The Bull Shark

My son used to be scared of the one gap jump at the top. Last year he rode it for the first time and he said it is much easier than it looks. You just have to have the speed for it.

Shoe! That list. My son is gonna freak out when he sees that. He will struggle to bring up the rear. He is not exactly XCO fit yet. This year will be his first year in U/23, and he is just riding it to keep the passion and skills alive as he knows he will not yet have the speed to compete. He will only be riding Saturday, so look out for me in the tech and feed zone.

I saw one at the SCT.

I can't like this post enough! So, my home is currently needing some attention. But I spend most of my weekends on the bike with my son(s), and we have more bikes than some bike shops. So, my brothers sometimes ask me why I spend so much money on bikes and races with my kids, and I tell them that I only have my kids for a very short time before they grow up and leave home. I will have more than enough time and money once they left home to fix up the home and give it some attention.

Actually, no. Group position 56/89. There were some sleepers in our group that did not want to work from the get go. They all passed me after I pulled a few through, then they suddenly started to shine while I blew from all the work I did in the first 15km. More surprising is my age position: 400/533. Whats up with these ou toppies? Don't they have a normal job like me? I usually only train on weekends, with the odd excursion on my MTB in the week.

I had no choice but to cycle alone. 4h01 though. Yes, I suck. But from 3A there were just no consistency in the groups that formed. They were either too fast or too slow, and kept breaking up. Last year I did 3h37. So, why so slow this year? Yes, once again, I know I suck.

I am sure there were better marshalling with the Cyclo Sportiff #4 last year.

Yup. When they say you must not race, that is when you need to. A small breakaway formed in our group already in the neutral zone. I had to pedal my arse off to catch them. And then we caught the rear of the 2K group just when the racing was supposed to start.

Yes Danie, I agree. Having staid in Paarl for 4 years, I know that the area is a real crap location. The South Easter tunnels through there like crazy.

They need Helshoogte at the start, or a climb like that to split the groups. This was always going to happen. This was my last Stellies tour if they keep it at Val de Vie. Why take a scenic tour through the whole estate to park? The facilities at the venue itself was first class. Only thing, the whole time it felt that the organisation was done by a team who is used only to running MTB races. Also, the start chute organisation was not good. And then the finish mat is almost 4km from where the spectators and families are waiting. What an anticlimax crossing the finish with only marshalls in attendance.

I have no idea how they do this. How do they even handle the turbulence and the very unpredictable nature of the air they fly through?

Somewhere along the line you must have met my best pal from primary and high school. We both have always been interested in all things that fly, but he made a career of it and joined the technical section at what is now ORTIA. We both grew up in Kempton, and went to the primary school a stone's throw from the airport. A lot of the boys from our high school went to work at what was then the Atlas Aircraft Corporation, before it became Denel and was eventually stuffed up by the ANC and the Guptas.

Love it. They used to pull that stunt at airshows also. I would be prepared for it and could see the bugger come at moerse speed, flying past with no one noticing until the sound came past.

As a young lad we stayed in Rhodesfield, Ext 1 in Kempies. The Mirages and Buccaneers used to take off over our home. You could hear the jet ramp up the engines on take off from inside our home. I would then run out of the home as fast as I can just to be in time as the jet passed over our home. With the Mirages I may sometimes be too late. You could also hear very clearly when it was a Buccaneer's engines spooling up. What a sound that was. Our address was 29 Spoorlyn Road, Rhodesfield. If you find it on Google Maps, you will see it is right in line with one of the secondary runways of O R Tambo.

My dad took us to Jan Smuts Airport in 1973 when the Concorde visited SA. I was amazed to see how small it actually was compared to a 747. https://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=165792

We were looking forward to do it again this year. What will I do with all those expensive bike lights I purchased? Bummed.

Don't throw these away. Those things will become highly collectable one day once the various plants making those kits close down. Kids these days are not interested in building these anymore.

This is one nice rabbit hole. I have a collection of WW2 plastic models that I will complete once I retire. Mostly Tamiya. My favourite aircraft of all all time is the FW 190 D9.

I believe she is not using all of those moneys for the children, which is probably why she went into a meltdown. But unfortunately the law don't care about how she is using the alimony. Best is to see the money you spent as an investment.

Wish I could escape to some bush at the moment.

Don't get me started on that topic. I don't call the species Pinus Crappus for nothing. And that is even before the timber merchants had their hands on it.

Never invest based on hearsay. My BIL also invested in BTC. To make matters worse, he lost his job at the same time BTC imploded. Things were interesting in their household this past year.

Mini Savage said that he is interested in doing the DC next year, but he will need to work hard on his long distance cycling in the coming months. He will be 19 next year, so hopefully he is just gonna get stronger.

I don't think most Aussies care how much their Rugby Union team suck. It's only 11th on the list of most popular sports in Aus (Last I checked).

P-10C is the same size as G19. https://www.safarioutdoor.co.za/collections/cz/products/9mm-para-cz-p-10-compact-pistol-czp10c