GLuvsMtb

It points to a weak editor of that news letter and possibly a good indicator of weak leadership at the club. It is such a pity. I was one of the first guys to sign up at TBMTBC when it was essentially just Hillcrest (with that see-saw) and a bit of community work we did on Majick at the time. Its such a pity as their model should be a good one, and with Winelands MTB going the same sort of route, I hope that Winelands will learn from TBMTBC’s perceived arrogance.

Its Monday. I’m driving back from the RideTheKaroo 3 Day stage race. Time to reflect on what was one of my most enjoyable mountain biking weekends away. My wife and I decided to bring the 2 boys with as well. Aged 8 and 4, they are a hand full at the best of times. We booked the luxury canvas tents (2 tents) for the weekend opposed to bringing our own camping rig. It was a good call as the tents were close to the facilities and amenities and the boys could roam freely while I focussed on riding and my wife could unwind. It started on the Friday afternoon with race registration and settling in for the weekend. We unpacked and I got my bike and lights ready for the 20km night ride. I was glad to see other e bikes along with my own as there is always the voice inside that tells you that people frown upon my e bike. The running of the sheep was followed by the ride that was a blast. Fun little sections of skaapspoor, a beautiful sunset and the chill in the air reminding you that you are living life. Skaap tjops for dinner and bed followed after the stage with a chilly, but good night’s sleep. Saturday we awoke to the harrowing sound of Bagpipes in their full glory. Falling out of bed, and utter confusion was followed by order to get coffee, have breakfast and prep for the ride. Batteries charged, we set off on the 76km route with a modest 660m ascent. Another surprisingly fun day on the trails ensued. The riders were all friendly, the water points well stocked and the route was extremely well marked. This being my 3rd e bike stage race, I by now have worked out my strategy. Conserve battery and energy in the 1st half and allow yourself some more liberties in the second half. Just over 3 hours on the e bike saw me in the race village by 10:40am with ample time to relax and socialise with fellow riders and spend time with the family. Prego rolls for lunch was followed by some live entertainment by the Georgetown Band. A Swingy-country-jazzy sound filled the afternoon air until the Rugby started up in full swing in the shed. It was too loud for me, so I relaxed in the tent listening to the commentary and dozing before dinner. Dinner was a Karan sirloin steak with pepper sauce. A bit on the well-done side, but tasty none the less. An early night after prepping everything for the final stage. Day 3 and the bagpipes were back. This time I managed not to fall out of my bed. My son who was sharing my tent with me slept through it all (again). Morning routine done and ready for the final day. 48km with 530m ascent meant it was more or less full gas the whole way. I alternated the e bike between trail (set at 50%) and boost (set at 70%) for the whole route. The wind was howling like it only can howl in the Karoo. Every turn felt like a headwind, but having assistance helped in getting home in 2 hours flat. I managed to move my massage forward to 10:30 and we left just after 11am to sleep over in Oudtshoorn. I have to compliment Urban Goat for the well organised event, the fantastic venue and the great Karoo hospitality. The boys had so much fun with the other ‘maatjies’ and the time at the kiddies corner set up for the kids while mom and dad are away. The venue was very well set up with a coffee bar, a Gin bar and craft beer available for our enjoyment and consumption. The food was next-level with my wife hounding the orginisers for their recipe for salad of all things (here I thought salad was rather generic…). Well done in catering for the cyclists and families while having to deal with stage 6 load-shedding over and above the usual logistical challenges that events like these pose. I found myself looking at their other offerings and decided to enter myself and the missus for their Owl Route 3 day race next year.

It looks like you all had a great time. I opted for the RideTheKaroo 3 day race near Middelburg in the Karoo. Race report to follow

@steve-h, lets look at some background information here: 1. What did you pay for your purchase vs what would a new bike (with no plugs) cost, inclusive of tubeless conversion 2. Why did you wait 3 months to report your dissatisfaction? Surely this places the seller in a strong position to repudiate your claim (as they did) given that the inferred failure could be as a result of fair wear and tear, user error of abuse of the item. On a personal note, I have done more miles with plugs in my tyres than without plugs. Many with multiple plugs in them. I will replace a tire when the general condition of the tyre has deteriorated to the extend that failure is likely, i.e. tread below 30%, multiple plugs or signs of perished sidewalls. Just remember that folk here are knowledgable. Next time rather ask if it would be reasonable to request a new tyre opposed to coming out swinging.

Wow, some horror stories here. Spent the last 30 minutes reading the thread and links. I hope that those who got taken gets some justice in the end.

I see Ariane signed with Obrea. The Canyon deal seemingly didn’t work out a year after signing with Canyon.

One of my favourite trails. Relieved that it survived the fires.

I also had a medical ‘situation’. In December 2019 I had a motocross accident, broke my Tibia and tore my Meniscus. After 6 weeks in a brace I was told that Motocross and Cycling would be a thing of the past and that I may require surgery to deal with the Meniscus. I moped around at home and was kind of floating. While I was not riding as often as I would have liked before the accident, I certainly enjoyed having the option to go out for a ride. Suddenly I did not have the option anymore, until my wife suggested that I get an E Bike. My first reaction was “no-thanks”, but after consultation with my specialist, I decided to give it a go. (He is a cyclist as well, so he had a balanced view on the matter. His biggest concern was clipping in and out, and of course, falling and aggravating the injury). I decided on the Specialized Levo Comp (2019 Spec, so I got the Lyric and SRAM GX group set) for a couple of reasons: 1. 700Wh battery is class leading 2. I have always received first class service from Specialized Stellenbosch, so there was a good relationship. 3. I got a very good deal (paid R90k for the bike, which retailed for R105 000 at the time). More than 12 months on I have made the following observations: 1. People do not hate e bikes. They don’t like tjops. If a tjop rides an e bike, its not the bike that is hated. 2. I ride more often than before. I now manage to ride to G Spot via Stellenrust road from Somerset West and back home in just over an hour. I try to do this ride twice a week, and then try to get 1 longer ride in over a weekend. 3. I ride with riders that are not on e bikes and keep to their pace. 4. It is still a good workout, but I manage to preserve my knee much better and my heart rate does not spike as much as before 5. It does not handle as well as my Stumpy going down, but is in no way cumbersome to handle on the downs. 6. My chainset has lasted very well. With over 2000km on the bike in 12 months (with 2 months of no riding due to lockdown) I changed my chain when I destroyed my derailleur in December 2020 and it did not have excessive wear. 7. I changed out the 32t chainring for a 34t. I still have sufficient gears at the lower end, so may consider a 36t in due course. I just came back from PE Plett where there was an e bike category. Day 1 was 82km and around 1100m ascent and riders could change out batteries (I was not going to pay R29k for a second battery, so had to manage on 1 battery). I came in with 3% left Day 2 was 68 km and 1300m ascent but was quite a physical course, and somehow I managed to come in with 3% left Day 3 I changed my settings down on eco mode (from 35% to 30%) and turned off accelerator assistance (from 20% to 0%). I had 35% left at the last water point, and could power in on trail mode over the last 18 odd kms with battery to spare (10%) Day 4 I changed my eco mode up again to 35% and kept the accelerator assistance off, and could do the same as day 3 with more than enough power left to have an easier ride home. (The portage down the mountain at Natures Valley was less fun with a 25kg bike than previously on a 12kg bike) There were 27 E Bikes in total, and I think all but 2 riders completed the ride (I know one was due to technical issues, was not sure why the other rider did not finish). The most popular bike was the Specialized Levo, with Scott and Trek making up the balance, with surprisingly no Giants in the field. On the longer days the e bikes advantage was much less than on the shorter days and all in all I reckon I cut around an hour a day off what my non-e bike time would have been (If I had to guess). While I would prefer to be 100% fit and be riding my Stumpy, I have come to accept that I am not 100%, and probably never will be again, so I am left with an e bike which is not a bad second prize at all. At least I am still riding

Anything less than a fire started by Flint and Carbon Steel is apparently frowned upon. Rumor has it that hubbers are dumping their blitz and gas fire starters to try and up their man-card points as well as their carbon footprints by making giant bon-fires with flint and steel and only starting the actual braaiing of meat well after midnight. Disclaimer: I have one of these gas starter jobbies in my camp box. Hoekom sukkel as daar n beter manier is?!

Is it possible to love both? Or does that **** with the man-card system?

Its a very good thing that I don’t ride, drive or braai (or is that cook?) for man-cards then. I think your post sums up the 2 types of people commenting on here. Those who do things for enjoyment and those who do things in order to gain the approval and admiration of others.

Ai.. all these self proclaimed purists on here. Get dafuk over yourselves already. I drive an automatic (90% of my driving time used to be in traffic) I braai on a gas braai (I can braai any day of the week and eat within 10 to 30 minutes from lighting up to wolfing down my food) And if I had the cash, there would have been a long travel e bike in my bike room by now. I can think of nothing nicer than a quick shred down Steilte before/ after work and an e bike will make that so much more accessible given that I have a day job and a family.

I was skeptical about SABC covering the MSL, but they stepped up nicely. Full coverage for all the matches! DSTV could not get that right with the Ram Slam or any of the previous versions of it. Interesting that the MSL franchises are owned by Cricket South Africa, so lets see what their financials look like at year end. A few overweight players: Kleynveld The Vern Fraailink It was great seeing some international players coming out to play, just a pity Gayle went home with his mom passing away. I would have liked to see more stats during the broadcast, but seeing that the broadcast was aimed at a different demographic, I can overlook this for now.

Add to that the known liquidity issues and Uncle Trevor’s stance on bail-outs and it becomes almost expected that Eskom needs to limit supply to stretch their current coal stocks. December is bonaz time so I’ll wager a bet that procurement is suffering to ensure that there is sufficient funds for those lovely bonuses.

We replaced our Aerochino 4 with a Severin Induction milk frother. So far I’m quite impressed. Large capacity (700ml for heating and about 350ml for Frothing), easy to clean (teflon coated appliances become difficult to clean after extensive use) and best of all is the temperature gauge to get the milk temperature perfect. Its noisier than the Aerochino, but after a while you don’t notice the noisier appliance.

A bit of a pointless one-off T20 game today. At least the guys had a week to get their BBL deals signed.

What the CC lack is context:So the Sharks won. By the start of the Super Rugby Championship it will be forgotten. There is no real incentive to do well in the CC anymore. Eg. if the first 4 sides got Super Rugby slots every year and the top 2 sides get a favorable draw for Super Rugby you’ll see the top players in action. I would also move the CC to after the Pro14 and send sides 5 and 6 to the following Pro14 competition. Yes, the CC will then be played in Summer, but so is Super Rugby.

Guilty or not, I saw enough of BS at Sani2C some years ago and then again at the GR300 to know that he is a complete tjop. If he was found guilty, but was a stand-up guy otherwise, he might get some respect back.

I wonder if Knox has the resources or the stomach to fight this. The minute the advocates get involved the costs become astronomical.

Now if he can stop telegraphing his box kicks it may actually be effective. When he goes into ‘newborn Giraffe’ mode and do a split 30 seconds before getting the ball, the back 3 can stroll into position and organize themselves properly to make use of the cheap possession they are about to get.

I got around to some woodwork recently Kitchen door Bike room door Ballustrades refurbishment

I got around to some woodwork recently Kitchen door Bike room door Ballustrades refurbishment

Double post