Slave

Moennie penniiek TNT. I foncuse myself most times. What can I say dude, low expectations seldom give room for disappointment.

I work in Financial services and the thing about money laundering is pretty hectic stuff. The similarity here is this: If there is a suspicion of money laundering, we re obliged to report it. One of the things we have to look out for is "does the book fit the cover". In other words, does someone who has raggedy clothing fit the general description of someone who can afford an expensive bike? Alas, I cannot prove ownership of my 18 year old Peugeot either, but, let's just assume that I stole it. Would I get stopped, unlikely, because when I ride it, generally, I am in cycling gear and "look the part". I have ridden to the local spar, barefoot to buy a pack of smokes and probabaly did not look like a cyclist, but still fit the part. Raggedy bike, raggedy clothing. If I saw someone else on a similar bike, dressed a similar way, I would not question the issue. In reality, how many people (low earners) go out and buy a Cannondale or Scott, to commute to work every day, especially of there is a big chance that he too will be the likely target of being bike-jacked? At some stage in the future, the bike will need maintenance and it is unlikely, that said "owner" would be likey to be able to afford the repair costs. Chances are better than good that the bike was orginally the property of someone else and it was jacked or stolen. Creating a market for stolen goods is just one very good reason why crime still happens. BTW, there is only one point of view in this post. There may be more than one translation and you made the wrong one. I think the subject matter is very clear and nowhere did I say that only black people wear raggedy clothes.

Must have missed the racist part of sias' post. Race was not the issue until someone made it an issue. How many "white gardeners" are there is SA? Not too many at this stage at a guesstimate. That's also not the point. There is a very old white chap riding around our "hood" on an even older Rapport than I have. The fact that I have called him a white man is not a racist comment. How is that as soon as we refer to someone as black, it is now considered racist? Anyway, the old chap looks the part on his rapport. The "black" chap who works in the shop next to us rides a Game special MTB and he looks the part. Never thought to question either of them, but now suddenly we are being racist because it just so happens that the PDI's are still pretty much disadvanteged despite racist legislation in the opposite direction. (Yip, call it what you like but BEE and AA, is racist legislation, but this is also not the issue.) Once, a long time ago, my son at the tender age of 3, said all blacks were thieves. We debated this for a while because I wanted to find out where he got this crap. Turns out his logic was that there were more black thieves than white. (Now this is clearly racist, but by reason of faulty logic). I explained that there were six times as many black people as there were white so therefore there are likely to be six times as many black crooks as white purely on a numbers issue. At the end he understood that there are crooks of all colours and subsequently, we never had such a debate again. Was a fact then, still a fact now. Still many more poor blacks than whites and still many more black thieves than whites but that is purely by the numbers, not racism. Eish, angaaz. The duck theory works for me. The theory on morals and race is a whole 'nother ball of wax, and this is not the forum for it.

Must have missed the racist part of sias' post. Race was not the issue until someone made it an issue. How many "white gardeners" are there is SA? Not too many at this stage at a guesstimate. That's also not the point. There is a very old white chap riding around our "hood" on an even older Rapport than I have. The fact that I have called him a white man is not a racist comment. How is that as soon as we refer to someone as black, it is now considered racist? Anyway, the old chap looks the part on his rapport. The "black" chap who works in the shop next to us rides a Game special MTB and he looks the part. Never thought to question either of them, but now suddenly we are being racist because it just so happens that the PDI's are still pretty much disadvanteged despite racist legislation in the opposite direction. (Yip, call it what you like but BEE and AA, is racist legislation, but this is also not the issue.) Once, a long time ago, my son at the tender age of 3, said all blacks were thieves. We debated this for a while because I wanted to find out where he got this crap. Turns out his logic was that there were more black thieves than white. (Now this is clearly racist, but by reason of faulty logic). I explained that there were six times as many black people as there were white so therefore there are likely to be six times as many black crooks as white purely on a numbers issue. At the end he understood that there are crooks of all colours and subsequently, we never had such a debate again. Was a fact then, still a fact now. Still many more poor blacks than whites and still many more black thieves than whites but that is purely by the numbers, not racism. Eish, angaaz. The duck theory works for me. The theory on morals and race is a whole 'nother ball of wax, and this is not the forum for it.

Apparently KDEE, I'm the one who is faulty. In the new South Africa, we are allowed to question the way things "work", which we were strongly discouraged from doing in the old one. Ever noticed how few things work in the new improved SA? Now there is a negative topic that I won't go into, because I do prefer the positive. It just galls me to the n'th degree that we must just accept that crime is out of control and live in fear of whether or not we will get back form our next training session, alive (1st prize) and with our bikes still in our possession (Bonus) or if we are actually going on a trianing route via the intesive care or the trauma ward because we got shot. Maybe it is negative, but damn, why do we have to live like this? It is wrong and just accepting it is wrong. We have to fight to get our freedom back and to stop living in constant fear.

The orginal intention was not to create any form of hype about racism. Have to agree though about the ducks and that was why I originally posted this topic. There are a lot of dudes who ride around our area on bikes and just don't look like they belong on them. Your overall wearing gardner / painter / labourer type looks very out of place on a smart bike, no matter which way you cut it. The question has to be raised: "How can this chap afford such a piece of equipment?" Then again, the black chap dressed to the nines in his cycling gear, riding a high-end bike on a training route, looks anything but "out of place." Colour has nothing to do with the issue. It's about anyone looking out of place on a serious racing or MTB and yes, it would raise a question in my mind if I saw anyone looking like a hobo, riding an expensive bike, whether you have just finished painting your garage or not. Chances are that you would not hop on your 20K bike in your crocs and slip down to the local corner cafe for a pack of smokes. Not sure how reliable the sources of info are, but I am told that the bike jackers have a pretty good idea of what these bikes can go for in the shops and they are inclined to go for the higher priced merchandise. So if the jackers know, the police should have a pretty good idea. Finally, a good friend of mine was shot and killed in a car jacking a year ago and the police were so useless, they still have no idea who the perps were. Car-jackings occur on a regular basis n our "hood" and still the cops do NOTHING. Criminals have too many rights and the cops are both powerless and useless to do anything about it. Yes, some if not most cops do good work with little financial reward for the risks they take, but I have to say, the quality of policing has become pathetic at best. There are far too many who just don't give a dam and there are also those who do, but cannot do anything about it because they don't have the power. Until the law is changed and criminals have the freedom that they do, we will continue to be prisoners in our self made jails and we will loose more and more of our own freedom. I would go so far as to say that we are less free now than we ever were before.

Eish. Probably the crown jewels. (Fry the suckers eggs.) At least that way, if he gets off, he'll be firing blanks and wont be able to procreate any more hooglians.

Massa was mugged by Hamilton the hooglian. Bummer dude.

Yeah Right Milky. If we start putting chips into bikes, they will still take you out for the bike, regardless. The tactics for getting hold of a bike may change in a way that we don'tlike or can't deal with, but it won't stop the sods. Problem is the criminals in this fine country of ours do have more rights than "honest Joe" and that's where the problem starts and goes downhill from there. AS I see it, we are all less free than we were 20 years ago and that goes for everyone regardless of race, colour or creed. The criminlas have us held hostage in our own self-made prisons and it's wrong. The law needs to be changed.

Echo your sentiment on this one. Nah, I want him for two weeks and trust me when I say he will live for every minute of those two weeks. I have some interesting theories on pain thresholds I want to try out on some scuzz bucket. Five minutes would be too kind to this scourge of society.

I don't carry a weapon at all. I live in Albarton and ride the Allewynspoort road and staircase on a fairly regular basis. There are some well know cases of bike-jackings aorund the area and I have met a few guys who have stared down the barrel of 38's and 9 mils and lost some fancy bikes to the jackers. Last time I checked, it was still a crime to deal in stolen goods so if you're offered some 20k bike for R200 and you buy it, you are considered just as guilty as the thief who took it in the first place.

OK, (Avalanche maybe a bad example) there are other bikes that are around that are obviously worth far more than the Avalanche. When I looked at it, it looked very flash, latest 105 groupsets and still worth far more than I think the "current owner" can afford. Some of these bikes look like they "belong" to people other than the current "rider". Kind of like your gardner arriving at work in a Merc or BM and you drive a VW. It just made me think about what SAPS do other than sit around doing little.

One ofthe reasons I am seriously debating keeping my peugeot going is the reduced chance of fighting off some crazed lunatic with a 9 mil or 38 trying to affirmatively shop my bike while out riding. I wear no jewelry, carry no cash and have an old cell phone with a pay-as-you-go so that in the event this happens, I loose little. Old bike, Old phone and nothing of value. If I upgrade, I increase the chance of being jacked exponentially. Insurance aside, this is not right.

I have recently seen a number of seriously nice racing bikes (mostly roadies) in our area lately and I have to question whether the "owner / rider" actually had the budget to buy such a spiffy machine in the first place. I mean the okes clothes are all ragged, he obviously does not have that kind of miney to shell out for a bike of that quality. Some of these bikes are far more flash than I will ever be able to aspire to own. Don't these guys ever get pulledoff by police to prove ownership? What is the "done thing?" Would the cops do anything about trying to recover some other hard working dudes Avalanche.

Ja en sommer jou pap ook. There is a good reason chemicals are banned in cycling and other sports. Creatine today EPO tomorrow and the morgue the day after. You may not feel or see the damage, but it's there. Don't listen to the product pedlars, they have a hidden agenda to move more product and they basically don't give a rats bum about you.

'Nother one who doesn't know you MM, but I wish you well. Just think how lekker it will be when the pain finally goes away.

Thanks Sikes. I'm a poefter roadie. I was actually after some of the more obscure "rules of riding" which would not be quite so logical that one could work them out for oneself. During the two 94.7's I have done a few (Not many, only a few) have said firmly from behind me "Hold your line". I think this is a resonable request from someone to say, "dude I am behind you, going faster and about to overtake.". I found this especially helpful when planning to overtake some other slower rider or group of riders in front of me. Correctly used, it may act as a warning to the rider in front that he / she has someone behind. I'm not into this "butt touching" thing as I might get hurt while riding. I know there are some nice butts that one might like to touch, but hey, the chika's BF might just klap me right into the finish line. Besides, SO will amputate my hands and ban me from riding again.

A topic in another thread made me think, what is good cycling ettiquette? When does one request a cyclist in front of you to "hold your line"? How does one ride safely in a bunch without endangering everyone in it? What are the things I need to know to be a fair and safe cyclist?

Fandacious. Some can differentate between fact and fiction. Others have a problem with the difference between fanatsy and reality. Children growing up with all these "safe" outlets, usually have no idea of how to interact socially. Bad manners, lack of decency and respect are all symptomsof a sick society where we are primarily self centred / selfish and care little about anyone else. Sadly this reflects the world we live in. Moronic motorists and psycopathic cyclists are just some of the problems today. Let's stay well away form such other issues as affirmative shopping, hijacking, bike jacking, murder, rape and general mayhem. We are busy self destructing here.

Interesting topic. It occurs to me more and more, that people in general these days (please note I said "in general") have just lost all forms of courtesy and respect for their fellow humans. It costs nothing to be polite on the road and allow a "gap" for someone else to get into the traffic flow. But today, if you give one car a gap, another three or four behind will steal the same gap, causing frustration and road rage. The net result is that many have become less couteous and the whole saga escalates and creates more problems because then idiots just force gaps. Similarly, I have noticed that motorists will overtake another vehicle and come straight at you forcing you off the road or face a head on (cycle vs motor not fair or even odds.) instead of just waiting five or ten seconds. What has gotten into people these days? Why have we lost common decency, respect and courtesy when there is no price tag? IMNAAHO, television and the BS they show is largely to blame. Families do not sit around any more and chat about such issues as decency and TV certainly doesn't advocate such noble issues any more. In fact, the lesson we learn form most of the cr@p they dish out is that all problems are solved with a gun. Playstation and computer games also teach bad morals. Slave gets off his soap box.

Correct. As part of my service plan, I usually take the bike to bits in Winter and grease everything anyway (unless there is a problem in between,in which case, I sort it out at the earliest opportunity). Some may say this is a little extreme, but the cost of grease is cheap enough and it is a good excuse to potter about in the garage. It is also a good opportunity to check for signs of wear or find parts that need replacing before my season gets underway. Being the poefter cyclist that I am, I rest in winter 'cause I hate the cold. I also rest a lot in summer 'cause I hate riding in the rain. Once again, you hit the nail on the head. galvanised spokes have a shorter lifespan that stainless and yes, metal fatigue begins immediately after manufacture. It is the evidence of metal fatigue that only manifests itself later on, like when the spokes start to break.

Major bummer SD. This affirmative shopping stuff really SUCKS.