Yang

120 k's south of Xai Xai, at Xinavane, very close to Magude which is on the map, about 7 hrs drive from Jhb via Moamba.

130 km's north of Maputo. PM me if you wanna stay at my place on the way north- any cyclist. We got room.

Sh*t. How naive can I get! Thanks for clarifying the situation Liquid. There was me thinking that the reason he smiles was because he genuinely is pleased to see the customer and wants to make them happy as well, thoroughly enjoys what he does, and .... because he is doing what many cyclists would give their left ball for, besides make a successful living as a pro- to leave their stuffy corporate lives and sh*tt* jobs and run their own successful bicycle shop. PS- its very grey and cloudy here in Mozambique. Would you please stand up Liquid. Many thanks.

WOW! Even more respect!!

No problem Sean. At least I know how to pronounce his name, unlike Phil Liggett's McLeen as in "wipe clean" at the PnP awards at year end, which I watched on........ you guessed it..........SUPERCYCLING! And Hagar- thanks for the comment.

Actually, a doctor friend of mine assures me that a beer after a ride is a good recovery drink- but only one, Boet.

Right. Now this is an opportunity for the silent (and not so silent) to express their feelings in support of AM. I think that you will look back in time and see the price fixing episode as a bump in the success story that is Cycle Lab and a career in cycling. You admitted to mistakes. But your contributions to SA cycling cannot be ignored, and many cyclists who walk into cycling shops around the country do so with a small part of their consciousness having been influenced by your promotion of cycling through your participaton in Supercycling, week after week, after month, for years. And thousands have prepared themselves for their first races and involvement in this awesome sport through the club that you started. These facts, and others, must offset the negative of the price fixing episode, and warrants at the very least forgiveness. Your business will evolve to meet the vagaries of the market, and you will have been stimulated to think out of the box to explore new business options. May you continue in your success, and continue to do good for the sport. Note: I have spoken personally to Andrew on two separate occasions, another time on the phone, and seen him on a number of occasions without talking to him. The last contact of any sort was in 2005. I am neither a friend nor acquaintance, and I have no stake in the success of his business, and no, I am not *rs*creeping. I don't know Fritz, and maybe someone who does can try the same topic for him. Back to CSI.Yang2008-09-24 09:35:26

Ummmm... well..... you actually have a point- that must have been one of my dumb moments. Tim, why don't you keep the the young blonde giggly things, AND get a couple of people who know about cycling. PS Spud, have you ever noticed the hard bods on the spinning bikes at the Expos?

Hi HR- so far from Spud in the Eastern Cape, and BMC has suggested a Hub ride. Otherwise not another peep from the peep's in the Cape. Here's a pic of the long and winding road, past sugar cane last Friday. At least this was flat, and within 15 k's the road becomes dirt for about 100k's, before hitting tar.

Hi Tim I think its an encouraging sign that you're spending time on the Hub, even though you've logged off now. It means that you are absorbing the kind of things that people who are passionate about cycling are thinking and saying. Perhaps you're getting great ideas for great material. I am not with those who want to end their subs- what a bummer that would be for me when I have every issue since no.1. So I don't want to see the mag criticised in the Hub or anywhere, and I hope that it succeeds with great quality stuff. Oh, and some constructive comment (really)- you must also try and spend time at the Bicycling stand at the expo's and be approachable, instead of having pretty young things standing around who giggle and know nothing about cycling. You could take a page out of Adele Tait's and Attie's book. At the Argus Expo this year I said howzzit to Attie and he remembered me from previous expos and we had a great chat. So good luck and may your mag get stronger.

This afternoon got sms'd by Sven and Nadine. They crossed over into Swaziland today from Moz. They say the weather was lousy- wet, windy, and raining. I know- its been blowing upwards of 25 mph about 40 kph from the south, (and they are riding in a southerly direction) for days up here. This photo is when they left my place on Friday. Contacted Paul at Zululand Cycles, and he's prepared to meet up with them and arrange a place for them in Richards Bay. Yang2008-09-21 13:34:35

Im 1.78 tall but still growing, should i be riding a 54cm or a 56cm bike? Nobody's answered Speedi's question. Speedi, if you haven't stopped growing, your concern is obvioulsly about whether its wise to get a 56 that you can grow into. That's like how long is a piece of string- how much more will you grow?

My two pushers are the bulk magazine discounters- 1 in Davenport Centre, and the other at Overport City in Durban. They always have back issues of the best cycle mags around, for anything upwards of R10 to half price, depending on date of issue.

I use a soft bag that zips all the way round with the strider splint that you fix the bike to. The wheels go into a pocket on the outside. You can fit awhole lot of other stuff inside- kit, spare bottles, etc. It has wheels and carrying straps. The bag alone weighs 8,2 kg's and the strider splint 2kg's. I put in further protection with some cardboard panels around the bike. Its bulky, heavy, and tricky to handle, and unless you have a bakkie or really big space in your car, you'll battle to fit it into the car, so you have to pack the bike into the bag when you get to the airport. The good thing about it is that you don't have to dismantle anything but the wheels. But fitting it to the splint takes some practice- don't try to practice at the airport because you'll be sweating and sh*tting yourself to get to the check in counter- trust me!!!! It cost around R1200 about 4 years ago at Leigh's. I guess the hard shell cases may be better but a whole lot more expensive, although I don't know the price of the pink and yellow ones you see at the expo's. Other people swear by the cardboard bike boxes but you have to dismantle the handlebar. I've seen bikes at Cape Town Airport before the Argus just wrapped in bubble wrap- apparently handlers throw bags and boxes around, but hanlde bubble wrap bikes carefully!! Go figure. Cheers. Bed toe.

I get my fix from two pushers I always visit in Durban. Managed to get a good stash over the last couple of years. MBR, Mountain Biking UK, Cycling Weekly, Cycle Sport, Procycling, and Cycling Plus. I don't get Bicycling USA because of repeat content in later SA issues. Also subscribed to Bicycling SA since the first issue, and Ride- every issue since 2000. Cutting subs to either one will be like letting go of an old mate, since these two helped me get back into cycling since I took it up after I stopped tri's in the early 90's. But Bicycling is looking more and more like a sanitised and tired formula, with an attempt at a makeover which makes it look even more American. But I will stay with it. Nothing much to do here in the middle of the Moz bush but read lots.

Sven and Nadine left Xinavane in Mozambique this morning. They will be in Swaziland by Saturday, and likely to hit Zululand on Sunday or Monday. By Tuesday or Wed next week they will be closing in on Richards Bay. So where are the Richards Bay hubbers..... c'mon. Then I will be after the Hubbers along the rest of the route.

Here we go with some photos.

In terms of itinerary. Unless they change their minds they won't be going Gauteng way. They intend to get through to the Mozambique/ Swazi border by 21 September, then from there towards Golela and south. The main points of call will be: 1. Richards Bay. They need to stop off at the Zululand Cycles for spares and repairs. Some parts will have to be ordered, and they will give me a list of stuff they need and I wil contact ZCycles so they order as appropriate. 2. Onto the side roads, avoiding Durban, to get to the Drakensberg. They want to climb up Sani Pass, through Lesotho. and cross over into SA on the Bloem side. 3. Then they will join the road off the Karoo freeway that takes them past Middelburg (Cape) through to PE. So yes, Spud, they should be in PE. 4. Then from there along the Garden Route to Cape Town for a couple of weeks. 5. Then they plan on going back to Germany via Namibia and Angola!!! And through Africa again, this time through countries they didn't go through on the way down. Whew. If you meet them, you will know that you could do it as well- truly amazing.

Let's try again. They arrived last night. I will post better pics and details of their bikes. Some amazing stats coming up. Nope. After trying, seems there is a problem with the Hub. The image browser and downloading function is'nt coming up on the download window. Admin????

My wife says that normal people pick up stray dogs and cats, but that I pick up strange cyclists. Well, today I met Sven and Nadine, two cyclists who left Germany 2 years ago and are now in Mozambique, having cycled nearly 30,000 km's. They were looking for a place to pitch their tents, but I have had great pleasure in hosting them at my house for two nights, and listening to their amazing experiences as they rode through Africa. I don't want them to leave.... Its like having Rian Manser in my living room. Hubbers, Sven and Nadine will be in South Africa from the last week or so of September, going via KZN on their way down to Cape Town, before heading off on their bikes elsewhere. Please give them a great South African welcome. Sven will send me his cellphone number when he gets it in SA. I will then be able to hook them up with interested hubbers, through the Hub, who can meet them on their journey through SA.

Don't answer that. Its a trick question. By the way, what's a Paris carbon?- which I think was meant to be the answer to my question whether it was a Record groupset.

Emotional stuff. Wow. Together with the Campag Record groupset must be a sublime ride. ... Erm, it IS Record hey?!