Brighter-Lights

It's was a beautiful morning, but we had a gale force South Westerly on our way back... actually so strong that a couple of us had front wheels washed out on straight sections... just blowing so strong from the side that you loose traction on the pebbles... Chance is 80% to have a South Westerly anyway.

Climb after Checkpoint 7...top to bottom.... ... Brighter-Lights2008-07-28 01:03:43

Checkpoint 7... This road has been fixed and is great!It's slightly sandy near the top. Looks steep, but it's a quick climb...

The last and final climb (also quite steep) of never ender before going all downhill to Zuurbron... perfect surface!

The Steepest Section of Never Ender... only about 1km long before it flattens again.... Brighter-Lights2008-07-28 00:48:00

A small group of us rode Never Ender yesterday and as promised here's some photos. We started in JBay and rode never ender backwards till the tar junction near Heroncliff, then turned around and rode back like we'll do in Trans Baviaans. What's most noticable when riding never ender during day and with fresh legs, is that it really is a nothing climb... From the tar road it gradually climbs for a few km with a fast 60km/h downhill. At the bottom of this downhill there's a road turning off to your left and then a long drag which isn't really a climb... it winds through a little kloof with a few steeper sections and then there's sharp right turn with the steepest section after that. About 1km later the road flattens on top and it feels like you're on top of never ender, but from this point it's up and down.... and that's what get to you at night... after every up, when hitting downhill you think you're over... until the next up.... there's about 7 up's and downs like this before you finally reach the final downhill, which becomes flatter towards Zuurbron. The final downhill had me 70km/h with the South Westerly gale. Some beacons to consider at this up and down section is frequent triangle road signs indicating sharp bends and passes (like a twisted arrow) A Farm house to your right, in one of these dips. When reaching this area, it's really almost there! Then 2 longer downhills, of which the second one is the longest with some loose gravel, climbing up on the other side of this downhill is the last climb before Zuurbron. Total distance from Kabeljous to turnoff from tar road near Heroncliff and back : 94km The road's fixed and in beautiful condition. It's been filled and excellent hard pack 80% of the way. The loose sandy sections coming up never ender are not there anymore. The loose rocks on downhills are all gone... the last climb just after checkpoint 7 looks steep, but the surface has been filled and there's no techinical stuff anymore, slightly sandy near the top... If it doesnt rain now... the last 50km of Trans will be on excellent surface...

Dis Sondag... Sover ek, Andrea, Annelize, Dawid, Hedwig, Gig, Bruce? So iets... Sien jou daar! Die idee is net om stadig te ry en op daai harde seat te sit... en om never ender in my kop te map...

hahaha!!! heheheheh!!!

Just my few cents.... When Gert built his carbon fiber frame he used one or the other regular clear coat, and his bike is still fine 2 years later. Just spoke to him and he said the clear coat didn't last well so I assume it's a cheap one.. He said for his next project he'd thin carbon resin and spray it on as a final coat... Here's a pic...

Anyone welcome! We'll leave from PE at around 7:00 and park the cars at Kabeljous resort and start riding from there at around 8:00 - those who don't want to do the whole distance can turn around whenever they want to, but the goal is to ride to Heroncliff and back... OR to Gert's house and back... same distance... Need a refilling station for my one water bottle HAHAHA My number is 084 517 1336 Jo

seen the same frame at chainreaction branded Viper... Viper is a Belgium based brand...

TB ends somewehre else this year - some kraal something name, but we'll ride from Kabeljous in JBay to Heroncliff and back. Nice pic rock!

The section between Doodsklip and the final ascent up bergplaas is worse than ever before...but ridable... The steep section up bergplaas is quite good if you stay on the left edge of the road. (op die rand vand ie afgrond) Doing the 2km steep part UP bergplaas was quite OK going up... but to give you and idea... when coming down the back of bergplaas towards doodsklip on day one I could hardly let go of the brakes.... and in the past there were sections where you would let go and flew... I don't tink I went faster than 30km/h down the back of Bergplaas... Descending from Bergplaas to the Patensie side (like we'll do in trans) was faster than before (they filled the road at places) I remember touching 40+ almost all the way down and 50km/h near the bottom near poortjies... If it doesnt rain now, we'll have another trans like 2007.

The saddle is an Amoeba Scud, also seen it unbranded on ebay.... Been using it a while but wouldn't recommend it... the rails are epoxied to the carbon and came loose after 4 rides... luckily I have a friend who built himself a carbon bike... ;-) From a comfort point of view it's quite good, just slightly too wide for me. My previous hard plastic saddle got me through TB without any flesh wounds... Trick question.... with the bonk starting at 20km to go and a chain so dry it sounds like something is going to break soon... Do you eat the GU? or lube your chain with it? hahah Well... funny things happen when bonking while in the lead, but I thought a wet chain would get me there quicker....

I got the fork from www.twowheelstrading.co.za - It's unbranded, but the same fork (Carbotech Axima) sells for 180 euro in Belgium. I got a good deal. Contact Victor. There's a slight fore and aft flex but waaaaay less fore and aft than my sid... Actually, it's a joy to ride on gravel roads... the slight roughness on fast downhills is nothing in comparison with what I gain when climbing and when standing up. It gets a bit bumpy on rough stuff but relaxing the arms sorted out everything pretty quickly + lower front tyre pressure. A 2.2 or 2.3 would be perfect for front but my aim is just to use it on smooth races and to have less wearing parts on the bike for training. Im 66kg

8.7kg

I always use one bottlle... even for K2C... I suppose the water crossings in Trans will still be 'clear and clean' when me and Wes get there :-P

Brighter-Lights2008-07-24 09:45:10

I'm doing TB on this bike with the SID fork. Raced in Baviaans the weekend and I can tell you... the road is bad... Did baviaans kloof nature reserve mtb challenge. Day one from Heroncliff to geelhoutbos, day 2 geelhoutbos to heroncliff. 144km took me 6hr15. But day 2 coming back, took me 10 mins longer than 2007... when my back time was 2h52min for the 72km. Ok... coming from the Willomore side like in TB: Section past Geelhoutbos is quite bumpy at places... water levels low... Climbing grasnek = good surface. Descending to Doornkraal = good surface - could let go of the brakes. Doornkraal to Rooihoek... the first fang is no that bad.... but the second one is really bad... there's no way you'll get through there no with a low 4x2 - had to criss cross the climb - donga's From doodsklip the road is really bad and hard on you... the first mock climb up bergplaas is bad and technical... once on the climb up bergplaas it's not that bad... a few deep dongas but staying on the side is quite easy riding.... will be challenging at night.... Down Bergplaas to poortjies is very good, well... like it used to be... Some dongas but fast flying 90% of the time... Poortjies to kondomo is good... Will ride never ender the weekend and see what it is like...

The rigid carbon fork works very well on gravel roads and moderately rough stuff. Shakes a bit going down stairs... :-P A very light bike that climbs effortlessly... ;-) Frame... off ebay... - 1156g bare frame. Fork - http://www.twowheelstrading.co.za/ - 784g (815g uncut)

Brighter-Lights2009-04-27 01:32:16

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=205890

You could also wrap that whole vertical section with carbon (while the 2 pieces are clamped together of course... ) *If you can work with fibreglass, you can work with carbon fiber* Just incase your replacement frame also breaks....