Andrew_ew

hope you laid a charge of reckless & negligent driving - glad you are ok - lucky escape.

Try them both and find out which one works best for you.

Debride with disinfectant & burn dressing like jelonet Clicks sells jelonet dressings Heals so much faster

Personally I think the amashova has some big climbs (at least for me) for a "downhill" ride so I am a bit nervous for this ride. Also some light rain predicted as well.

Glad there will be some company at the blunt end of the field- some club mates of mine have ridden the route and say the amashova is almost flat in comparison

Any vets doing it who are NOT racing snakes - i.e looking at about 4hrs - 4hrs 15 for the 126?

A foam roller has always worked extremely well for me - the minute the itb starts to twinge I get on the foam roller and it sorts it out very quickly. ITB pain has to be one of the worst pains to run or cycle with.

That would not have been good Sorry about the run of bad luck - you were really not meant to ride on sunday!

Hi Ranga, good to meet you out on the route - it was a tough one - thanks for your help and encouragement which got me to get the end! I will definitely make sure I am better prepared for the heat for next year - a lot of very long training rides in the heat of the day will be on the menu for next year - which means it will probably rain and be freezing cold. I think a lot of us could have used an extra waterpoint before the finish - I have never seen so many people dropping by the side of a trail before - I had to have 2 litres of ringers lactate (drip) afterwards - at that stage the medics (huge thanks to these incredible people) told me they had already used 14 litres. Apparently a few people even ended up in hospital.

Sorry to hear that - that blows

Cool

Anybody taken you up on this generous offer? - if not I could use a lift - also live in Westville

I have done the half but going for my first full one. If it rains velcro will grow between me & my bed come Sunday. I did the official pre-ride from Camperdown to Hammarsdale some weeks ago awesome route – I did bail on the option to do Bartletts as a few of us rode back to Shongweni via the ark & sunset ridge. I do know that there are some monster hills in the second half – Bartletts & Sunset ridge (the big hill up past the ark) being just two of them. My strategy is simply to take it easy, enjoy it and try and survive. If there is anything left in the tank after sunset ridge then I.... hang on.... no there probably won't be anything left so scratch that

The route was organised at the last minute - normally the animals are tracked but they did not have the opportunity to do this at such short notice. The elephants were neither co-operating nor were they moving off the course. In fact they were behaving in an aggressive manner. It was a group of young bulls. Young bulls are well known for being aggressive. A couple of years previously on the morning of the race as all the cyclists were gathering to get the bus to the start a young bull - which was being tracked (btw tracking an animal is not the same as making an animal move) – you can track an animal until you are blue in the face it is not going to be the same as making it move. It changed direction suddenly and went in amongst the cars and people. It got flash banged. I was four metres away from and pretty glad there was someone there with a flash bang. IN the past couple of years people have been killed and cars flattened by young bull elephants in these reserves. They are not Disney like elephants. The can me very aggressive and lethal. Every situation is different, every elephant is different - no two are the same, they all have different personalities and when you work with them you have to make a judgement call as the best course of action. What one group of elephants does in another game reserve does not apply to all elephants. I don't get the logic in saying "you don't raise money for wild dogs by shooting at elephants" - no one said you did and no one would plan to do so.. The fact of the matter is that no ranger would take those steps unless they are absolutely necessary. I was not facing the elephants personally, although I could see them in the distance but I do know the staff there and know that they would not discharge rifles near animals unless it was absolutely necessary. In fact the elephants did not actually move that far off the course after the shots were fired so they were not all that scared. In the reserves that I worked in there were occasions where large animals had to be moved – such as a pride of lions (17 including five males) trying to get through a boundary fence to a neighbouring farm where the farmer was conveniently grazing ropey old cattle on their last legs right up against the fence (the idea is the lions break through and he can then legitimately shoot them.) They did not move, they were not going to move and were aggressive and in the end we had to flash bang them. Rather a flash banged lion than a dead lion. But according to you that probably would not be right and I should have stood by and do nothing. Or the time a cheetah broke her wrist and we had to keep her and her cubs in one spot by shooting an impala for her and her cubs until we could get a vet to ascertain if there was any prospect of it being healed and whether or it not it was an injury caused by people. Yes, you would be surprised at how far a cheetah can move with a broken wrist. In your view shooting the impala to try and save a cheetah and three cubs would not be right. The point is that in particular situations in game reserves when dealing with large animals tough choices have to be made and sufficient respect should be given to the men and women who have to make these tough choices and they should not have to be subject to sentiment based criticism when they are risking their lives to conserve these animals for our benefit. When you are prepared to lay your life down for conservation and have risked it for conservation and you have spent many years working in close contact with these animals, and you were together with them in the situation that they were in, then you earn the right to criticise their decisions and actions. The point is they waited for them to move and they did not, they resisted all other attempts to move them. They were not hurt in any way and were safely moved. Sometimes anthropomorphic sentimentality has to take a back seat to what is the best and most practical solution. Btw an armchair critic is one who, after the fact and not having been in the situation, criticises the action or decisions of the person who actually was in the situation. Given that you were not there and that we have established that seeing some elephants in Limpopo does not qualify you as an expert of this particular group of young aggressive bulls, you decide then if you fall into this category. You have yet to explain why “That aint right” in this particular situation. What is not right is that conservation always has to take a back seat, that these men and women are not paid properly for the work they do, and every decision they make is second guessed by people who could do more good by raising fund for conservation. @yang – I heard two shots – I doubt there were flares

well polite requests and gentle hints were not working, they also failed to respond to a gentle nudge.... just interested - were you there in the situation? I can assure you that the people that work in Imfolozi & Hluhluwe game reserves are consumate professionals who do their jobs under extremely difficult circumstances where there is little political will or interest in conservation and consequently as little money from provincial government as possible goes into these reserves. The staff salaries are extremely low and they do the job because they care passionately for the wild spaces and the creatures in them. They would not anything that would hurt the animals unless they absolutely had to and there was no other choice. In this case no animals were hurt at all. They had waited for over an hour for the elephants to move and I am sure other attemps such as shouting at them banging on the side of the vehicles etc would have been tried first. I worked as a ranger in my younger days and I can assure you that shooting at the feet of elephants and the use of flashbangs to move them is an accept technique for moving large game when all other atempts to move them have failed. As I understand it the elephants were behaving in an aggressive manner as well. Please also remember that elephants kill people. People, inlcuding Izimvelo staff have been killed by elephant in these game reserves in recent years. Now bear in mind that in order for game reserves to survive, they have to have visitors who pay. This means mixing dangerous animal and people. There is going to be conflic. If even one cyclists gets squashed then there is no more race. If there is no more race then there will be no 300 riders paying about R700 each descended on the reserve, no riders raising further funds for wild dog conservation (which is what the race is all about), no riders buying donated paintings for R25 000 to contribute even more money to conservation of a critically endangered species. Also what you may not know is that the event does not carry any liability insurance - let me repeat that - the event carries no liability insurance - think about that and think about the risk that the organisers and Izimvelo carry themselves - 300 cyclists clad in lycra in a big 5 game reserve. I guess none of this should be done because some armchair critic decides to pass moral judgment on the decision of an experienced professional who had to make a difficult decision that ultimately involved no risk to anyone's life except her own. She took a huge personal risk in order to ensure that a ride that raises massive amounts of money for conservation went ahead. How dare you criticise someone who risks their life daily to care for wild animals and wild places that mean so much to all of us and that will be there for you and your children thanks to people like San Marie and the 300 cyclists who pay what must be the most expensive one day entry fee in South Africa. So instead of baseless critcism - how about doing something positive and raise some funds for the game reseves or make a nice big contribution to conservation.

She is one special lady - and tougher than most men! - I speak subject to correction - that she is actually in charge of the west (south west?) section of Imfolozi game reserve. I had a long chat to her dad after the race - who also helped out - and appparently she did not sleep for two nights before the race as she was so worried about rider safety due to the new course.

Just want to give a huge big thanks and congratulations to the organisers (Stu Berry and Impi concept events) and the staff of KZN Izimvelo at Hluhluwe and Imfolozi game reserve for putting on a great ride in what can only be described as the most difficult circumstances possible. Unseasonal rain fell in the catchment area of the imfolozi river which resulted in the Imfolozi river being in spate less than 4 or 5 days before the race. The traditional course therefore could not be used as vehicles could not cross and there was too much risk becuase of crocodiles. On the Wednesday before the race the decision was made to still proceed with the race, but to find a different route. Stu and the staff of Izimvelo (especially San Marie)found a new route - through one of the most game dense parts of Imfolozi game reserve, cleared the course, swept as many thorns off the route as possible and marked the course - which included 22km's of single track along elephant paths - all before race day on Saturday. Rumour has it that Stu ran a large part of the course marking it himself with water soluble spray paint - including all dagerous obstacles - bear in mind this is an area lousy with elephant, black & white rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard etc which included some thick bush & riverine bush - which is well known for hiding nasty surprises. The course was considered so dangerous that racing was cancelled and riders had to ride in groups of about 19 or so - thanks to dedicated rangers and the anti poaching patrol who swept the area repeatedly during the race it was decided after the first water table (which included freshly prepared bacon and egg rolls) to allow the riders to split up into groups of four. After the second water table, the ride was delayed by over an hour due to a number of bull elephants (between four & seven) on the race course who refused to move. Eventually with great courage and at great personal risk to her life, San Marie, (with the help of her accurate marksmanship) had to repeatedly fire her rifle at the feet of the elephant to get them to move off the course. To all involved - thank you so much for going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that we could enjoy the privilege of riding through such an incredible game reserve.

I agree with Drongo - put the bunnies in a cage - you can buy proper hutches at some pet shops. Crows were there first and are highly intelligent birds as well as being an important species that cleans up rubbish and waste and reduces the number of other pests. Bunnies are at the bottom of the food chain - if its not crows its going to be cats, dogs, eagles, hawks etc.

Injury blows - have been out for almost 3 weeks now -ac (shoulder) and other injuries after chewing tar at speed - but getting back on the trainer this weekend! (Even though I hate the trainer - would much rather be out on the road or trails)

+100 - saw a pair being used in the mens elite wc xc - the tubeless ones

Intervals, intervals, intervals and more intervals - and buy the best and lightest bike you can afford and don't skimp on kit (shoes, bibs etc) - good kit lasts longer and is more economical in the long run.

Fortunately he is now retired so no need to mention his name - one too many negligence cases I think - I never sued him as I know how difficult it is to prove it. The same sad excuse for an orthapod, after I popped it again, I went back to him and he told me that nothing could be done. I gave up rugger for years and did not do much exercise except running short distances. Eventually the knee started dislocating without doing much to cause it and I went to see Osman who sorted it and it is still strong - the man is a genius for knees and understands the demands of sport.

Osman at Entuabeni in Dbn did my ACL reconstruction many years ago, was the second one in the smae knee so it was a bit tricky. A twat who shall remain nameless stuffed up the first one, first time back on the rugger field and it just disintegrated. His work has survived more rugby, a few marathons, a comrades and a whole lot of mtbing including a fair share of wipeouts.

I was very grateful for my helmet when my front tyre hit a root, skidded and I went helemt first into a pine tree. I did have a sore neck afterwards, but would have had that anyway plus a cracked noggin without a helmet.

+1 - good sensible advice, pkus the 26 hardtail will sharpen your skills, there is a reason why 26 hardtails are still the most widely used despite all the hype around 29ers & full sussers.