Starchboy

Theer will be some sponsorship form Medihelp and possible others. Not sure if thet will cover the difference of course.

Just went out for a bit on the R44 out towards Klapmuts and back. Glad I was on my mountain bike, lots if standing water and occasional strong sidewind gusts. It started hailing at some point, so I regretted not wearing gloves. Glad I’m back in the warmth now.

Wind has also dropped in Stellies. Forecast is that it will get up again later though.

Still haven’t received the SMS. They clearly knew I had decided to stay in bed and didn’t want to wake me.

I’m in 3a, but then I’m overweight and slow. Mind you it helps stabilize the bike in the wind.

PPA are pretty incompetent. I keep getting adverts to enter this in my Facebook feed and every time the link it to another event. Or maybe they just want me to enter the CTCT MTB event by mistake.

Basically plant based. You have to mix it up a bit though; legumes are low in methionine and maize in lysine. To get a balanced diet you have to have a bit of everything.

Commiserations, it’s the most painful thing I have ever had. Gout is caused by purines in the diet as they get broken down to uric acid. Look at the source if protein you are taking, if it’s yeast derived for example, that could be the issue. I manage to control mine through diet. Basically very little meat (3-4 times per month) and not too much alcohol (one evening a week generally). In a way I’m glad my gout started as I feel generally far healthier on this diet than I did beforehand.

From my side It was a reasons to switch to the bank as I reckoned that I could pay the bank fees off with extra rewards. I still think I can do that, but I need to get a credit card from them and they aren't taking new applications at the moment.

Apologies if this has been posted before, but its the first time I have seen information up on the Discovery website about how to access the boosted rewards that are part of the bank package. It seems incredible complicated, but essentially the more you spend the more rewards you get back. For example, I have a Platinum account and can get up to 25% extra on my healthy food it I spend more than R25k in a month if I have Diamond money status.

Well the tickets matches against England were probably bought by the barmy army. I should say at this point that I am English, but I think it will be quite an even series. We have similar issues to you. A good bowling attack, but nobody knows who should be in the batting lineup. We will probably have a series of low scoring tests.

But if you have an SA address you should be able to enter as a normal entrant. At least that is what I did for a decade before becoming a permanent resident and getting an SA ID.

Event Name: MEDIHELP Stellenbosch Cycle Tour 2020 When: 19 January 2020 Where: Stellebosch High School, Western Cape Category: Road Date: Sunday 19 January 2020 Venue: Stellenbosch High School Distance: 97 km Event Cost: Entries are R350 and R330 for PPA members Contact Details: info@pedalpower.org.za / (021) 671-6340 Route Description: Click to enlarge map ENTRIES OPEN FOR A NEW-LOOK MEDIHELP STELLENBOSCH CYCLE TOUR The Medihelp Stellenbosch Cycle Tour returns to its roots on Sunday 19 January 2020 with an exciting 97 km course that takes place in the Cape Winelands’ spectacular scenery. Sponsored by Medihelp Medical Aid and hosted by the Pedal Power Association (PPA), the tour caters for both novice and experienced cyclists. The event will once again start at Stellenbosch High School and cements its status as a premier seeding event for the 2020 Cape Town Cycle Tour. The route Incorporating 1 191 m of climbing, the course gets straight into the swing of things and takes you over the beautiful Helshoogte Pass through Pniel and towards Franschhoek until you get the Wemmershoek turnoff about 21 km into your ride. This will be the last stretch until you reach your first waterpoint at 30,5 km in front of Pearl Valley Golf Estate. From there you will cycle towards Paarl and at 36,8 km you will turn right onto Lustigan Road/Drakenstein Road. You will stay on Lustigan for a short distance before turning right into Denneboom and Sonstraal roads at 39,9 km. The second refreshment station will be at the 55,1 km mark shortly after Wellington graveyard – make sure to rehydrate as your next waterpoint is on the R44 opposite Windmeul Winery at the 63,5 km mark. You will be welcomed into Klapmuts with another waterpoint at 79,8 km from where your final journey back to the venue will commence. With only 9 km to go, the last push is in sight once you hit the Medihelp waterpoint at Knorhoek – grab a banana and have some Coke for the final stretch. The finish will be on the Helshoogte road before Idas Valley and a neutral zone will take you back to the venue, where you will receive your well-deserved medal and Coke. Take your bike to the secure bike park while you relax and enjoy the hospitality on offer. Food and entertainment Seattle Coffee will be there for your caffeine fix and there will be a wide variety of food and drink stalls. Kids entertainment will allow the little ones to have some fun whilst mom and dad enjoy the live entertainment on offer. Key information Route: 97 km with 1 191 m of climbing. Entry fee: R350 or R330 for PPA members (remains the same as 2019). PPA info tent: PPA staff will be able to answer any questions. Bike shop: Situated at the start to assist with minor bike adjustments and you can buy any last-minute spares. Prize-giving: Starting at 11:00, the winners will be receiving a total of R60 000 in prize money. There’s also a lucky draw right after, so stay put and you could win great prizes. More information Visit our website www.pedalpower.org.za or contact us at 021 671 6340 or info@pedalpower.org.za. For more information on Medihelp, visit www.medihelp.co.za. Social media: Facebook | Instagram: @MedihelpStellenboschCycleTourTwitter: @StellenboschCT Use the hashtag #Medihelpsct2020 ABOUT THE PPA Founded in 1976, the Pedal Power Association is a Public Benefit Organisation committed to promoting cycling and the interests of cyclists. Recreational cycling (on- and off-road), development through cycling, safe cycling and advocacy are among the PPA’s priorities. The PPA is the largest recreational cycling organisation in South Africa. It has some 16 000 paid-up members; the largest component being in the Western Cape where the association has its headquarters. MEDIHELP MULTISPORT Medihelp Multisport is a cycling club sponsored by the main sponsor of the event, Medihelp medical aid. Membership of the club is open to Medihelp members as well as non-members. As part of the annual membership fee of R310, cyclists get free entry to the Medihelp Stellenbosch Cycle Tour and other Medihelp sponsored cycling events as well as 50% discount on the club’s cycling gear. Visit Medihelp’s website to find out more. Members of Medihelp’s free wellness programme for its members, HealthPrint also get free entry to this event. Medihelp members can visit Medihelp’s website to find out more about HealthPrint. ABOUT MEDIHELP MEDICAL AID As one of South Africa’s trusted medical aids available for all South Africans, Medihelp medical aid offers an array of plans and premiums, backed by trusted service. More information about Medihelp’s plans is available on its website . Go to Event Page

Yeah, I reckon I would get about 17.5% off on a regular basis. I will look at it next time i decide to buy a new phone as 17.5% is better than a slap in the face with a wet fish, but I'm not going to upgrade eary.

If it’s on the Vitality page I have the same issue. I asked Discovery and it is an issue for customers with a transaction account. They told me (last week) that they were working on it.

I have had Gavia (I think 28mm AC1's) since i got a new bike in January. I am sold sold on tubeless. Haven't had a puncture in about 2000km, although at one point I a had continual slow leak until I topped up the sealant. The bike feels fantastic compared to its (aluminium framed) predecessor, although i cant say if that is because it is a carbon frame or because of the tubeless wheels. I guess probably a combination. My positive attitude will probably change once i have a catastrophic puncture and have to Uber my way home though.

I had exactly the same issue with the same combination a few weeks ago. In the end I gave up and went to my lbs to get the to help out, but feeling a bit embarrassed.

Or just swap cards

No, I am still at 35%. I mailed them yesterday to ask for some literature about how this works, but haven't had a reply yet

That is a great interest rate; but you have to give 10 days notice after leaving it in for 90 day right?

It is tiered based on your financial health similar to vitality that Disco calculate when you join. They do some kind of automatic assessment (I assume looking at your credit score) and then they have a load of different assessments once you join (retirment savings, homaloan, short term insurance...) that all count to that. I found it failrly easy to get to their top category and my interest rates ate 7.5% on the savings account and 6.5% on the transaction account. I cant tell you what the rates are if your are not in the diamond category.

Thanks, do you know if it roles over indefinitely? Or does it re-set once a month or something like that? I suspect I would hit 20 points every 2-3 weeks.

My base rate started at 6% for the transaction account and 7% for the savings account and went up 0.5% when I hit platinum. I was on gold as soon as i joined as they did an automatic search of my savings, home loan etc (not sure how that works), so don't know what it would have been if my financial health had been worse.

The lack of information is the problem, They have a typical Discovery bronze, silver, gold, diamond setup depending on your financial health. I got to gold straight away by completing a retirement questionnaire although I still need to upload some documents to prove my retirement savings. I then went to diamond by transferring R100 000 into the savings account. Once I went to diamond, the interest rate in the savings account went from 7 to 7.5%. I presume that means that i also get the 75% flight savings, but on the app it tells me that my discount is 35% and that is the maximum on the sliding scale. I will enquire and report back waha they say!

I opened an account about two weeks ago and intend to move all my banking over there in the next month. The benefits for me (75% discount on healthy food, improved interest rates etc) outweigh the issues (mainly a lack of information on the website). So far I have been very happy. When i have had questions, they have been responsive; but it is early days. The main issue I have is with the way that they hjave set up the points for Vitality rewards program. You get points when you spend money with the card thet comes with the account and need to get 20 to earn a play on the board. As far as I can tell I will never reach that based on my spending patterns, unless I start spending a lot more. As they say they want people to save money, it seems to me set up to do the opposite.