wildroadie

I might be sitting in a foreign land but you know what, I am still proudly wearing my SA colours! What makes it so great is that I'm in a place that loves people who are proud of what they are so I am loving it! Well done SA!!! You're showing the world how brilliant you are!

I suffer this fate every Saturday as I am the woman in my club! At least now I know it's inevitable. But there are still gentlemen out there and I am never left behind completely.

Get that at 16 - without paying for it yourself - what do you have to aspire to in 10 or 20 years time! More money than sense in my opinion on the parents part (sorry if you're the parent)! (And those aren't junior gears fitted to it so the recipient can't race it)

Here you have huge bumps (sorry very untechnical word) that demarcate the cycle lane and the car lane so the taxi's would lose half the undercarriage if they tried to drive over them. The stupid part is you often share a bicycle lane with a bus! If you have ever been at the mercy of a French bus driver you'll understand why I say it's stupid.

I have been trying to not say this all day but I can't not: Mackie, get out on your bike and find a sense of humour. Yes, WW is dodging the system - do you think it doesn't happen in the most law abiding nations. This is not the first topic you've had a SERIOUS sense of humour failure on. Deal with it.

Sadly for dfm1 you all have very valid points - mud in his face from the MTB'ers I think!!! Looking at his avatar he was "racing" so he could do what he wanted - nevermind clear race rules.

Even though I love SA and sing its praises every opportunity I get, I am very glad I live in France now. When these idiots are encroaching on such a fantastic lifestyle it's just not fair anymore. Cycled 125km on my own the other day, flipping brilliant.

Careful. There are a fair few CEO's out there who know more than you think. If he MTB's and has any interest in the sport he has probably heard of the Hub and therefore may read it one day.

My thoughts really. Hopefully it's not a case of, it's in Africa so need to worry. Be very sad if it was found out that similar problems existed but no one bothered to own up to it.

Sorry to re-hash an old argument that originated from VERY sad circumstances but isn't the Lexus SUV that Toyota are now pulling from the global market just a rebadged Fortuner. SA didn't take to the Lexus market too well so release the same car under Toyota. Bit scary if it is because I know it is a v popular car in SA!!! But no mention in any of the news stories that the Fortuner is being checked.

They'll shift every other programme because of soccer running late but not if cycling runs late for football!!! Go figure Live in France - cycling takes over tv from now on. Except they do have a habit of having one day's racing switching between 3 channels.

He's a prisoner of his circumstances right now. That has to be considered a small part of his punishment. I am not defending him as it is the most awful accident I have heard of in a while but let's not forget the word accident.

Oh look I got my licence 2 weeks after completing the paperwork and it has full insurance for me, my bike and peripherals! Oh wait I live in France. It seems CSA really isn't learning from past mistakes as it was pointed out they've now had 4 years of practice but everyone is still complaining!

Also accidently left my road bike tyres inflated and nothing happened. The only time you'll get caught out is if you fly through an airport without a big enough scanner for the bike and they will want to go through the bag with you there. Then they'll follow procedure and tell you to deflate them.

Can some of you read a newspaper occasionally to know about THE BIGGEST PASSENGER AEROPLANE in existence before you make yourself look completely stupid with your questions. Great photos by the way. What camera do you have?

That's why I use them cos I am a girl but they still work great on a "boys" Pinarello!!! But I agree with the others, an 11-25 combination is plenty with compact cranks. (don't forget I'm a useless climber so won't be heading to an 11-23 anytime sooon).

I live in the Loire valley and have the wonderful flatness but also the occasional wall so when the new bike came with compact crankset I got asked the same question. I'm not sure how you do on hills but I suck to put it nicely! So I think the guys were a little relieved to see I got up the hills a bit quicker. As for running out of gears I don't find you have that problem unless you are doing hectic sprints but I think as women we don't have the quads to do it - or do we want them! The only difference I find is that I am changing from the big to the small chainring a lot more. bg - Having said I change from the big to the small chainring a lot I have yet to drop a chain (watch I will do it on this weekends ride now!). I run Campy Cnetaur and apart from getting used to the change from Shimano and settling the bike in I have had zero probs.

Ja where exactly did that start. Because I have yet to see a "Euro cyclist" (or whatever anyone wants to base themselves on these days) do it! That shorts one is always an interesting debate.......

The scary part is you all buy from CRC because they offer a good postage service to SA when in actual fact they aren't always the cheapest UK/European reseller. SA could learn a lot from UK's competition regulations. Even the LBS will try and beat online prices. It's always nicer to deal with a person than a PC/Mac and even though almost every LBS in England has an online service too sometimes you get a bit more than you expected going in to the store. Pity SA has many many other things to worry about that they can't get this right.

Now THAT is what I call getting "some quality saddle time in"... cassie, that day was actually hilarious. we were outside grapes screwing around on the fixie. out the corner of my eye i saw the last classic of the season (the name escapes me now - willehond, insert name please?Not Willehond but still a European inhabitant - think you might find it was Paris-Tours! ) on the telly and the riders were going into the final stages of the race, so i just rode in and watched it there. on saturday, after i'd finished building my new 'dale, me and the boys popped up there for a quick one (ok, they had milkshakes). conor stole the parking bay i normally use. Added my "dix centimes" worth.

I started cycling in SA and had the same daunting experiences with clubs but luckily I found a great group of friends to ride with and that carried me for 2 and a half years of fantastic Fun/racing cycling. Yes I was a "funrider" but I raced myself. Why can't you be both!? Now I live in France and if you thought it was difficult figuring out clubs in SA - try here! I did the cyclotourist thing when I lived in Paris - what fantastic people. Now in Tours I ride with a group from work. Some of those guys could give the Vets categories in SA a serious run for their money. But the group still maintains that "no one returns alone"! That is what struck me about this story - who in SA can let a woman ride alone!!! I am definitely not the strongest in the group and normally at 70km's the wheels fall off but despite being in a "safe" country and I am perfectly capable of dealing with mechanical issues I NEVER return alone. How is it so hard for the average SA man to humble himself to have that attitude (I am the only woman that rides in the group here)???