Brian Fantana

Even though this will be my third Attakwas, I am super nervous, but also very excited. What I like about Attakwas is the Comrades style camaraderie between the riders. Cannot wait. Good luck to all.

After 8 years of riding cleated for more than 100 000km on road bikes and mountain bikes, I have decided to try flats late last year. I got myself 510 freerider VXi and shimano Saint pedals. My main reason was to improve skill, which I am constantly working at. I did over 1000km of riding on flats the last 6 weeks, and switched back to cleats After the first long ride, my hip flexors felt quite fatigued and my core muscles worked a lot harder. It forces you to draw stability from your core, and not from the fact that you are attached to the bike. In my opinion flat pedals will also expose muscle imbalances very quickly, you will struggle to pedal effectively if one leg is stronger than the other. On the skills front, I have become a much smoother rider. My body and bike flows with the trail instead of your bike just going where your body goes when you are cleated. Is say try both, and cycle between both platforms... Haha... It has made me a better rider. I will be riding with cleats at Attakwas. But flats all the way for technical rides with jumps and big drops.

Had a Kudu Fillet on the braai last night. Stuffed with blue cheese and smoked mussels. About 8 minutes on super hot coals. It was delicious. A key step is to leave the kudu fillet in Inkomazi (full cream maas) for 48-72 hours. Then rinse maas off and marinade according to your taste/choice.

Alexandria, a one horse town close to Kenton on Sea.

These guys should open a branch on the Atta route:

Nicolai also makes a very nice fat bike, which is Gates belt drive ready:

I hear that Alban Lakata ruptured his achilles tendon in a skiing accident. I hope he will recover in time, because he can be a serious podium contender as well.

Nicolai Catalogue: http://issuu.com/why_gbr/docs/n-katalog-2014-web# By looking at the level of detail and photography, it is easy to see that these guys are very passionate.

I did this ride in 2010 with my late father in law. This year my wife and I will be on the start line to ride in his honour.

We plan to camp there on the Saturday. Looking forward, we have camped there before, really enjoyed it.

When the ladies hit the shopping mall, Brodie and I are just like.. WHATEVER.

Top of Elandsriver. My last long ride before Attakwas:

Looks like a lot of fun, and it looks like a very friendly group of riders. Next time I'm in Joburg, I am definitely going to ride this section of trail.

There are a few plans for Longmore regarding permanent, marked routes which will mainly be jeep track and forestry roads with sections of singletrack in between. But while this is still in development, you can always join the rides that will be organised Fat Tracks. These rides will start from early next year, and Longmore will be ridden at least once a month (as long as the events calendar allows it).

Great stuff!!

Congrats man!! Trail building is one those pleasures that can only be understood the day you ride on a trail you have built, helped to build or maintained.

This little bundle of energy has infiltrated our household:

Enjoy, I will keep an eye out for a green steel machine on the trails.

Is the straight steerer 1 1/8" or 1.5" ? Wait, don't answer that because if the steerer is correct I will need a new front hub, which will lead to an entire new wheelset

The 80km MTB event must have one of THE nicest routes of any similar distance event I have done. There is a lot of singletrack, and it flows very nicely. Apparently there will be even more singletrack this year, which is even better. I cannot wait. I am going to do the Ultimate Quest, same as this year, both on my 6inch trail bike, which according to some people here will render me a poser.

What if the rider you find so funny only has one bike which they use for everything?

I use these: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/za/en/saris-replacement-track-system-trap/rp-prod39590 I have two of these which I have bolted to a piece of plastic timber. I use it to transport our bikes on the back of the bakkie. Works very well. The plastic timber slots into two brackets that were already in the load bin.

Monteng Pass - Hill climb time trial. That will separate the men from the boys.

From Specialized's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/specializedbicycles/posts/10152051815982579:0 It's a statement from Mike Sinyard. Although he overreacted, I understand why, and most of us would have done the same if we worked as hard as he did to be where he is today. Especially when you see your life's work being copied with bad quality materials and workmanship.

The school is Woodridge College, permits are available at Cyclo Pro in PE, and the trail is marked with dayglow stickers. Another option is Crossways Country Kitchen. It is an awesome restaurant just outside Thornhill. There is a 6km singletrack trail there. The trail was used for XCO nationals before.