breaker

Now I'm getting confused, so is the M5 and M3 in Cpt legal or not?

That's just messed up , these guys are clearly on a spree.

Same boat here, its gonna be my first one and have not been training well. Are there any shorter races coming up, that'll be good for preparation?

I can imagine that's quite steep, I came around the back though, so more of a longer climb than steep, agree awesome scenery.

Top of Rotory way in Hermanus overlooking Hermanus Golf Course.

Hehe ahead of you there, thats what I did

AL129

And then like a fool in love... the next day I decide I'm a big boy now, time for some big boy stuff - Hermanus Cycle Trails. Head off to Euodia Cycles to get some last need essentials and a temp permit. The guy there, Riaan is a very helpful chap. Out of the 4 routes I reckon I was good enough to do the 2nd easiest one,blue route = 15km, he reckons nah do the blue one half way then switch to the next one up, I look fit enough he says, yeah right I think. Anyway armed with complete excitement and ignorance , I head off - the first bit is nice and technical though the trees, but once out, oh my hat, noob realization 1 of many kicks in - don't cycle in mid morning heat. Continue on and finding a nice rhythm, doing my best to follow the boards that, at this point in time, still has all 4 route markings on it. However that was all about to change, quickly. All of a sudden I find myself on a mother of an incline. It was at this point in time where I couldn't decide what I hated worse, incline or soft sand - I knew I hated both at the same time. Then noob realization 2 of many kicks in: the next board marking the route only has the black arrow on - somewhere I missed a turn and found myself on the hardest of the 4 tracks . Eventually I couldn't any more and was forced to get off and push. But what goes up must come down, did my best not to be a cowboy on the way down and learnt a lot, quickly about how to use my brakes or at least what worked for me. Eventually rejoined the trail of all 4 routes, and relief ensued. Thereafter I felt I could conquer anything,(noob mistake x of many), and decide like Riaan suggested to take the red route. This route took me through some wine farms and steady inclines, but nothing as hectic as before. Ended up at the entrance to Hamilton and Russel, but no time for wine tasting now took some quick pics and was on my way. From there on it was plain sailing, mostly downhill, then hit the technical section through the trees again and ended at the cycle shop with an epic smile on my face. Sporty Pal reckons it was about 2 hours for a 20km ride, altitude difference of about 200m. I will definitely be doing it again, however I don't think I have the balls to be doing it alone again, that was some kamakazi stuff on my part. Here are some pics of my adventure:

So the day after my maiden voyage, I'm out in onrus/vermont again. Its a nice quiet area and its holiday season, so everyone is out jogging and on their bikes. After riding around on the in and out tar roads in the area, I decide to head up to the 7/11. At that point I was trying to catch up to 2 bikers just to ask about the area. Then they just disappeared . Turns out there is a path that starts just there, but its sort of below the level of the road. Anyway I eventually catch up to this very friendly couple, who lets me join them. What followed was an awesome, awesome ride. We started at the 7/11 and followed the path all the way to hawston, cut through hawston and throught to fisherhaven and then doubled back next to the road for a while getting back on the path where we started. Again Rob and Caroline, if you on here thanx again for showing me the ropes.

So I found a old wing cam camera I ordered from Hong Kong a while ago and strapped it to my helmet. I use to fool around with it in the car and the video was pretty descent, so I'll post some clips after my ride in Hemel and Aarde later. Some pics of the improvisation:

Hi Lewy_za I was in the same boat as you, I have an audi a3, no towbar and my options where a buzzrack from sportmans warehouse or the thule one you mentioned. I opted for the thule one, got it from load and go next to revolution cycles in bree street in the cbd. Give them a call as I might have taken the last one, however there are tones of thule dealers in cpt. As for strong enough, my first trip to Hermanus from cape town was smooth, however can someone please enlighten me to the following : I improvised with old show laces, but how are you supposed to stop the pedals from moving? The strap that comes with it, as per the videos are for strapping multiple bikes together??? Oh an I cut up an old felt cloth that I put on the four hooks, just to protect the paint work as much as I could. Hope this helps a bit.

We are indeed spoilt for choice here in the western cape, looking forward to more views like that

Damn, I'll be missing what seems is going to be quite epic. Is this a monthly thing?

So decided to get one of these as my options where very limited. I drive a hatchback with no tow bar. Anyway bought it and had the guy fit it. Unfortunately I didn't have my bike with and was in bit of a rush. Got home, packed for holiday and now its time to put the bike on. Its the 3 bike rack, so I put the bike on the slot closest to the car, strap the 2 rubber straps over the cross bar of the bike, but now can't understand how I only have one auxiliary strap to secure the bike. With just that one strap the pedals and wheels where just too loose. Also the pedals were now able to scratch the car, so I placed it on the middle slot and got some old shoe laces to tie the wheels down. Is this how its supposed to be or am I missing something. Also just my luck, I get stopped in a roadblock... The Oriciferr tells me that my bike is blocking my number plate, he was kind enough to not give me a fine. But now I need an additional number plate, really? Any suggestions?

Thanx bud, I will definitely do so, gonna get some cable ties or something.

I cannot believe that its taken about 18years for me to own a bike again. I took my Christmas pressie for a spin in Onrus yesterday and instantly had that feeling of freedom that I forgot about. And man what a feeling, almost forgot myself thinking I was on a bmx at times . Anyway its good to be back in the saddle, excuse the cliche.

This is what santa gave me, a Momsen 29er

A big thanx everyone here who contributed to this thread and ultimately helping me make a more informed decision. I must say I've learned a lot more in this short time. And a big to Revolution Cycles' Stirling Jnr for taking the time to sort me out with an A-Z and of course for this:

Yep.

Definitely the reason I posted and in the end better service is provided

So while the bike is being sorted / ticked off the list I need to get a few other goodies. What would you guys recommend for shorts and top. I'm planning on doing the TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Lite aswell so I need some sort of clothing for that. Also what are the small necessary bits that I would need? I have this feeling I'm only gonna know what I need, when I need it Then my only other huge problem is a bike rack, don't have a towbar and certainly don't have the moola for the fancy thule stuff so for now its down with the back seats for now - 2006 Audi A3 Sportback.

Similar to an other pet hate of mine, you are talking to someone, they get a cellphone call - instead of the polite I'll call you right back, they continue with the phone call. I've gone so far as to stand in front of said person and call them as well to ask if this would be a better way to be serviced. I expect the same in a shop, of course as a sales person you can't let someone wonder for minutes without being helped, but trying the juggling act might just make you drop all the balls.

Understandably its Xmas and the shop was busy, however when I entered the shop I waited patiently as there were other people before me, which I certainly don't have a problem with as Chris told me he will be with me as soon as he is done. I made a call wherein I handed my phone to Pieter to confirm some details. Jacques thank you for you call, I do appreciate it. This is the type of thing that will make me go back to a shop like this. A little customer service goes along way.

@tombeej, I might be eating my words buddy . Thanx for the suggestion.

So that was an interesting lunch hour. Following on from this thread, I decided to go to Cyclefactory to try out a Silverback, spoke to helpful guy by the name of Chris whom I had a conversation on the phone before. While Chris was showing me alternatives, Pieter quite rudely imho steps in and advises Chris to help another customer while he continues with me. Pieter then funnily enough shows me a momsen(thanx @tombeej). At this point I can appreciate the help he gave as he explained the bike to me and actually convinced me that this is the bike for me. However, after brief phone call and the situation basically in mid air, Pieter turns his attention to another customer. Now i don't know if there was a misunderstanding but I was certainly not done, especially since this bike needs to be ordered and still built. After standing around for a while I start getting that same feeling I got in a few other Lbs's, not good. Eventually Chris helps finalizes what we will do next. Now like I said, it could be as simple as a misunderstanding but I definitely left with a bad taste in my mouth, so much so that I will be phoning other Lbs's for the same bike.