Speak to the home owners association in that area. They only need to shorten the boom by half a meter and you'll be able to whiz past without the guard even knowing about it. That way he does not have to get off his backside, you don't have to unclip etc and the boom does not get damaged - now that's a win-win situation. Bribing him with KFC only fuel such behavior.
I recently purchased a Merida Scultura Comp 905 with fully integrated cables. The bicycle is really impressive, except for the rattling noise that the cables make inside the tubing when the road surface is a bit rough. Any advice?
I visit my parents in Bloemfontein every two months or so. A general observation: Bloem drivers are more aggressive than the drivers in Johannesburg, less tolerant and quite reckless especially towards cyclists. I have more incidents on a weekend in Bloem than 1 year in Jhb. I always ride out on the old Kimberley rd because of the fairly broad shoulder, but an out and back trip only gives me 50 km. Thanks for mentioning the N1, now I can include this into my ride.
Jeez, some people will complain just for the sake of complaining. You've done 2 now, so move on and do other races which you like. How about raving about the fact that the M1 is closed at probably its most beautiful part, or that the M2 is closed for cyclist and you get to see a part of Jhb you'll never see during the day by bike other times of the year?
My girlfriend wanted to buy a Giant bicycle, the Escape model. We VISITED two shops on the east rand (including the one in Benoni known to be the main seller of Giant) and I am still waiting for the quotes to be sent. Meanwhile I PHONED Linden cycles for a quote which was sent through 5 minutes later and we collected the bike two weeks later. Big up to Linden Cycles!
I thought your were joking and went to check for myself. What the freak! The new route is great, but not that great. This still excludes 2 nights' accommodation, travel and food.
I found the quickest away to regain motivation is to take a week off. No riding, nothing but watching tv and sleeping in (if you can call getting up at 06:30 "sleeping in") and by the end of the week your wife will force you to start riding again
So not much has changed since last year's race. Lack of safety was one of the reasons I did not enter this race. The second one was the price tag: R230 for an 80 km ride where for R320 you get a complete closure of some of Jhb's most busiest roads and for R190 the OFM classic
Yes, the seeding system is flawed and anyone who races regularly knows that, but the race organisers cannot keep everyone happy. Unless they gave you a double lettered group when you finish consistently in the top 10 to 20% of the field, ride the group they gave you and enjoy the day.
My response would be: I'll miss you my wife! My GF and I had the same discussion last night. She wants us to move in together, but she, to put it mildly, hates my place and her place does not have enough space for 3 bikes (mtb, road bike and ss). The discussion just deteriorated from there until the proverbial lightbulb went on: lets get a bigger place together. So maybe that would be you solution as well.
