The Guy in Pink

I use the 120 db Zound air horn on my bikes,and many of my mates have converted. I get to meet a lot of people because of it - I have to go back and apologise for frightening the wits out of them.

There is a good biography of the man here, written a few years ago: http://www.fullstopcom.com/media-room-mainmenu-18/features/1247-chasing-south-africa-s-mr-cycling.html

RIP Basil. He was Mr Cycling South Africa. "The Shop" was a meeting place for cyclists, and Sundays at hector Norris Park were exciting with his commentary. As chairman our Club Northern Wheelers he put a good few events on the map like the "Ill Camponie" (spell) He gave cyclists such as Alan Van Heerden a boost by employing them in the shop and ensuring they had time to train. He will live on in my memories.

An Attentive Marsie this morning, who is, according the Vet's birth date estimate just after Marsie found me, now a year old.

How many Hubbers rode in Simba (Northern Wheelers) Kit?

Done, enjoy the new frame.

You don't have much of a life then do you? Heck I even did a rebuild on my bike in the Congo where I have a very basic set of tools, 1 crank-brothers multi tool and one 8mm 1/4" drive socket , that's all I needed and about a half hour one Sunday afternoon.

I home on R & R so the evening rides are with Marsie around our "formal" single track in Hanglip Forest down by the stream. Marsie is a "Racer" and at every opportunity has to get in front , so the GoPro will hafta be mounted in front a few times as well. We did 5km this evening, and I think she paddled in the stream 5 times.

Camp Africa. High up on the Soutpansberg, with hundreds of Km of MTB trail, (on a real mountain) www.campafrica.co.za

I am not sure how relevant to MTB training this is, but on the road with my wife and others I simply selected lower and lower gears until I found the one they could stay with. That way you have to spin like mad so you end up getting a proper work out, whilst they too get to work to their maximum.

Cold weather never made anyone sick. People make people sick. My daughter rode to work in London every day for 5 years hot or cold and did not get sick, but every time she used the Tube or bus she ended up with colds or flu. Ride the bike and don't worry about the temperature, just dress correctly.

I away from home at work, so the wife sent me a picture of Marsie with the comment "I dunno where you are going sleep when you get home." That's MY side of the bed and MY pillow.

They are better off financially than most of us, they are Cash Positive!

Yes Cycling is about the only sport to benefit from high altitude. Even without any altitude acclimatisation Merck set his record at Mexico city.

We have had a few women do rather well in the Giro d'Italia Femminile, Imagine political influence being used to change the shade of Cherise . .

Dunno, but he could perhaps influence the Lotto funding . . . .

Yip Knobby, but can we make up a competitive international road team of 9 members, with 5 of them dark?

I saw this article earlier in the week http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/04/07/hard-line-taken-on-white-sport but have not seen any comment with regards to our rather pale sport. Not that CSA can send many of its members to partake of international competition, but did if they did, how will they manage to make up any team with 60% Black cyclists?

Yip, the cycling industry is indeed very small . Which is why to survive in it you need to maintain high ethical standards in the industry. This thread demonstrates what happens to players in a small industry when those standards are not met - word gets out - rapidly.

When he falls with that bike yell : "Timber!"

Mikaela Shiffrin

As you point out The JNR Track worlds team was self funded by the cyclists. Of the R681 000 travelling not a cent was for cyclists. Hub members put their hands in their pockets and contributed , but we made sure the money was paid to the cyclists and not CSA as your supporting letter demanded.

There are some of us here on the Hub, Gerhard, that have done a whole lot more to send our riders to complete overseas in the last years that the CSA has, especially the young developing riders , as well as Female cyclists. To those who contributed to send the likes of Fire over to the USA, this is a tremendous insult.

Same pilot a few months back flew my boss and I from Twangiza to Namoya over the jungle . The pilot and my boss saw service together in the Rhodesian war, with my boss commanding some ground troops and our pilot was his spotter in the air. So as we approached Namoya the radio crackled to life with " Green leader - copy Mike" Older Hubbers get the significance of the Green Leader bit.

A few weeks back I walked past the Helipad in our camp at Namoya. The pilot was hovering just above the fence height , but doing the strangest movements , like there was some problem with the controls. This went on for about 5 minutes. At lunch I asked the pilot "what gives?" . "Nothing much" he says "we cut the grass around the pad and I was doing the sweeping... "