JarradVZ

PM Kiwi.

Mountain Kings or Racing Ralphs on my Niner? Will be my 1st Sabie X.

Yeah, I got one too. Brilliant.

Hey Cycler, it's an unbelievable all-rounder. Always fun to ride. I'm selling my 2009 model. It's in the classifieds somewhere. Have a look.

Thanks Deadwood.

Nah, my Air 9 is "Raw". Did see the 2 kermits just in front of me at the bike wash. I must say that my eyes were trained on something else though...

Fruity, at last! Someone who knows what a decent MTB route should be about. WillG, I never said it was easy to design a course. This is not a fun ride. It is advertised as a race and a good few pros are there fighting it out. The MTB race with the biggest budget on the calendar should use some of that budget on route design. That's all.

Eggs - the pics are on the Cyclenation site. Enjoy.

Okay, so a fair conclusion then: It is not in fact Joburg's k@kest race. Significant improvements have been made (like the 16 year old bike washer with a boob job). But there is still lots of room for further improvement especially with regards to the quality of the trails. Can we agree?

I didn't do last year, perhaps they have made some improvements. But why not cut some track and then add on to it each year? Eventually you could have a lot of trails for the route planner to choose from.

Ha ha, no worries! They really should have split that batch into 2. It was huge. Yup, lots of litter, broken glass, wire, poo etc.

You'll know when you find it. Keep on riding, it gets better and better. About the clifftops thing: A route doesn't have to be overly technical or difficult to be enjoyable. I just feel that with a budget as big as theirs they could easily have employed some workers to cut trails for a few months. Riding on tufty grass is just not fun. They will never compete with the scenery and settings of some other races, but that is why they should work extra hard on the trails.

Nice! That is where they have done well, exposing new people to the sport. I just hope people realize that there is far better riding to be had.

Umm... Books come in chapters, not episodes. There was nothing to answer, I was just expressing my frustrations. Anyone is welcome to disagree. PS. Nice work there with the multiple exclamation marks.

Okay, let's give credit where it is due: They had to cater for like half a million cyclists. This considered, the organisation, registration, parking, marshalling etc were all pretty efficient. I didn't stop at any water tables but they looked decent. They catered for the whole family with different distances and a nice "race village" setup. There was also a jail-bait little bike washer with some glorious (fake) D-cups in a bikini that was slightly too small. All much appreciated. BUT... When I enter a MTB race all of these things are secondary to one thing: The route itself. Quoted from the 94.7 website: "Single track, some long slow drags, some river crossings (now with awesome new bridges courtesy of Century Properies) and some breathtaking scenery and abundant bird lifemake up the 50km event". Umm... What single-track? Did anyone see any? (500m does not count) The only time the scenery took my breath away was when I rode through sewerage water (several times). What scenery are they actually referring to? The prison? The polluted river? The highway? The endless grassy, tufty building site wasteland? 53km they promised at the start. 48km on my Garmin. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh? But when I enter Joburg's biggest MTB race at a considerable price then I expect some work to have gone into the route. Not a single section of purpose-cut trail in sight. Batch starts? Great idea. But it looked like A1 had about a hundred riders in it! I had to fight through hackers for the first 15km. Hang on, why are there hackers in A1? Okay, okay, rant off. It was at least decent training, rode nice and hard and just missed a sub-2hr. Oh well, there's always next year. Oops, I forgot, I definitely won't be entering next year. Feel free to disagree...

I've got the 29 version. They are excellent! Roll like a dream and have stood up to a lot of abuse. Do it.

Okay, seriously. WTF?

Admin, please do something about this vulgarity.

Okay, not really.

TIK is good for you in moderation.

I've had crap service from them too. But their trails are great!

Well, welcome to the Niner club. We're taking over the place. Really chuffed with my Air 9.

Eyecandy, we saw your bike on the back of a Jeep along with a minging old Orbea. We were driving back from the Satellite Jacaranda thing. Looked sweet but still not dirty enough...

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night" Sounds about right...

Yeah, in again. Can't wait.