I FLY

I have to compliment the skills of the Jetline photographers. They managed to get photos of me actually on my bike.

This worries me less than no foods stalls being still there

I had as hard a day out in Banhoek as I anticipated I am a poor climber and struggled up some of those long steep slopes and so had to push my bike a lot. Then because I was tired I did not attempt those loose switchbacks. My excuse is that I don't have a dropper seat post but after seeing a few riders in front of me wipe out I took the safe option. I had to help a few riders who had fallen down the slopes. Luckily just bruised egos for them. I did try and act like a wide eyed tourist taking in the sights and sounds. An awesome place to ride but it was hard to be happy that the fires (and smoke) did not affect us when many others were in danger of losing lives and property. I thought that the 30km course would have been too easy but the 60km one was too long for me. I was never an endurance athlete and ageing has deleted what I had. My wife ,who loves climbing , finished an hour ahead of me.

This thread help me pull the trigger on a holiday place in Somerset West last year. We go there for a long weekend every month This weekend we will be riding the MTB race in Banhoek

Two The Core - Rover Ride 88 46 25 15 40mm of rain forecast for Saturday afternoon so he better ride fast.

I do ride there regularly as I live 5kms away. So I do get the variation in the maintenance cycle. And look forward to the trails after Saturday's race

My wife and I entered the 60km for better or worse.

I will ask for his details for when I am next there at end of March

I ride these events to build up my knowledge of the trails in the Stellenbosch/Somerset West area as I plan to semi retire there next year.

I did the Red route on Saturday and apart from a hundred metres of overgrown path on the section that goes up through the fence I thought the track was normal. My thoughts during this section were - we complain when the tracks are not "technical" enough to challenge our awesome skills and then complain when we don't have Sani2C manicured perfection.

I am a poor climber so I will be near the back of the field. So my feeling is that ,although I am reasonably capable of riding technical sections, I will be hiking a bike for some time. I don't like walking so I wonder whether it will be better to move to the 30km

I was the South African FD for this company in the mid 2000s. Worst employment period of my life.

I cannot see what the incident was? My wife and I regularly ride through the Strand to the Steenbras Dam climb.

My wife and I decided to do this race for the 1st time so the opinions of you have done it previously are very interesting Although I am a lot younger than Long Wheel Base’s dad - a mere 62- the amount of climbing concerns me way more than any technical sections. Apart from Breedts Nek us Gautengers have to travel far to find big climbs to train on

I played baseball and softball for many years. Chirping or sledging is a huge part of the game. As my position was one the closest to the opposition batters my secondary duty was to "talk" to them in order to get them to lose focus. That also make me a target but I learnt very early on to be able to either zone it out or use it to motivate me When we played against Western Province, in particular ,those players used to ask the crowd sitting near my position to also sledge me. These were some of the nicest games I played in as afterwards those same players and spectators would socialise with my team. No hard feelings or resentment.

As a fellow useless facts collector I did check out on Google whether I had reached the highest point in Cape Town. Fortunately it was a clear day and I did stop a few times to "admire" the view and get some feeling back into my legs. The down run was not as bad as I thought it was going to be -XTR brakes and 180 mm rotor on the front I was more nervous of riding between a few baboons who were sitting on either side of the track. I did not realise the females are so big.

I spent 10 days in Somerset West over the holidays but did not get to do this ride. I am glad that my original post gave someone else an awesome day out. It was our first extended period in our holiday apartment and as I have a preference for off road riding we checked a few of the local bike parks instead of tar riding. By co-incidence we decided to ride up to the Tokai Mast on the day after Nic Dlamini's incident. This ride was as hard as I had imagined it would be. As a certified non - climber I felt a great deal of satisfaction when I arrived at the mast ( 20 minutes after my wife)

No. Duvha runs on 5 boilers still as I heard a figure of about 3 billion to replace the broken one. One of my friends works at Eskom.

Thanks for all the replies. We will try next time we are in Cape Town. We will have to drive and park in Gordons Bay so we can get an early start.

We were in Cape Town last weekend and took a drive along the R44 from Gordons Bay to Bettys Bay. It looks like a very scenic road to do a 100km return ride. But the shoulder looks very narrow and there are many blind corners. Is it a recommended route?

"hold my beer" would be my two Labradors reply to your comment

Luckily for me I was so fit from my sports training that I was able to cruise through all the PTI sessions when I went for my basics Never be first or last in any activity was my motto for my two years.

I learnt this lesson 6 weeks ago I also did not take down details of the motorist that hit me. So far I am out pocket to the tune of R6k for medical and bike repairs. I was in a lot pain and shock but I still had the opportunity to get her details. Whether she would have paid anything to me is a moot point now.

We broke the window next to my bed one weekend. So I removed all the broken glass and went through the rest of basics without anyone of rank noticing. I even got a weekend pass because my window was so clean.

My wife gets grumpy if she does not accompany me on my commutes to work. Then she rides home by herself. I am more nervous about her riding by herself then I am about my solo ride home