edgarblount

I am a firm believer in the Afrikaans saying, 'Dit wat jou nie dood maak nie, maak jy net sterker". This is truly a race of two halves or should I say Race of False Hope. I felt like Wout or Ganna in that first half. Looked down at the Garmin and couldn't believe my time at the halfway mark. Started calculating finishing times already. I know, I know, it aint over till the fat lady sings. Oh boy, and did she sing. Came crashing down like a ton of bricks. I knew that second half would be brutal but not that brutal. I never knew I could ache and pain in so many places at once. Like Frosty said, you have to train for those hills. Atleast I now know what to expect and can train accordingly. It was an enjoyable day out and I am coming back sterker. The vet tannies on their e-bikes annoyed the hell out of me. Poor me bleeding through my eyes on the hills and they come flying past all smiles.

If I don't speak to you guys again. Good luck with your race\ride come Sunday. May we all return safely with some wonderful stories and pichas. Enjoy mense and to The 44, GOOI MIELIES!!

Don't know the distance of above suggested route but can't he try and source a 35km route entry? Will be able to get some sorta feel for 'racing' and also soak up the atmosphere at the start and finish.

What will happen if I do not pitch at my chosen time slot? Expelled from the race? Banned for 2 years? I'll book a slot but they will see me when they see me.

Well, in the east (Snor City, Tshwanetoria, pRerotia) we have house wives and debarred attorneys to contend with. The dwis might even be from Pretoria. Who knows. Strongs to the OP! Maybe we can organise a lynch-mob-le-hub group ride and go and 'look' for this <word that gets you banned from the Hub for life>.

It worked! Asked to be seeded in N and got seeded in N. Starting a whole hour earlier. Should've asked if I can start with the elites.

This is good news. Thanks for this. I am going to try and ask them to look at my 2019 time. I just want an earlier start than 8:25. Might as well try.

Maybe just a suggestion. Move the Hemel en Aarde to your Cpt week. It's a bit far from Nice-Na. Maybe look at some Elgin\Grabouw routes as well.

Double D for me. No racing TITS the last 3 years. Cannot complain about seeding.

In a Jean-pant nogals!! Amazon has a special on pitch forks.

Search for the PEMBI (Pta East Mtb) group on Facebook. There are some group rides organised every weekend. They range in distance and difficulty. You can also visit Lynnwood Cyclery or Cyclelab on Lynnwood road, they also organise group rides. I understand you are a Lone Ranger but I can guarantee you once you join up with these lekke people you won't look back.

Hang on. Are you saying that I said that in the early 90s mtb races were similar to the course on Sunday? Not what I said. All I am saying is that if you look at 90's XCO races and compare them to todays races they were so easy to ride that a 3 year old on a balance bike can ride it. Well done Bart B on your Olympic Gold medal in '96. The course looked very very technical. ( Gravel as a sport is only starting to find its feet and hopefully with all the interest from WT pro's, bike manufacturers, sponsors, you and me, it can only get better. Like XCO got better from '96 to '22. That is what I said.... As for V-Ice and The Hammer, not really my type of music. But it seems you were a fan of them or maybe still are. Much preferred sitting in my room listening to the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Korn, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains.

Gravel '22 = MTB '90 If you compare mountain bike courses\routes of the early 90's to todays courses you can agree they are 'worlds' apart. Yes, I was disappointed when I saw the gravel worlds route but had to remind myself that this is only the beginning. Hopefully with more WT pro's also wanting to ride and the popularity increasing the UCI will take the races to different parts of the world with different difficulty.

@The Ouzois in the house. He did it! Brilliant!

Dear Bikehub Members, Please accept my formal apology if I have in any way offended an individual or a group of individuals. It was not my intention to offend any party but merely trying to understand why people keep returning to the same event year after year. The Ouzo set out why he keeps returning to CTCT and I can respect that. I even liked the post where he sets this out. I truly hope we can put this sequence of unfortunate events behind us and move forward in a positive manner. I will try my level best to respect and celebrate other peoples achievements together with the rest of you.

Not a bad thing at all. Kudos to riders that can achieve such milestones. I just do not get it why you would want to do it 21 consecutive times or for the 50th time. Maybe do it once or twice and then move on to something different like a Munga or bike packing through the Garden Route with buddies or anything else.

Ja but, ja but Spinnekop, jy verstaan nie mooi nie. It is all about that 'consecutivenessness'. People want to say 'I have done 21 in a row before I am 37' or 'This is my 50th August'. I might do it next year and then retire from the 'wêreldkampioenskappe'....after my 2nd Argue-st.

18k is a very reasonable price for a watch....

Smartless featuring Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.

Gonna be interesting proving ownership of the bikes. I think my Raleigh from '97 might be in that photo or is it my BMX from '87.

Hahaha 😅. I think my a$$ still hurts from that ride. We sommer did a Groenkloof loop just to add some miles. With an Apple Watch Ultra and a Garmin Edge 530 we will be able to measure distance more accurately.

As a matter of fact I only paid R200 for my Edge 530. Long story short, cashed a birthday 1 x LiteCoin (yes the crypto) in at a peak of R3050 and paid the 200 randellas out of pocket. Got it from Amazon Deutschland on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday, via a link shared by DCRainmaker.

I struggle to follow some logic (and willing to take the punishment if I offend anyone)... Why would you pay R18k for an Apple Watch Ultra or Garmin Epix 2 if you can pay R3250.95 for a Garmin Edge 530? You see what I did there? People can keep on comparing and comparing till the cows come home, but, Each to his\her own. Just buy what you like and feel comfortable with. Disclaimer: I might be a bit over all these comparisons, from MacBook vs Dell, Apple iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy n, Ford vs Toyota, The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones etc. PS. I own Garmin, Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones products.

These Aussies are definitely amateurs. They didn't even string some toilet paper between the different doors going down the corridor. That would've been a sight to see, MvdP swatting toilet paper down the corridor shouting profanities in his boxers. Maybe even tie a snake to the boxer for good measure.

Now you can choose to Apple Watch Series SE GPS Aluminium Case Sport 40mm or Apple Watch Series 8 GPS Aluminium Case Sport 41mm and use it to achieve your weekly Vitality Active Rewards goals. Ah well...