Danger Dassie

Amy's arme arm made Czech mtb news (you'll need to use Google translate) ... https://mtbs.cz/clanek/tezka-prvni-etapa-cape-epic-2023-zamichala-poradim/kategorie/popis-xcm#.ZBirpexBxbV

Surgery this eve and the decision to start is tbc

It's legit. Also saw the crash, looks completely lowkey until you see how the branch snags ....

https://bikehub.co.za/news/2023-absa-cape-epic-bursts-into-life-with-thrilling-prologue/

There was feedback on some low flying. The pilots and org have their own separate briefings twice daily regarding patterns, weather, no-fly zones etc. So it's very much under control. There's a ton of coordination between landowners/farmers, CAA, organisation and the pilots. Epic Series apparently dealt with a legal case from a rider a while back over the lifetime ban and the decision was made by UCI ito the regulations. For YdV it's more complex since CSA/UCI are (were) entirely none communitive in her case, so there's a grey cloud over everything. Details aside, it is looking to be a superb week of racing and there's some droolworthy kit around.

Also was at Buffels, numbers were as high as ever for a Trailseeker, probably due to the new date and being one of the last opportunities to ride there. Organisation for me was seamless and a great route. Keep in mind that with the change of dates not all vendors/service providers could commit to the day. Compounded by the fact that there were a number of conflicting events over the same weekend. One person I spoke to was leaving straight after to fly down to CT to work on the Cycle Tour. Event numbers have generally trended down, but they’ve also seen a levelling out with some areas increasing. Keep in mind that the event’s calendar is heavily saturated, since before Covid. Nothing is “falling apart” or “dying” though.

Subbed and looking forward, good crew of people. https://escapecollective.cc/faqs/

Has changed/morphed into another arrangement in the area apparently.

To be fair I've seen the Cycle Lab car help a few non-club riders out. Case in point a mate a couple months back was taken out by some **** on their tri bike, who also then rode off. CL car was in the area and kept him shielded until EMS arrived.

That was a good race, SA marathon champs have been enjoyable year on year. Karkloof was also fantastic last year, great coverage as well.

Have ridden everything there on a gravel bike. The nice part is that you can stretch out a ride and/or avoid sections by exploring the service roads in and around the trails/reserve.

River section is fine, the guys spent the better part of three days sorting it out. Ruins, also 100%. Reeds is touch and go, especially after last night’s rain. A few wet sections around, but what isn’t taped off can be ridden by a gravel bike. Updates are regularly posted on their FB/Insta plus there’s a website with email and Whatsapp

For sure, for SAIDS a case could be made that overall they operate more proactively than some other federations on testing. Particularly given the resource challenges, which everyone has, but for SA it's more nuanced.

Don't agree, we have a relatively large population index and geography, along with one of the biggest growth rates in cycling sport. As far as doping goes SA has to date approximately 20-30 published cases max over the last ten years. Across all cycling disciplines and sanctions. There are some Euro nations with a smaller population sample and cycling population that could be argued as worse. Then if we look at Spain, Belgium, Italy, etc as examples, the number of cases is pretty scary, particularly among amateurs. In many respects nowhere near as transparent either. So please define "very very very bad" and "astounding."

cSixx are doing a range of Cerakote colourways on all their alloy components.

That was from 2016, a fair bit of detail was included so as to provide more insight and context. Rather than simply a copy and paste of the press release. From memory roughly, YDV had a TUE application in for a specific medication prescribed for women in her age/condition. But there was a breakdown in comms/administration from SAIDS and/or CSA at the time. Thus in her appeal the sanction was mostly applied retrospectively at the time. The info should be on the SAIDS site under the case files. Generally all the hearing documentation is available. If it isn’t, SAIDS can be emailed for the information and they’ll normally update the site accordingly. It both be argued that she was naive/negligent in her approach, whilst between CSA and SAIDS the same could be argued, ergo Newman’s comment at the time. Which flies in the face of an accountable and transparent organisation. As far as the lifetime ban goes, Epic is under new ownership and it’s their prerogative really. Also let’s be honest with ourselves, an event applying a flat rate lifetime ban does nothing for anti doping. Arguably YDW’s case among others proves that.

An old Volvo Cross Country estate.. yes please!

Couple of ‘MTBrs’ who did pretty well at SA Roads. Saw Candice Lill and Tiffany Keep performing. Plus there was the XCO week before. Nice!

Looks like it was Travis Stedman in a sprint. Those last few km, bliksem 🤯 - https://fb.watch/iEqxRD_6sO/?mibextid=kdkkhi

SA Champs, Elite Men road race - https://fb.watch/iEnljhycRb/?mibextid=kdkkhi Also some general coverage on CSA Stories https://instagram.com/cycling_sa?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

Cheers. Didn’t forget, didn’t see it as the signal was all over. So a lot was missed. As much as the comm vehicle may not have had any influence, don’t believe it should have been there on the final straight. The real point is the women’s team race was a fantastic event worth following. Great that Team DSM took the initiative.

It was properly good racing, some good attacks by Taneal Otto and few others. Maddie Le Roux and Zanri Strydom performed an exceptional breakaway in last km and were caught again, just. Zanri then attacked from the back in the last km or so while everyone was watching each other. She nearly held the break as well, the bunch caught her in the last few hundred metres. It’s unfortunate that the comm vehicle was in the final straight. Should’ve rolled back or pulled off route.

Very much so in your part of the world. Flipping hell, organising mates together for an outing there is like a Russian roulette of kittens with squirrel brains! 😝

The coverage is a terribly frustrating hodge podge of accounts and platforms to follow. Twitter is the best bet between CSA Cycling, CSA Road (Cycling SA) and Cycle Nation There’s a basic livestream on FB for part of the Elite Women and Elite Men, thanks to one of the teams. https://fb.watch/iDba55Fz2F/?mibextid=kdkkhi

Need a LOT more than that tjom, believe me I know. 😉 Lekker flying, remember 24 hours bottle to throttle 😜 🚁