kandui

The crap thing about the Hotspot is that it is slap in the middle of an important link between town and the southern suburbs. There is no other established trail to get into town, although I do know of a hidden trail which bypasses the hotspot . It would require a climb up Plum Pudding though , which makes it a tougher route.

The attack on Monday is unfortunate as things had been looking good for a long time. I am relieved that Graham was not seriously injured. The attack happened at a known hotspot. This stretch of trail is important as it links the front of the mountain to Newlands. I will post an image of the area later this morning to give you an idea of the danger area. I will also put in some warning signage at the approach from both sides. Be careful in the area BELOW the Kings Blockhouse. Ride in a group, if you can. If not, you might like to wait on the trail for other riders and go through the area together. If you want to hook up with other riders to form a group, drop me a mail at ride@tablemountainbikers.co.za and I will put out a message to my mailing list.

Yup,that's a known hotspot. Easy escape to De Waal Drive where the fences are broken.

Grumps. Very sorry to hear you were ambushed today. Please can you let me know where exactly they were hiding (the exact location)? Below the Blockhouse is a bit broad, I need to know whether you were attacked in a known hotspot. I can and will signpost it and make it known to my group. I will take it up with San Parks tomorrow and I also urge you to lay a charge with SAPS. Only then will the incident become an statistic.

Speak to Olaf at Crosstown Cycles. He is still closed but get hold of him on 072 0110038. He rides one and if he can't service, he will tell you where to go.

Very sad and tragic news! Strength to his wife and their families in this terrible time. F..k, F..k, F...ing Taxi Scumbag!

Logging is not a clean and neat operation,so I doubt there is much chance of the trails being kept clear by the loggers. The heavy equipment will most likely be rolling over the trails and probably dragging logs over the tracks too. When they felled at Lebanon, the trails looked like a bomb had hit them for a long time. If you're going to ask for the trails to be open after 4, I suggest you put up signs warning of loose debris on the trails. There are bound to be loose branches which can kick into spokes, rocks will have been churned up by the logging vehicles. Unless of course they are doing an overhead cable drag , a la Ax Men. But still, it's not going to be fun to ride the trails while logging is going on.That's just my opinion. Could Cape Pine not have waited for the end of the holidays to start clearing?

With those bits of Single Track out of commission for the time being, how much XC and AM Single Track do we actually have available in the whole Table Mountain Park? A km, maybe less? I think we have a valid argument for more track. I am looking at the fire breaks as possible areas for development,especially along Signal Hill and above De Waal Drive. They are kept deliberately free of vegetation, so what could some single track destroy?

Love the "100 year plan". What about all the alien blue gums above Fresnaye and Clifton, or the pines and other alien species on the slopes of Table Mountain and at Rhodes Memorial? Those could have been culled a long time ago. Agree with you on the hypocrisy. What's wrong with a few shady pines? I am sure the other user groups would prefer to have a bit of shade to walk their dogs or ride their horses too.

I know it's utopian. Buy the trees from whomever holds the concession at their after costs price and leave them where they are.

Lovely "Wasteland" trail riding to come. Seriously, I quite liked riding in the shade of the pines. Not many shaded trails left now. Oh we'll, will have to move across to Cecilia Forest.

Nobody? Cool, I'll have the place all to myself!

Best to stay off the bike for a couple of days. Give it time to heal. The bumps under the skin are pretty much there to stay, albeit a bit smaller. Forget about them, make sure the skin is sparkling clean after each ride.

Sorry, got my Virus mixed up with my Bacteria. Should take notes next time I ask the Dermatologist so many questions.

Time for my Antibot!

We are going to be in Knysna from the 23rd and I will be looking to ride a bit. Anybody going or up there already? Would be good to hook up with anybody up there

If it's a Staff infection, then changing saddles or getting new bibs won't make a difference. Spending long hours in the saddle will always cause some friction and the Staff will get into the red area and infect it. Staff like to sit in the nose , hence the Batroban Nasal cream. The Dermatologist told me that Batroban topical cream will only be effective if the wound is open. Since Staff is a virus and not bacteria, boiling bibs will also not help. The soap I was prescribed is an Acne remedy and contains peroxide. Riding the same saddles and the same bibs and spending my usual hours in the saddle. Touch wood, all is clear.

Another cause for the sores could be Staff virus. I had a bad case of saddle sores the last 2 days of Epic this year (i never suffer from this) and couldn't get it to heal. Had almost golf ball size bumps under the skin on the sit bone. Had small pimples on the skin which erupted into horrible fountains of gunk and the pain brought tears to my eyes. Got the Doc to give me Antibiotics on 3 occasions which solved the problem for a while. The infection came back without warning and it really made riding flipping sore. I changed saddles, put bum cream on and when all failed, called my GP for more Antibiotics. I did a nose swab for Staff, but it came back negative. Got another bout of the saddle sores a month ago and couldn't take it anymore. Made an appointment with a Dermatologist and the first thing she said when she inspected my bum was that I have Staff. The reason the swab came up negative was due to me being on Antibiotics at the time. She put me on a 6 month course of: Antibiotics (one capsule a day), Batroban Nasal Cream (5 days/month) and I use an Acne wash for the infected areas. Some of us are Staff carriers without knowing it and a little bit of Foliculitis after a lot of riding creates an ideal breeding ground for the virus. My advice: Go to your GP and get a nasal swab done. It's cheap and will tell you whether you are a carrier or not. The Dermatologist says most Bum creams/ Udder creams are not goo to use . They block the pores, plus if you have Staff and are sticking your hand in the pot all the time, you are creating a lekker little place for the Staff to breed. Next time you use the bum cream, you are transferring Staff back to the infected area.

Agree with rattlesnake. Hang in there and train as if you had an entry. You will find one from January onwards and can most likely negotiate a bit too.

Safe Cut

Go to www.mtb-adventures.co.za Johann Kriegler mailed me on Friday to tell me the Cape Country basic package will cost around R 5000 (staying in school dorms). The Luxury option (B&B's) will cost around R 7000 for the week. This excludes accommodation in Knysna which you sort out yourself. Entries open in March. They book the Knysna Mtb race as part of the deal and you just pick up your race pack at registration. Very well organised, friendly and a nice challenge for the intermediate rider. The sense of achievement when you reach Knysna is awesome. Plus, you'll make some new friends on the way. Water points were often on the stoep of a farm house and everybody was very welcoming. I made a 50 minute edited GoPro video of our ride this year ,wish I could upload that for guys to have a look.

New event orgnanised by Dryland called the Tankwa Trek. In Feb in the Koue Bokkeveld. Looks interesting but at R 8200/ team I am put off. They're partly punting it as an ideal training event for the Epic, which uses the farm as a venue next year. I'll wait for the Epic and see the place then. Consider the Cape Country, a new event for 2013 which starts at Houw Hoek and ends in Knysna. We did the "test run" this year and it's the ideal middle between W2W rustigheid and Epic number of days in the saddle. Nothing hardcore, the CC will have no prize money.We all enjoyed it. If the Gods of Money are smiling upon me in 2013 (at the moment they're not), I'll opt for the Transalp and try and do one overseas event a year. Have already given away my Sani entry and could well ditch the W2W entry too.

Got a Hope clamp and the seat is still sagging. Applied carbon assembly paste and now seat post creaks like mad and still slips! I'll try the Coke shim now and if that doesn't help ...

Cancelled. New date to follow

Found this Momsen bike which Father Xmas will be delivering for our 6 year old. Weighs under 10kg and has scope to last a while as she grows. The 7 Speed is a grand cheaper, but I reckon having 27 gears will stand her in good stead once she learns how to use them properly. Pity it doesn't come in pink, but it's still a pretty cool looking machine. Daddy likes it as much as Father Xmas. 20 inch and it costs 4999 North Pole Snowflakes.