wolver

Hey Louis. Bummed to hear that your MX days are over, but mountain biking can fill the gap for you! The Piketboberg trails are the best in the Western Cape in my opinion so you definitely want to make friends with the farmers to get regular access as a local... Build a new trail from Banghoek to their trails if you have to!😝 Regarding a bike, I can vouch for the Epic EVO on those trails! As a few others have mentioned there is a fair bit of climbing to earn those flowing downhills so a longer travel bike isn't perfect. But if you aren't worried at all about how fast you get to the top but want to smash the downs maybe a Stumpjumper/Fuel EX may be a better option. I think it comes down to your personal priorities and enjoyment.

Intrigued to know exactly what happened between Nino and Mathias. If anyone finds a fan's phone video of it, please post the link here. Awesome how much it still means to Nino for an "old" guy after so many wins. Great result for Alan. Watching that sprint I thought it would have been better to be on the inside of Luca (always harder to overtake going the long way round), but in the post race interview he said that's what he tried that in the XCC and came up short so tried something different. Thinking like that, on the bike, in the moment shows the racecraft he has.

Sorry to hear about your incident Nick, feels like its been a while since there has been anything at that spot😟 What time of day did this happen?

Slightly off topic , but is the Missing Link trail open all the way to come out at the Apostle battery now? Rode there yesterday and the point that used to be blocked off was open (coming from Camps Bay side), but I was pressed for time and looped down on some new trail and back towards Camps Bay before getting to a dead end.

Get a motorcycle. You can flay with that on the weekends too. CRF250L is a good suggestion.

This website has route maps and gpx files for the garden route: https://www.mtbtrailpass.co.za/routes-trails/ Last week I did a really nice route starting at Leisure Island going past Pezula into the Harkerville loop, then over the N2 and up Petrus se Brand, along the Concordia contours to Simola. Ended up being a 90km loop. The singletrack near Simola is also really cool.

There are a lot of bold claims be Stark... but let's wait and see. Competition is healthy😌

You Sir, get it 100% 🙌

"Flux Primo: a game-changing electric off-road motorcycle comes from Slovenia! A team of racers, enthusiasts and engineers is developing a motorcycle that will change the world of off-road on two wheels - and they are inviting YOU to be part of it! Their prototype is simple to maintain, silent and more powerful than any existing production motocross bike on the market. " Will this be met with e-bike hate?🙃

But why would a security guard spend R3k on a bike (regardless of its true value) to commute??? 🤔

7-12 hours a week is probably more training than 75% does!😂

Errrr… not sure how to tell you this, but😬

Anyone else notice that device on Wawak’s nose? What is that? Opening the nostrils for more oxygen 🤔

You should probably check this with your insurer! The way I understand it, is that it is you responsibility to ensure that you are covered for current replacement value of the insured item. In the event of a claim, they will make an assessment and if the replacement of your stolen bike is R100k, but the insured amount/value on your policy is only R50k, they use the rule of average (or something like that) and will actually only pay you out R25k because you were 50% under-insured. Maybe not all policies are the same, but it's worth checking. Can only imagine the double heartbreak, first your bike gets stolen.... then you find out insurance is only giving you a quarter of what you need to buy a replacement! It sucks... I bought a new Epic EVO in 2020 for R35k, but the equivalent replacement model is now R65k, so I'm paying an insurance premium that is a LOT higher than what I had bargained for when I bought the bike👎

You can do that???😲 I had no idea and thats quite scary. There goes thinking that so many cars being financed actually had a silver lining.

I've been making my own for a while and no two batches are ever the same, even if i try😂 Keeps it interesting i guess. You must have big pockets to fit a ham roll into! The nice thing about the date bars is that you can pack the nutrients you need into a matchbox sized snack.

Make your own with dates, oats and various combinations of nuts and seeds, cocoa etc for flavour variety. They work out to about R1 per bar.

I'm with Cyclesure and they cover your riding accessories under the bike policy (bike rack, sunglasses, gps etc). They also cover race entry fee, travel and accommodation cost if you are unable to do a race due to personal emergency or illness. Not the cheapest option i suspect, but pretty comprehensive cover.

I wonder if the shorter time from entry to event (October 2021 to March 2022?, compared to the normal March to March) played a factor in preparation for this year's event. Skimping on the base work perhaps. How would qualifying work though? 3 day stage race under a certain time? But what about the fit/prepared entrants that are just slow. I don't think the race needs to be only for "fast" riders... especially because we'll probably be old and slow by the time we've worked a lifetime to afford the entry😋

Interesting you mention the lack of preparation. I can MAYBE understand underestimating it at the first attempt, but in the results I saw a rider that did not finish his first 4 attempts, finished one and then didn't finish 2 subsequent attempts. Obviously there could be more to his story, but that seems like banging your head against the wall! Then again, maybe he gets a free entry every time, doesn't take it seriously and feels nothing to bail when the going gets tough. To me it burns either way... wasting money or wasted opportunity🙋‍♂️

Don't underestimate the fitness and skill of those media riders. Also of relevance is that they have a back-up team that swaps out the batteries along the way so they don't have to worry about conserving battery and can used the highest assist level if they feel necessary. Reality is that under normal conditions you can't do a long ride on max assist, so it kind of forces you to put some effort in. Depending on the model/power of the bike, the highest level of assist is a real turbo so the answer to your question is definitely a yes, below that you still have to do some work if you want to go longer.

Haha... clearly Mike Genova doesn't run a mtb team 🤑

For sure! Just wondering how the contracts work and how much teams/sponsors value the additional exposure they get for stage wins.

Anyone know if the pro's have bonuses written into their contracts for stage wins/podiums? Just watching the women's finish now there wasn't much of a fight/sprint and it got me wondering if it's just for pride.

Try the Bontrager Rally. Guess it depends on your size, but finding a small that is comfy and doesn't come over the eyebrows has been a challenge for my girlfriend. We tried on many options and the Rally was by far the best fit. Worth mentioning that the more expensive helmets are more likely (but not guaranteed) to have size specific shells, rather that one shell cover small and medium for example, and therefore look less like a bobblehead.