joevan

Windbreaker, Yes it is a great pity that the younger cyclists who get so much more out of the sport than the older cyclists, don't bother to attend these events and exercise thier voting rights, but I saw the same behavior when I was part of Western Province Waveski Association. It seems to be a pretty common problem in sporting bodies. Although the voting was primarily done by the "elders", I believe the closeness of the vote was caused by the old members who didn't want any thing to change, (we are funriders and must never be anything else)as opposed to the members who still hoped that giving it another go might result in some benefit for all riders, both funriders and pro's. I was one of the latter. I had to take into account, what happens to PPA as an organisation if they decide to stand alone? I can't see them surviving in the long term. Historically all Kingdoms ultimately fall. What was obvious from the "presentations" was that neither PPA nor CSA could claim that they were blameless. The argument over the licencing issue decision taken at the congress was a case in point. CSA claimed that PPA knew about it and failed to make thier case, Steve Hayward claimed that PPA did not receive the notification. Then Lawrence Whiitaker tries to make the point how thier closeness to PPA reduced the cost to R20.00 instead of R100.00 for non-competive members licencing. All smoke and mirrors as far as I can see. Fortunately the decision had to be made last night, and could not be put off for another three years. Now they have to do something to make it work, we hope!!!!!!!!

Willehond, General impresion I got from the big brass, thay wanted to stay in, but were wary of commiting in case the members disagreed.

So did I Peter, but rational thought and heads won the day. I hope you guys on the committee got the message. Use your influence to drive CSA in a direction to suit both the funriders and the racers joevan2008-03-12 15:54:36

Quote "lots of smoke and mirrors by some Lance dude" What do you expect from a lawyer?????????

butafly, I agree with your comments, age and wiseness gave the day to the heads. My heart would have said split, but that would have been mostly anger at the poor performance of both the PPA and CSA in this whole affair, and I must admit that up until I listened to all the arguments, some of which were pathetic, my head said stay and lets hope that the parties can get thier act together. The turnout was an exercise in apathy and the poor turnout of the younger generation, who have so much more to gain in the long run than us oldies was not too surprising. Have seen this same trend in other sports. Good thing that there was no opportunity to delay the "sunset" clause, I believe that a lot of the problems have been caused by not being forced to make a decision earlier. As PPA members, we need now to put pressure on our "elected officials" to drive the unification process in a direction that will suit the needs of both the funriders, and the racers. We need more transparency and improved reporting to the members in the future, this will go along way to eliminating the misconceptions that result in the ill feelings. Was hoping to finally meet some of the hbbers, but saw no wrist bands and did not feel like walking around asking people "are you a hubber?" THat would have been too much like the fugitive game on KFM radio BTW I was on the lookout for Hubbers, hoping to meet some of you at last, but saw no wristbands.

Wow!!!!!!!! Nothing so interesting or boring as "experts" all trying to prove "scientifically" that thier theory is correct. All Wolverine originally asked for was some simple advice! All several people tried to do was to point out to Wolverine some areas to check based on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE not textbooks. I have no need to debate this subject any further. Been there, done that in the end experience will win the day!!!!!!! Subject closed!! Hope you and Control C enjoy your debate - you'll need to have a few beers when it's over.

Oh and by the way, couldn't find any mechanics who were prepared to test the rider theory since it came on suddenly at 180km, and then remained there until until the speed had dropped to about 100km/hr. Can't say I blame them. The tank slapper I had was so bad, that I was literally bouncing off the armco barriers on either side of a three lane freeway!!!!!!!!!!1joevan2008-02-21 15:21:21

Sorry Johann, maybe I didn't make it clear enough. I concurred with your disagreement on the explanation from The Break regarding friction, frame shortening because of the speed etc. Certainally at higher speeds, I would expect the "friction" on the front tyre to decrease, not increase, unless of course the rider is stiffenig up and putting all his weight on his arms and thus the front wheel. This supports your contention of rider involvement. In my motorcycling case, we firstly found that the idiots who assembeled the bike had not tightened up the steering head, and that was pretty loose. That partly sorted out the problem. Next we fitted a brace between the two sides of the fork, matters improved further, but the "hint" of a potential wobble was still there all be it mild. It was one of the SA motorcycle circuit racers who raised the tyre issue. He went into a long and detailed explanation of tread patterns, direction of rotation, irregularities in the tread pattern etc. We fitted a new tyre, and no more wobble!!!!! Yes I also agree items carried on the bike which can affect the balnce of the rider, and centre of gravity can also play a role.

I agree with you to some extent Johann, the explanation offered was a bit overboard. Luckily I've never experienced this on a pedal cycle, but many years ago when I was a serious motorcyclist, experienced what in m otorcycling terms is commonly known as a tank slapper. This happened at 180km/hr, so I experienced a rapid aging process as well. After many visits to the "experts" and a lot of experimentation, traced the problem to two areas: 1. Fork walk - the front forks were flexing at high speeds. 2. Irregularity in the front tyre. After changing the tyre and bracing the front fork, never had this happen again. The rolling mechanics of a two wheeled vehicle whether powered by an engine or by two feet must be pretty similar. I'd start by looking at the same areas on a bicycle, -- forks, cracked or flexing, loose steering head, (In fact in the long gone days, many motorcycles were fitted with an adjustable head bolt that could be tightened up by hand if you wanted to go fast), and change the front tyre to see if this makes any difference.joevan2008-02-21 14:32:45

I agree Big Momma, this will be the way of the future joevan2008-02-20 14:50:00

ControlC Find another group to ride with!!!!!!!! If we as cyclists persist in this sort of riding, we can hardly expect the motorists to have any respect for us. As I said earlier in this thread, because of the attitude of our club to traffic rules, we are actually gaining the respect of local motorists. Unfortunately, there are always those few who spoil it for all the rest of us.

Homer, satisfy my curiosity. Picture No 1 taken at Jonkershoek?? I have a pic taken on Womans day last August. which looks like the same spot. While the woman were enjoying thier day, a mate and I went there and spent 4hrs riding, climbed WAY up in the mountains, had some fun on switchbacks, splashed through lots of mud, and had some scary downhills through the forest. Cost? R20.00 for the permit!!!!!!!!!!1

I originally started out on MTB, and did the entire Western Cape circuit, then got a road bike to keep going in the summer, when it gets a bit hot in the mountains. Started doing road rides, but both disciplines in terms of "funrides/races" have lost thier enjoyment for me. The MTB rides have become too crowded, and you can no longer enjoy using technical skills, because you are continually held up by unskilled riders who cannot ride on a singletrack, uphill, or over a few rocks or loose sand. Apart from that this sport requires a lot of travelling to get to the venues, and petrol has got too expensive. Road rides were fun, but with the mix of "league" and funriders, accidents etc have also lost thier glamour. Add to that at both, you may come back and find some of your property missing, due to poor security at the races. Add up the cost of travelling, entry fees and all the rest, and it's no longer fun. I joined a local club, where we do regular weekend rides, and enjoy ourselves. Cost R200.00 per annum. Now I pick only the races/funrides that I really enjoy, in either discipline, clubrides, and MTB rides with buddies. I've got more time with the family, and my bank balance looks better. Clubs may the way of the future for the "funriders", with racing becoming a sport for the serious riders only.joevan2008-02-19 13:16:27

Five stars to you. GreatWhite. Our local Club rides every Saturday morning, and one of the rules is "obey traffic laws" I have noticed that we have been noticed, if that makes sense! Cars now often stop for us, if half of the group gets caught by a robot, even a TAXI has stopped in a circle and shown us to go through. The point is, you get what you give. If we as cyclists behave responsibly, the cyclist/motorist war will fade away!!!!!!!!!!!

Beware the fine print!!!!!!!! Several Medical aids have clauses which exclude cover if you are injured while participating in professional sport! SweatSafe is supposed to be the cover for this type of activity, however, and I quote: "Finally we draw your attention to the exclusion of hospital expense cover for Professional Sportspeople injured while participating or training in thier professional sports code" Apparently then you have to apply for the ER24 ResQ cover! If you are a licenced rider in cycling, are you now classified as a Professional?????

Started off with a cheapie MTB to ride in the burbs to get fitter. Then decided to do a few funrides (Races?) in the dirt, and did the whole Western Cape circuit. Ended up upgrading the MTB!! Decided to buy a cheapie road bike because it wasn't always convenient to travel to a suitable venue for fun riding.(Petrol & Time) and with the road bike I can ride from the house. Then ended up doing first Argus last year. Oops, now upgraded on the road bike as well!!! (Almost a divorce case!!) Riding the road bike more than the MTB, but still prefer MTB overall!!

City Cycling Club. Contact g.ward@mweb.co.za or Mike 0825780414 Ride every Saturday at 0700 from Edgemead library, and Sundays from BP Garage in Edgemead. Several non-members ride with them, like myself. They usually do two to three different distances to cater for the not so fit, like me!! Yes they are fussy about cycling's image in the area, traffic rules must be obeyed. joevan2008-01-20 14:45:55

Raleigh to FELT - also very happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pieter, Great to have guys like Johan always ready to help with advice on this site. Another tip if you are a long way from a LBS is Park Tools site. Thier help site is great, and covers just about any repair you can think of. http://www.parktool.com/index.asp joevan2007-12-22 23:52:57

1976man, don't even go there! They will claim it's not in thier mandate to do so, that's if you can get them to respond at all!! Funny how entry fees keep increasing though. Maybe the idea of getting motor cycle clubs to police rides that was suggested in the recent crossing the line debates, was not a bad one. We could get a few "Hells Angel" types to cruise the car parks.

I like both ideas, in fact I already suggested to my friend that he leave something nice to eat in the car, laced with a liberal dose of anti-constipation remedy At the Koringberg event, they actually left the wallets with cash in and even in the same place in the car, it was only later in the afternoon when the brother went shopping that he realised his credit cards were missing. These guys are obviously regular readers of the event calendar, but not for the same reasons we cyclists read it.joevan2007-12-16 13:52:27

The new South Africa strikes again!! At this morning's Tygerberg MTB race, a friend had his bakkie broken into for the third time at races this year, money, car licence, drivers licence, gearlock key and house keys all taken. While he was still on the race, a stranger phoned his home number looking for a "John" Fortunately his son was at home, so thier obvious plan of relocating further of his assets was thwarted. The last time this happened, at the Koringberg race, they got hold of his brother's credit cards, which were used to purchase R50000.00 worth of goods at Makro Milnerton that same morning. How do we stop this. All it takes is a few people in cycling clothes wandering around amongst the cars, nobody will suspect them unless they are actually seen breaking in. This is obviously an organised group who are targetting cyclists attending events.joevan2007-12-16 13:01:18