HomerSimpson

If you read a book first then you can fall with a lot more style.

Agree, the Lopes/McCormack book: available from Kalahari... http://www.kalahari.net/books/Mastering-Mountain-Bike-Skills/632/27959236.aspx

Dunno about the whereabouts of the new track, but I stumbled on a section of old track on Sunday....walked up it for quite a distance...looks to have been abandoned for some time now (you can easily see the groove where the track was, but its about 6 inches deep in pine straw). Ran out of time and daylight, but will investigate some more this coming weekend (and no, before you ask, it's not the old lower section of the DH course, or any of the sections used in recent XC events and then covered up...).

I agree with Mintsauce; the "Upper Canary" was initally intended to be uphill only, in fact I found it to be better to be ridden uphill than down (no real flow to it going downhill). Right now it has deteriorated to the extent that it is much of a muchness. I used to ride the NES (now called the Elioti) uphill, but this piece of ST has really been eroded quite badly around some of the corners. Personally I don't see a problem with the tracks being bidirectional, except that some of these tracks are obviously being damaged more by downhill traffic than uphill....witness the state of the lower Canary (the sandy ST); since the closure due to logging of the middle Canary last week, the lower Canary has really been badly cut up in some of the corners (within a matter of days). Overall I think it is time for a restoration of some of the tracks, maybe even a new ST section or two (what about a "contour" ST between the first and second contour roads (parallel, not joining)?HomerSimpson2008-05-27 03:20:03

This is seriously f*cked up. WTF are "people" like this thinking?? Renaldo, at least you are OK physically! Bikes can be replaced..... Hang in there man, and dont let the f'*ckers get you down!

Coetzenburg/Eden trails & ST, also Botmaskop in Stellenbosch

I'm in hibernation mode...and beer consumption on Saturday might make 8 a.m slightly early. Are they not forecasting rain for Sunday? Anyhow, I'm willing to lead the super-slow group (or bring up the rear of said group). Or I might just make up the group myself.

Will probably be there on Sunday...don't know about the 8 a.m bit though...

I think a gaggle sound better...henceforth all such social rides shall be known as a Hubber-gaggle En omdat ek nie daar kan wees nie...fotos, mense, fotos!HomerSimpson2008-03-20 00:54:15

I have a Scott Scale 70 (bottom of the Scale range), and have done 2 Stellenbosch MTB mudfests, Lourensford, Seweweekspoort, Argus MTB...planning to do Die Hel this year...bike has given me zero problems in the two years I have had it. The Scotts are more expensive than other bikes with similar components, though. See if you can find a '07 model (or even '06!!) in a bike shop somewhere..... HomerSimpson2008-03-13 08:11:12

The turnout tonight clearly indicates the level of apathy amongst cyclists in this country. Thank goodness for those people that did turn up. IMHO it would have been a disaster for the PPA to disaffiliate.

Tnx guys. Was pretty much committed to the sawing off and out method. Old cro-moly frame and Alu seatpost. Might give cooling the seatpost with CO2 a bash before I launch the saw effort. JB, will Windhoek Draught be OK, or is Lager better? I refuse to drink Windhoek Light.

We have probably all come across the phenomenon of seatposts apparently immovably fused to frames.... I know why this happens, and I also know what should be done to prevent this from happening..... What I want to know is: what can be done to get thing loose again? Other than having the post drilled out?

Quality not that great...second ascent, Robbie attacks, splits the breakaway....

Stood at the end of the first steep bit of Helshoogte (and it was always supposed to be 5 ascents of Helshoogte, the initial ascent and then four laps from the top according to the race bible). First ascent the 8-man breakaway was intact... and on the second ascent Robbie attacked, breaking up the group.... By the start of the third ascent only Robbie and van Ruitenbeeck was left (and then I had to rush back to work....)

Today's 175 km stage goes via Worcester.... Forecast: Forecast: Thursday, 6 March 2008 Min: 17?Chttp://www.weathersa.co.za/weathersa/images/icons/sun.gifMax: 38?CDiscomfort Index: 44?C Weather:Fine Wind: moderate north-westerly Glad I'll be in a airconditioned office today.....

My thoughts exactly....GREAT!!!!

6 Barloworld, 4 MTN, 1 Kuota, 1 Trek-Marco Polo, 2 House of Paints, 1 KM, 1 Neotel, 2 Danish and 1 Belgian natonal team riders great work David B!!!!!!HomerSimpson2008-03-04 03:33:15

On Saturday around 12:20 pm, we discovered that (at least) one of the BB bearings on my son's MTB had passed on....and we were doing the Argus MTB race the next day. Put the bike in the car, rush off to the LBS, arrive there 20 minutes before they close. Shop full of people, chaos. Yet they took one look at the bike, rushed it to the workshop, and cajoled the mecchies to pop off the cranks and install new bearings.... Charged just for the bearings, not the service. Back home, bike fixed at 1:25 pm! To Leonardo, Alwyn and Linus at Flandria:

In the original greement when the (then) SACF and the PPA agreed to form the CSA, there was a "sunset clause" in the agreement that the PPA could, by a certain date, decide to withdraw from te CSA and go it alone. This date is now at hand, and the PPA want's its members to decide on the issue.