Paul Ruinaard

1.) I think you need to google the Dunning Kruger effect and internalise that first wrt your riding skills and abilities. Maybe your abilities as an orator and on social media 2.) Diminishing other peoples posts is in effect a tactic to belittle them. You need to cite evidence more than opinions. If you posts are misconstrued then it may be you need to point out ther failings as you may have a valid point. Right now i am lost to what you believe your point is you say we missed, as are I think others.

Yeah i am not really going to go down this rabbit hole too far. I think this exemplifies the issue at hand. Got nothing to do with social media. You seem to think that its the bike riders duty to ensure that he gets out of the way of a motor bike rider who is using a public road illegally and at high speed and in a way that is dangerous to others. FWIW I am local in Paarl and spend a lot of time on Franschoek pass and Hels and up Bains - we were there last weekend. I have also got the few hundred thousand kms on bikes - powered and not - i am 60 and started riding motorbikes at 9 in the back yards so have been some places on two wheels and have ben on bicyles since 1995. Every weekend especially in good weather its full here in the region with guys wanting to test their riding and driving abilties of their toys. Cars i didn't mention - they are another complete discussion but the bikers definitely get my attention because of the above and the fact i was one of them. You really are being naive in assuming that closing the throttle from 180 or 200kmh to 140 allows you a better margin for error when someone in a skedonk pulls out of a side entrance in to your path. And you are naive if you think that your reactions are cat like and you will be able to avoid this type of incident. Especially if the only path to do so is to go in to the oncoming lane and or in to the cyclists coming upf rom the other side. And if it hasn't happened then its only a matter of time before it does. Your abilties and your skills - That's all bravado mate and what you think you are capable of is really a matter of subjective opinion We all think we are skilled on a bike. You can crow all you want about your abilities and pedigree. And TBH you may be very skilled but the roads are not for using to demonstrate your abilities to put your knees down or carve curves fast. They are there for the general public to use within a framework of laws. If these laws are flouted or disobeyed in other instances its not for you to decide you are immune from them nor to break them at will "because others do" . That's the issue here. Your belief your rights are higher/better/stronger than others - which is of course a fallacy, irrespective of the taxes you pay the car you drive or the speed you ride on two or four wheels powered or unpowered.

This post scares me becaue it confirms what i suspected but i suppose I didnt want to acknowledge. Sports bikers in the winelands and in CTN passes are basically out of control. On a sunday morning the passes are humming with guys on big fast sports bikes. The fact less have died is a miracle. I have gotten to the point where even though I had ridden motorbikes for a long time, i feel that the guys who feel its their right to ride like w@nkers in public roads need to be eliminated from the gene pool - a simple darwinian effect. Most of the guys i have seen are really not that capable - it is more the pose and the leathers etc, good at twisting the right hand grip in a straight line. Logic dictates that when it goes wrong at HIGH speed things happen that much faster and the scenery is unforgiving. I recently sold my Ducati not before taking it over Bains Kloof and Franschoek and Hels a couple of times (Multistrada not a sports bike) to see what all the fuss was about. Simply put they are all very tight with zero margin for error. Chappies as well. If you screw up or hit an errant diesel patch you are toast and will probably hurt yourself or die. I am not a patch on the rider i was so it was well within the limits and my abilities and speed limits TBH but it showed me that these actually were not such fun roads to ride - very little margin for error and you are busy as a rider. And if i was in my sports bilking prime (yes i rode like a w@nker as well - we all did) the only place i pushed the envelope was in track days, not public roads. But the problem is always that when you fall the chances are small but real that your bike hits something or someone oncoming. You are in full leathers and have some protection although the concrete walls are hard. But the truth is when it hits someone else then you likely kill them - its just pure physics and energy. This accident and the incidents you describe above are really symptomatic of a sports bike ridng population that feels its their right to run these tight and dangerous roads illegally with no plates on their bikes and no way to be caught. Anyone who has ridden a sports bike can guess much of what happened on Chappies - you have so much power nad are going so much faster its so easy to just swing past cars. Problems arise when you get so arrogant you lose respect for other road users and become blattantly direspectful. It needs to stop guys. THe only way is to put traffic calming zones all over these roads. If you go in to Europe and look at their roads you will understand what has ben done - there is no other way. My sympathies with the guy who got hit on Chappies - hope he recovers. From the posts those are scary injuries. All he was doing was going for a ride with his mates, like all of us do.

Agreed. Sadly you are right. Its very frustrating. You may choose to cycle on an unsafe road. Thats a value assessment you make and By definition most roads are unsafe for cyclists. You conduct yourself accordingly and mitigate your risks. That's why i have front and back flashers. I wish I could show you how many people have no lighting and nothing that would alert a car to them. I wish it wasn't true. People don't do anything to mitigate risks I also wish cyclists were not acting like arrogant pr$cks all the time but especially before cycle tour and didn't think three riding abreast was the best way to avoid the cars overtaking them. Massive bunches all over the road blocking cars overtaking them deliberately. Its so sad that you can't put the genie back in the bottle on this one. it was just a matter of time before this happened. The margins for error are Zero TBH. Biker overtaking on white line, cyclist runs wide on a corner. Bad timing. It could all have been avoided and been a near miss. I get so upset because i see this every weekend and its obvious what the outcome will be. Also I suppose its a reflection on me - i am out on these roads on my roadbikes - chappies, helshoogte etc, so it could have been me. TBH the comments on twitter make my blod boil.

Hmm - having been on bikes and motorbikes for 30 plus years and done my share of knee grinding and stupid breakfast runs i can only say there is an asusmption from 90% of the sports motorcycle riders in South Africa that they are entitled, by virtue of their license fees, to ride way above the legal speed limits and in ways that leave zero room for error. I stepped away from it and went to riding on hte track owing to the fact that theres hard scenery and oncoming traffic on the road. This accident is proof of all of this. But Spend a Saturday or Sunday morning on Helshoogte with the bikes going up and down from Stellenbosch side and up Franschoek Pass and you will know that the sports bikers do not give. a toss. Thats a fact for the majority - i know asusmptions are dangerous but you dont buy a sports bike to ride within the speed limit. I was one of them. And a cyclist as well. I am sorry i dont agree with you when you say you accept the risk when you use the road. Apologies but that is hogwash..You accept that everyone should conduct themslevses accordingly and that one of you is not entitled to place the others at risk.

i love the analogy. It's a bit like taking out a purebred and feeling the responsiveness and willingness to run - just you aint the rider you used to be. Very torn about it but the bike count in the garage is ratcheting up and its really nothing but a wall ornament. I did all my racing on it and it has a sentimental connection to PB's and putting hurt in to bunches, but I can feel its not going to be a patch on my Roubaix in terms of comfort. Back and Neck - agreed. Stiff as a plank.... Anyone interested in my old racing machine - i even bought a brand new 10 speed campag cluster and chain as they were getting scarce which i would happily throw in

I have got my old road bike back from my nephew - C 40 B Stay with a Campag Record 10 Speed groupset and Nucleon Campag wheels. Its been ridden so has the usual road patina. Now whilst i am extremely sentimental about the old bike its also now unlikely to be a comfortable ride any more. It wasnt to begin with - its a very hard ride. 24 years later its still an out and out race bike, so with my somewhat heavier frame and less flexibility its not an ideal machine. The chances are therefore its going to hang on the wall. Question for the group - whats a C 40 like that worth - R 12k to R 15k? R 20k? Bike is original - i even have the books from Alan van Heerden

Jeez nice work if you can get a job like yours mate. Your posts and photos keep us all vicariously entertained and motivated to find these landscapes

Careful what you assume. The standard restriction on a Specialized Creo e road bike is 42 kmh. Once you go up above that it turns off. It doesn't mean you can climb at 42 KPH BTW. Just you will get some assistance up to that speed depending on your chosen setting. However once you have the bike moving - even the e MTB which is limited at 32 KPH - its easy to stay with a bunch . I often have the bike completely turned off and am sitting at 45 KPH in a bunch if we are on flat or in a tail wind - they are easy to pedal like a non assisted bike as the motor drag is negligible so its not unlikely she was not being assisted. UNless you have ridden one and understand how the assistance works be careful of making assumptions - you will find at high speed sthe assistance is marginal and is not really impacting the effort put in as the bike can't do much at that speed - its mainly rider effort. Its no a motorbike - its deisgned for assistance at lower speeds. Above a certain speed its rider effort. Now you need to maybe think she was pretty fit and strong and chooses to ride the bike for her reasons but could be a damn good cyclist and would be quite competent on a normal bike. Ego's take a lot of bashing when that happens.

Ed Zackery. Well said that man! 21 cycle tours, 13 x 94.7s, Epic, Sanis, Jocks, Hells of the north (many of these multiples). Some with some crazy fast times for an oke built for the front row of a rugby scrum. Who knows how many results on crazy other races over the last 25 years where we just pitched up and rode. I love cycling and i love the feeling of being out on a bike. Now I just want to enjoy riding my bike at this age and enjoy the company of mates. An ebike allows me to get my less than fit fat self to the front of a bunch, pull them into a headwind for a bit so i feel like i contribute, pace nicely up a climb and generally enjoy feeling like i am able to ride with the fast guys again, and enjoy the camaraderie of a good hard fast ride without spending the three months prior on a trainer and eating chicken salads, or the afternoon after the ride comatose on the couch. I will cite the Dricus amendment: "Hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie"

especially uphill

Always the same - the early adopters see the value and go out and embrace new ideas and then the whole paradign shifts. Some examples Horse drawn wagons when cars came along Steam engines vs electric or diesel electric trains Roadbikes when MTB's came along Disc vs Rim Brakes Full suspension vs hard tail 26 vs 29 ABS vs non ABS Tubeless vs non tubeless. thin tyres vs wider tyres High pressure vs low pressure In every instance the older technology is seen as purist, more romantic, harder core, etc etc etc. I will embrace it when i am 90 or over my dead body. I will pedal my hardtail rim brake to my grave etc. I can brake better on rims , i ride better with the tyres hard. What happenes when tubeless goes awry. And in every instance the new tech wins the day and you all end up on it eventually. THere is an ebike in every old mans future i will tell you that.

Jeez you are making me all sentimental for the days when i could still pedal a 23 - 11 cluster with a 53/39 front ring. I forgot about the shift down the whole cluster when sprinting - you are making me remember when i could still sprint without flapping around on shifters... Never mind when i could still sprint...

I have ridden a bike with a limiter and the thing is it isnt gradual - its a switch. So you need the assistance to be a glide path not a cliff. You hit the cliff on a way up a jump I agree it could be a dramatic Flying W nose wheelie if you are lucky enough to actually land it

and what about us lysdexics - is MARS acceptable?

There are those that have owned Campag 10 Speed Record and then there is the rabble that will never know what a proper shift feels like. Its like coming home when you engage the shift lever and theres no mamby pamby ratcheting around but rather a solid thunk as it shifts. And it alwasy does it and its always accurate. #justsaying

Okay so i found him on INstagram and it seems like he is currently out here training in Stellenbosch and Banhoek. Man is fast i agree.

None other than Peter Thiel, founder of Paypal and also Elon Musks old business partner, a libertarian and a Trump supporter and generally a very interetsing guy. Do some reading about him. I always thought we needed to bring in a Hercules class where my drugs or enhancements compete with yours as well. If you expire or have long term consequence - well you read the fine print. TBH a lot of this happens under the covers anyway and people have long terms side effects that disable them later in life but do it for the glory. Go watch Ircarus and then look me in the eye and hone0tsly tell me the Russians sports medals over the last 50 years have been won clean. And then if you believe in that i know of a jolly fat guy with a white beard and a sleigh that i must tell you about who brings everyone presents at Xmas, and a bunny that delivers choclate eggs. Look at Carl Lewis - who is now wheel chair bound - and see some of his quotes on the subject where he clearly says he would do it all again even knowing the consequences. Hey some people have allegedly made a chicken that they grafted four legs on to which is meant to solve world hunger but the problem is they havent managed to catch one yet to see if it works and what it tastes like :-). Agriculture has been doing it for a long time. Welcome to the world of Neuralink shunts directly connected to your brain, personal AI copilots assistants through 3d Vision displays. I reckon about 20 to 25 years away if that. But thats another topic.

So the guy who won the ebike class at Wine to Whales did the whole event in about 6 hours i.e. Total ride time for the 3 x days. On a Specialized. I know he was ebike world champ but even the film motorbike struggled to stay with him. That was IMO amazing... The thing is an ebike with a big battery (700 w/h) and the 320 watt motor can push big sticky wide tryes and a huge plush fork up the slopes, so when the slope tilts down you go like smoke. Its a heavy bike so very stable and also raked out so it corners well. You will nuke anyone on a steep drop if you ride even half decent and in the right hands you just run away from anyone else who hasnt got the traction and handling you have. Racing ebikes IMO makes no sense, limited or unlimited. Riding them in a race where you are part of the field and want to do the route but arent going to be taking any result home - thats cool. I would love to do a multi day on my Specialized with batteries scattered across the course - you will have a lekker day and generally finish much fresher. FWIW i have cracked the firmware on the bike and also learned how to hack it to get it to go faster if need be. I am an inveterate tweaker and will always be tinkering with my cars and bikes - thats a fun thing to do especially on an ebike as there is free performance that the regulatory nazis are not allowing you to gte to, and it aint at the cost of the carbon footprint or safety.

bwahaha damn good driver - hugenoet monument - my mistake...

i was told that one of the locals stopped a Shoprite articulated truck on entry and made him reverse down the access road past taal monument - didnt see it happen though

bwahaha - first weather prediction for the Argus being asked for .Its an inverse law. The weather will be inverse to the amount of training you put in - if you trained your mielie off then it will be super *** and wet and windy. If you didnt train it will be the best ride ever. And the wether gods can see your secret training so dont go sneaking in some extra miles casue that just adds to their anger.

I was up there on Saturday - its looking good - lots of work to be done. Its closed Mon - Fri 8 am to 5pm to all vehicles including cyclists and also meant to be permanently closed to any vehicle over 5 tons but that didnt seem to deter a Pick n Pay truck from Lieben Logistics, a pantecnicon over 5 tons clearly who just wiped his ar$e on us waving at him and ignored us as he went over there. Good one Pick n Pay and Lieben - great example of law abiding drivers - when profit is in play the laws fall by the way. Otherwise a very nice ride as its less busy. Weeeknds its open.

Where is this less than Stoked suspension Works everyone speaks of. I need to investigate this abusive shop and eke out some of this restitution.....

Survival now equals making sure i have enough KWH in the batteries the night before rather than carbo loading.