LoveMyRide

This afternoons effort for my 14 yr old daughter. Her old XCO frame, bunch of spare parts laying around at home. New shifters and FD, and two hours later. 9.1kg as in the photo. Lekker for messing around and some gravel road rides while on holiday saving that 1x12 drivetrain on her new xco bike.

Most of this thread has commented on the fact that this is a safe route. Myself included. This happened earlier today (17/01) between Strand and GB. Not the first in this area. https://www.facebook.com/wimpie.vandermerwe.52/posts/842029846245815?comment_id=842083892907077&notif_id=1579235017875303&notif_t=feed_comment

Sounds great. If we lived closer I am sure that my daughter would want to be there. Is there a skills aspect? Endurance/distance is easy. Global thinking is that at a young age the focus should on skills. It could maybe be argued that is why we do not perform outstandingly well internationaly (no disrespect to those SA riders that do) compared to, in particular, European countries that emphasise skills at an early age. Not intending to detract on this event in any way. It sounds, well, epic, and hope that it is a success.

JF, excellent points you make and have raised, and hopefully the organisers are taking note. The one point though, about the race being the wrong time of year is a difficult one to want to agree with. 2 out of 40 badly wind affected races in a windy city is not bad. As many others have said, the days leading up to the 12th were great. Its the luck of the weather draw, and would be true for any month of the year. I used to sail and surfski as my main sports, both wind affected, so became a bit of a wind watcher, learning which areas of the Cape were least affected in which wind. The months with the least wind affected week ends were February, March and April. September, October, November and January the most risky.

I agree FCH. Standing in the wind and rain driven by a cold frontal system, cold and dark for another hr and half seems less apealing than this mornings chaos. Lets be honest. Once or twice over 40 years? Is that really so bad? The protest action is of more concern as this could escalate year on year.

If the link below works you should see a nice visual representation of the wind. Make sure the day is set to the 12th, and the time bar to where you want it. Local winds are influenced by the mountains, which the model may not be taking account of. https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-34.105;18.721;9&l=wind&t=20170312/06

SE usually blows from early, may die down later but not always and is mostly a hot wind. Also stonger than SW. SW usually comes up later (towards midday) and is cooler.

You sure? I live in the Strand, where the South Easter is born, and just come from a beach run. There is a stiff South Wester blowing in off the sea. Great for the kite surfers. No South Easter. My worry is that by the week end it's turned South East.

Wannabee trails looking out towards Strand and False Bay.

Thanks.????

Does anyone know where the results are posted?

My 7 year old daughter riding Lebanon Green. She did well in spite of the roots proving too much for the 20" wheels at times. The rain, no problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0o-Tfau0GQ&list=PLFwlPRYbgfKM9BHd1jzCVXT19XZuHoJS0&index=9

Not nearly as impressive as Tygerberg Hills, but still a nice day for Strand Rooi Els and back.