Thor Buttox

Gees, even your accidents are more interesting than mine... we came to the small drop-off before the second little concrete bridge in Fairie Garden and there were two hikers smack bang in the middle of the path. My friend slammed on anchors and fell with cleats still attached off into the hole on the right of the trail. It's about a six foot drop. It was fairl worrying to see. The hiker said "Oooh hoekom is hulle op hierdie stukkie" and buggered off while I jumped down into the foliage. Thankfully nothing too serious.

Well, even from the screenshots above I've clearly missed riding some of the old trails while trying to slowly meander down the ones I knew, so would love to experience the new ones. Will there be more planned alternatives routes down the same trails with the wider open spaces, for different levels of riders? Chicken runs and turkey chutes?

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but how do they allocate the land to the trails? Do they just give a "rectangular" block down the face of the mountain that has been prepared for indigenous tree renewal and say you can build as you see fit? Or are there quite strict "trail density" requirements in a specific area to prevent overuse?

Somehow it's always my rear wheel that gets kicked towards the river on that angled wooden brace at the start of the bridge. If it's dry and I get the angle right it's easy to get up and around the corner, but otherwise I get to wash the mud off my tyres... and my feet... and my shorts...

Just kidding, mate! What you guys do for the trails is more than enough added value!

But if I've read most the threads you have contributed to rightly, and after noticing about 2 mins ago that DJR called you a "crafty" rider on the gyroscope thread and seemed to hold you in awe, I think your added value might soon result in a rider of my skill level entering an emergency room ASAP!

Pleasure the Dirtopia.co.za calendar is quite comprehensive because it includes the PPA rides and the non-sanctioned ones. The events page on this site normally has info on rides happening in the next few weeks, as people find out about them (and mostly want to check the ride profiles from previous years!)

I'm not up to date with the Paarl area exactly, except for races in the area, but I'm not sure if they are regular trails open all the time (I'm sure a Paarl local will assist you forthwith on the site! But if you're willing to pop across to the Wellington/Bain's Kloof side, Welvenpas is lovely.

Yup... this is exactly how I learnt!

No worries... I still remember all to well being totally and utterly gormless compared to my riding partners, so I feel your pain! (And I've fallen into the bushes of the Faerie Garden more times than should be allowed!) If you really want to go enjoy trails that are lot more "user friendly" yet still exhilarating, go out to Oak Valley with some mates and spend the day there. The black route trails off the main circular route are great for beginners cos you're not that likely to get hurt if you fall, but are still technical enough to get you up to speed quickly.

Don't worry! I also learnt there and trust me, it is in no way a basic track for a beginner, in either direction. I've done very few longer races that have any trails like that in them!

I can't think of an example, but when in doubt confuse the teacher by saying "the phases of matter include the usual 3 but also plasma, beams and Bose-Einstein condensates"... that should get him extra points (or a good hard klap!)

There is a USADA rule that no life ban can be reduced to less than eight years anyway, no matter what the mitigating circumstances. (Although rulez is rulez!)

I just cannot understand how moved I am by this... We have an event in March 2013 in Cape Town. We have 35000 riders. I know there are many, many charities - but I cannot think of a better way to make a statement. I have no contacts at any of the charities except the small one I ride for, but surely we can get songo.info or one of Burry's charities to get cycling shirts and we all buy one to ride in? The TV coverage alone would reach many people.

I did some work into the wind at the front in that second A group and it is silly how some guys go screaming past and then die horribly right in front of you... but there are some who do it really smoothly... I'm fairly sure, simply cos they are doing it, that they know who they are!!

I missed it by a meter at most... was really scary. luckily close to the medic/water point!!

You just need to differentiate between synthetic chemicals not available in normal nutrition and those that are. EPO is naturally produced by the body but is not available in nutrition... most energy drinks, etc, have basic carbohydrates, vitamins, electrolytes that would be similarly obtained by eating a ton of apples/banana's/salt/water... it would just taste s**t anf make you physically ill during an event. In my view, anyone taking any synthetic drug not freely available in basic nutrition at any time, should be guilty at any future time.

I know how you feel... my partner has been micro-dosing EPOL too... he's flying cos his shiny new coat is ridiculously aerodynamic. But his panting is getting ridiculous...

Seems the MTB race has been lumped in with TempM2 in the 48km...

Great organisation, D'ville High! My first time at the race and the atmosphere is fantastic And the downhill on the MTB race was terrifying... I now know my brakes work effectively!

Depending on the route (cos it seems the profile above is a rearranged version of the one on my Garmin from last year), it was about 1250m last year... but there's only a few really steep bits where most people pushed (wait for the signs saying "Have you borught your granny?" or something like that )... otherwise it's nice long steady climbs. The last climb on the dirt road is tiring though, if you're tired!

Am i right in saying that the 42km ride is very different from last year, given the profile above?

You can only really use that limitation if the "hundreds of cyclists" were clean... and not old.

Are there any exceptional cyclists then?? Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Armsyringe?

I'd give my left testicle to finish 38th!!