Velouria

I would be such a grump - I think my wife would move out until I was able to ride bikes again. As much as my commute this morning was a bit of life and death situation (I thought the school moms were bad, but it turns out people on holiday are even worse!) - I wouldn't want to change it for the world!

Yeah - particularly when the guy who designed it and made it says it is a bad idea and just shakes his head! Things went well for the tandem this year. Only 2 punctures and one missing jockey wheel. (We had about 8 punctures in 45kms last year and didn't even attempt the second loop of the 90km)

Such a cool event. A little crazy, a little eccentric, but a fun day out riding old bikes in challenging conditions. Well done Stan! (One of the other things I do after Eroica is go through my copies of Bicycle Portraits again) The thing that strikes me at each Eroica (it's the only time I ride my old bike) is how difficult it was to ride these bikes. And my vintage bike is a bike I used to ride and race all the time when I was younger. Just getting my head around downtube shifters took about 3 hours!

I stopped reading when I saw 52... A sub 3 on a semi-compact isn't something to brag about, especially if you actually use the 42

There were times on Sunday when I was looking down at my gearing and wishing I had something bigger than a 53 on the front (probably when we were flying through Misty Cliffs at 80km/h and I had completely spun out). Hmm - time to check the Campag parts book to see if they have a 56 Suikerbossie is only k@k because it is straight and wide - that feeling of going nowhere. But still big blade material.

Fun fact - did you know that the Garmin cadence sensor stops working at 21 rpm. So those guys powering along at 40 rpm still have a bit to play with. But you're right. 53/39 is ridiculous. I say ditch the 39, and make sure you've got an 11-23 on the back. That's plenty of gears for the Argus

Simple aerodynamics - the faster you go, the greater the drag. You double your speed, and you square the drag. The increase in effort for a fast rider to go from, say 30km/h to 35km/h is far greater than the effort needed by a slower rider to go from 15km/h to 20km/h. In the case of Sunday, fast riders were going from 40km/h (windless) to 70km/h (assuming a 30km/h headwind). That makes the formula above explode! A LOT more force is required to overcome that drag! (Speed is the v in the formula above)

Hehe - good thing we were not participating at that point. This is a good rule - looking at some of the people in my group, they had enough issues trying to control their bikes at the best of times, and they were stone cold sober.

Welcome to my world (Although I was never really able to mix it at the front on the short stuff...)

An interesting read about Flitestar, and how SAA bullied them into submission: http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/flitestar.html Key bits: Flitestar took 25% of the domestic market and were carrying loads of 63%. Unfortunately due to the nature of the beast, SAA still controlled many things and chose to embark on a campaign of dirty tricks. Flitestar used the same ticketing system (SAFARI) and SAA started making Flitestar flights appear full in the system so that agents booked PAX on SAA instead.SAA aircraft tried to delay Flitestar departures by blocking Flitestar aircraft on push-back. Air Traffic Control always gave SAA preference.Luxavia’s B747 was leased from SAA and the A320 maintenance was done by SAA and these costs began to rocket.SAA helped their “token” opposition Comair to acquire B737s for next to nothing.SAA increased its commissions to travel agents and extended its frequent flyer programme to its domestic services.

"Luxavia was formed in 1971 by Trek Airways of South Africa. Trek feared, and rightly so, that South African aircraft, due to the country's apartheid policy, would be banned from flying over African countries. Luxavia took over Trek's licenses and were handed the Luxembourg landing rights in South Africa, thus being able to continue the flights between Luxembourg and Johannesburg. Cooperating with Luxair, aircraft were painted in Luxair colours and registered with that airline. Eventually, Trek titles were again to be seen on the timetables alongside Luxavia's. Luxavia/Trek ceased operations in 1994, after Trek's new venture, Flitestar, had failed to compete successfully with South African Airways on domestic routes." http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/luxavia.htm

I'm never sure if I am getting old, getting wise (or both), but the appeal of having fun on bikes is starting win over racing and doing well. I look at my kid riding his bike, and the only thing that determines when, where and for how long he rides, is whether he is having a good time. I think we could all learn something from him...

@fanievb - sometimes **** just happens. You can be in the shape of your life but your body and mind just have a k@k day out. Like you said - I know loads of okes who bailed, so you're not alone. Don't over analyse. Don't beat yourself up. Learn to love your bike again. Set some new goals. And move on.

It took me a while, but here it is: https://www.velotales.com/2019/03/the-bigdayout-2019.html

I was hoping there was more to this story. Like: "I was on fire at Bloemendal last week. Literally. My super agro downhill skills were lighting up the course, and before I knew it, everything was literally in flames. In a bid to get out of there in one piece, I channelled my inner Greg Minnaar and ripped up the course. The red mist had descended, and I have no idea how I got back to the car park. The next thing I remember - my shoe is gone. So if anyone has seen it, or saw what happened, please get in touch". Contact the Tygerberg MTB club: Emailinfo@tygerbergmtb.co.za Tel0796933177

The random fact I can't forget about the SP - its tail was over a metre taller than any other 747 variant. (And why, to compensate for the reduced moment arm with the shorter fuselage). I hated the look of the SP. The lines of the 747-200 (and the later 747-400) were just so much easier on the eye.

I have the e*thirteen cassette on an XT setup, and I can't really complain. Are there crisper shifting setups out there? Probably. But I push the lever, hear the click at the back, and I'm good to go. Durability wise, I can't fault the cassette. While I don't ride my MTB a lot, I've put it through some rather punishing events, and it's still good to go. Certainly no worse than anything else I've ridden. I'm a low cadence, big blade, grind-it-out type of rider - I suspect that if you're an easy gear spin-like-mad kind of rider, you'll get even better durability. And for riders like me, that little 9 tooth cog makes the whole cassette worth it! (I never know whether "high" and "top end" refer to the big 46t gear, or the little 9t gear )

I've yet to replace the cassette (or parts of it) after 2 years of riding...

The general preference is for them to be in hand luggage, and not in the hold because if there is a problem, they can deal with it in the cabin. Not so easy in the hold.

This is my mate's route into Technopark from Protea Hoogte:

I solve the spinning out problem by going for a 9-46 at the back, 38-28 at the front. And with the e*thirteen cassette, you can replace half of it at a time

Another interesting tidbit - there was a deal between SAA and Safair - the owners of the planes that Sun Air leased - that prevented them from leasing the planes in the Southern African Development Community. At the time the all Boeing decision reeked of cronyism - Andrews giving his US buddies business, when Airbus would probably have been a better idea. At least as a replacement for the aging 737 fleet that he got rid of and replaced with 737-800s.

Exactly! This same thing (except with cars and SUVs and not 18 wheelers) happens to me on a daily basis. Car passes me, then turns, and gets an indignant fright when I lose my sh!t. Generally, situational awareness of motorists in traffic is limited to what they see in front of them and doesn't extend the 360 degrees around them as it should.

I just reread some stuff about Coleman Andrews. The thing that I found interesting was that he was hired to turn SAA around so that the Government could sell it. In the process, he destroyed Sun Air by lowering SAA fees to levels that Sun Air couldn't afford. The irony being that Sun Air was the government's first successful effort at brokering a deal to create a viable, black-owned company. And here we are, 20 years later with an airline that is still not profitable...