Velouria

How many pie stops is that? (Possibly the new measure by which to judge any Big Day Out!)

This is the kind of talk that great adventures are made of. Pies and bicycles - possibly two of my most favourite things! Long Street, Cape Town Willowbridge Welgemoed Stanford Riviersonderend Simondium Somerset West Riversdal Pinelands Rawsonville That's a lot of pies!!!

I still wet myself just thinking of this scene:

Come join our team. The earliest we've dropped someone is on the road out of Swellendam up to the N2. Pretty much 200kms on your own

At only 120kms from my house, that will be a breakfast pie! Although now you've planted a seed...

I saw people on MTBs walking that section (to be fair, I was in such a dark place at that point that I seriously considered walking too). Pushing a gravel bike is still gravel bike friendly. Just don't go dumbing down events for the sake of a very small minority of riders. (Those gravel riders on fatter tyres with decent skills had no issues)

As if the disappointments couldn't get any worse - the pie shop was closed when we drove through Riviersonderend

I've been bulking up. Some might call it winter flab, but I prefer to think of it was cross training on the couch! That Storck guy better watch out - he'll get a klap with a greasy KFC drumstick if he tries his nonsense again! I like your thinking about Moscon. Where others see doom and gloom, you see an opportunity. The risk is that Moscon isn't just known for his punching abilities, and I'm not sure we can rein in his penchant for racial slurs, or his love of deliberately causing others to crash. My worry is that he uses these skills on his own teammates and non of us make it to the halfway point!

We will solve many great mysteries, like the location of that Malaysian airliner, who shot JFK, and whether Moscon made contact with Gesbert on Sunday, before we will understand the inner workings of the PPA (or why Dave Bellairs loves pink so much). From the little bit that I do know is that there is always a to-and-fro between PPA and the traffic authorities about the route, and the use of the N2, and the safe passage through the road works near Montagu. I suspect they don't want to commit before they have assurances from all the other stakeholders that the event will indeed take place...

My pleasure. Now take these skills and conquer the internet. There is a difference between setting a date, and announcing the date. Dates for races are set ages in advance, and while this isn't a sanctioned CSA event, there is a central calendar of all events. Those newly acquired Googling skills will show how to find such calendars. My favourite is from In The Bunch: https://inthebunch.co.za/events/?pno=19

We weren't on the podium at the time. We double checked, but the timing guys were adamant.

Secret is safe with me

I went for a recovery ride yesterday. With my son. In search of ice cream. And I was worried I wouldn't be able to make the 3.5kms home! I broke several records in that race - highest average HR for 60 minutes, longest time sitting on the pointy end of my saddle (despite the comfy office chair, I can still feel that saddle), getting dropped and riding back on far too many times. But, they found the results for The Crisis Syndicate:

It would be nice to know if we beat the Pure Savage lads though

We'll have to see. Timing issues are a always a part of any event that grows. At least there is something this event can improve on. Everything else is almost perfect

I'll get a race report together a little later. Between the mist and the lactic acid haze, I'm struggling to remember large parts of the race! But I am not alone, Jumpertrax seem to have forgotten us too, and we don't even appear on the results anywhere (At least Strava knows we were there!)

Come on people - learn to use the Google:

Bloody hipster gravel bikers! Doing Gravel Biking before it was cool...

Completely right! *Humble brag* I'm 40 and my vitality age is 39

So, it happened. Again. I forgot to pack underpants. Moral of the story - when packing your bag with clothes for the day - FOCUS. Ignore the screaming kid. Ignore the bin truck. Ignore the barking dog. Or keep a pair of undies in your desk drawer, but things might be a little weird when the cleaning lady does her rounds...

I didn't ride

Concorde 002 parked away from the terminal at Cape Town airport during South African visit for "Hot & high" trials at Johannesburg, January 22 - February 20 1973. From here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/British-Aircraft-Corporation-Aerospatiale-France/Sud-BAC-Concorde/433556

I just uncovered a CSA scam - turns out I had bought a CSA day licence at the time of entry for the 36One in May of 2017. Do you think those CSA ladies were going to mention that when I rocked up at registration? Not a chance! They gladly asked me for any 2 day licences... That just elevated CSA up alongside Home Affairs in organisations that I despise (they were previously on the same level as banks...)

Retirement is treating me better than I expected. At long last, here is my race report feature @crashtestdummy, @Waldoz, and some guy who used to paddle rather well. http://www.velotales.com/2018/04/the-36one-2018.html

Yup - a marathon lawn bowling session. Big balls all over the place!