Gravity Sux

Hi Rex, sorry to hear about your ordeal. A freind and I had a similar experience in Ferbuary just behind the R21 Engen. Similar MO to what you describe so I guess it is possibly the same gang. Did this happen near the end of the dirt road near the brick factory. I rode with a freind out that way on Saturday. We were in the area around 8am. We started out up under the power lines and after about 500m we say 3 blokes walkong down the road towards us. One appeared to be carrying something so we turned back. When we got back to the dirt road we met 2 other freinds who were also heading out that way and stopped them to warn them. Eventually decided to head out again under the power lines as there were now 4 of us and a group from Epic Cycles had just gone past. I was suprised that there was no sign of the 3 guys we had seen just a few minutes earlier. Bit further on we passed 2 other guys also walking in Pta direction. PM me if you think there is anything we can do that will help you. Also, think about getting professional help - we did after our incedent. It helps in understanding some of the emotions you are experiencing and helps you to move on. You will have experienced more trauma / stress than you realise and this takes a while to work through it all. Don't know if you have reported this to the police, I think it falls under Olifantsfontein. I reported our incedent and they made some arrests about a month later. I know those who were arrested spent some time in jail as the invertigating officer called in June as they were making a 2nd appearance in court. Makes me sick if they got bail and this is the same group - makes you wish they were permenently taken out. Anyway, be strong, get well.

Awesome ride then

Decided to enter on Friday rather than doing a training ride, good decision. Entered the 60km at the start, enjoyable route, lovely area. Guess 2 batches at the start sort of helped but they are probably going to have to do better seeding / smaller batches if the mid field is not going to experience congestion. Did the lady who is listed as 11th overall, 9 minutes behind Philip Buys actually do the 60 or did she do the 30 and it hasn't been picked up by the timers / race officials? Impressive ride if she did the 60.

Keep ut the good work ROAG. Must say even if you have not found that magic formula yet Karkloof was a great experience this year and the seeding / batching played a big part in that. In 2008 the vets started in the last batch and there was a lot of slower traffic on all of the single track. At least this year the traffic I encountered was moving at a similar pace and there was less urgency to pass / be passed. At least with seeding course designers can have single track earlier in the race without having to worry about massive congestion. Definately a win for riders

MTB or road? I wouldnt take on 100km MTB without training. Although you may finish it is going to be a long day.

Bit of truth in this. I have figured that when I am racing I flat about every 25 hours. During training / fun rides this is around every 150 hours on similar tracks (obviously not training hard enough or is that fast enough ). The thing is at 35 or 45 km/h you just don't see the stuff you need to avoid and you just blast through sections that you may otherwise pick your way through. And to think the pros are riding another 30% faster than I can ride means they are spending a lot more time at these speeds. If I also went for 300g tires I would probably be in the poo. A friend reckons that if you go fast' date=' you will FLY over the puncture causing obsticles/obsticals...testic...[/quote'] I really try, how fast is fast enough? I need to avoid puncturing my testic...

Interesting thread. Must say' date=' I can't relate to tubeless hell. From my point of view I would not dream of using tubes. I have never had or seen anybody have a big issue with tubeless on training rides with tubeless. Had a bloke with us riding tubes and his ride turned out to be a circus. He flatted, removed tube and patched it. In his haste to get it pumped he managed to rip the valve out. Now with a bit of pressure to fix the situation he pulled out a stans tube and managed to pinch this while inflating the tire. Could not patch this as patches don't stick to slime covered tubes. Riders riding tubeless offered tubes they carry as backup but we needed to go through three of these before we found one that was not perished - shows how much these folks needed the tubes but also a warning to those running tubeless, make sure the tube you carry as backup is useable. We finally got the show on the road again only for the same bloke to pick up a pinch flat on a rock about a half hour later. Not a great advert for tubes. With my tubeless I have only once had a situation where I could not get going again after a plug and sometimes a bit of air. In many cases you don't even need to pump as you can plug before the pressure drops too much. If you put the plug in properly it does not seem to give trouble either. At the moment I am riding a tire that flatted during day 1 of Sani2c and was plugged. This tire completed this race, Epic and all the riding in between. Thought I would put a new tire on for Lion Man but managed to hit some metal / wire on the track and got a big sidewall cut. Whatever cut the tire would have gone through a tube too. This is the only time I have ever had to tube a tire to get home. Back on by old plugged tire again - now has 3000km and still going strong[/quote'] These posts are always going to bring in different experiences, perhaps i have been fortunate that i have never suffered a puncture in a race and replace tyres more than i do my tubes. Think a big factor here is how you ride and obviously tire choice. Don't think you would have been so lucky with a 300g tire. The more you keep to the track and avoid hazards the fewer punctures you will get. I like the low pressures - in this case tubes are not an option for me.

Bit of truth in this. I have figured that when I am racing I flat about every 25 hours. During training / fun rides this is around every 150 hours on similar tracks (obviously not training hard enough or is that fast enough ). The thing is at 35 or 45 km/h you just don't see the stuff you need to avoid and you just blast through sections that you may otherwise pick your way through. And to think the pros are riding another 30% faster than I can ride means they are spending a lot more time at these speeds. If I also went for 300g tires I would probably be in the poo.

Same pressure, same weight for 2.2 tires. Probably need to go higher with thinner tires. Tried Kenda SB8 at these pressures and they did not work for me so tire choice is probably a big one here

Interesting thread. Must say, I can't relate to tubeless hell. From my point of view I would not dream of using tubes. I have never had or seen anybody have a big issue with tubeless on training rides with tubeless. Had a bloke with us riding tubes and his ride turned out to be a circus. He flatted, removed tube and patched it. In his haste to get it pumped he managed to rip the valve out. Now with a bit of pressure to fix the situation he pulled out a stans tube and managed to pinch this while inflating the tire. Could not patch this as patches don't stick to slime covered tubes. Riders riding tubeless offered tubes they carry as backup but we needed to go through three of these before we found one that was not perished - shows how much these folks needed the tubes but also a warning to those running tubeless, make sure the tube you carry as backup is useable. We finally got the show on the road again only for the same bloke to pick up a pinch flat on a rock about a half hour later. Not a great advert for tubes. With my tubeless I have only once had a situation where I could not get going again after a plug and sometimes a bit of air. In many cases you don't even need to pump as you can plug before the pressure drops too much. If you put the plug in properly it does not seem to give trouble either. At the moment I am riding a tire that flatted during day 1 of Sani2c and was plugged. This tire completed this race, Epic and all the riding in between. Thought I would put a new tire on for Lion Man but managed to hit some metal / wire on the track and got a big sidewall cut. Whatever cut the tire would have gone through a tube too. This is the only time I have ever had to tube a tire to get home. Back on by old plugged tire again - now has 3000km and still going strong

Oh, forgot to say ... congratulations on recovering the bike

Terrible news. Condolences to the family and thoughts with all those involved in this tragedy.

Interesting comments. Personally I do not see many people riding with headphones. I think the what made things worse in this case was the combination of a seeded start based on few seeding races and a lot of single track. The rider I encountered started one or two batches ahead of me so I was probably averaging 2 to 3km/hr faster. Once seeding sorts itself out this will probably no longer be an issue. Interestingly the bloke who won the vest started in group G and so was probably averaging 5 or 6km an hour faster than this bloke and would have had to pass. What got my goat was that this rider didn't even realise there was anybody behind him.

This poll is prompted by my experience during the Karkloof Classic this past weekend. I started the race on batch C and was riding at a faster pace than many of the riders ahead of me. No one of the long sections of single track I came up behind a slower rider and asked politely if they would allow me to pass when they got a chance, no reaction . I waited a little while then asked again and again . Seemed to me like the rider was deaf as there was absolutely no reaction. I eventually just passed through the pine needles etc on a fairly straight section of track. When I drew level with this rider there was utter surprise on his face that there was even anybody behind him and ear phones in his ears (so yes he was deaf). Besides the safety aspects of riding with music it is simply selfish to those around you. When I saw the headphones I could have decked the rider (my good MTB nature). Fortunately I had a race to ride. Interestingly a rider next to me at the start was asked to remove his headphones as MP3 players were not allowed. Either the officials did not see the rider I encountered on the single track or he just put the headphones in again after he had started. I was reading the race rules on another race I was planning to enter and in there it is stated that "the use of MP3 players is highly discouraged because of bla bla bla". In my opinion they should be banned outright and riders should be disqualified if they are caught using them. What are your thoughts?

Great pics, this is what I call a race report. The more I see of this race the more I want to do it .... next year maybe

Buy something you can use as a backup when you get your bike serviced that way you will never have an excuse not to ride (that is unless she becomes serious)

Not necessarily a solution to your chain suck problem but it may help when riding in mud. The conditions are the same for everybody so the better you cope with the conditions the better (not strictly true, nobody has churned up the mud for the race snakes but a good thought to keep you motivated). In saying that I have had it with mud this year and would probably not start a really muddy race, not because I am scared of getting wet but because of what it costs to fix the bike afterwards. 1. Keep your bike as clean as possible. Whatever you do avoid thick mud. In many cases standing water is good as it washes mud off. 2. If it is really bad and you come to a river wash your bike, particularly the drive train. 3. As mentioned above, lube works but only for a short time. The cleaner your bike is when you apply lube the longer it will last. Carry wet lube and lube whenever you can, even if it only lasts for a while it does make things better. 4. If you are getting chain suck on the small blade ride in the middle blade... not always possible but it helps some of the time. 5. If it is really bad just get off and walk. If you can rather carry your bike when you are walking. You don't get extra points for riding the whole way and if you keep your bike cleaner by walking short sections you will have a better ride in the long run. 6. Be gentle on your equipment. Chain suck is bad but if you break a chain or derailer because of chain suck you are really going to have fun.

Just another thought on this one, the joke is on them if they charge past you and stop at the top of the hill , especially if you just keep to your rhythm and do not take the bait. They may have won the battle but they have not won the war. It is just as easy to get caught up in some petty dices during a race but these people end up paying the price later on. Good to learn to ignore these people during training, makes it easy to do the same during races.

No, just testostrone, but then as a male it is a good to have some.

Only take them on when you know you can beat them otherwise continue at your pace and let them blast past without even reacting . Training is not a race but it is great to have some fun occasionally. If you are training to a specific program then you need to be disciplined (particularly when doing base training) but cycle to have fun and if this includes petty dices do it if you enjoy it this kind of thing. If you don't then let the suckers go.