DJR

There is always a road over the mountain and it is either a stairway to heaven or a stairway to hell. The difference between the two is your fitness level.

On the jeeptrack going from Constantia Neck through Cecilia forest to Kirstenbosch and on to Newlands Forest. About 500 metres from the start at Constantia neck, going North, the jeeptrack splits. Left fork takes you up and over Kirstenbosch. Right fork takes you down and to the start of the cork oak trail along Rhodes Drive. Near the fork is a building that used to be famous / infamous painter Tretchikovs' studio, but was later turned into an art gallery. I don't know what it is used for now.

Very concerning - that has been a very safe route for a long time, used by multitudes of dog-walkers, families with kids as well as cyclists.????

Notes made????

And if things happen as they are supposed to, the Eroica SA will be the weekend after the CTCT........three weekends in a row..........mamils are going to have to train and consider recovery strategies, maybe even include massages, shaved legs and compression socks...........because I don't think beer alone is going to work.

French ancestors?

Workshop invaded wifes kitchen methinks. ????

Just as for a beautiful, scenic, varied route, nothing (except maybe Clarence Drive between Gordons Bay and Hangklip) can compete with the CTCT. Ag, why listen to me? I'm a Capie, a CTCT groupie, and I live with my blinkers and rose coloured glasses firmly on, in my own little colony here at the tip of our big rock (not under it, mind you, just at the foot of it). But at least I'm not from the Republic of Hout Bay. THOSE people are the really biased ones who don't even travel as far as the Boerewors Curtain. (At lease I can see the Boerewors Curtain from where I live!) ????

A youngster I know (who rides for a professional road team) says that training too much on his Mtb makes him very strong, but also slow. Training on his road bike is what makes him fast.

Strangely, it (or something) made me feel pretty strong today. J&J doping perhaps?????

But of course, the main reason I slug up that mountain, is for this:

Soon enough I was rewarded with this, two Ceps, totally our of season, in a spot where I cannot believe nobody else picked them.........so mushroom risotto it is for lunch!

I found this little guy crossing the road, yes, THAT road, at about the same pace I was climbing, so I helped him get to the other side where he could hide in the green grass so that, hopefully, the chicken guinea fowl won't get him.

That was exactly me, except that I wasn't exactly a threat to Robbie or Lance????

This was my first thought too. If it is unsafe, either because of dangerous traffic (think green painted lane through Albert Road, Woodstock and Salt River) or criminals, (think Paarden Eiland to Civic Centre) then it will fail, no matter how good or cheap e-bikes become. Perhaps the CTCT should do a "protest tour" along the Blouberg cycle lanes in protest against how the City of Cape Town has allowed that to fail through neglect and tolerating criminals.

I think far too many people are far too stressed about what other people do and think.

Lots of feelings got hurt already by the looks of it ????

I know he's in Cape Town, but this is exactly what Kevin Wilkinson does (he is ex-BMC, so he knows his bicycles) . He did some amazing small scale engineering for two of my restorations. (Re-engineering an old rear derailleur and making a seatpost shim.) https://ss-eng.co.za/contact-us/

Perhaps a little lay bye just before the finish line where the lightning e-bikers can pull over and safely wait for the last few minutes of the 3h50 minutes to tick by before going over the last mat?

If they restrict the numbers to what it was and only allow riders with the kind of attitude that the 2021 Tour had, then I'll pay double! ????All the narrow parts were a pleasure, no shouting, no aggro, like it should be.

This reminded me of the guy who walked into the bike shop and asked for a comfortable saddle. The salesman said that was easy because ALL his saddles were comfortable. "Just tell me, for HOW LONG do you want it to stay comfortable?"

If Beattbox ever buys anything other than BLACK, beware - the earth will shift off its axis and wobble around he sun for ever after!????

Wonderful thing to do Ed-Zulu????

If you do find the solution, please let me know what it is. I live in a narrow 1way street next to a school and, especially during the last two years, we see an absolute pandemic of idiots driving up the street (against traffic). Yes, it is just a matter of time before a law abiding driver or an innocent school kid is taken out, but they still have an attitude if you don't make room for them to pass. Initially I thought they were mostly Uber drivers getting directed incorrectly by their app, but I came to the conclusion that they are just idiots from all walks of life.

Inform Tokai MTB. I know it is an eternal battle for them, but they do engage with the trailrunner groups regularly to try and solve this issue through preventing it. If their bakkie and patrols are on the mountain, they might just intervene there and then for safety reasons? On an aside, they also engage with the horse riding groups who constantly have to deal with mountain bikers riding the horse-only trails and sometimes endangering horses and riders.