Speed Devil

Hi All I was one of the ThinkBike marshals yesterday. Unfortunately I was assigned to escort the paracyclists so was not able to enjoy the high paced escort with the faster bunches. We are glad to see the feedback from you, the everyday cyclist, whether it be criticism or positive comments. There is definitely a plan to make this into Pretoria's major race in the future, and all your comments will be most welcome. As with any event that takes place for the first time, there were a few short comings and the organisers realise this and will act upon them next year. Any issues you have, will be looked at when planning the next event to try and improve your experience for next year. To those that took part, well done and thanks for your patience with the marshals, traffic and mis-directions. Next year it will be huge improvement on this year and we look forward to riding with you all agian. Just remember, without you this race would not have been possible and we hope that it will be even better supported next year.

It depends on you guys, but probably anything between 60 and 100km.

Sorry mate, but we all have full time jobs and morning rides will be impossible to arrange. We are hoping to arrange these rides on Sundays.

Thanks Wez-O If you have done this route before or know it, please plot the route as we don't all know the roads in the different areas. From a logistics point for cyclists and marshalls, we prefer that routes start and finish at the same point.

Yes we know that a lot of clubs have set routes. On the other hand a lot of people don't belong to a club, but would like to find a route where they can join up with other cyclists and ride in safety and in a relatively controlled environment.

Hi Folks Please take this request from Vigilant seriously. This is YOUR chance to have YOUR favourite route marshalled, with either rolling marshalls following the groups or static marshalls closing down intersections for you to get through safely and in groups without the groups having to split up because a few cyclists got caught at a red robot. The type of marshalling that will be offered will depend on the route, safety issues, traffic volumes etc. Thinkbike, in conjunction with the sponsor, are here to lookout for YOUR safety. If we do not have your inputs and support, this whole initiative will fall flat and it will as usual be YOU against THE TRAFFIC. Please plot routes in Google Maps, Google Earth or whatever tickles your fancy and post a link to the site so that we can start perparing a few routes. Otherwise we will decide for you where we want you to ride.

Maybe Fandacious should wear that slogan on the back of a t-shirt and wear it at the Slutwalk at Zoo Lake on 24th September which is about the equality of women and anti rape/abuse (which we will be marshalling)and see if they will care whether he is the chairman or not. I'm sure it will cause as much outrage as the tongue in cheek comment from the Think Bike forum....I dare you Fandacious.....be a man

Tiny K Think Bike is a safety awareness campaign. We promote safe riding, awareness and respect for other road users, whether they be pedestrians, motorists, cyclists or bikers. It is not our job to condone or approve the actions of other road users. Have you seen any public statements where we approve of such behavior? Just like CSA does not make up the road rules and dictate what the behavior of cyclists should be while out on the road, neither does Think Bike. Would you be appreciative if CSA did? At the end of the day the local authorities and national law enforcement make the general rules and the rest is left up to Joe Soap to hopefully make the right decision and use his common sense to to use our public roads in a responsible manner and show courtesy towards other road users. But unfortunately there will always be a handful of people who will think that they are better than the rest

Ok, some of you newbies here might not know me, but some of the older guys here will remember. Up until a year and a half ago I was also a cyclist, but due to health reasons and family commitments my priorities changed. When I changed jobs at the beginning of the year I bought a motorbike as I was not prepared to sit in the cage everyday while commuting between Pretoria North and Midrand. Marshalling has always been something I wanted to do, so that I could give back to the sporting society what I always took for granted while participating in cycling events, and when I got my bike I thought it would be the ideal time to give back to cycling community and other sporting/charity events. What really p!sses me off here, is the general attitude towards bikers. Just like in all walks of life, every community has their bad apples, and cyclists and bikers are no different. Just because I don't cycle anymore, doesn't mean that I drag the cycling communities name through the mud because I see one or two cyclists acting irresponsibly. What some of you forget, is that there some of you here are also bikers. Do you see yourself in the same light as other bikers and see your own mistakes and irresponsible actions when out on you bike?...It's easy to call the kettle black..... Unfortunately the screen shot from the Think Bike forum does not show the entire thread. The comment posted was a once off tongue in cheek comment, and no further jokes were made about it. We as marshals are here for YOU guys, to make sure that you are safe out on the roads while you enjoy your passion in life and are most of the time unaware of us out there and the time and effort we put in to ensure your safety. In my opinion ,the screenshot that was posted, was put there because some sh*t stirrer had nothing better to do with his/her idle hands, and with no other purpose but to give Think Bike a bad name. The whole reason we became marshals was because of people like you. Just like you guys that are having a rough time out on the roads with cagers, so are we. Maybe the comment passed was not in good taste, but at least we can relate to each others situations. In no way are we against you or wish you any harm while out on the roads. Unfortunately some peeps here have become a little hot under the collar and have made emotional posts based on only one comment. The next time one of you are knocked off your bike and a Think Bike marshal stops to help secure the scene, organise EMS, police and help contact your family, that you will be a bit more appreciative of us. When out next time on a race or a training ride, why don't you come over to the marshals and introduce yourselves. Then you will see that we are not such a bad bunch of people and hopefully change your opinions of us. Safe riding Speed Devil

The results that are out are only provisional. If you dropped back a few categories, they usually use the start time of your assigned category, but will be rectified when the final results are published. I have had this issue in the past, and it's been a bit disheartening when your buddy beats you according to the provisional results, but as they say, he who laughs last laughs the best...

I make it a general rule, that if I walk into a shop and there are no price tags on the stock then I don't buy there. I also don't ask for discount. If a shop can't give me their best deal/price upfront without bargaining for it then I'm not interested. I apply the same rule for all shops, insurance etc etc. I don't have the time to do market research for shops to see what the "going rate" is for an item and then tell the store manager that he is overpriced and that X Y & Z have got it for X-amount less.....that's their job. On the topic of a shop being a business and not there for advice. If I purchase a product then I expect the salesperson to know the product he is selling and give me the best advice, which should be foloowed up by good service, should I require it.

Just imagine......If all the components were made from plastic we wouldn't have any squeaks and creaks on our bikes. It's due to these materials that we have an excuse tinker on our bikes to look for complex problems with a simple solution...and to keep us out from under the missus' feet

Just remember, if you do decide to choose a compact crank and later decide that it's not your cup of tea and want upgrade to a 53 tooth blade, that you don't get a 53 for a compact crank, which means you will have get a new crank.

I also had a creak on my bike a while ago. By sheer chance my brother also had the same problem and after chatting to him about it he said that he also had a Shimano crank with external bearings. He suggested that I take the left crank arm off, clean the splines and grease them lightly. Afterwards put the arm back on and "finger-tighten" the center nut until the arm is all the way home. Then turn the center nut back half to three quarter turn and pull the crank arm towards the nut and tighten up the two "clamping bolts" to the recomended torque. I tried it and voila!!!. I haven't had a creak since. I think it has something to do with the end of the splines in the crank arm meshing with the end of the splines at the rear of the axle, where the most friction takes place under load. I don't know what cranks you ride with, but if you have a crank with external bearings I would definitely suggest this quick fix before looking too far.

This is so sad that we are being reduced to ride only when there are other cyclists with us so that we can ride in bunches to feel safe. It just shows how cowardly these scum are that they have to attack older people who can't fight back. I am seriously considering selling my bikes and getting a motorbike......at least I will still be on 2 wheels Strongs to the rider that got attacked and hope he recovers quickly, though I'm sure the emotional scars will be with him for a long time.