Flemish Lion

I did the Eden Challenge with Grant moons ago - I think it was his first proper AR The bum blisters he endured - he even allowed us to take a photo of them they were SO bad What and adventure and experience!

Agree... even my commute through Emmerentia was such a joy! I now have a 5 km commute roads only but 150 m uphill there and back home it's 20 m uphill. I managed 33.5 km/h AVG home on my 29er yesterday Great to be home SO quick - kids love it too I'll have to find other ways to keep fit but it's so much safer to where I am now so that's a BIG plus. My condition is close to where it was before my bad accident (almost 7 months ago). It took a while but great / Blessed it's gone so fast and I have no physical restrictions anymore! Engen's around Joburg are enjoyable again

I did my first work commute (Braamfontein from Fairland) since my accident. Same day, same detour over NorthCliff hill but 4.5 months later! My condition isn't too bad, so I'm very happy with the progress thus far. Once you've commuted (for 2.5 years every day for me) and become independent of traffic or anyone (still lifting with a colleague at the moment as we rented one of our cars out) commuting becomes addictive - man I missed this I'm doing a lot more pavement riding and detours on/around dangerous roads as my accident made me realise it's not worth the time saving and cars are HARD and unpredictable. I also used to take my right of way for granted but it's also not worth the possible damage! Enjoy and be safe out there!

Thanks for the support guys! It finally got my phone screen fixed - Strava activated again and I rode for 2830 hours Other photo makes it clear I was going down Northcliff hill at 60 km/h when the car hit me and I flew into the windscreen!

I did my first commute last Friday 4 months after my bad crash... still scary how much damage a car can potentially do to a cyclist. I enjoyed the commute not having to worry about how bad traffic may be. My fitness isn't too bad after 1.5 months back on the bike... 2.5 months in ICU & rehab is probably the longest break I ever had from sport... almost feels like my body needed a proper rest - not the damage of course

I'll have to catch up with the commuting challenge when I'm allowed back on my bike! Anyone driving a car / bus or whatever should come spend a few hours or a day at a hospital with accident patients. The respect will then be established. I suppose dressing like a Christmas tree (lights) could help us but respect would get us further. Glad I'm recovering well and not too badly hurt given the impact. Keep it safe guys and I hope respect can be established. I'm at the rehab centre now but brain isn't doing too badly so hopefully not too long. Scary I lost 2-3 weeks of memory but if not I may have just panicked and pulled brakes when on the bike again in the future.

That and the sharing of this road between runners, cyclists, bikers, cars, trucks and taxis and some of those speed past traffic in the yellow lane... the paint of the yellow lane has faded a lot on some stretches so it's not even clear there is a yellow lane. So sad for his friends and family!

Indeed, much better option would have been to finish 1-2 km back just after the hill... seeing no spectators could easily get to the finish line to view anyway... the finish now just got more and more narrow and in the last 50m there was no space to pass! Don't blame a rider for causing a crash... blame ASG for the narrowing finishing straight!

947 also had full road closure when they took the race through Joburg CBD... it was chaos and they wisely decided to change the route to where they can control traffic / taxis.

Maybe we must make a thread ala 365 out of 365... I haven't missed a commute this year yet and only one day off the bike Sucks if one does not have a choice but to drive!

Who can build or know where I can buy a breakfast kitchen nook (Gauteng, Fairland). Ideally it should blend in with the dark red counter top and cupboards (see pic). Height of the current counter tops is 93 cm. If custom I suppose it can be build around the dividing wall - else I'll have a 10 cm gap between the two tops. Any suggestions re size (width & length) welcome!

Self control is key (as suggested) but man it's not easy...especially if your body / life is threatened! I have calmed down though after 3 years + of daily commuting... but still looking for the inner peace so I can accept the SA driving style / aggression... for the sake of possible retaliation towards me and other cyclists... I'll try to no longer take a taxis keys away and kick off a cars mirror (happened x 2) or just kick a car

What does one do in the following situation... A car passes you with 10-20 cm to spare while having ample space to pass much wider... I know some drivers don't mean it (as they just don't know how wide their car is... twice I've been hit by a mirror on my elbow and the drivers were shocked themselves...) but I could sense this guy did it on purpose... I almost caught up to him at the next stop street but afterwards thought... what would I have done had I caught up... when I turned off at the next roundabout he was shouting all kinds abuse at me given I gave him the 'bird'. My intention was to ask him why he was being such a d@@s passing so close to me but experience thought me this can escalate VERY quickly and we're vulnerable ten and there or next time he sees a cyclist thinking it's me... I once slapped a car a while back... the owner stopped so I stopped too to have a chat and this 'huge' gym oke stepped out and he wasn't impressed I slapped his car so I politely asked why he cut me off making sure I didn't trigger any violence which could have gotten me seriously injured

But it looks like it will be a wet commute home so the wet kit will only be uncomfortable for a few minutes Then we leave spare cycling shoes... last year I got wet about 8 x on 400 commutes so I'm willing to live with some infrequent discomfort.

Sadly my clothes can only hang below my desk and I'm not looking forward to put wet clothes and shoes for the commute home.

While on this topic - please let me know if anyone has a 54/55/56 front chain ring for sale. Suggestions on size or alternatives welcome - we have a 11-25 on the back. We're running out of gears with a 53 and if we ever wanna do a race we'll be dropped in no time...

I always move towards the middle of the road (clearly indicating) before I get to a narrowing circle. Some cars just don't have patience and I have been squeezed out a few times. I have a similar gripe with cars overtaking just before a sharp corner... they slam on brakes and not to crash in the back of them I have to slam on brakes to or come next to them... grrrrr!!!

I once had the same problem and ended up 'borrowing' a security lady's spare trousers after asking around if anyone could help! Had some good laughs... Now 4-5 pairs live in my locker!

Sorted

I think mine is about 2/3 rds commute distance wise. I climb about 500m on average per return commute so that's been adding up nicely. Maybe next year I must make 200km of total climbing my goal

Just add some sand to your paint, but yes would have done the trick too.

The steel gate entering Emmerentia (Beyers side) does not budge when I tried to cut the corner a bit Cut my elbow instead and had a very sore descent

From reading up on last year they only raced to the top and neutral down to avoid possible chaos. Even without cars racing down there is too dangerous IMO.

I'd be too scared to strangle a few motorists - I don't have any weapons on me for that reason

I also have spare keys of my lock and lockers locks in my office draw and a colleague has a spare draw key... I've also got spare clothes in my locker... I once got to work and realized I forgot my pants but I managed to borrow a security lady's spare pants... which was hilarious on the day!