Joe Low

Jacques Marais was the official photographer, and I think the guy is an absolute legend. Do yourselves a favour and have a look on the Ecobound facebook page where the first batch of 20 or so images have been uploaded. They are great, but I cant get them onto here from this machine.

After all these years, nice meeting you and thanks for the ride, your team was a great bunch, cheers.

An hour north of Bloem, team Time-&-Again are travelling hopefully. Making ride plans, not expecting anything extremean apart from, maybe, the distance.

Saw that too and it all seems to be going from West to East, that's a good thing, right? Really looking forward to it now, setting off tomorrow lunchtime planning for a wild Thursday night in Colesberg.

If you went through the main gate you would have gone through the regular toll plaza and doubled back 2kms, or come off the N1 a few kms before Carousel and crawled through the urban area. Its a choice of speed vs cost.

2 weeks ago - very nice, they've graded the road going up so its much better than last year. Still rough at the top as you go over the other side, but even that section is ridable up and down for an intermediate mtb'er. They've also graded the road going out there so there's a lot less corrugations.

I wouldnt have any fear about going alone on that route.

+1 Paul - had the sms with the time on it before I got home....and it was a good time they gave me too!

It's really boring and a let-down for the guy to lose a partner and gain a dependant.

No - Beamer (sorry Dawie)

Better if you sing it WP: Don't go changing to try and please me You never let me down before, mmm And don't imagine you're too familiar And I don't see you any more I would not leave you in times of trouble We never could have come this far, mmm I took the good times, I’ll take the bad times I’ll take you just the way you are I don't want clever conversation I never want to work that hard, mmm I just want someone that I can talk to I want you just the way you are I said I love you and that's forever And it’s a promise from the heart I couldn’t love you any better I love you just the way you are

I have noticed the weather forecasts swinging wildly day by day for the 17th - they seem completely unreliable. As we get closer it shud get better. They're not talking of 2 degree lows anymore but a bit of rain has been thrown in.

And would introducing chamois cream into more areas of your relationship help? (as per Mark Ellis - classic post)

Folks, I got narky this morning over the R40 to get in off the N1. It was only when i read the ticket that said "tollgate" that i remembered. Its a toll fee for the N1 not a charge from Carousel. Its the same R40 you pay coming back the other way at the plaza just beyond Carousel. I guess they have an arrangement with Bakwena, and I seem to remember paying something a few years back getting to this race.

The red meat is probably a red herring, maybe a clever spouse loading up the issues she wants you to change. If you had gout you would know it and it wouldnt go away by itself in any quiet way. / Caffeine is the thing as everyone has said, and then stress/mind-spinning.

Everything got drenched except my rain-jacket that had to stay in my pocket. Nice seeing you - guess who? the one who was dropped or the one you told "ur friend got dropped"?

I like you, you're funny. And you ask the right questions at the right time - Carousel is a seeding-wank so I too am officially under 20 now for the 1st time in a while.

This post tells us more (unnecessary) info about your weight and performance than it does about your wife and relationship with her. So that might indicate that you're not thinking of her, you just want reassurance that you're 'right" - that would be worth thinking about. I thought Uni and nsBigBen's comments were great. I just got back after 8hr trip to Carousel, wife and youngest seem happy to see me - i weigh 90ish kgs.

No, I'm a personal trainer specialising in sockistics and give advice to many endurance athletes. The 'New Plan' is available for a fee or comes free with an annual contract.

If you cant find them in Pta, then Drifters in Sandton City - the shop, not the people, you dont want their stuff eeeuwww. But remember, its not about the socks. I'm being sockastic.

There is a new, non-annoying, sock plan.

Thanks for the map - looks a bit miserable, but I guess by the time we get there it wont matter after all that will have gone before.

Maybe as "angry man outside coffee shop"?

Did you set up a profile / new profile just to post that? Welcome to the Hub, though maybe not going to lift the collective IQ.

It is - you go round a cone at the the top of the hill; but the pic must also be expressing time, as there's usually a gutter wind for most of the way back.