DJR

Interesting ........ I see I have been around Bike Hub sonce 2010 and posted around 15 000 times ......... methinks I should get a life ......... Just kidding ........ thanks and congratulations Matt ......... are we going to have a BIG party for when the baby turns 21 next year?

Soon you'll be the fittest muffin

Just couldn't resist adding Clarens Drive and Cape Point

DEFINITELY if they all are in Celeste! Sharp!

Didn't even know pagers still existed. Thought we were past the 1980s. Are they back in fashion like Doc Martens, Rayban Wayfarers and, gods of fashon forbid, bellbottoms? Wonder under what rock I've lived? I suppose the same one where steel bikes hide.

So glad to hear you enjoyed my hometown and the pass in particular. By the way, it IS a National Monument and rightly so. Do yourself the favour and Google a bit about the history of Thomas Bain and the Pass.

Yup - for the cadence thing as Mook said above

That there is the issue methinks. Do some short very high intensity hill repeats / intervals on the road bike and it will make you FASTER up the hill on the MTB. It is just too easy to sit on the road bike and roll along and then feel good about the time and the miles you covered. It is also much easier to do those short sharp painful intervals correctly on the roadbike.

Noisemaker - indeed! The LOUDEST sound on earth (brick paving) on a Sunday afternoon after braai and beer! Haven't heard a nuclear explosion though, but cannot imagine that being much louder! Luckily noise = fun!

Wise man, you have now taken to heart the number ONE rule of road cycling: STAY ALIVE! No matter what, even "letting a taxi go" is trumped by that rule!

Jeep ouens praat oor die prys van petrol

I cannot decede where to look..........the bike or the view...........both stunning!

I must compliment you (again) on the composition of your pictures Dale. The way the curves of the waves, the shadows on the mountain and the front wheel work together is outstanding. The picture also make me feel the icy cold early morning in the foreground with the promise of a bit of warmth to come from the sun on the mountains. And then the mix of the two in the refections in the middle ground........but then, I'm a sucker for refections in any picture. Oh, and the lonely figure on the beach! Lovely! Keep posting!

So sorry to hear about this. But I agree and will encourage anyone who feels like just going there anyway and riding the route. It will be stunning and there are enough places along the way to find food and water to do it without an event organizer. The roads are all open public roads and the STUNNING geography is there for free. Just take enough endurance fitness in the mind, legs and body with you. Prince Albert has a great variety of good places to stay and eat to suit all budgets and tastes. It's also the kind of town that has enough to keep families occupied and happy while you ride. If you want more support, a back-up vehicle and food and drink laid on, Prince Albert Cycles will gladly do it for you and become a friend in the process.

Hairy, congratulations, this morning you made me cry! Thanks!

Years ago when my boys were still in primary school, the traffic bottleneck in the area was very problematic at dropping/fetching time. So, the school (Southern Suburbs and entitled) had some discussions with all involved about how to improve the flow. All the possible solutions would take time, widening the road, changing it to one way etc. One brave soul stood up and said they should make it mandatory for ALL the kids to come to school using the local taxis only ......because there would be an IMMEDIATE and MASSIVE improvement..............not everyone thought it was funny!

Please PM names so I can avoid.........

Suddenly, after the Olympics, I am no longer the only one in my group of friends who know who Gojira is!

My number one favourite mountain pass in the world.

There is nothing as fantastic as a father and son tandem team.........ok..........maybe a mother and son / daughter team is on par...........trying to be fair......... it being womens month and all.

I have had a truly close call while riding my bike in the traffic. It changed my perception of BOTH riding and driving. I have always been a pretty defensive rider who used my "spidey sense" to keep out of potentially dangerous situations on the road. I did an advanced drivers course many years ago and the single most valuable thing it installed was exactly that. Too look, think and anticipate so that you will not get into a dangerous situation in the first place. (But the skid pan was more fun.) What it did NOT teach (it was long ago) was the necessary tools to cope with our overly aggressive and often unqualified fellow road users. The penny on that one dropped when a young man in Cape Town got beaten to death with a hockey stick in a road rage incident for blocking and brake checking the aggressor. No, it is simply not worth it! You will not teach that taxi driver a lesson, he will do the same again tomorrow and the day after. The possibly serious negative consequinces are likely to be yours, not his. Life is tricky enough to negotiate safely as it is, so, do not add to your own stress and problems. If you need to get the stress out of yourself, ride your bike or tackle the punching bag. All that is necessary is a little mindshift! Ps. Said like an old ballie who no longer fights every single windmill!

I never thought there were so many closet traffic cop wannabees on BikeHub 😁

What I can add is this: Tim was an absolute encyclopedia (do the youngsters still know what that was?) of everything related to the Cape Town Cycle Tour and South African Cycling in general. If you wanted to know ANYTHING about the history of the "Argus" you just had to ask Tim.........some whould say he was better at it than Google!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the documentary. I always had huge respect for Greg and found it sad how he left The Syndicate, but hope that his new Norco gig will translate into something that will allow him to mentor youngsters and build a formidable team in the long term. He really is too valuable (i.t.o. knowlege, expertise and experience) to be wasting his time in retirement running a little local bike shop.

About when to go: If all the recent winter rains is anything to go by, then it will be a bumper flower year in the Tankwa this year. It is usually at its best from mid-August to mid-September. (A bit earlier that the traditional time for Namakwaland or the Great Karoo.) The Tankwa lies sandwiched between the winter rainfall area of the Boland and the summer rainfall area of the Karoo proper. Some years they get both, some years one or the other and every once in a while they get neither. It makes for very interesting botany with unusual plants. In a good year the flowers can be absolutely spectacular. In spring you do have the risk of a very cold spell, even cold enough to have snow on some of the high passes, but you will not have the extreme heat of summer. As for headwinds.......this is cycling...... and headwinds you will most definitely have.........(most of the bad winds in spring will be from the West and just before a cold front blows in).