NGM

Got to my start chute (E) 10 minutes before my allocated start time of 7:32, joined all the other 4Es and couldn't help notice loads of 5Es around me too. Eventually I left about 20 minutes after my scheduled start time and was apparently in group 5F according to racetec. Not sure how that was possible. So something went wrong with either my or the organizers' logistics which kinda scuppered my plans of riding with a fellow hub-person although also I believe it saved my the indignity of being overtaken by (based on pictures he's posted on the hub) a dude that looks a bit like Rambo on a BMX. That aside, that was one of my most fun rides ever and I think I may never ride with the serious leg-shaving crowd again. I shepherded my lady to a fine 4:23 on her first CTCT and second bike event ever. Although on finishing she said she doesn't see a point in doing any more organized races/rides because none will ever be as fun as that. Not the reaction I was hoping for but might be factually correct.

Actually, "Only participants collecting numbers for themselves, and others, will be allowed in...." could mean: 1. Only people collecting numbers for themselves are allowed in, and other people are allowed in. 2. Only people collecting numbers for themselves and collecting numbers for other people are allowed in. So while I write this in jest, in my opinion it technically is ambiguous. Still, given the context I'm aware that they could only have been meaning option 2. Anyway, my experience of the number collection was fantastic. I was greeted by incredibly polite and well-drilled staff and the whole thing took a couple of minutes, during a which a lady with a lovely voice (and good chops on the guitar too) did a stirring cover of Dancing in the Dark in the background. The whole experience left me feeling proud of the mother city. The usual psychopaths on the N2 let the side down a bit on my way home, but all in all it was good and I'm really flipping excited for sunday.

I actually ride through idas valley often because there's a really "nice" climb up to The Hydro (a spa or something) on the other side of town. I've always felt totally safe. That was always during daylight hours though, when there are lots of people out and about. I know of some incidents that have occurred in the forest and bush around idas valley dam, but that is quite different to riding around the town of idas valley itself and from your question, that is not what you intend to do anyway.

Nice to see some positive ideas about this. I'm battling to find a decent link to it, but there is an incredible success story about how the mayor of Bogota managed to completely turn transport in the city around by implementing car free days. I think he started it with a trial one sunday, and people loved it so much that it is now a permanent fixture, and also implemented permanently (not just Sundays) in some parts of the city. This lead to a massive uptake in cycling once people realized it was a far nicer commute than in car. Here's the gist of it: https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018/05/30/every-sunday-the-streets-of-bogota-belong-to-bicycles/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclovía The public open spaces between inhabited areas and the paths that connect them have existed from since before we were walking upright. These should be nice social areas where you bump into people you may know, or make friends with strangers. The advent of cars has ruined a large part of those areas. I acknowledge that life is such that we now can't get by without them, but they are also a terribly anti-social and dangerous mode of transport. It's not that different from this: And people say "this will never work", "Not in RSA", "This place is going to the dogs" etc. One doesn't have to live in a Melbourne or Stockholm or Amsterdam for something like this to work. Bogota was a city with a lot of the exact same problems we have: huge wealth inequality, terrible violence, bad traffic, etc. But they started doing this and now a huge proportion of their population commute via bike every day. The (now) former mayor goes from city to city spreading the gospel. It can be done if local government get behind it and civilians area not apathetic about it. It's worth a try anyway. OK I'm off to sing Kumbaya and smoke the peace pipe.

Good luck. Siyahlala literally means "We are sitting/staying".

Well I'm actually glad none of this is on the table for me. I had one crack at a sub 3 but was undercooked in terms of training, was in a marginal group (1E) and it was a seriously windy CTCT (2018 I think? The one where there were only like 140 sub 3's or something) and I limped home at 3:20. It was a bit of a reality check. The whole time I was wishing I could just do it for "fun", and this year I'm doing just that - starting in group 4E and doing domestique duties for the "protected rider" (aka my wife).

"Erik Kleinhans’ continued roll as Canyon’s representative" - I will give you the benefit of the doubt and say that this is a bike related pun and not a typo.

Irrefutable. @PowerB I had a set of 50mm rims for a little over a year. I loved them, but did have a minor issue with one of the antibite splines breaking. It's pretty much as described in this review: Darkhorse were very good about it and replaced it with a brand new hub at no extra cost. I only sold the wheels on because, well, I sold the bike. I'm pretty sure I put the cassette on correctly but I guess there's a slim chance I didn't and this caused the damage to the spline. My overall take on them was that they were a great looking, weight saving wheel that are moderate to good in the reliability category, and great for the price point.

Who needs a selfie stick when your arm is that long?

I've dislodged and scratched a good few pairs of glasses by trying to whip my helmet off with the arms of my shades over them. I know it's a rule but I know what I always take off first after riding (not my sunglasses) so arms on the inside makes sense to me. Officially "flapping helmet straps" is a reason for the rule but I'm guessing its more to do with not obscuring your sunglasses sponsor's logo. Rule #37 (proudly sponsored by oakley)

Well at least we have something in common. My balance is lousy too, but I have no excuse. As always, inspired by your willingness to make a plan.

Are there any Austrian Maths lecturers doing the road race? If so I'm happy to put my money on them.

Yip. should be pretty close. That Euro course was flat and fast but this course has half the climbing and twice the distance. As @Mountain Bru says, I'm not sure who it suits, I only know that Ganna becomes more beatable the more climbing there is.

TT route is so flat it may as well be a track ride, should suit Ganna.

Ricky loves a joint.

I can't believe this information is going to be useful, but here goes: I recently bought something off takealot for about R100 less than the threshold for free delivery... so to make up the difference I bought these: https://www.takealot.com/cotton-socks-for-men-pack-of-12-pairs-black/PLID70978822 They are cheap, they are black and are a length I can only describe as "business" (not too long, not too short). They aren't versus socks, they aren't even cycling socks, but I just rode in a pair over lunch and even got some PBs so can confirm that they are as fast as (if not faster) than high end racing socks. I can't vouch for their longevity or their claimed anti-odor capabilities, I've only had them for a few days. But hey its 12 pairs of black socks for R146. I feel like its a risk worth taking.

Ya thanks for nothing guys... I'm now browsing merlin's website for stuff I want but really don't need.

I agree about the vehicles, but disagree about the national belief that they deserve to be winning cycling events. In my experience that mentality in many sports has been the English ("Football's coming home", and the usual "where did it all go wrong?" when they lose to a better cricket/rugby/football team). No, if anything the opposite is true of the french. There is a cultural awareness in france that they'd almost rather lose beautifully than win. I say almost. They're happy with losing beautifully. I'm not saying I agree with these sorts of sweeping cultural generalizations, but it is something other people believe in and it is "a thing" (zeitgeist? I dunno, I'm sure there's a better word for it). It even has a name that it got from our very sport: Poulidor syndrome. They loved the guy that never won. And the few frenchies I've spoken to about the 1995 RWC semi final (remember that drowning hazard mudfest in durban?) got tearful talking about it because they thought it was so amazing. So maybe it's their acceptance that losing can be cool too. But this is just my opinion. They don't want to be the people to win ugly. And the level of crazy obsession you need to win the TdF can get ugly. I don't know where their football team went "wrong" though.

Minnaar has been at or close to the top for about 20 years, so by that measure one can include Christiano Ronaldo, Sachin Tendulkar, Roger Federer, Tom Brady and Lebron James. I'm sure there are many more but those are just some of the sports I follow/am aware of.

As others have said, I'd be very surprised if you find it boring. It's spectacular. Just FYI, it's about 930m climbing from Prince Albert side to the very top of the pass. It's a bit less from the Oudshoorn side, approx 690m to the top if you're climbing from Kobus se Gat. So over to prince Albert and back is a pretty decent day of climbing. If anything I found it a bit busy on the weekend and would have preferred fewer people. Seweweekspoort is also amazing.

As a person who will make sure the edge of a book/file/keyboard/anything is parallel with the edge of the desk... I find this photo really relaxing.

@Vetseun these guys are your best bet. I know they definitely used to be Surly agents, it was even listed on the surly website. But that has since been taken down and the last time I spoke to S&J (around sept last year) they were pretty non-committal about it. Something along the lines of "We used to but just weren't getting the demand, it wasn't worthwhile, etc". But maybe if enough people ask them (you are not the first) they may start bringing stuff in again.

My word, that Teliaveli is one pretty bike. Hadn't heard of them/it.

Don't know how to multi-quote reply so... @MORNE For sure. It (the sun) was a deal breaker in the end! I think my lady is solar powered. Besides: Cederberg, Drakensberg, Garden Route, West Coast, Wild Coast - this is a country I was very happy to be "locked down" in. @Jewbacca Hahaha we actually ended up hiring a van exactly like that in my last year there and drove up to fort William for the DH, stopping at 3 trail centers on the way up. And yes coming through the woods at Afan and out at the top at the windmills to go down the wall is literally the mental image I have of wales. That and white's level. Rode it so many times. So many of those trails were maintained with EU funding which is obviously no longer available. Hope they've got some alternative funding strategy now. I guess you just pay at the gate. Jonkershoek is not far behind many of those places now ito quality, and a much shorter trip.

Lol. I got into MTB in the UK. This meant packing our bikes into a car and driving 4 hours to wales for a weekend of awesome trail centres like Afan, CwymCarn (sp?) and Coed y Brenin. Not to mention Glentress in Scotland. This was always followed by a beer and a curry served up by a busty welsh woman from the valleys in smelly pub with an Autographed tom Jones poster on the wall. Before I left to come back to RSA, my riding mate said "Look, just promise me you wont get into that 80km-of-riding-jeeptrack-in-tights BS that i see happening over there. What's with that anyway?" I miss Wales.