SQZee

Hey there Hairy - careful : this may be what you're in for.... Btw - "Big Red" (your old Scott) is still well-loved and well taken care of. Zee

You will love it!! Make a day of it. North loop a must! (more than once - cos its tons of fun). West loop a must! The whole shebang is a must, but you'll need reasonable fitness to tackle West loop with its wicked little climb and all the rest in one go - hence best to make a day of it. I haven't done the new challenging Strelitzia section yet, but you are going to LOVE flying downhill along the Gwahumbe ridge. Mandatory stop to enjoy the view into Gwahumbe valley beforehand - take it all in, because you do not want to do the chameleon eyes thing on the fast decent or apply brakes to check out the view. Have fun!!

My favourite MTB leisure spot in KZN was recently featured on Super Cycling: Virginia Trails in Eston. Being a DSTV Compact subscriber I unfortunately missed the screening, but received an email from farmer Pete Stainbank with the links and video. Gotta get back there for another fix - it's been too long. If you have put your foot into KZN and not paid Virginia Trails a visit - then do yourself a favour. Absolutely top rate for a day out for family/leisure riding and racing snakes alike. http://www.bikeparks...review/virginia http://vimeo.com/37584323

Hey guys, For all the Durban and surrounds fans of Sinamatella mtbiking movies, you will have noticed that there is no scheduled screening in Dbn this time. According to James Walsh, they lack sponsorship for a Durban screening, BUT per James: "We're hopefully organising a Strength in Numbers screening at Giba Gorge on Wednesday evening, 30th May. Just waiting for a couple of details to fall into place. " We just need to drum up some support - so please head over to www.facebook.com/Sinamatella.Productions and cast you vote." So if you want a Durban screening - you know what to do

Don't hold your breath on this - it appears that the reason for the "intermittent" broadcast of MiWay Mtb IS sponsor-related. MiWay have given their sponsorship to cricket, so who knows how much longer we'll have a dedicated MTB programme - unless another sponsor can be found. If Supersport is going to have the monopoly, they should spread the cycling offering over more channels/programmes. That email address again to motivate SABC2 to bring back Pedal Talk immediately: groblerc@sabc.co.za

Have to say as enthusiastic as I am about the sport - 1 hour on Sani2C (without any riding) is a bit boring...

Oh cool - they're back at least. Had a quick squiz at the schedule and see there is a rebroadcast at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. As I don't have full DSTV, just gonna have to work in a tea break at work and watch it on work telly . Can't wait to see the Mabalingwe race - hopefully that will be on the week after. Now just to harass SABC2 to bring back Pedal Talk for the plebs (like me) who only subscribe to DSTV compact .

Oh no Kranswurm - Miway (the company) is alive and well and eager to irritate with their incessant insurance punts, but yea as for the sponsored cycling programme.....pooffff....gone....!! Mmm - wonder if there are sponsorship issues with these programmes?

......and Miway has disappeared from the pay channel

I'm just as relieved - I thought it was time for yet another upgrade on my reading glasses

Not sure what happened TNT- edited with size 12 font

Hey, guys - anyone noticed that SABC2 have once again pulled Pedal Talk off the air leading up to the Olympics and for duration? I noticed it was dropped at the beginning of April and will likely only air again in September after the Olympics. This when the cycling season is at its peak! I have been watching Pedal Talk since its inception years ago and the programme content is interesting, varied and professionally presented (albeit only 25 minutes long). It is always enjoyable and exciting to watch the events one has entered being aired on TV and follow the progress of the professionals in events like the MTN National MTB Series. All this has now been interrupted by a 5 month dry spell. Despite the great offering on Supersport the audience they reach is mainly the elite cyclist. SABC reaches a much wider and larger audience, which is crucial to the promotion and development of the sport of cycling. Without this platform, much of the development effort goes unnoticed by the ones who are not privileged to have pay tv. I cannot think of any other sport that has grown as much as cycling year-on-year in South Africa. This is evident by the almost exponential growth of entries at cycling events. I have found the programme manager/director's email address and ask cycling fans to please send a couple of lines to this email address, appealing to SABC2 to bring back the weekly airing of Pedal Talk - in the interests of all cycling fans: present and future. Carina Grobler: groblerc@sabc.co.za