Slave

My retro bike (Petini) with 9 speed taigra raised more than one or two eybrows. It was classic to watch some of the faces as I rode by. I think I need to speak to grey owl and see if I can ride his Eddie Mercx for the 94.7. That will surely raise an eyebrow or several hundred. Hey Mux. How did you feature in the race yesterday? You must have creamed it with all the SBR training you do.

Mallo, many of the peeps in my bunch were fast. I am still pretty much an unseasoned cyclist so have no seeding to speak of. I am trying to get that sorted so I can "race" the 94.7. Yesterday time for Dome put paid to my delusions of a three hour 94.7 and I have been advised by my coach to up the ante. I now have a 2hr 45 goal in mind. Besides, I am also a pretty slow, old and crochety.

Bragging rights nothing. Poeple should know and understand that goo wrappers are not environementally friendly. It is my sonsidered opinion that race marshalls are not employed (do not volunteer) to run aound being a scivvy. They are there for the safety of us cyclists and we need to adjust our atitudes and appreciate why they are there. For anyone too "sleg" to carry their own wrappers to the fininsh, employ a scivvy to ride behind you and pick up your trash. This is exactly why SA looks like a pigpen. Too many people who could give a rats.....

Well, FWIW (for what it's worth), if SA drivers didn't drive like cyclists ride (generally speaking of course) then they would have no need to have rumble strips to slow down cars, before intersections. I agree that they are not nice and cycle friendly, but they serve another purpose. It was not easy for the traffic officials and marshalls with that number of cyclists and the known impatience of the motorists, so from my perspective, hats off to all the race officials, traffic officials and marshalls. You did a sterling job. The road works made the route less than 100% safe. What did irritate me a bit was the slower cyclists did not keep well left and leave room for the speed demons to go past and I often had to infringe road safety by goingoutside of the demarkated "safe zone". Perhaps race organisers can take ot of this and announce it at the start of each race. That way everyone should know to keep left and make space for all to use the road in safety. I enjoyed the race and I will be back.

Yep, I am in full support and agreement. Yesterday, at around Tarlton, some d@@s took his goo wrapper and threw it on the roadside. I proceed to tell him that was not nice. His response, that is why they have marshalls, to oick up the rubish afer we fininsh riding. Too bad tha savage has three buddies he was with otherwise I might have been tempted to hit him off his bike. I was appalled at the number of goo wrapper I saw all over the roads. I am a roadie and I am ahsmed to admit it, lest I get painted with the same brush. It costs nothing to carry your wrapper along with you to the end and throw it away later. Really, the atitudes suck. BIG time. PIGS.

You only get a password if you register for one. I found the online entry to be relatively easy.

Ah now we have something to talk about. Oxymorons. Like "government organisation" "Military carforum member intelligence"

No contest. The road is the better way by far. (OK, I just have a normal friction resitance IDT.) You can simulate hills on it but not gentle gradients. I find the road to be far more beneficial. Besides the mind numbing boredom you get iwth an IDT. And it doesn't help I watch TV because my glasses steam up and I can see even less than if I take 'em off, which is very little. Out on the road you have all sorts of dstractions. Cars, dogs, pedestrians and other cyclists to chase down and pass. Granted and IDT is better than nothing. Get out on the road man. That is what you bought the bike for isn't it. Or have you been following that car forum thread and got all chicken of riding on the road?

Josie Moran and yes, care to share just how you do know this? Booby prize is a whole month. To what end do you want to have a battle of wits with them? Just go out and buy a ratel. Then you can escort us in the yellow lines and crush any tin cans that happen to get in the way.

Just a thought. We all had a little fun trashing and baiting one another. Some statements were seriously daft. On both sides. Problem is some of them have created perceptions and perhaps given others ideas on how to solve "these problems." Freedom of speech is one thing and we can argie all we like that most of it was tongue in cheek, but, it still plants seeds of dubt. With great freedom, come great reposnsibility. We all need to accept resposibility for the things we do wrong and rectify them. We do not need to hurl bricks at one another and call it fun, because even in jest, there is much truth. Assuming, for the sake of argument, the "wheels that are set in motion" to visit one of the motorists, fallof and someone is badly hurt. A smart lawyer could find this information and it could be used in court. We all know that not all cyclists are loons and not all motorists are morons. Getting into it solves nothing and probably just causes more tension between cyclists and motorists. So for my part in the TIC mud slinging, it seemed like fun at the time, but in truth, I have no illusions that it did nothing to improve relations between both forms of road users. So, herewith my public appology for getting carried away in the moment. It was fun while it lasted, but was it really worth it. I have my doubts.

Merlin dude, chillax. I am not sure that it is "kosher" to talk about killing cyclcist or anyone else for that matter on any hub, bulleting board, furum. We have done that on this very forum. I suggested that we come up with some design for remote detonated pipe bombs that we can hide away on our bikes. You think a bike jacker would suvive that? I doubt it. In a way it is exactly the same thing. Realx dude. It may be wring to disuss taking life so casually, and yeah, maybe it si sick humour, but nothing you say will not change it. Leave it be. We have our fun, they have theirs. It is a very unfortunate fact that we come second in any collision between a bike and a car. That is zigactly why we have to ride with that in mind. Some of our mates do ride like tjops and that irritates the motorists. They also have the same frustrations with Taxis, trucks and busses as well as the motorised morons. Howver, most of the okes on the car forum are just pulling the p!ss. Over the line or not, well that's freedom of speech. If it makes you unhappy, stay away.

To keep gas guzzling car driving ijits off the hub so we can have some intelligent debate. conversation. Keeps the place more pure. Imagine all those W2nkers taking crud on the hub? Eish. Leave them be. (BTW. we had this debate a while back and they are just baiting you Merlin.) They are not such a bad bunch. Not such a great bunch that we would like to invite them over here either, but not a bad bunch. They are winding you up man.

I use AGIP wheel bearing grease for my car and my bike. Have also used CV joint grease and graphite grease as well. (Not all at the same time though.)

So how about all the Alberton dudes get together and kick this one off in Alberton as well?

Gasping, send me a pm with your e-mail and I will give you the details. They have two dif kinds of Shammy. The local shammy costs less and the imported shammy costs a bomb. Will have to see what they have on special for you mate.

I can get bibs for you. Been so busy at work lately have had very little time to do much of anything else. What size? Colour?

Hey CliveM, long time. Yeah, had a good race. By the time I got started I had forgotten about rider number 18. Now if we had got verbal and physical, I would have been all bent outa hape and probably had a bad ride. Like BB says. I got it off my chest. So what if he never sees this. Maybe someone will tell him and it may have an effect. Who knows? So, I ranted, named and shamed, got it off my chest and had a good ride. We all won in the end since we all stayed out of Hospital. Andy. Soweto was much cleaner than I expected. A lot cleaner than someof the streets of Joburg and Alberton. In some areas it was less than clean, but still cleaner than a lot of places I have seen. Rant done. Name and shame done. Did he see it, who cares. We all had a bit of a wind up reading it and hopefully his buds will read this and tell him not to be a piggy wiggy next time. Then they can all brawl it out. Hat, coat, I know where the door is. Going back to my usual haunts and freds. See, only two pages this time.

Nope I did not take issue with him at the time. I was battling to breathe having done some 12 km to get to the start. He is big and ugly enough to know that littering is not cool. Maybe not all that bright mind you but old enough to know. Now we all know about him. Objective achieved. *Get's off soapbox and makes diving roll for the exit, sans hat and coat.*

Rode the Tour de Soweto yesterday. My SO was reluctant for me to use the car to drive to the race and park it there unattended. Compromised by having her drop me at Soutgate and she went home. I rode into Soweto to get to the start. A nice warm-up ride. Came accross a bunch of cyclists and decided to follow then to the start since they seemed to know where they were headed. Dressed in their white Kit, they looked pretty snazzy. Licence number 18 opened something and dropped his wrapper. You, young man are a porcue bi-pedus. Translates to two legged pig, or in some circles a litterbug. You and your team were very quick to pick up your water bittler when they were dislodged from their cages by some bumps in the road, but is is acceptable to throw your wrappers in the road. I think not. Have no idea who you are and I hope you read this. Get some class to go along with that spiffy white virginal outfit of yours.

I cannot answer for anyone else, but I would like to comment on cycling only lanes. I live in Alberton and they have a number of cycle dedicated lanes. Where they are on the road as opposed to being on the pavment, they are demarkated by white lines in some places and contrete borders in others. The lanes themselves are so full of junk (never cleaned) that one is guaranteed to get a puncture every time you ride in it. There is so much loose sand that you are also guaranteed to fall every time you hit a patch of sand. It just does not work well with 700 c wheels. Then there are pedestrians that walk in them and Taxis that use them as a loading zone for cargo. So it is impossible to ride in them and do more than 10 or twenty k's and hour and there are so many obstacles as to make them totally unsafe. That answer your question about whi I do not ride in the dedicated cycle lanes of Alberton? It is far safer to take my chances with the motorists and no, I do not ride even two abreast with my ride partners in the built up areas of Alberton. Some people are just selfish and doff and maybe they deserve what they get when they flaut the rules of the road. I do take some calulated risks by not stoppoing altogther at all stop streets but that is only when it is "safe" to do that. I do creep across red traffic lights after having stopped and the coast is clear. I have had many motorist hoot at me for doing this but more because it has irritated them than any other reason. I do not endanger my own life and certainly will not endanger the lives of fellow road users. Maybe, the local councils should clean up the lanes and they might find more cyclists using them. I certainly would if it was safe to do so and I was not going to spend all my spare time fxing punctures every time I do a training ride.

You seen the peejou Trubes, if it was the one you had, you would have recognised it. So is my Petini considered a retro bike?

Some really strange looking old bikes there. Some really nice ones too. So maybe I should hold onto that Rapport of mine and tart it up. It could be worth something in about a thousand years time.

Eeeek. That would be like Alfa selling out to Toyota, or Fiat to Nissan. The Japs know how to make stuff IMO. Just such a pity they make it out of such crappy and inferior metals. Defnitief nie gebou om te hou. (Not built to last.)

Is he the branch manager at the metal works?

Porky, I agree with you about tempting fate. Have to say though that going that way around, the steps are pretty much a good hill session for such a ride. Otherwise the route is just flat. As a possible altenative, I may just go down the Rand water road, get onto the highway (just to get to the bridge) and then do Allewynspoort road in reverse direction, and then go up the lido hill towards Mondeor for hill training. Turn around at the top to escape cars and traffic and then go back down. There are somegood hills to train on in Mondeor. No matter which way we go, there are risks. I'll rather take my chances wth the motorists though. Have never had many issues with them. Hey, Delgado, dude, what say we set up an ambush for them? Catch the fakers red handed and then tech them to swim in the river. Swan dives from the bridge wearing cement shoes?