openmind

You need a permit but you can buy a day permit with Snapscan at the trailhead at the entrance to Botmaskop forest area from the Uniepark suburb and even at the top of Botmaskop as you go over onto the Skyfall trails (at the top of Bartiney Wines). The trailheads have boards up with a code for Snapscan. Honesty system - please pay and keep the trail builders employed!!

This is a great route in that area that is mostly on quiet public roads. About 60% gravel (rough guess from memory). Good coffee shop at half-way point (just outside Hermon on the road to Riebeek Kasteel). https://www.strava.com/routes/3225428127168057302

But there is already a stolen bikes registry on The Hub?

You can use your Wahoo with this hack: Download the .fit file of your workout from your Wahoo to your computer. I do this via the share function on my iOS ELEMNT app. I just drop it on iCloud and then it appears on my Mac. Upload your .fit file to FIT File Tools - www.fitfiletools.com/#/changer#view - select Garmin Edge 520 (that works for me) and convert the Wahoo .fit file into a Garmin .fit file. Download that to your computer. Create an account on Garmin Connect - https://connect.garmin.com - and link it to Discovery. On the Garmin Connect newsfeed page - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/newsfeed - upload the converted .fit file using the upload button (top right). After a short while the session will push to Discovery and you'll get your points. I only load those files I need to make my Discovery quota each week. You can bulk convert and bulk upload as well so it's a five-minute-per-week job. Credit to the guy earlier in this thread who originally posted this hack. DM me if you have issues.

https://escapecollective.com/grading-cross-country-how-to-define-modern-mountain-biking-trails/

Is anyone currently using a Wahoo head unit and successfully uploading workouts to Discovery Vitality? I've tried the "rigmarole of the wahoo > fft > connect > vitality steps" but no luck. Discovery either does not get or ignores workouts from Garmin Connect uploaded in this way.

Great event, thanks! Will be back.

When I still ran tubes I used latex for racing. Had to treat them carefully, including using lots of baby powder between the tube and tyre to help it move around. Supposedly helped to give the tyre a more supple feel, but also to stop the tube from snagging. Still had a few pop for no apparent reason. If I were to go back to tubes I’d try the tpe types for better reliability. Edit: just remembered that some people thought the baby powder was a waste of time as at 100psi it would not let the tube move anyway 😎. Did make it easier to install/remove tho.

When you have your own bike company you make your own monster cross bike! An XC-bike rear triangle welded to a gravel front-end. All in Ti (and much 3D printing). https://escapecollective.com/tech-gallery-made-2024-part-one/ Darren Baum's DBM (Drop Bar Mountainbike)

My first 29er (circa 2010) - fell in love with the lines First rode it single speed rigid just for fun (I had other bikes for "serious" riding) then 3x10 rigid and raced it like that for a year or so (by then this was my "serious" bike) and then relented and got a squishy fork. 10 years of happy miles until the bonded bottom bracket shell worked its way loose from the frame (sold it cheap to someone with the patience to repair it).

Awesome preview here: https://escapecollective.com/2024-paris-olympics-track-racing-guide/

Suffering itself is the reward.

Don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it. And have you seen how few road races there are anymore? Us drop-bar istas need all the fixes we can get.

A shameless plug for my virtual mates over at Escape Collective - sign up now for $1 for your first month! The Tour de France coverage is awesome. https://escapecollective.com/tdf/

Stick with Shimano for the shifting muscle-memory and especially the mineral oil brakes (you'll only need one bleed kit and oil stock).