dirtypot

BT Sports commentators were talking about concussion a lot. I do believe it needs to be taken more seriously. I've had it, and you certainly aren't making well informed decisions and thinking clearly. More so when you've had more than one...

Sedgefield 500.gpx

That's going to be wild!

This is what I suspect happened with my wife's Chappies crash (I wasn't there to see it). She was between corners, perfect sunny dry day, and the tube had definitely exploded for reasons unknown. Accidents happen. Even if the guy was cornering like Rossi (as mentioned previously) something unexpected could have happened.

That corner often has a lot of sand on the road after the apex, so if you're going fast and aren't on line properly it's easy to get it wrong. I've seen quite a few people lose it there. My wife crashed going down Chappies a couple of weeks ago (not the same corner though) but luckily stayed on the road. I was surprised at the damage which the road surface gave though - it looked like she had been attacked by a dog with deep gouges in the skin and lots of stitches needed. None of the normal road rash which you would normally associate with sliding down the road at 50km/h. Came across this picture on FB of the guy being rescued - shows just how close the cliff is. The minimal damage he sustained is amazing!

I see Ruyterplaats Estate has been mentioned a few times - are we allowed to cycle through there? I've ended up at the (I guess) service entrance / emergency exit lower down a few times and thought about how nice it would be to be able to ride up to the main entrance, but didn't know it was possible.

When I lived in the UK I had two motorbikes stolen from me. The difference though is that they were taken at night as a regular theft. I'd rather have that than be mugged while I'm actually riding the thing as is often the case here.

It would help if you mentioned which area you're going to be in. Why not just get a courier to take yours down? Shouldn't cost much, and certainly less than trying to rent one.

I had one of those for a while - its what I learnt to do long rolling stoppies on. Could pop it onto the front wheel and easily balance it there for ages pulling up to red lights or stop streets. It's a skill I never managed to translate to any other bike, I guess just because it was so light and I could manipulate it with my body positioning more than just the brake power. I'll never forget the feeling of riding in the yellow line going up Ou Kaapse because the engine was so pap watching my friends on their 125's riding off into the distance, only for me to catch them down the other side where I could just pin it around every corner. I really do miss using a bike to its maximum potential - its far harder to do that with bigger bikes.

Julian retired a few years ago. Keith has retired now (last year was his last). I'll miss his commentary.

You can get handlebar shims to space out a regular (standard these days) stem to fit an old 25.6mm bar. Then you can use any stem. That's probably the easiest.

Is it just Jonkers that burnt? There was some talk about the Eden trails and G-Spot - did the fires make their way there too?

I bought a bike for my wife last week (from the other side of the country) and used BikeHub Pay to facilitate the payment. I did my homework on the seller before doing the deal, so knew who he was, where he worked, where he lived, etc and after communicating with him for a while I would have been happy to pay over the funds via EFT anyway, but it was actually really nice having the security of BikeHub Pay - I didn't need to worry about anything and it felt like I had some control when the bike arrived as well (being able to check out its condition and take it for a quick ride to confirm) before confirming everything and completing the deal. And to not pay any fees as a buyer is great! For me this worked really well and I'll be happy to use the system again.

Fast, yes. Fast and rough? Not so much

Has the Mrs not fired it up and sent you a video clip of it yet?

I've come across that before. You can replace the piston if you can get a spare. Check with your LBS - they may have an old caliper lying around.

And you're basing this on what?

It seems like a small difference, but it makes a difference. There is a lot more air volume in the 2.35 which means you can run lower pressures and have more grip. On my rims if I run 2.25 I end up pinging the rim on sharp rocks (even with higher pressures) but a 2.35 doesn't.

Hope they get a better start tomorrow. The last four have been terrible, and then they've just been blocked in all race, or left for dead. Luna Rossa seem to be a lot better in the lighter winds too. It's also less exciting to watch with lighter winds, except for the speed. 34kts in 8kts of breeze is outstanding!

Just send them the same paragraph you wrote here - not a difficult story to understand.

I've got a Topeak Backloader 15l which I've not used at all. Bought it and put it in the garage. Drop me a mail if you're interested. https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/37-Saddle-Bags/969-BACKLOADER

I like this idea. I spend ages dot watching anyway, so this would make it even more interesting.

You've obviously not ridden one of these before. An hour long ride is an endurance event on the plank seat But that hour is amazing! Such characterful bikes. Congrats Spokey!

I saw a red one parked up next to an Africa Twin the other day. I was surprised to see that they were pretty much the same size. Very much of want.