Gravity Sux

I fully support what ROAG is trying to do and hope they get it right. Did the Karkloof classic last year which had batch start based on age category. Started in the last batch because I am in vets. For a race that has so much spectacular single track it was a real pain being stuck behind slower riders just because they started in earlier batches. Hopefully they use the seeding system this year.

When you register just make sure you save your ROAG number. Registered for Sant2c and really had trouble finding it again when I wanted to enter Karkloof. They should introduce a search by ID of e-mail address to lookup your number.

If you understand Dutch take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNNt3vqeLh4&NR=1 If he was truly sorry about what had happened he should have apologized to Daryl in person, either right there or in hospital afterwards. He seems more interested in justifying his actions in the media.

Interesting reading Daryl's website. Looks to me like Boss grabbed Daryl to sling himself past when there was nowhere to go. Even if he did not deliberately pull Daryl down he definitely grabbed him intentionally ... whichever way you look at it still cheating, just like doing drugs.

Got my entry for this year on the internet. Only a tries on a first come first serve basis. Don't know if it is when you grab the link for the entry form or when you submit your details but you have to be really quick and do it as the entries open. I know my ID, medical aid by heart. Also used my wife's details as my partner as I know these too. No need to spend time looking up numbers. Once you have an entry you can change partner later. They give you a deadline to pay but this is not online so you just need to get all the personal stuff for you and your partner entered. If you don't make the initial cut but have a good position on the wait list your chances of riding are probably pretty good. Know a few people who got an entry that way. Teams do drop out as race day approaches. Only problem here is that you are training in the hope that you may get an entry. If you speak to enough people you may find someone who is looking for a partner. Maybe you will be lucky the landowners route, I don't know. Anyway, good luck, it is an awesome race.

Above post shows carbon bikes that have hit kerbs etc. What do you expect? I have ridden carbon MTB for 2 years and have not had any problems. A bad crash however will trash whatever you are riding. Looking at the photo of the Storck on the other thread the damage certainly looks like impact damage. Maybe there is a design fault but it is more likely that you were unlucky and took a bad impact from a rock. I have taken a lot of impacts in this area over the past few years but mostly on the cranks and chain ring. Have had big dings out of the cranks and teeth broken off the chain ring so if these rocks struck the frame I suppose similar damage could have occurred. In most cases didn't even know that the impact had taken place. Suppose the best advice concerning high end equipment is 'Insurance'. The higher the performance, the lighter / more fragile, the more the cost and the greater the risk of damage.

Trying to figure the connection to cycling ... oh yes, the campsite at Sani2c or Epic. Suppose the only solution is to get to slep before the rest of them ... so that is where Stilnox comes in, chemically induced sleep!

Glad to hear you are ok wimpers. Thanks for posting this report. It is a great help to fellow cyclists to know where / when incedents took place. I would not have thought a single individual would be a risk, just makes you realise how wrong you can be. Take care of yourself and get plenty r&r, even though you got away this is a pretty traumatic experience that can mess with your mind & body. Don't be afraid to get professional help if you need it. All the best

Great pics which actually capture the spirit of the event. Considering what you pay to enter I suppose they have to get this right. Not just the head on shots you usally get. Agree with RickA that it would have been nice to include some of the general shots shown in the dining tent. Looks like these pics are the ones on the photo gallery on the Epic web site. I was pretty dissappointed with the Sani2c pics. This is one aspect of that race that could be improved (forgot to mention this in the feedback form).

Just an after thought, where they really do shaft you is if you are forced to do a rider change in the last few weeks before the race. Here they look for the full rider fee to do the substitution. I think this can be justified if the rider just cops out and decides not to ride but there are plenty of cases where riders cannot ride because of medical reasons (broken arms, appendix, whatever). In this case I think it is just immoral of the organizers to charge what they do. Cannot believe that the admin really costs that much. Sani2c manage to handle last minute changes so I'm sure they should do without shafting the team (particularly if a medical certificate can be produced)

Nice work, useful comparison. Guess the CE margins may be better than some of the other races because their costs are lower but they are selling to an international market. A 50% price rise is rough but it would probably not look that bad if we all had $ / Euros. The 100 guaranteed entries on Sunday suggests that they were over budget or needed bridging finance for next few months until other entries are taken up. Although when u look at what they collect in entry fees it seems a lot I know what my company salary bill is and how east it is to spend this if you are not careful. I would say without good sponsors etc you are not going to come out on the entry fees alone, hence the shop where they skin all the suckers who just completed this year's event. Anyway, the organizers may live comfortably from the proceeds of the race but they are not buying yachts in the Bahamas from this income. Just another thought, the entry fee is actually only a small part of the total cost of this race. If you add the expense of maintaining your bike for the 300 hrs of training you are going to do plus all the extras you buy because you believe it will magically get you to the end plus travel etc this becomes an expensive race. Unfortunate but then that is the way it is, one extremely expensive T-shirt.

Don't get it, where is the second wrong? Or is it a right and a wrong that make a right, or 2 rights make a wrong, or a left and a right that make a wrong?

And to think this all took place in less than 2 years, I stand in awe.

Agree. My LBS is able to perform minor service in the shock. Where it has to go back to the supplier is when they open up the high pressure section which reqires special gear to recharge. Don't know whether this is common to all rear shocks but I would guess to is common to most DT Swiss shocks. From what I recall the minor service allows dust seals to be changed. From what I understand the capability of DT Swiss to service these shocks was only set up in Feb this year. Before that they would have sent it overseas. I guess my point is that the capability to support high tech components is improving. As long as things keep moving forward service should improve. It is far easier to get forks serviced nowdays than a few years ago. I expect the same to happen with rear shocks. In the mean time my experience with service is that it is acceptible.

Had my Scott Nube serviced by DT Swiss in mid Feb, cost about 2x the price mentioned above but it did need some extra bits as it had gone about 12000km / 600 hrs without a service (including Sabi X mud). Took a week and they did a pretty good job. Over that time I had a loan shock so was still able to ride. From what I understand they only got their service kit up and running if Feb as this requires special HP nitrogen equipment. Anyway, they are now able to service these shocks and the shock seemed as good as new after the work. I don't think you need to panic about service on these shocks.

My bike?

Agree that Groenkloof is a good idea. If you ride from Centurion to / from Groenkloof this adds another hour or so. You will only be able to do Groenkloof for so long as you do eventually become tired of riding over rocks. I am sure you will be able to find a safe route between Groenkloof and where you are staying. Check out local clubs / night ride as suggested above. Don't know if you will find company for long rides next week as most of those who do the sort of distances you want to do will be off to the epic. Safety problems have occurred in / around open veld near Irene and South East along R21 but I don't think any of the open veld areas are safe.

Pretoria !! Looks like I'm also at the wrong end of the world (other side of the Jukskei). Maybe we need a similar initiative this side of the world. Let us know how things go, maybe we can learn something form your experience. We are going to have to do something about security on this side unless we are prepared to give up cycling. I'm not prepared to let thugs rule my life like that.

Yes, cost a fortune but I was too scared to change to something else so close to the big day. First time I rode it was day 1 of Sani2c, nothing like a bit of pressure

Hi Mallo, Will make an effort to get to the meeting but this depends on how the week goes, leaving for Epic first thing Friday. If I don't make it I would still like to get involved in solving this problem. I lost my bike at the R21 Engen on Feb 21. My bike was a Scott Spark 30, Black with white / gold trim (i think it is the 2007 colour scheme). The other bike lost during that incedent was a red Titus RacerX. I could id my bike from various scratches and dings and the cycle shop has the frame serial number etc.

Heard there was another attack near the R21 Engen this last Saturday. Heard this form 2 sources but it is 2nd hand news so I do not know the details. From what I was told there were 7 attackers. Very nearly ended up riding there myself as we were riding in a bigger group but now realise that is is just not safe to go there.

Bravo .. and it the cc ended up fining the race organisers because of some monopoly or someting the entry fees would just be higher next year to cover the fines. The races are over subscribed anyway so it you or I boycott there are plenty of other suckers who are willing to pay, even if they gripe about it. We may complain but herd instinct rules.

Thinking about something proactive to do. Maybe the industry needs somewhere where you can register your equipment and blacklist it when it is stolen. It would not really help in this case but it would be great if there was no market for the equipment because bike shops / suppliers hand it over as stolen property when they receive it. This would rely on honesty in the industry, don't know it there are enough honest people out there...anyway it is a good thought. I will keep kicking this idea around, maybe something will come of it one day.