Red Bird

Track for the first XCO introduction league race will be ready for practice from 6 January... It is a less demanding track to ease into the racing season. 4,2km / 97m ascent per lap

I’ve had Strava since 2017. This year, I doubled up on 2017/2018 combined... Biggest climb is the Mamba in Sabie - 556m in about 8km

Modders is in a very good condition at the moment - the best I have seen in a long time. Did the red route and while it was sometimes not ridable, today it was. Enjoyed it very much. The berms that they built had a short life span...already washed away so I doubt that we'll see many fun features due to the erosion. I still love Modders. Good way to train if not in the mood for techy stuff.

Not many close together there. Check out Lake Eland and also Clearwater Trails

Event Name: Gauteng XCO Cup Series When: 18 January 2020 Where: XCOSA Bike Park (Voortrekker Monument), Gauteng Category: MTB 2020 GC XCO Series dates. The 2020 GC XCO season starts with a bang on 18 Jan 20! With 2020 being an Olympic year, the peak racing season is somewhat condensed to ensure maximum potential until May 2020 for accruing UCI points to our Elite riders. We are in the process of finalising race tracks for the GC events and have a tender procedure we follow for event organisers to ensure events comply with the physical and technical demand pertaining to provincial type events. GC XCO Cup Series & SA XCO Cup seeding. Please take note that results of all GC XCO Cup events will be incorporated into the SA XCO Cup Series seeding for determining starting order of these national events. Although the GC XCO Cup results will not directly impact on the SA XCO Log, it will contribute indirectly in that it will offer better starting positions in SA XCO Cup races and consequently a much higher probability for better race results! GC XCO Colours. All point towards 2020 being the 1st year for rewarding excellent mtb performance with prestigious provincial colours. The GC colours criteria document has been drafted and will finally be considered for approval end November 2019. The premise, however, is that GC Colour nominations are dependent on regional colours as well as nomination by the respective regional mtb and executive committees. More details (route, start times, laps...) will be posted closer to each event... Go to Event Page

My first reaction too. He had at least an entire meter available to his left

Luxury spa booking

In MTB, you also have to be in the racing batch for overall. But I have not seen it happen that a person from C batch get the fastest time due to trail congestion and there not being any benefit of a peloton and drafting. No need for license though. On another note: A girl I have raced against in MTB, usually finishes about 30min (give or take) behind the winner, from ladies A batch. Riding carbon Specialized bike so no disadvantage there. On the road (in A and B batches) she finished about 10min behind the winner and on another occasion even rode faster than the winner. So yeah, this just emphasises the point - racing on the road with the men is a bit advantageous. I think these girls should just get licensed and race up front and grow the elite batch

I agree, it's not the same. Otherwise the ladies racing in A could have been given podium position. Hence, the rule that states that you have to be in the elites batch to qualify for podium.

If you are a vet with a racing license, you will be seeded into the vets groups if your index is high enough. VA - 30+ VB - 40+ VC - 50+ As soon as these groups are full, people with licenses get seeded into A, B etc. just like the rest of the field without licenses.

My point is that the girls benefit from the guys’ speed in A batch, who are riding faster than the elite ladies.

Checked the results. It looks like 2 of them tandem ladies were seeded in WB. I guess it’s lesson learned.

Exactly. Some girl I know of (not very strong on MTB) was “racing” faster from A batch than the elites. Obviously there is some pushing and helping from the guys...

2013) 5h25:59 (on a MTB) 2015) 5h26:54 (on a MTB with slicks - ouch) 2017) 4h38:37 (borrowed Merida Scultura) 2018) 3h46:44 (Titan Stryker Calypso Sport) 2019) 3h17:22 (Raleigh RC3000) Aimed for 3h15 this year and considering I felt a bit ill close to the end, I could have cracked it. Raleigh is just the best machine!!

Ek dink jy moet maar môre teruggaan

They also used wrong seeding for mine. Did you just ask at the number collection stand?

Investigations ahead... https://www.cyclingsa.com/news-and-press/2019/11/13/internal-investigation

A little late for substitutions

Also got mine now. Feel very savage. I am with Momentum Health. Had to cut the rubber band a little bit so it can fit nice and snug

If that had been the case, I would have been furious. But, they apologised for the mistake, very late only after it was proved, and initially thinking I did not have my personal affairs with SARS in order... WRT the tax savings for cash flow, I don’t think that was the case. All employee costs are bundled into a set “cost to company” amount. Whether they worked it out correctly or not, it would have costed them the same. The ratio between salary and tax was just incorrect. Initially, the travel allowance was not loaded, but they paid an accountant to fix and reload with TA to SARS correctly. Don’t know how much that costed, so could it be called fair game since all parties had to pay a price? ????

My suspicion as well. I just hope they will actually allow me a TA for 2019-2020. Can't exactly force them to.

Thanks. They paid zero tax on the TA. Currently, I am paying tax on the full amount. Will ask for them to load the TA to SARS come next year.

Not at all, unfortunately. They worked out PAYE based on a lower tax bracket. Gross salary was in higher bracket, but they were trying to get basic salary to a lower tax bracket (lower taxes paid) as they thought the TA does not count as income.

Bad luck hey. At least they adapted my salary in April already because I was ganning aan about the TA so much. Now there is no TA. Managed to claim back on traveling but it was not enough to balance it out. Guess there is lots to be learned here and time to deal with the aftermath.

Need some advice here... My employer has paid too little PAYE to SARS for the year. They gave me a R5000 travel allowance, thinking it is not taxable and to bring my basic salary down to a lower tax bracket. As you could have predicted, this resulted in me owing SARS thousands of rands. The trouble is that I have been trying to negotiate with my employer for months to adjust the travel allowance as my car is paid off and I don't travel enough business kilometres to justify R5000. She remained adamant that she will pay what she sees fit, based on her accountant's judgment (her elderly mother is the accountant). I am not trained in accounting and in retrospect I should have done further research earlier. I have to add that her mother loaded my income to SARS without the TA, which first had to be rectified through her newly employed accountant. She told the new accountant that I did not keep a logbook throughout the year, which is false. Coincidence? Edit: salary is cost to company based, so they weren't trying to skim on tax expenses. I have told my employer that I am struggling financially because of this error, but she distances herself from it and still demands that I continue to travel to the office for work in December that I can do at home or even discuss over the phone if needed. We travel to clients until November, which I happily do. Just interested to hear what my options are. I don't want to alienate my relationship with my boss, but when is it enough? On a side note, she once cancelled a client's contract for religious reasons, just telling her she is restructuring the business (that did not go well).