Velouria

I grew up 500m from here. Rode to school for 12 years. What used to be quiet sleepy plot roads became major thoroughfares. The suburbs got bigger but the roads didn't. I'd be too scared to ride up Uys Street now. Hope the cyclists are ok.

Then you've certainly seen me. While I do my best to hide in the yellow line, I've found that often the best form of defense is to be an obstacle. With pedestrians, bulldozers, tractors transporting grapes, the traffic turning into Technopark, broken bottles and other obstacles in the yellow line I've found it safer to ride to the right of the yellow line and become part of traffic. If the yellow line exists for cyclists, then why are there so many situations where that is the last place I feel safe. As mentioned, the turn off into Technopark, the left turn on the R44 at the Lord Charles - here, cars invade the yellow line like it is another lane leaving little or space for any other road users. I've also found that a little wave to so thank you for not riding over me can go a long way - being friendly to motorists seems to disarm any animosity there might be, and the frustration of being 20 seconds late because they were considerate towards me is quickly forgotten. And then to do the same thing when I am driving - give cyclists a gap. Set the example for other road users.

Things have gone a full cycle - perhaps we were onto something back then. I race on Game, eat proper food on the bike - not a single bar or Gu. The soup at the top of MAC is a lifesaver every year. We ride in one set of kit on 29er hartd tails. I am however glad that I don't have to carry my own weight in spare batteries for the 3W halogen light that I saved up months for.

I got the original hand crafted "Done 5" shield that you had to put your own medals into. (Mine didn't fit - so it has sat in a drawer for 5 years). After that, they switched to the current shield, with the flat square medals (I only have 4 of those flat medals), and now they have switched to the raised square medals. It's Ecobound - the last "big thing" they introduced was Coke at waterpoint 3. Given the current turn out, I don't think they need solo riders. It will change the race too much, and will become a support nightmare for the organisers. Rather outsource that support requirement to teammates.

My race report: http://www.velotales.com/2013/08/trans-baviaans-2013.html

Getting there - I should have something tomorrow. It's almost more difficult doing the write up than it is doing the ride

You're supposed to put your own food in your boxes. The food they provide is just a bonus. I'm not defending the front guys - some of them can be quite rude, but don't confuse focussed and in a hurry with sour and unfriendly. Of all the volunteers providing support at Baviaans - the soup lady is my favourite. She's literally saved my life several times with that soup of hers. And I'm not usually a soup fan.

How was that finishing stretch up to the Mall? A horrible climb into a biting gale. Dr Evil might just be loosing his reputation for k@k finishes to Wikus. And for the mid to back field guys - throw in some driving, icey rain and I'm surprised Wikus left JBay in one piece

I'd agree if she wasn't such a good backup. She really earned her stripes for the 8 minutes that we saw her.

My first one has been relegated to the garage. Only the second one is allowed inside. And this was all decided by the wife on the car trip home!

Judging by the grilling that he got on twitter I'm not sure I'm thick skinned enough to pull that look off.

4. It won't nearly as bad as "The Wet One" 5. It will build character and give us great war stories.

Oooh - very nice indeed. Except that guy on the front in the first photo looks like such a pansy shielding his eyes from the sun and dust... Wait. That's me

Thought you might be talking about me for a second - I passed a group of MTBers out near Butterfly World. There was an annoying head wind blowing that I'd been riding into for 1h30 when I look behind me to see one of the MTBers hooked onto my wheel feeling very chuffed with himself. I didn't say anything, but I wasn't amused that some dirty fat wheeled loafer was benefitting my efforts. The decision was to ignore him, as his mates were now distant specks behind us and he'd soon drop off, or to remind him of the natural order of all things cycling related. Despite having another 2h30 to go, I threw caution to the wind and pulled the Froome Washing Machine Spin Cycle maneuver and dropped him like he was Cavendish on Alpe d'Huez. I paid the price a few hours later, but it was worth it.

They're everywhere. I've even ridden a stage of Sani in Mutual Safes kit

Forget flagging, next time someone steals a KOM by a ridiculous margin, I'm using Digital EPO: http://www.digitalepo.com/ http://www.digitalepo.com/images/texta.png

Certainly not voluntarily. They need a section in the hostel for first timers, and another section for those that have done this before and like our beauty sleep.

And if you do decided to get up, don't put your cycling shoes on and make a noise like a stampeding herd of wildebeest. Some of us like to lie in

And just to make things worse - the new DC route with a half way timeout changes things completely. It's a godsend for everybody as it allows teams to regroup. It's now like doing two laps of the Argus with a nice cold coke in between. Last year 206 teams started, 13 went under 6 hours, 54 did between 6 and 7 hours, and 29 snuck in under 10 hours (3 didn't make it). I'd say an Argus sub 3 here is the same as a sub 7 DC in terms of the level. That's not to say that a guy who gets a sub 3 at the Argus will get a sub 7hr DC. This is a race for the diesel engines - the guys that get abused week in and week out up the climbs around the peninsula

That water crossing at Kondomo has only been flooded twice in the last 9 years. Same for that water crossing just before the climb at Suurbron (used to be the last unmanned checkpoint). If it's dry, a fast rolling tyre is ideal. If it's wet, and I'm talking 2006 wet, it gets super muddy, so make sure your tyres clear mud quite well.

Where the attack occurred

Contacts as in a bike shop where he can buy a new frame? Or a shady black market 2ndhand frame? Or a cheap import from China? Unfortunately, bikes don't usually just crack near the seatpost. Someone did something funny.

Yesterday, two British Capetonians riding in Tokai were attacked by men with wooden sticks and had their bikes stolen. They suffered some minor injuries, including a broken helmet and some aches and scrapes. The robbers were only interested in the bikes, and weren't after phones and other valuables. I know a lot of people consider Tokai as a safe spot to ride, often alone - just beware of any suspicious characters. Looks like the second hand bike industry is quite lucrative.

You've forgotten about the 2006 TDF already? Or 2010?

So many high horses, you'd swear The Hub was the Moral Capital of the internet. I'd rather have Tyler telling his story so that we can question, recognise and prevent it happening again in the sport that we love. He's part of the solution along with teams like Garmin, while Lance has done nothing to move the sport forward, and teams like Sky remind us of the recent dark past. My dream is to be able to watch a bike race and not have my suspicions raised, and hope that we never have another Michael van Staden situation.