It doesn't mind getting dirty and being put away wet. And it doesn't mind when I ride the big lines or attempt things that my wife would classify as stupid. I saw these frames the first time in MBUK magazines that I stealthily read in Afrikaans class in high school, and I've wanted one ever since. My friend Ham had this frame, and I eventually swapped it for a RS Revelation that was on my broken Dartmoor Primal (I still mourn the death of that frame.) This frame is a bit small for me, one day when I grow up I'll probably replace the frame, or build up a new hardtail, preferably something steel with sliding dropouts. But I really don't need to, as this bike ticks all the boxes very well. Frame: On One 456 Carbon L Fork: Fox F32 140mm (Trance Donor Bike) Wheels: Giant P-XC2 (Trance Donor Bike) Tyres: Rear Maxxis Aggressor 2.3 EXO Front Onza Aquila 2.4 Seatpost: Lyne Contour XL 150mm (I had to drill a hole in the frame for the cable) Saddle: Spez Henge with a Blackburn Switch Wrap, with a Ryder Slug Plug, CO2 and a tyre lever. Drivetrain: Deore 1x10, Sunrace 11-42 cassette, 32t Lyne NW ring, chaintamer (needs replacing) and a chainguide of unkown brand. Brakes: Deore with 180mm front and 160mm rear rotors. Pedals: Shimano XTs that are older than my marriage. with regular servicing shimano pedals lasts forever. Handlebar: Rapide 780mm with green tape that serves as a referfence for my son to hold onto when riding with me on the Feva seat. Stem: 70mm Giant Unique touches: Hole in seatpost where someone at On One said he would hypothetically drill it if he hypothetically would need to if he wanted to fit an internally routed dropper. Topeak Versamounts to fit a second water bottle. Zipties and space blanket stashed in crank and headtube. Don't forget the bell.

My Trance trail bike. This Trance started life in 2016 as a Trance 2. Between then and now I have replaced/upgraded everything except the Handlebar, Fox shock, rear brake and the crankset. The frame cracked and was replaced by a Trance 1. I love the shimmery Pearl effect in this colourway. I love the local companies, so where possible I've supported Lyne and Rapide. Frame: Trance 1 27.5 XL Fork: RS Pike RC 160/150 Dual Position Air Wheels: Spez Roval Traverse. Rear Rim replaced by a Rapide 30mm Tyres: Rear Maxxis Agressor 2.3 EXO Front Spez Eliminator 2.6 Grid Drivetrain: SLX 11Spd with a Rapide 32T NW Ring. Spez Chainguide that came from a Stumpjumper Brakes: Shimano Deore 180mm F 160 R Pedals: Shimano M530 Saddle: Spez Henge, with a Blackburn Switch Wrap tool, tube, bomb and Lyne Led Zeppelin Seatpost: X Fusion Manic 150mm Stem: 45MM Funn Stem that was a gift from the Grease Monkey with a Lyne Top Cap. Handlebar: Rapide 780mm ( I should probably replace this, it's 5 years old.... Signature items: Frame Protection ala Ezelduro, bell, zipties stashed in the crank and a space blanket stuffed in the headtube.

It will suck if he races World Champs in GB colors.

Landies are the stereotype Instagram adventure influencer vehicle. For a reason. They are pretty cool and they will get you to cool places. But a myriad of other vehicles will get you there as well, and probably be more comfortable at getting there. And cheaper. And more reliable. My boet asked me to go look at a couple of landies for him, and we had a long chat. He ended up admitting that he won't take it to the beach, into the Bush or off road really and he will probably put highway biased tyres on. I told him to get a 2x4 double cab or SUV then? NOPE, he wants the Landy, and he wants the roof rack to stay on. Anyhoo, what do I know? At least he won't call me to help him out of some far off cool place when he is stuck or broken down, because he won't go there for fear of scratching the paint.

Whatever it is, take some larney photos and post it already!

If it is a Turner DHR please do!

He loves it. Especially being closer to the people walking in the street when he barks at them.

the squeakier the easier, to distract Baloo that is.

Greasy, you need a throw toy for those energy bombs.

I'm really glad I had this baby serviced and fetched it in time for lockdown. The coffee nook is lekker again. Not being able to buy decent coffee on the road has me appreciating my morning chino more than ever. I take my aeropress with me on the road, and when tiredness is really bad I'll stop for a road coffee. Only problem is that I only have two bags of beans left. Should have bought that kg from my local roaster, will have to settle for whatever looks the freshest at my local spar on our next weekly shop. At least the bialetti doesn't mind older beans that much.

My utmost sympathy. Having gone through a similar fight with my Dani two years ago, I know how you feel. One of the worst days of someone's life. My innige simpatie. Sterkte.

I pledge to go back and do this properly when we are allowed to again.

You NEED another bialetti. And two bags of beans.

We're part of the agricultural supply chain, so we are glued to the grind stone. I'm sending my drivers home, so I will probably be taking all the loads. I have a drawer for my wife's dresser that needs to ge built after one of them got lost in a move, and I want to build a wood passive amplifier for my phone, so if there is down time I might just hide in the garage. Woodworking is a brilliant form of RnR for me, because I'm learning as I go. Humbling and satisfying at once,.

My little boy has been running around making pewpew noise with s..e pipes he put together. I reckon I should make a proper little pistol for him.

If you want to say something stupid, at least make up a stat that could be kind of true, but this is just inserting your left foot next to the right one in your mouth.

So say they gave the riders the option, 75% percent of the riders continued to risk it. They feel strong, don't have symptoms and no one came from Italy. That's 750 riders , with all the support staff going with it, let's thumbsuck and say 250, that's 1000 people living in close proximity for 8 days. But 30 of those riders were asymptomatic carriers who got infected on the plane en route to cape town. Now they go and ride their hearts out for 8 days, suppress their immune systems, some are so tired that they neglect hygiene a bit. So those 30 carriers become 45 carriers. But all are asymptomatic. Afterwards they go home, or spend another week in Cape Town, maybe to Mzolis, or do a township tour. 10days after Epic that rider start showing symptoms. Phone the hotline and get a test at home. Positive. Self quarantine, because he is sick, but not enough to warrant hospitalisation. So now the trace starts. The NICD now has 1000 first line contacts to follow up on, but those 1000 went home to families, their kids went to school, they went shopping, rode on public transport. And the NICD still has to go to mzolis. Now if yiu think this is unlikely, the Epic has a history or riders with diarrhea. The riders can't even maintain basic hygiene to prevent a spread of gypo guts. Do you still think it's an over reaction?

As someone who picked up a droplet spread virus at the 24hr race, I'm not going to be throwing any stones here. This can't have been an easy decision, and my heart bleeds for the riders.

And if the zip ties doesn't look lekker, then get one of these stick on cable guides to hold the cable. https://bikemob.co.za/products/jagwirestickoncableguide

You can always try this.