ricochet_rabbit

I thought that the police were meant to be in charge of public safety, not private companies.

try the Specialized Fast Trak - Control or the Ground Control. was running the Renegade on the front (S-works) and Rear (control). Couldn't fault them. have recently switched to the Fast Trak (Control) front and rear for the wetter summer conditions. Happy so far.

The boys in the compendium kit are all from the Tri-X Multisport Club in Durban North / Umhlanga.

unlikely, the elements tend to affect the best prepared (pros) the least.

It looks like the Organisers need to put a cut-off time on the 40 & 65km races. Effectively they should all be off the road by 8:30, that gives them 3 hrs from a 5:30 start otherwise, one day, there is going to be a nasty accident. We also passed a few cyclists who were in the middle of the road and for them it must be quite frightening with the bunch going left and right of them at speeds above 40kph.

Looks like the weather is improving - hopefully there are right and it stays dry..ish.

there is a group (8 or 9) in mtb-b who are going to try and break 3 hrs on knobblies

will probably wear my red/white/yellow Burry Stander Concept Cyclery Shirt with black arm warmers.

you will go down Botha's Hill (steep with sharp left hand corner), at the bottom you will turn 90 degrees and continue downhill. From there you will climb up and turn left onto the M13 (highway). This is a fast downhill which turns into a nasty little climb, you then descend again and have another little climb, you go under a bridge (Main Hillcrest exit) and there is a mini golf course on your left. The next descent is where you want to be in the right hand lane. Fields Hill is about another 5/6km further on. 25-30km from the finish. Also, watch out for the sharp 90 degree left turn at the end of a 1km downhill abt 8km from the finish. They usually have straw bales there - and make sure you're in the right gear - people often get dropped there because the didn't shift up before the turn.

probably the worst bit of road is just after Hillcrest (the descent into Gillitts). Last year they patched the left hand lane but this year they have done nothing - pls make sure you are in the fast lane.

anyone starting in A, hoping to go quicker than last years 2:45 ?

Central Drakensberg over the long weekend.

Lets get drugfreesport on board and get CSA and the minister of sport to demand that pharmaceutical companies add a WADA approved logo (ontop of the relevant colour circle - red, green, orange & blue) to the top/bottom right/left of their products labelling. Then we would all buy the products with the correct WADA labelling.

Swiss, essentially you are allowing cyclosport riders to do what they want but since they can't win the race, podium or get prize money (Podiums, prize money etc are only for racing licensed riders) what would they be achieving > ...... absolutly nothing. Ah, then you ask about the youngster who misses out on a sponsorship....well, why would he, because the kid who possibly doped but on a cyclosport license would be demoted in the final results to behind those with racing licenses. Also you would hope that sponsors only sponsor riders with racing licenses. The overall point is to try and keep things fair amongst the competitive athletes and to also consider the average Joe in the street who doesn't want to be worried bout taking some over the counter medication for his snotty nose, or old running/rugby injury.

What I'm attempting to do is separate the serious cyclists from the not so serious who if they doped would be fooling nobody except themselves because if they did win or podium they would be demoted. It would also take the burden off CSA to do expensive testing on weekend warriors and it allows the weekend warrior to take an off the shelf decongestant without having then to suddenly worry he might be tested and banned. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in doping, but there are plenty of times when I've been to the doc and he's prescribed me this or that and I just take it...could I have possibly been tested and banned ?...probably....do CSA really want to be dealing with TUE's from hundreds of weekend warriors? All that will do is increase costs to administer which then gets added to race/licence fees. The simplest solution, whilst admittedly, not perfect is to only test and allow prize money & podium places for those with racing licences. If a person really wants to take PEDs to beat his mates for bragging rights then let him.

that's fine, they can change their minds and upgrade to a racing licence, they had just better know that they will become subject to testing and had better be clean, as we have seen, for longer than 6 months prior to doing so.

It's fairly simple. Separate the Pros (and future stars) from the weekend warriors. We, in SA, already have two licence categories, namely a racing or cyclosport licence. It then become simple. If you want to podium and get prize money or race for your province then, no matter your age, you need a racing licence and are subjected to all UCI rules. If you want to ride socially then get a cyclosport licence but if riding on a cyclosport licence you podium expect to be demoted. it's similar to the US Open or British Open in golf. Amateurs can enter and do get through to the main tournament but they are not eligible for any prize money.

The fine is obscene, especially in a country where murder suspects get R1000 bail.

Dude, there is never a good way to disable a moving vehicle, the only thing you're likely to do is cause an accident of which you would probably be a part of. To simply disable a parked vehicle...that would take about 20 seconds and can be done with a decent pair of side cutters.

We already have a two tier licence structure ie: you either have a racing or cyclosport licence. Prize money, provincial colours & podiums etc should only be awarded to those with a racing licence and similarly only those with a racing licence should be tested and banned.

I'd like to paint this frame matte black but am concerned about whether it would need a matte clear coat to protect the paintwork, which I don't seem to be able to get locally. Has anyone been through this ?

sorry, double post...sticky fingers.

geez, had a look at high st, not long but it does get very steep in some sections. I'll need to ride up Wyebank (Sander, Glamis & Pioneer rds - 4-6% for abt 2k) to get home.

quintonb, what is hilly. I intend to use mine for the odd commute to New Germany from Hillcrest. What ratio can you suggest?