Pete the Pirate

Good morning All. Please come and support your local trail ride this evening. Pizzas and chicken wraps on sale afterwards. Bring the family along for a great evening out. See you all later

Benoni Country Club Mountain Bike Trails in collaboration with Procycles are proud to present the Thursday Summer Race Series. The Summer series takes place on the last Thursday of the months of January, February and March 2017. Race starting times are from 18h45 and all entrants will complete a 17km timed lap through the Benoni Country Club. The race route will be a combination of club access roads and the renowned MTB trail route. The route specifically EXCLUDES the two infamous Red technical zones and is specifically designed for the enjoyment of all levels of cyclists ranging from beginners to seasoned pros. Race entry fee is R 50.00 per person. Registration opens at 18h00. Entrants will be batched into starting groups based on age beginning from Under 23 up to Grand Veterans over 60. Men and women will be batched separately. Group winners will be selected based on the fastest combined times over the three race series. The overall winner will be the fastest combined 3 times, regardless of age or sex category. The Thursday Summer Race Series will run into the Autumn, Winter and Spring Series with a total of 12 races through the year. Overall winners will be the fastest combined 12 race times. The series has been established not only to recognise the fastest and fittest, but to encourage ALL cyclists to come out and enjoy a wonderful evening at the Benoni Country Club. Experience the trail in a different “light”. Bring the family, ride and enjoy refreshments and a meal afterwards. Challenge your friends, bring your whole company along for a corporate challenge or just come and ride the beautiful trails for the pure enjoyment. No helmet, no ride. Front and rear lights are compulsory. All enquiries can be directed to Procycles on (011) 425-2007 or go to www.procycles.co.za.

Event Name: Procycles Thursday Summer Series - BCC MTB Trails When: 26 January 2017 Where: Benoni Country Club, Gauteng Category: MTB Benoni Country Club Mountain Bike Trails in collaboration with Procycles are proud to present the Thursday Summer Race Series. TheSummerseries takes place on the last Thursday of the months of January, February and March 2017. Race starting times are from 18h45 and all entrants will complete a 17km timed lap through the Benoni Country Club. The race route will be a combination of club access roads and the renowned MTB trail route. The route specifically EXCLUDES the two infamous Red technical zones and is specifically designed for the enjoyment of all levels of cyclists ranging from beginners to seasoned pros. Race entry fee is R 50.00 per person. Registration opens at 18h00. Entrants will be batched into starting groups based on age beginning from Under 23 up to Grand Veterans over 60. Men and women will be batched separately. Group winners will be selected based on the fastest combined times over the three race series, given that there are more than 5 participants in each group. The overall winner will be the fastest combined 3 times, regardless of age or gender category. The series has been established not only to recognise the fastest and fittest, but to encourage ALL cyclists to come out and enjoy a wonderful evening at the Benoni Country Club. Experience the trail in a different “light”. Bring the family, ride and enjoy refreshments and a meal afterwards. Challenge your friends, bring your whole company along for a corporate challenge or just come and ride the beautiful trails for the pure enjoyment. No helmet, no ride. Front and rear lights are compulsory. All enquiries can be directed to Procycles on (011) 425-2007 or go to www.procycles.co.za. E-mail us at info@procycles.co.za. RACE RULES · Prizes will be awarded to all categories with more than 5 participants. MEDICAL o Any medical expenses incurred will be for the competitor’s personal account. o Competitors are responsible for their own evacuation costs should the need arise. BICYCLES o Only mountain bikes in good working order will be allowed to start the race. PROTESTS o Any protests must be submitted in writing to the race director/commissar within 30 minutes of crossing the finish line. DISQUALIFICATION AND PENALTIES o Riders may be disqualified at the discretion of the commissar or race director for any of the following reasons including, but not limited to: 1. Riding without a helmet. 2. Littering 3. Disrespect or damage to the environment 4. Bad sportsmanship 5. Abuse of race officials 6. Breaking race rules BASIC MOUNTAIN BIKING RULES AND ETIQUETTE o Riders must complete the entire distance of the race, and the reasonability for following the official route lies with the rider. o A rider is not permitted to take any shortcuts, or to omit a circuit, or take advantage of opponents in a similar way. o Riders, who exit the course, must return to the course the exact location the exited. o Any walking, running, or riding by a rider which takes place outside of the marked route can result in disqualification. o Riders may not receive any technical assistance along the course from anyone other than fellow riders or an official of the race. o Riders must be polite at all times, and follow faster riders to overtake without obstruction and when safe to do so. o Rider must respect the country club, and ride on the official route ONLY. No polluting, no waste and no litter will be tolerated. o No glass containers of any kind permitted on or near the course. o No offensive or abusive language will be tolerated. Riders may not act in an unsporting manner, disrespect officials, or ignore race regulations. o Competitors may not participate without an official race board, clearly displayed on the front handlebars. o Each rider is responsible for maintenance of his/her own bicycle. HELMETS AND CLOTHING o Any riders not wearing a helmet at any stage, on or pushing the bike walking, will be immediately disqualified. RIDER IDENTIFICTION o Riders must display their number boards at all times. o Bike number boards are to be firmly fixed to the front of the bike, and must not be obscured by cables or other items. NUTRITION AND HYDRATION o It is the responsibility of the individual rider to take enough fluids and nutrition with them each day. SECONDING AND SUPPORT o Competitors may receive assistance from fellow competitors. o Outside seconding, assistance or feeding is permitted in designated areas only. o Outside assistance includes assisting with bike maintenance, water and nutrition support and physically assisting riders. o Bike repairs may be performed on the route, but without obstructing other riders. ETHICAL AND ENVIROMENTAL o No littering or damage to the environment in any form will be tolerated, Any rider caught in these offense is subject to a life-long ban from the country club and prosecution. Go to Event Page

I generally ride top of the range components (XTR) and simply have always ridden the cheapest chains I can lay my hands on. Chains are a disposable item, not a grudge purchase. Keep them clean, keep theme lubed and treat them with love and respect. I am a big strong fella and have never broken a chain. In my opinion, taking the slightest tension off the pedals when changing up and down the cassette results in smooth slick changes, try not to "grind" your gear changes. This then minimises the stress on the chain. For love or money I cannot tell you how long I ride a chain. I keep a Park Tools chain checking tool on my bike wash stand and check the chain after every 2nd or 3rd ride. When it clocks in at 0.75% wear, I chuck the chain. On my one bike that has done plenty mileage, I am onto my 8th chain and my changes are a slick as ever, no jumping, no chain suck. My good mate who has done similar mileage but is not a "chain checker", has already spent over 5k on two sets of chairings and cassettes in the same time period, my chain spend has been less than 2k. Maybe an expensive chain "rides" better. I am no Nino Schurter so I probably wouldn't know the difference . Safe and happy cycling HAPPY NEW YEAR

I have been following these guys and waiting patiently for the single ring MTB crank to come on board. Seriously good value teamzwatt.com/join/faq/

Had a HUGE crash 3 years ago - fractured coccyx. Nothing you can do except manage the symptoms. It took over six months before I could manage any ride without discomfort and over 18 months before I could comfortably sit on a hard flat surface. Even today, more than 15 minutes on a hard chair or after a 3 hour plus ride, my coccyx "talks to me". Bummer Good luck and speedy recovery

I am a big guy. 1.93m 110kg. I have had the privilege of riding almost all kinds of MTB's. Unless you are focusing on marathon or century rides, I would focus on comfort and enjoyment. Having played with fat bikes this year, I can highly recommend bigger volume tyres on hardtail bikes. I have just purchased a Trek Stache 5 for 23k. What a brilliant bike. Go anywhere, low maintenance hardball fun. Decent entry level spec. Lifetime warranty on the frame. SunRingle rims. All bulletproof. My 65k dualie 29er has been gathering dust this year. Good luck and safe cycling.

My Intense is 120mm both ends. I have 80mm bone crunching HT's to 140mm Trail HT's. The Stache is the must un-HT bike I have ever ridden. Very, very comfortable, almost like 80mm of rear travel. The tyre pressures are however critical. 2psi either side of the sweet spot becomes either sloppy or bouncy. Good luck

Too old and grouchy for rigid 120mm of sweet bouncy bliss upfront. I love my big hairy Chewbacca's (As i call them, big Star Wars fan ) i have exclusively ridden Bonty 29er 1 tyres for many years. Love them, roll sweetly and test your skills in the wet (Crap handling in other words). The Chewy's are sweet and easy rolling. No wet weather experience yet. Still have to fiddle with my pressures a little, but so far, so good.

Great thread My 5 cents worth My regular ride until the beginning of the year was an Intense Spider 29er. In January, I jumped into the fatty scene with an On-One Fatty. Until last weekend, I rode my Intense only twice. This bike was a blast. Slow on the climbs and heavy on the long rides, but acres of fun. One of the most enjoyable bikes I have ever ridden..........until......... Last Friday I took delivery of a Trek Stache 29+. 65km on Saturday and some technical mucking about on Sunday. Sorry Spider, even more dust gathering for you. This bike is even MORE fun with faster climbing and more grip than my abilities can exploit. At the end of the day, only ONE thing matters.......what do YOU want??? Have fun. Safe and happy cycling and enjoy your shopping.

Although not everyone's taste. DÁrcs from Omnico (Through your LBS) for R365.00 including the insert + two lenses (Grey and clear). cheap as chips and functional. Good luck

My 5 cents I ALWAYS say - I will take it. Clear and concise. And immediately follow up with a PM (isn't this what the service is for?) HOWEVER. Twice this year I have committed to a purchase within minutes of the ad placement (5K plus items). Item 1, after numerous messages on PM and whatsap plus two voice messages as the phone was not being answered, I was eventually told the item was sold . Item 2. A guy in Cape Town committed to the sale. I arranged transport. When he did not respond to bank details requests, he answered my second phone call to tell me some bloke had just collected the bike and paid cash which was convenient for him. Well why did you commit to my sale if not convenient??? Dammit. It is clear to me that there are two types of traders. Old school like many of us who operate on a nod and a word of honour and commitment. And others (the de-dibbers) . I have just sold a bike and 3 other items. Bike went to White River, crankset to Paarl, wheelset to Grahamstown and shoes to Parys. Jeez, I felt like Santa's elf last night, all the packing. So what. Commit to the sale, do the work and help and respect your fellow biker. I feel so much better, I will now get off my soap box. Lastly. Thank you to all the fabulous (non-dibbing) hubbers out there. You all make it worth the while.

Hi there Everyone A reminder of this fabulous event taking place tomorrow We will take late entries on the day at the club up until 15h00 - please join us Have a great weekend - safe cycling

Hi Koos Thank you for the feedback and we are glad you enjoyed the trails. The Red route totals 16.2km so definitely a piece missed. Come back and ride it again Safe cycling

Nope - no red bits 2 of the 4 singletracks are the Green route and small section is the Yellow route. All the bits and pieces are very, very easy and safe for EVERYONE to enjoy We look forward to seeing you.