Denny Menchov

Velouria - apologies. Forgot about the front 5 break-away that stayed away! Were you one of the Famous 5?

Started in A-D, lost the front guys up hels. We then formed a great bunch trying to chase the front A-D group. 80km later we caught them in Stellenbosch! Just had enough energy to stay with the sprint, and happy with 2h32. It was HARD work. Zac, nice chatting to you at the end - well done my boy. Wannabe: jammer ek't jou gemis - het nogal vir jou uitgekyk! See you guys at Bay City!

Tiny K, and Wannabe: Nice to have met you at last after the 99er. Tiny, bad luck with your crash around that Right hand corner. Pity you couldn't catch us afterwards, as the paced 'slowed down' a bit after another 5km. I was sitting nicely until my Mavic rear spoke broke at 87km. Ai. The average speed was 40.8 kmph up to then. I released the rear brakes and then the tyre blew after another 8km. Ai jai jai. Changed the tube, survived another 2km and the tube blew again. Ai jai jai jai jai. But thanks to the Landrove sweep vehicle that picked me up 5 minutes later!, and I had a cosy ride up Vissers. A big thank you to the organisers - it was a different perspective from the sweep vehicle and you can see how much these guys do for our sport. One of the best organised raced I've done in the last 6 months. Now to fix that spoke and get ready for Hels on Sunday! PS: Soenen: Klippie in my cleat Rollercoaster: Gear problems 99er: Back spoke (Hopefully my bad spell of 3's is now over! ;-)

"The 2012 Race Committee is pleased to announce that Pools for Africa will be sponsoring the Grand Prize Lucky Draw for this year’s 99er Road and MTB race. The prizes on offer by Pools for Africa total R44000!" Ok so it's not a car, but it's still the best prize on offer so far! Will need a pool after Saturday's ride..

Lekker man. R190 well spent ;-) I'll slipstream you up Vissershok..

Looks like the 99er seeding is out! Check out your racetec "Results". 6am start for me, eish..

You just have to plan your races vs budget: R70 for the Tour de PPA (rolling hills), R70 for the Rollercoaster (5 lekker rollers), that's 1/2 your R280 budget for 1x 99er. Effectively if you plan right, you can do 4 x R70 PPA rides. That being said, I'm looking forward to this weekend. Seeding probably Friday?

So you're 'Lucky Luke'! Nice to have met you Luke. Well done with your overall position btw. Gives us tall guys something to work towards! See you at the 99er.

Excellent - we used to go skydiving in Stellenbosch in the 1990's. Loads of fun. See you at the 99er, can't wait for Vissershok... eina.

Well done Tiny, you looked strong in the bunch today. You're giving us big guys a glimmer of hope - mooi so! Started in A-C, I had a problem with my cleat not clipping in, and tried everything to get it sorted for the first 20km. Then my club mate punctured, so I decided to stop with him. Evidently it was a beer bottle glass that shredded his back tyre so his race was over. LUCKILY Maroesjka's dad was following in the car and gave her spare wheel to him. Baie dankie oom! I took the opportunity to remove a stone from my cleat that was causing the clipping in problem. Note to self: Don't walk around in your cleats minutes before the start gun. Or at least: check you can clip in ok before you go! The rest of the race the two of us paced ourselves over Botma's down the other side, and then the first D/E/F's caught us up where we worked together for a while. In the end a hard training ride, measured 123km on my Garmin. Well done to all - it's my first time starting in the A-C bunch, and what a pleasure starting with you guys. Roll on the Rollercoaster!

Looking forward to it. Either start in the A-C (probably) group, or might move down one to D. Let's see how the nerves are on the day! Have a good and safe race everyone.

Happy again with the brilliant service at Cycles Direct Sunningdale, Cape Town. Took my bike in for a new cluster and chain. They had stock (bonus) and promised to have it ready for me the next day. Even though there's about 40 bikes in the workshop, they finished my bike ahead of time. 1) Ready to ride the next day (11-23 cluster amazing, first time with a 11-tooth!) 2) Bike cleaned as well 3) Advice on what I should do next Thanks Gary, Michael, and the team. Love my LBS!

Well done Darren - fresh from his Cape Cobra win.

Assesments in Johannesburg.

We had the same problem in the Tour de PPA. Starting in F/G and caught up with the Stars at Helshoogte, some half way, and a few along the route. The finishing sprint was chaos. That said, there's a few very stong Stars riders, with excellent bike riding skills, and who's willing to work up front. ThaStig, you're right. Better your seeding, start in a quicker bunch, and compare your fitness to your PPA group. This is the beauty of Racetec and the PPA seeding. Wrt the crash: my thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the rider in hospital. Years ago I lost a friend doing a race going down Constantia. It hurts to see how vulnerable one is on a push bike. Heal soon.

+1 Tiny K, at least we're fast on the downhills!

Loved my first Argus at the age of 11 And the good ol' Stock 'n Stocks race in the Western Cape, 155km, aged 11. Think my dad was a slave driver!, but I'm still cycling and loving it.

Excellent - friendly club rivalry ads a new dimension to Cape Town cycling. And we'll all look forward to coffee and muffins afterwards! Keep us posted.