Jigghead

...with my MTB OK, travelling down Witkoppen this morning on my way to The Spruit (for anyone who knows the area, it's on the left of the road between Main Rd & Cambridge going towards The Spruit). I see this guy walking ahead of me in the distance. He's walking on the right hand path so I think no problem, I'll switch to the left which I do. He hears me quite late and turns around. Now, I've been told that my light makes all my mates think there's a car behind them when we ride, so all I can think of is that this guy panicked. What he proceeds to do is leave his path and jump directly into mine, I'm around 5m away at this time. I'm going around 40-45km/h at the time and my only thought is save my neck and head, so I position my shoulder for impact and hit him hard. He goes straight down face/front first. I think I landed on him and tumbled a few meters on. The bike stopped where I hit him. I slide quite "relaxed" (I've been told that fighting the forward motion when seeing my ass makes me relaxed and less likely to damage said ass) to a halt a few meters on and get up to see this guy face planted where he fell. I run over and ask if he's OK, I'm still not sure he spoke English 'cos he got up and looked around. Maybe he was surprised to see a cyclist and not a car/motorbike had hit him? He looks winded and is holding onto his leg a bit. I ask him a few times if he's OK and he just looks dazed. Then, without any further comment, he resumes his journey albeit with a slight limp. I check my bike and see that it's good to continue on my planned ride and continue checking again as I pass him if he's OK. This time he replies that he's good. Now, I think about this a lot during the ride and wonder if it could have been avoided. First thought was he should not have jumped. But then I thought that my initial reaction and my usual course of action which is shouting a warning up front to those in my path would have avoided this nasty little incident. I didn't do it because I thought that there was plenty of space and I was wide enough of him to ensure safe passage. The moral of the story is multi-fold: 1. Pedestrians have the same right to be there as we do (something like cyclists on a road?) 2. Pedestrians are easily spooked 3. Don't assume that they will behave as expected 4. Always warn those in your path, no matter how much space you think you have, do this with some time to give them their bearings as well. 5.Relax when you see yer ass, this has now worked for me more than once This incident was probably my fault and I wish I'd taken his number, because even tho he walked away, I hit him very hard and it must have hurt. So, apologies to MTB'ers as I fear this is the type of incident that gives cyclists a bad name, just like riding all over the road.

I'll buy a ticket for the raffle.

Agreed, I've read about this but it seems that it's not a multisport unit, but rather a primarily running unit. One of the things that would stop me from using it on a swim for example is the water resistance. The RCX5 has a 30m depth limit which is more than sufficient. This unit has the "good for a depth of 1m for up to 1hr" (not sure of the official nomenclature), but last Polar unit I had that used that type of resistance got water logged during an open water swim. Check out the review on http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/08/first-look-at-new-polar-rc3-gpsthe.html

Wear tri-shorts with a T-Shirt for the rest. That's what I did for the lite last year.

I use the RCX5 and am very happy with it. It has some limitations, but on the whole it's great. Polar claim that it's the only HR monitor that will pick up a signal under water. Whilst I haven't tried others, it works well under the water during swims etc. I use the GPS3 GPS unit which is a bit bulky, so get the newer one and you should be fine. J

OK, done my 4 again today. Let's hope this works.

BTW, don't give the parts or bike stuff to hubbers, give them to the Build a Bike guys if they're bike parts etc. I think I saw a thread a while ago where a hubber builds bikes for under privileged people who need bikes to cycle to work etc. Give to those who need them, having a bike does not qualify, even if it is a R1K bike. Just a thought... If you do not win, auction off the weekend away to bring your Mrs. Home? If you do, take her away for the weekend... c'mon hubbers, let's bring this girl home!!!

Hope she comes home, voted once for every type of web browser on every machine I have. Good luck, send us a pic of you two on a tandem when she comes home...

The problem is not cyclists but rather the people who disregard them as legal road users. Don't suggest restricting cycling if the problem is drunk and incompetent drivers.

If I discharged a firearm into the air and the bullet, upon landing killed someone, I would be charged with murder, not culpable homicide. So, if I get into a car, no less deadly under the right circumstances than a firearm, and handle it irresponsibly should I not be held to the same level of accountability? As you mentioned in your initial post, drunk driving is a serious problem in South Africa, everyone is aware that booze mixed with cars kills. Fortunately Darwin often sees to it that the drunk drivers kill themselves, the problem is sometimes they're not alone. The only way to curb this irresponsible behavior is to ensure that the consequences are dire for those transgressors. Boohoo that this idiot's family now have to deal with the pain and heartache of seeing their little misguided son being dragged through the courts and press. Boohoo that they now have a chunky legal bill to fund. Boohoo that this idiot should be given the chance to right his wrongs. This guy as misguided as he may have been, unless he was retarded, knew that driving whilst drunk was wrong and did it anyway. His friends probably also new he was drunk, and let him drive. This cyclist, got up early one morning to go and get some exercise, and yes believe it or not have some fun, left his family in their beds and never returned and you have the nerve to suggest that cyclists, most of whom ride within the law, should not be allowed to ride on some roads? What type of an idiot are you? Because w~nkers like this cannot control themselves after a few drinks, us law abiding citizens should be relegated to little cycle parks for our own safety? FU man (apologies to the mods) I'll ride when I want and where I want and as long as I'm doing it within the law and doing it safely, I should be afforded more right to a future of any kind than idiots like Andre Gouws!

I've been thinking, now that this thread has over 19,000 replies, should the title be changed to "I have an idea for a thread", dropping the 'new' part? Just asking

Head Butt

For R9K you could probably pick up a nice enough 2012 model new, shop around.

That's one beautiful snake. Scary, but beautiful...

I thought a puffy, but not sure with coloring like that? Saw the info RE: the underside after posting. Problems with Rinkhals is that they like to "play dead". That one looks properly dead tho.

Me and my riding partner have a saying when we pass someone on our MTB, if they're friendly, then they must be noobs. I asked around 10 people at last week's MTB Challenge if they needed help and got a quick roadie stare, at most. This is definitely a new phenomenon, and is getting worse. Last year at the same race, when stopped to get my energy bar out of my Camelbak, I was offered help by 85% of passers by. This year nothing. Not even an acknowledged of the help I offered. c'mon, we're a friendly bunch here on the hub, what happens to us when we get on our bikes?

This is terrible. So unnecessary. R.I.P

I'm too chicken to ride close by on the downhills, I'm a mountain goat at heart so the roadie thing is new. I do weigh 95kg so that could have helped me :-) Yup, tried to get a run up for the final hill...

I managed 88.2km/h, my fastest ever on a bike

3:21 MTB + 3:41 Road = 7:02

Yup, voting twice daily :-)

My first proper road race, did last year with my wife on a MTB, she didn't do much training so it was very gentle. Did 3:41 without managing to latch onto a group. It was also a borrowed bike so I'm quite stoked.

They should check these things out and create the numbers for those who do thee things. In a computerized age you'd think they'd be able to pull it off?

I remember the ones that had the clear "glass" look. If you managed to get the Sprite one of those you were the ma-a-an... The good 'ol days.

If she comes home he definitely will