I FLY

Shelton Avenue going under the R24 . Motorist was behind me at the traffic light then went blind when she tried to pass me

Yesterday was my turn to be clipped by a motorist on my way to work. 1st time in 20 years of cycling Hip, ribs and both hands badly bruised. Bike seems to have minor damage. Interesting that I lost no skin. Tuck and roll paid off. Despite two red rear flashing lights and a hi-vis vest driver says she did not see me

I did the 72km race last year thinking that I would be ahead of the masses. Instead , as you pointed out, I was even further behind the masses. So I will do the 50km as my wife missed out last year because of an injury and she wants to ride this year

My route takes in part of the Thembisa and Alexander commuter routes. Frequently I stop to help fellow commuters fix punctures, replace tubes and other road side repairs. When I see the state of repair that these bikes are in , I am gratefully that I have the means to buy decent equipment and maintain it properly. I also have "the call a wife" option if I have a catastrophic failure and can't fix my bike. Yesterday I spent 45 minutes trying to fix a 6 speed derailer that started falling into pieces as we worked on it. Eventually I converted bike to a singlespeed. I do wish these commuters did not use ship's grease on their chains. It takes forever to clean my hands when I get home.

Just had major services done on 4 of our bikes plus bought a new pair of mtb shoes plus upgraded one mtb bike to 1x12 plus changed group set on my road bike to compact plus a bigger cassette. More expensive than maintaining my 4 cars.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I was unhappy I discussed my unhappiness with my wife Situation got progressively worse I tolerated it for more than 10 years as I wanted to spare my kids the turmoil of a divorce until they finished school. One day a friend's parents got divorced and he was devasted (he was 45 years old). This made me realise that no matter when I got divorced my kids would be hurt and that delaying it was affecting me.

My ex did not have a formal job as she was raising our kids and looking after the house. For her this meant 1. I feed , dressed our kids and took them to school everyday 2. I did their homework and projects 3. I did all the weekend activities with our kids 4. I was the primary (only breadwinner) 5. I did most of the food shopping For her part 1. Fetched kids from school (5kms round trip) 2. Maid did all cooking and cleaning 3. Gardener did the garden 4. Watched soapies most of the day 5. Drank too much at night 6 Wasted money on stupid stuff

Wait until your entry category is Grand Master and then we can talk about feeling old. Well maybe not

When I was a youngster and lived on the Bluff, Durban a Havard crashed near our house in the late 60s. Both pilots parachuted to safety. Talking point for many years afterwards

Most of my riding is done on my SS and my legs are strong ( used to leg press 440kgs) but I have never even bent a crank arm. So Hairy must be scary

My commute route takes me counter flow to many commuters from Thembisa. I see ( and greet) about 50 everyday.None of them wear helmets. I don't have any spare , old helmets at home as we do donate them to commuters when we replace helmets. I carry spare 26" tubes in my backpack to help stranded commuters get home. One commuter's rear tube must have been patched at least 20 times.

Or too many watts

On my commute this morning I saw another commuter wearing a rugby headguard instead of a helmet.

Interesting re supposed coal shortage. I am CFO for a company that operates washplants on 8 coal mines in Mpumulanga. We have been operating at maximum capacity all year. November was our best month in terms of revenue earned. And I assume all the other coal mines are working at maximum capacity. So if Eskom has a coal shortage it is because they want this situation to exist.

Moonbag . Now you want my daughters to completely shun me

No. Never even sat on a motorbike let alone go for a ride on one. Somehow it seems more dangerous than riding a bicycle on a road.

Stereotyping sucks - At least you did not assume that I don't have a personality

Better class of litterbugs - Heiniken , Amstel and pre payday Castle Lite.

I worked in the meat industry for a few years. Although I was in a head office financial role I made a point of visiting all our abbatoirs and feedlots regularly around the country. It was not for the faint hearted or those with weak stomachs. Many of my head office collegues never went on site.

I stay 3kms from my office so I cycle for the fun/health aspect. My trip varies from 3kms to 30kms depending on whether I feel like carrying my work clothes in a backpack and showering at work or riding first, going home to shower and then doing a slow ride to office in my work clothes.

Also used to treat my mitts and gloves with dubbin.

I have not ridden here for a few years and it was pre-Strava Will someone remind me of the distance and ascent for a lap?

The 1st new frame/bike that I have bought since 2006. It feels like Xmas. But i have bought the following 2nd hand from fellow hubbers:- 2 x road bikes 4 x MTB frames 1x MTB bike

Delivered this morning.