pedal menace

Truly appreciate tx ChrisF! My son and I will remember this forever....and....already making plans to do it next year! One bad day does not define the Baviaans spirit! Whether you enter a R100 race or a R80k Epic - the weather is one thing you cannot control. It comes with the territory and although the feeling after abandoning was truly HORRIBLE - I feel I made the right call and will return. Unfinished business.

Hey Tubed. With regards to my clothing I had: 1. Second skin (normal Maxed vest I bought at Mr Price (I always wear this in cold conditions, and works perfectly) 2. Cycling Shirt 3. Gillet (wind jammer) 4. First Ascent Rain Jacket - at least I thought it was as it kept the water out for a little while ONLY. 5. Arm warmers 6. Normal MTB gloves with inners in - perfect for when it is cold BUT DRY 7. Buff 8. Leg warmers 9. Shoes with toe caps - worked for a little while I think the deal breaker was not as much the cold - I think I was correctly dressed - sort of - but the wet weather combined with the wind was something I (and likely many others) were not 100% geared for. Not sure what more I could have done - but guess black bags/ponchos - better rain jacket and better gloves may have helped. But the 244 other teams also had it way wrong 🤣

Hi All, Seems I missed quite a few "dick"-y comments 🤣 - nothing personal - but come now allow each person his or her opinion without throwing immature comments. First and foremost kudos to all who finished - I would love to shake every hand as you deserve more than just a medal! So here my little race report ... Despite being very firm upfront that I will not start the race if it rains...sigh... Arrived Friday, went to registration and despite chilly temps was actually a rather beautiful day! Super hyped and set to race. Weather report said small amount of rain predicted so all looked positive. Come Saturday woke up in Uniondale - again COLD but not raining. Whoop whoop! On the way to Willowmore the drizzle started and ramped up quite a bit as we hit Willowmore. I know what my view was but come now I am here so let's do it! Started with my son at around 630AM. It was BLOODY cold but assumed riding will help. The rain was a lot more than drizzle. Within 8km we started seeing riders riding back to Willowmore looking pretty bad! With 10km despite my 4 layers of clothes I was wet to the bone and stopped to have a team chat whether we should continue. After lubing the chain we continued. At 20km I was unable to shift gears, could not move my fingers, had no idea if I had any feet and was shaking like a professional rapper! We stopped at a medic who attended to people already hyperthermic and begging to use the quad bike exhaust to get some heat. I chatted to the medic and he said continuing in his personal opinion is a VERY BAD IDEA! It was -2 degrees and people reported sleet/ice rain as you enter the Kloof. So at 25km I pulled the plug and turned around. More and more people joined us. Again caught up with a marshal who said they are evacuating people (if certain people find this word offensive - sorry for you!!). Marshal assessed me , and stated I am close to hyperthermic too but only 2km from Willowmore. Was the hardest 25km ride back ever. In town the locals became God sent angels! Fires popped up everywhere and we took shelter in a coffee shop. Soon we were surrounded by a whole lot of cyclists covered in space blankets, some literally delirious with no sense of his/her surroundings. My wife had to drive back from Jeffreys and as she entered Willowmore caught up with ambulances bringing people back. There were so many they were told to leave their bikes next to the road, sweeper vehicles will go and get bikes during the day. One guy paid a local farmer R1000 to bring them back with his bakkie. So to all these "heroes" who wants to call me a Karen - thank you and I accept the title with pride. I am super impressed and have a ton of respect for you if you finished. But with my son I felt I made the right call and I was simply in no shape to continue. My son even offered to take off some of his his clothes and give it to me! Talk about being a hero - that is a hero! Cannot be prouder of him! To each and every rider of the 244 teams (53%) that like me who abandoned - you still have my respect. I will not criticize you! I will not call you a Karen! I will not ask you to drink cement! I will walk up to you, call you a fellow cyclist that like me decided sanity is worth more than stupidity! If that makes me unworthy of being a MTBer in some eyes - well to you I say: See you at the next race where I will still enjoy it as much as you do - despite me giving up on the Baviaans this weekend!

Ahh man - now I just have to do it!!

I see no rain - just cloudless skies - does not count! 😇

Hmm...so my arse will be wetter than my chest 😅 - that may just work 🤣

I am going down, will register and will make the final call literally on the morning. Every fiber of my being wants to do this - purely so that my son could experience it for the first time. But there is a line that I will not cross. If I wake up and it rains - NO WILL DO. If I wake up and it does not rain at all - I may very well start. If it then starts to rain later - then I am more than willing to suck it up and ride it. No turning back!

Great!!! They also working on moving the rain away? That will really be appreciated 😆🤣

Well - my bike is loaded, the body is ready. Now I will see what the rest of the week holds. If not riding - have a real good piss up and watch rugby 😁. I respect the view @TyronLab and do agree with you - but I will fathom a guess and say that a guy who owns a Lambo and knows that an upcoming event will very likely blow the engine purely due to certain conditions - will think twice before riding. Not quite just a tool sorry. It is a bike I worked my ass of to buy and spend a lot of time and effort to maintain it and YES do throw everything at it - within limits! But each his won I guess. Zee ya all Saturday as a rider or spectator - but I will be there!

I am utterly and deeply saddened- I am/was looking so forward to this weekend. But I simply cannot consider riding 230km in the rain. I am truly happy for the area given the current devastating drought - but destroying 2 bikes I am accountable for to maintain by riding on peanut butter for 15 hours - is not my cup of tea. If it rains - add (I think) 2 - 3 hours to your ride. Also as the news letter states - the last 5km next to the railway track is under dry conditions a semi mud bath - imagine with rain!!

Ok - so I checked the weather report this morning for this coming Saturday. YIKES!!!! NOT GOOD!! Yes I know it is still a few days away and may change Yes I know there are those that will love riding 230km in rain, icy cold weather and muddy conditions. Me - not so much. I have vivid, albeit VERY BAD, memories of one of my TBs where it was pouring with rain the last 50km and it was freezingly cold. I personally have ZERO intentions of repeating that. So far - rain is predicted the whole day with VERY cold temperatures. As it will be and my son - this could likely result in having to replace of 2 x cassettes, 2 x chains, 2 x drivetrains, 4 x wheel bearings. That will be R25k+ easily. NOT WORTH IT!! So...although we have everything booked - we may go down and just have a few days break and skip this magnificent event. I am well aware many of you will differ from me - but it is what it is. 230km in the predicted weather is different than just a 40km - 60km ride.

You will never ever forget the event. It is one of the best (and possibly most painful) experiences you will ever have. If the corrugated road surface is as bad as some of the previous years (first 100km+) your hands and bum will feel it. This year will be my 7th but probably the most unfit I have ever been (oh and oldest...lol!). Just circumstances beyond my control. So pain will be inevitable for me and just plan on finishing it with my son - time is not a factor at all.. Still looking so forward to it. Enjoy every second!

Now that is a pity - was at Wildernees in Dec and they have some of the most amazing offroad routes imaginable. Had a blast! The Old George road is amazing from Wilderness to George - you will struggle to find more beautiful scenery but due to the road being washed away early last year (at University) - it may not be possible to pass ( we walked across the gap - no issue). I do however know they have started repairs and do not know how far it is. It may just be passible now. And of the bat I simply cannot remember if the whole route was tar road - spent too much time looking left and right - but I think it was. But in Wilderness you just go up Hoogte Rd (be warned - she is tough!!), turn left Whites Rd and left onto Seven Passes Rd (pure heaven) into George

Tx - and is the official starting between 5AM and 7AM (not 10AM)?

Stupid question...or two I have done 6 TB's and plan to do my 7th this year (I really thought my 6th will be my last). I however decided to give it one more go with my son and not my usual team mates. So it is going to be super super special with no time limit whatsoever. Great bonding time! I just want him to take it all in and appreciate the specialness of this event. What I am not quite sure about is the starting times for the event (my last one was still the "all start at 10AM event"). I thought you could start any time between 5AM and 10AM. It seems however you need to start any time between 5AM and 7AM (when the pros start). Is this correct? That makes it a very early morning for those (like me) who need to drive quite a distance to the start. What do you think is the time most will start?

I am subscribed on GCN+ and I use NordVPN on my: Samsung Phone Apple iPad Windows PC All of them works flawlessly and I am able to watch full coverage of the TdF. It is a pleasure to use! I fully agree with previous comments: Not to set up VPN on your router - UNLESS your router is capable of split tunneling. And that is where things can become a bit tricky/hairy to manage. Tunneling allows you to route only certain devices via the VPN - which is what you want. As VPN slows down your connection by as much as 40% - 60%, I would want the rest of the house to have the full speed of my local fibre ISP connection. As such I stick to VPN on specific devices. For the TdF I mostly all the time connect to the UK and that gives me great uninterrupted full HD coverage. Oh - and the VPN works just fine for streaming services like Netflix and Prime. Although we never really do that as SA content is not that bad.

Will there be no Carbon Hardtail models on the shelves? Seems all hardtails are ALU.

Does a softer mat (eva mats) really make a difference? I IDT on a rock hard plastic floor (like you get in gyms) and most of my IDT sessions are 1h20+ and no matter what, the arse does feel it! I am very willing to invest in a softer mat if it gives that bit more movement/support and assist in making the IDT ride more arse friendly.

Quite interesting - see the event dates next year are a few weeks earlier that the norm of middle May-ish. Wonder why?

Absolutely agree - we were stopped a few times down Umko! Had to wait a while a few times for riding to get going again. But also understand they need to accommodate riders of all capabilities and skillsets. Also - you need to get nearly 1000 riders down Umko! No matter what they do - there will be some challenges. For the first time I thoroughly enjoyed the view whilst stationary! Never did that before!!

What a magnificent event this year! I could not stop enjoying every moment. 1. Weather - perfect! Day 2 was bloody hot! 2. Route - perfect! No rain but we had our fair share of mud - specially Day 3. I must admit compared to previous years the route is not as smooth as before in many places but that is completely understandable given all the rain. My arse was finished! Still the work that was done by Farmer Glen and his team - there are no words!! The gratitude and appreciation is HUGE!!! Let's be honest - Iconic is a B*TCH!!!! Specially when a very young bloke on an e-bike came past me at a speed I though was not humanly possible! 3. Sleepover venues - perfect! Awesome food and perfectly organised. Although we did get a choccie milk on Day 1 at the finish - I do miss the good old days with unlimited vanilla milk drinks. Still - the rest was just the best!! 4. Finish - perfect! I finished and within minutes someone collected my bike and took it for a wash! What a pleasure!! Kudos to Farmer Glen and team - you have outdone yourselves - AGAIN! Thank you!

Yikes - that is a sizeable mud pool! 😗 I can see myself going left or right there... Hoping too it will remain dry-ish! I do not mind some mud - it is normal. Just hate riding in the rain and soooooooo want that Umko drop to be clear! Few things in the MTB-world more beautiful than that!

Forum Subject Updated - so the event is ON and is one week away! I am super excited. I have followed the Joberg2C closely and as per video the route does look quite nice! At this stage - and probably too early to see as accurate - the weather on Thu/Fr looks rainy! I so hope that changes as my last Sani Day 2 (Umko drop) got cancelled due to weather. So really want a dry Sani with a good Umko drop! Training (or lack thereof) pretty much done! Just a few easy rides between now and then.

I always ride reactive. I want the video to adapt to my riding speed and I like to see how I ride in comparison to the person that took the video (i.e. If I ride @ 1.2 I know I am faster than the rider). I have used challenge(competition) a few times to ride against myself (previous rides) or other riders but found the loading times to find other rider's time a bit too slow. I also use the bike computer instead of the OSD - just prefer that layout. I run my FulGaz on an Apple TV 4k AND IT WORKS PERFECTLY! Much cheaper than a computer and its 4K.

Did the Full Cape Town Cycle Route the other day - was brutal (107km)! Just set your streaming quality accordingly if you do not pre download your routes. For 4k streaming you need good band width - and a 4K device(screen).