Jan D

Seconding the PPA group rides, nice people, and a good way to meet some people. They've got some strong riders as well, and it's not cliquey. If you're also a MTBer, let me know, I'll let you know about our open for all group rides

It doesn't say that explicitly indeed, but having to yield to traffic that entered the circle after you got there, is a direct consequence of the "yield to traffic from the right" rule. When you are waiting, and another car enters the roundabout from a different entrance, that car is now "traffic already in the roundabout". It would also be impossible to make the judgement of who got to the roundabout first when we're talking multi-lane roundabouts where you can't even see all other incoming lanes. This makes sense, as it allows to "clear" an entire line of cars, whereas treating a roundabout like a four-way stop severely limits its capacity. Ofcourse, you can enter the circle when there's a gap, and when you're in a line of cars entering the circle, people waiting at another entrance will have to wait for you as well. That's the beauty of the roundabout, it gets large volumes of cars moving, in a self-regulating way. It clears a line, then allows the next entrance to clear But I think we are straying too far from cycling related topics 😁

I saw this accident, passed by on my bike shortly after it happened. It's a miracle they survived, having been catapulted over the wall onto the rocks by the ocean. I saw the girl after she'd been rescued, and she seemed in a better condition than I'd dare to hope (from a distance). Wishing them a speedy recovery, and wishing the pos driver a harsh sentence.

You also need to give right of way to people entering the circle while you are waiting, this is what makes them so efficient, it's a self-regulating flow. Especially at large circles, this makes sense. "As you enter the roundabout, traffic coming from your right has right of way. This means that traffic streaming into the roundabout from the entrance to your right will keep coming as long as no one is coming from their right." https://www.arrivealive.mobi/safe-driving-at-the-roundabout-traffic-circle-and-mini-circle

Bought from there several times, 0 issues. Owner has reached out to me on whatsapp before to discuss replacements when something was out of stock, very eager to help. I'd confidently recommend the shop.

I always take some bananas and bars, as well as some not fully diluted energade to keep me going. But the water points have water, coke, energade, and energy bars. So if you don't mind the brief stops your don't need to load up too much.

Tim's Test is a fantastic idea. It makes sense to have melanoma screening here. I made an appointment and went, in and out in 10 minutes. Great experience, and highly appreciated they offer this for free

There's an event train this year, so if you're stressed about parking/riding up, this is also an option. It's R50 return for cyclists, and R20 for everyone else

It's a bit of a funky system; you need to go onto their booking platform: https://booking.capenature.co.za/ Then you choose the region (Overberg), after which you select the Kogelberg reserve and click "book now" Then scroll down to Mountain Bike Activity, where you select the desired date, amount of people, and click "book". It'll then be in your basket and you can check out. Seems like it gets full in advance so always a good idea to book online when possible.

Very helpful, thank you! We plan on going early morning and have the permits already, so I think I can stop worrying now 😆

Thanks both, I'm tempted to take the gravel bike and just have some hike-a-bike sections haha

Thanks for your response! We've got the permits, bought them on the Cape Nature website, I've also found the map, just wondering whether it's really jeep track all the way or if there are technical sections (basically just deciding which bike to take)

Has anyone ridden the Kogelberg nature reserve MTB route? Is it possible to ride it with a gravel bike, and does anyone have a .gpx file? I've been looking around online but can't find anything meaningful. Thanks!

I've been fighting with the Taj hotel after their driver did something similar to me. Turned into me head on, tried to flee, now they are refusing to pay for my damages.

What side of the city do you live? I frequently ride at night, mostly as a mode of transport and have never encountered issues. Bright ass lights for visibility of course. There's of course a level of being lucky to it. If you're hesitant, you can do a relaxed ride on the prom to see the sunset set, always a lovely experience.

They still happen weekly, if you message me, I can send you the joining link for the intermediate group

Semantics aside - many drivers are unable to, or feel indifference about, correctly and safely passing cyclists, no matter their number or riding style. Riding two abreast discourages this when either overtaking or passing is unsafe. Other times, single file is better and safer. When riding in group, I feel more comfortable in single-file 90% of the time. The example of someone slowly climbing a hill mid-lane past a blind bend you gave is clearly a case where single file was more appropriate. As I said, this is nothing directed at you, I am only questioning whether a blanket application of the single file rule promotes safety for cyclists. Neither "taking up space" or single file are useful in all circumstances and we must exercise discretion to ensure our own safety.

The new local spatial development framework for the CBD is cause for careful optimism, with the city expressing the intention to create a car-free City Center. However, my optimism gets tempered whenever I see new roads being constructed with either no bike lanes, or bike lanes that are unusable because the crossings are horrendously designed, or the lane drops the road level every time there's a sidestreet or driveway, rather than have cars slow down and rise to the level of the lane

I understand the frustration with people not sticking to traffic rules when you are being patient with them, but I do want to respectfully give a little pushback here and say that if you are unable to overtake cyclists riding two abreast safely, there is no room for you to overtake a single file safely. I've been "punished" for keeping left many times on the Atlantic Seaboard by cars overtaking me way too narrowly. On two occasions I got sideswiped because cars overtook me in a blind bend, not realising there was oncoming traffic, and chose to swerve into me rather than brake. If I'd taken the lane, this would not have happened. A safe overtake means that you are able to move into the other lane, and overtake as you would a car. Arguably, when applying that logic, it is easier and quicker to overtake cyclists riding two abreast, as the overtaking distance will be shorter. This does mean not overtaking over a solid white line, which motorists do to cyclists. Of course, I understand this is not you, and you are going the extra mile ensuring you don't endanger anyone so this is in no way directed at you. It's more that the single-file rule imo is outdated and treats cyclists as a nuisance, rather than valid traffic participants. Best case scenario is real cycling infrastructure, but we're a long ways from that.

Which trail was this?

The bike lane could be behind the parked cars, separated by bollards for instance. That road is 18m wide, plenty of space to build respectable NMT infrastruture while accommodating motorised traffic

Pardon the ignorance, but what is the century city railway crossing? I've cycled in the vicinity but didn't know there was a dedicated crossing for us

I stay in Woodstock, and often want to use my bike to go to Milnerton side. The "best" (read least bad) option for me personally is to take the T01 MyCiti between Civic Center and Zoarvlei stations. That way you skip the section of dedicated cycle lane through Paarden eiland (accidentally ended up there a few weeks ago, and it is to be avoided at all costs), as well as the highway section. I know many prefer riding that part on the N1, but personally I dislike it. So I just "skip" the entire section by riding Woodstock to Civic center (about 6 minutes, over the Christiaan Barnard St bridge), and make use of the bike-friendly MyCiti buses to get past Paardeneiland.

No, section that goes through Paardeneiland along the MyCiti route. Do not use it.

Went through there on my own. Didn't know the area and sort of accidentally ended up there, even though I was actively avoiding it. Dodgy as hell. The infrastructure is in good condition, but lots of unsavoury-looking characters. Think I broke my speed record trying to get out of there.