mazambaan

We digress a little but, as I hammer 3 score years and 10, I am always ATGATT although it varies; BMW "Rally" jacker or vented jacked or Alpine Stars protector vest, usually a neck brace, always knee guards and Tech 7 boots, seldom less. Snag is that "adventure riding" speeds, and hence airflow, can vary so much. You can ride 100km on gravel for 5km of loose round rocks, enduro style and snug on the gravel roads usually means cooking over the rocks. No answers but I do glance at the airbag vests and jackets although I think I do not ride enough to justify R20k odd, one accident at 20kph or more could justify the expenditure in spades.

Well done and righting the ship; no auto pilot but less harm done. A word of warning; in the Umgeni valley in KZN is such a drift among many; innocuous, slightly green but hellish slippery. I nipped through with no throttle but still a little wiggle; my partner dumped his GS800 BMW and it was quite difficult to right with the concrete being so slippery. I suspect it twas the slippery drift where a KZN adventure stalwart dumped his bike and suffered broken ribs, punctured lung and some internal injuries, eventually passing away, RIP Simon?

Well done to all finishers and, having had a few overheating (and freezing) experiences where some part of your brain tells you "You could die here" I am exceedingly impressed by Stephan & DnD et al. After listening to a few friends' comments on their Epics I quickly realised it was out of my capability so I watch on and off from afar. My overall impression is that it is a bit like a poorly organised Dakar Rallye where it was rumoured that the organisers only allow for half the participants to get beyond halfway (and a few sad deaths each year RIP Elmer Symons). Like Dakar, I'm guessing it will continue to have a full field but we shall see.

Thank you, point taken and I will do that. Luckily, touch wood, these bikes do not need much in the way of spares. Fuel, tyres, change oil (ah, oil filters - there are alternatives I believe!) and go.

Very nice and I may have dodged a bullet as my son is a water boy and slightly cheaper; but you are "in the business" as it were. Quick question please; what do you see as the future for Husqvarna - I have two (501 and 701) so am an "interested and affected" party?

I am vaguely looking at this now although slightly higher bracket. I have Nikon Monarchs 12 x 50 that have been excellent but they are getting on now. 10 x 42 seems the preferred size but preference varies. If in CT try get to Orms as they are, by most accounts, excellent and carry a wide range from Vortex to Leica to Swarovski (do not even look; starts at R30k I think). Otherwise Zeiss, Steiner, maybe Bushnell and Leica.

Interesting and completely understandable, my little "problem" is "mixed" conditions as I normally ride prepared trails (XC/Marathon type) so it is lycra, jersey, cycling hat. BUT, every now and then on the trail there is the rock garden / tech section, and off piste downhill or the lure of an enduro section at Giba (all when you should actually walk or turn away). 🙈Part way down you wish you had all the kit; full face, ballistic vest (heck, air vest), knee braces and MX boots as you take in the jagged rocks or cannot control the speed anymore.

I was really pleased Martin got the No. 1 after having been screwed around a bit by the factory but that is Gigi for you. With MM back in beastie mode could be interesting, could be a snore fest.

I find baggies handy for their pocket - particularly for a hanky (old school). If you have a hydration pack it can be difficult to get to the back pockets of your jersey.

True when you see the age of promising youngsters being signed for long term contracts. Listening to a Matt Beers interview he noted that, aside from his size 😎, a big disadvantage when he went on the road was understanding the peloton and tactics. This seems to take a year or two.

Not really commenting on Nic only but sport is littered with great talents who "went off the rails", some permanently. So the development should include life mentoring and even structuring (IMHO). I do not know detail but I think Martin Dreyer has done a wonderful job with Change a Life' Academy & Family Adventure.

I happened to see a GCN YouTube "who broke Ineos?" ad Eddie Dunbar was mentioned as a talent they had let slip away and who could have been developed into, maybe, something very good. Alan in good company.

A very interesting topic and my interest stems from repots that cutting carbs is beneficial in slowing the possible growth of cancer cells and tumours (mainly Prof Seyfried). From other stuff though a relative, senior citizen relative who was following a keto diet but swallowed a few too many OTC pain killers for injury and ended up with kidney issues. Recommendation was to reduce protein intake (not fats though) so check kidney function, ideally before embarking on full on keto maybe. The other was a guest on the Prof Ross Tucker podcast; an Australian working with elite athletes, and her take on keto was that "digestion" is slightly LESS efficient in energy terms than for carbs; hence retaining carbs for most elite athletes performances (to go fast you must have sugar - one of the TdeF team support staff). I am in the camp of reducing carbs, eating more protein and fat, maintaining weight, exercise to retain muscle and less refined foods. Alcohol is a bastid; I love an evening whiskey.

I think someone from KZN has touched on private security being quite to very "effective" in many parts of KZN. But the political dynamics are a little different in that SAPS generally turns a blind eye or works with the private security (see numbers of CIT robbers etc getting shot). This may not be the case in WC. But, just about anywhere in SA, if you want to be safe, or have your property protected, private security is needed; "government" is mostly useless or involved in crime. Rant over.

Well, best of luck with that. But there are always choices, I cannot see that voting for some other entity, in the CT and SA context, to govern the city will miraculously make cycling in danger areas safer. Take precautions; groups, guns and moering tools, harass the authorities and lobby groups or move to where it is perceived to be safer, areas, closed trails, other countries or accept the random risk. Eish.

Maybe link up with East Coast Cycling club. They have a lot (to me) of MTB and road groups. From mad to insane🙈🙈. Just joking; very friendly club, particularly the MTB with groups A to D most Saturdays starting 05h30 🙃but north of Durbs.

Very inspirational and I can just imagine the willpower and effort needed to get to where you are now; long may it continue. A slightly personal query; did you have any indications of the stroke beforehand?

Welcome to cycling and the Hub; but there are cheaper and less painful addictions 👺. Excellent comments made already and I have walked your road with a Makro bike; cheap chain broke early on and I had to walk home so that could be on your list to replace. And so it begins, drive train (mine then swallowed its derailleur), tyres, saddle, grips etc. Learn how to get the thing adjusted as regards gears etc, that is a YT topic I think. One lesson I learnt hard was sizing. Get the right size (yours sounds too small), an experienced friend or LBS is best, otherwise Googly and YT. Many spend more than the cost of a Makro bike getting fitted properly. Then I would say comes kit; padded shorts and helmet. Finally; do not trust LBS easily; I was sold a too small bike and a woman's saddle respectively by two of the most "reputable" bike shops in my area. Have a friend or do research then check and double check, ask the Hub. Too late to quit now.

I can only endorse the ebike recommendations. From soccer, hockey and dirt bikes my knees re wrecked; one massive op (cartilage and ligaments) and regular pain in both; always exacerbated by those "out of the saddle" or very steep granny gear climbs (think "lambs legs" and "work to be done" on Sani2c). Now an ebike shaves the heart rate top off on such climbs and saves the slow, maximum force grind that used to hurt my knees and leave them hurting for weeks.

Eye protection; one bumble bee to the eye is enough. Polychromatic D'Arcs are reasonably priced and mine have lasted well.

Agreed and screwdriver only useful for the (very) small Torx like fork bleeders (T20) that are easily stripped.

I wish him the best but from the little I know the peak of professional road riding is incredibly brutal "Mountain bikers" have had some success (Pidcock (duh), Cadel Evans, Floyd Landis 🙈, Jakob Fuglsang etc) but things have. Listening to Matt Beers recently I realised that, even with a huge engine, it is out of this world tough.

My only thought on this is that it is either for the mega wealthy (and many of them are very careful with cash so marginal) or a tax dodge whereby the company pays for the membership as a cost. Still big loot to me.

Interesting times for this guy; unlucky or naïve? Robbed (in CT) on Day 2 - Bikepacking Across AFRICA Held At GUNPOINT While Bikepacking Namibia. Africa not for sissies.

With the nanoscopic detection levels even that could be a problem 👺. Apologies if covered but Ross Tucker, Science of Sport podcast gave an interesting assessment of the Sinner (tennis No. 1) doping evaluation and exoneration; a few months ago now. Plus he commented that Travis Tygart in the US was getting some flak as he was using athlete informants to get higher up the doping chain. Snag was that the USADA knew the athletes were racing doped and were allowed to keep their race positions, winnings and trophies.