Scott roy

Archer caved about a year or two ago if I recall

Testing out the routes around the one town, the monastery was built in the 11th century. It’s intact with the original murals and is truly stunning. In the video up on the left there are remains of a fort also from around the 11th century. The very green photos were taken at the fort in summer. IMG_2666.mov

Are you referring to the gravel earth series?

Thanks, that’s a good idea. My only issue is that there’s very few cyclists here so it would all have to be foreigners, but I guess that would be the same for Morocco too. I have a couple 120km routes with 3k plus elevation which could work, however the riding here is definitely more suited to mtb than gravel.

Agreed, I’ve even dreamed of having an xco World Cup here, but that’s wishful thinking.

Haha I was literally thinking this is a time where everyone is going to be very sceptical of a tour

So it’s been a while which has given me some time to plan and think about things. I’m planning to do a trial run in June, it will be more rudimentary with the main aim to learn for future additions. The current proposed rout has some refinements to be made but below is roughly what it should come out to. I’ve planned it as such: Group lands in Tbilisi the day before the start of the tour (or more if whomever wishes to get there sooner). They spend the night in a hotel, get collected in the morning and get taken to a storage unit I have where bikes can be assembled and travel cases left safely, from there we ride. Day 1 will be around 84km with 2110m of elevation gain and 1 night in a hotel in a small historic little town. Day 2 is 95km with 2350m of elevation gain and finishes off in a stunning mountainous town (Stepantsminda), where two nights will be spent. Day 3 is a shorter day mainly going around to various sight seeing areas, 42km with 1420m of elevation gain ending with night 2/2 in the town. Day 4 rest/transfer day. This day will be a transfer to another mountainous town (Bakurani), about 5 hours drive. It will include a few stops for sightseeing, two nights will be spent here. Day 5 consists of 84km and 1870m of elevation gain and the second night in Bakurani. Day 6 is shorter but rather tough on small almost nonexistent roads, 66km and 1150m with a night in a small town near an old fort. Day 7, the last day is around 76km with 1520m of elevation gain, ending on a steep climb to an ancient monastery. From there a transfer will take us back to the hotel in Tbilisi (about an hours drive through the city). From there it’s 1 night there and then back to the airport unless a decision is made to stay longer and explore. So 6 days of riding amounting to roughly a total of 446km and 8500m climbing, 1 rest day in the middle Additionally I’m considering making it 9 days of riding if there’s a want for that. This is a tough rout I realise, so curious to hear some opinions on it. Shortening the days would be tricky unless people are willing to hop into a vehicle to the nights accommodations however that seems to defeat the idea for me.

What a ride by Luke

P19 for Luke, awesome

Moir currently in 8th, high hopes for him.

And a friend of mine says his staylive also seems to have it.

Agreed, this should it have been successful would have been me shot off my bike without even encountering someone, no weapon would be have been able to help me. I have done advanced and tactical handgun training and I recon I would need to be significantly better before carrying a firearm on the bike. Carrying while cycling is something I am in support of if done properly but it’s risky. 70% of the time I recon it will be completely useless to the cyclist with how sudden the attacks are, in those attacks no matter if you’re armed or not things are going south. The remaining 30% you could probably save yourself and your bike if you have the correct training for your weapon. The biggest issue is that the criminals wind up with another weapon in the majority of times in my hypothetical scenario here, not that they can’t get elsewhere easily enough I guess. When still in SA I cycled in “safe” areas and mostly with other riders.

There is no doubt about it, cycling is rapidly becoming very unsafe in SA. In November I was riding to wolvespruit at about 6:30 am, I turned off of Atterbury onto January masilela and slowed down for the first robot after the dip. Luckily it went green because as I accelerated again I heard a gunshot in close proximity as well as the bullet flying right past me. Gave me a proper fright and I sprinted away rapidly while looking around, there wasn’t any cars or people in sight so it must have come from the uncut grass on the left. This is a civilised residential area right by Menlyn main and not where you’d think you should worry.

My thaughts exactly

I’ve sold a fork to the owner, dealt with him a bit on WhatsApp but he seemed to be a solid guy