The Bull Shark

Stretch Have you any idea what is going on in Twin Peaks? I am sort of lost now. I thought I was on it.

I don't care about the goodie bag, I just wanna ride.

Very. I try to ignore that part of his persona. Most of my learning is from Paul Sellers, but the subscription of 15 quid is starting to hurt each month.

Samurai Woodworker

Whaaaat de Vark!

For me and my eldest I got different price options. For my wife and youngest son, none, just the R510. My wife is a member under my main membership, while both my boys are scholar members. I think their DB is not quite clean or up to date.

Sometimes I was actually glad to ride some jeep track just so that I could relax mentally. Your wits have to be sharp on a lot of the ST. And you would have to be somewhat technically skilled, else you are going to walk. A lot. My 2c: I would like to see them start the 63km at 7h30, the 37km at 8h15, and the 27km at 9h00. That would leave enough time for the slowpokes to clear the first big ST climb.

Paid, but it was a mission for our family of 4. Had to use the link that was sent to each one of our e-mails. I could not add them to my entry basket. And for some odd reason it did not pick up that my wife and one son are PPA members. So I had to pay the full R510 for them. Sent them an e-mail about it just now. Let's see what happens, but I am not expecting any answer within the next week since it seems to be quite busy their end.

Eina vingers!

Excellent report. My son was one of those hotshots on the 37km. And to boot he is very shy and quiet, not the type to shout at slow riders in front. But he said he will do it anytime again if he is doing the 63km so that he can get on the amazing ST before slower riders. Next year I will also do the 63km, even if I have to crawl over the line.

Probably one of the better Fords ever. My cousin had one. I was supremely jealous.

One front, and one back. Just use some bed-bolts or similar contraption to mount it to the legs. This picture provides an idea of how to do it.

OK, my report. So, me and the wife decided to do the 27, while my son (Mini Savage), was going to do the 37. I would have done the 37 (thank heavens for that foresight), but I have been out of hard riding since the 99er earlier this year because of a busted knee. The knee is still sore, but does not give any more problems when I ride, except trying to put down power in hard climbs. So to bed I went at 22h00 on Friday night to wake at 4h00. We all woke, and Mini Savage complained that his throat was burning and his stomach was runny, but that he was still going to ride, but not very hard. Left Strand at 4h55, and got there at 6h50. The parking arrangements was super, as well as registration which was right at the parking area. We checked out the 63km field start, and it was huge. The 37km field not as huge. Me and the wife started at 9 and I went off fast, but quickly toned back as I was not used anymore to these fast starts. My wife passed me just before the ST climb, which went on and on and on. Damn, this was hard and I am used to climbing Helderberg. Eventually at 10km most of the climbing stopped. Note the 'most'. Trails were good and technical with lots of tight turns amongst the rocky outcrops. I went gardening after dodging a rock on my right at one spot. After one of the water points the routes came together, which meant that I regularly had to stop on the trail to let the riders with blue and green boards through. By now my wife was long out of sight as I tried to chase her down on the downhill sections. But I never saw her, so she must have improved vastly on her technical stuff. I was silently cursing myself for buying her that carbon Anthem X Advanced at Cycles Direct 2 weeks ago. I got to the finish 2h28 minutes later to find her standing and waiting for me. She finished almost 15 minutes before me and she tells me that she was either first or second of the ladies (she won it). She has a real competitive streak in her (she used to be a Boland 200m Hurdles champ). Mini Savage was away in the loo again. Coming back from there he tells me he thinks he was 9th on the 37 (on results he was 7th), but he was not sure as they passed so many slow riders. He said they could not go that hard on the climb because they picked up lines of slow 63km riders there. He reckons the 37km group should have started later to allow the 63km riders to clear the climb. He says 15m is too short a time. But he enjoyed the race and wants to be back next year, but I am not sure that is going to pan out for him as he will be writing his Matric Exams next year this time. So there. Tough as hell race even if you were doing the 27km. I see there were lots and lots of DNFs on the 63km. People underestimate the toughness of this race, luckily I had info from someone that did the 63km last year. Lastly, to all the ladies I met on the 27km, you were awesome and had awesome trail etiquette.

I would put in some stretchers there to prevent racking.

Will report more later, but just to do some bragging. My wife kicked my arse on the 27 and won the race. First women home. She is chuffed.

I miss Fruity Tokens and Sugus.

Entered myself and the wife for the 27km, and my son for the 37km. My knee is still bust, so I don't want to stuff it up before W2W. Also, someone told me that the route is quite tough, and not to underestimate it. I should really do the 37km. See you all there. Leaving Strand around 5h15 Saturday morning.

Wyk Satan! I have the saw. But my bonus for December is already booked. I already bought my wife her carbon MTB on the special that Cycles Direct had on their 2016 Giant Anthem X Advanced 0's. So that is 41K already blown.

Family ride from Strand to Coetzenburg via Eden and G-Spot and back. All except Mini Savage wasted now after the ride. For him just a walk in the park. Weather was excellent. They are busy constructing some wicked tracks at Coetzenburg, some seem like pure madness.

Sadly, having a pool full of water in our area will be unattainable this summer.

Bella Napoli (Bellas) and Thunderdome. Lost halve my hearing there.

Rocket Boy, awesome labour of love that. Broken totes is a common occurrence. Wonder why Mr Bailey did not design the tote along the same pattern as the Veritas bevel down planes.

That be it, yes. Fooking lovely plane that. And with the toothed blade, super awesome at flattening pieces quickly. Highly recommended.

Same price as a run of the mill carbon MTB. But it lasts much longer, and holds it's value over a longer term, if not appreciating the way the exchange rate is going. Good quality tools are always an investment.

From what I saw when he was still fresh in the early rounds, his hand speed is too slow, and his reach too short to become a world class boxer. But that is just my assessment.