scotty

I still have my tonsils and appendix, perhaps instead of looking to shed weight on the bike i should have them removed instead.

Regards the N17 I was also WTF about riding on the right but then realized there were 2 other ramps, Rondebuilt and Wadeville which would have been an issue had we not. Another positive is there was no issue of shorter and longer riders "interfering" with each other.

Tough day on the road for me, the route suited me so I cant even blame the wind. Struggled to hold onto any passing bunches so spent most of the time in solo mode and missed my target time by 10 min. Pity about the low attendance appearance, Being only the 2nd year there are still issues to be sorted such as the start area and here they can look at how Germsiton Wheelers do it. Positives were the number of metro officials and marshals, road closure on many of the roads and the start/finish area. I had no issue finding parking but some riders stated they did. Planning on returning next year to find that 10 min.

Entered last year but did not ride as I picked up flu a few days prior, so far this year I've only done the pink blouse shorter distances in races so this will be my first longish one since 947 last year.

And you get a mention in the race pack

Seeding is up on Racetec

One good thing about so many characters been killed off over the seasons and a reduced number this season, it was a mission to remember them all and their relation to each other.

Bit of a spoiler alert, ignore if you have not seen the last GOT episode. https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/a-tribute-to-those-who-died-in-the-battle-of-winterfell-in-game-of-thrones-20190430

Stormer's away beating top of Aus group Rebels, interestingly all Rebels losses so far have been to SA sides .

Yup, if they have refurbished in stock they will use that. My 800 packed up last October and was replaced with a refurbished 820 unit as well.

Lions need a swift kick up the rear.

Around 325m

Routes 60km https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1SBzUtNmMdiInENZ8lTx1qkUw7XnuGN0Q&shorturl=1&ll=-26.466236729791714%2C28.571695291137758&z=13 30km https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=19AUqM8ZQ3rSWzyaEahkTciQbMuagfCHQ&shorturl=1&ll=-26.4671540384081%2C28.570352999999955&z=13

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) says that it is giving President Cyril Ramaphosa until Friday to release the Special Investigating Unit report that found South Africa forked out R14.5 billion during the first round of rolling blackouts in 2008. The opposition party has written to the president demanding that he releases this report. It also reportedly found that when load shedding was first introduced 11 years ago, it may have been carefully orchestrated by a cohort of employees at Eskom so that they could sign emergency contracts that would benefit pop-up coal suppliers https://ewn.co.za/2019/04/01/da-gives-ramaphosa-ultimatum-to-release-siu-report-on-load-shedding

Some estimates https://www.businessinsider.co.za/this-is-how-much-it-will-cost-to-take-your-home-off-the-grid-and-avoid-load-shedding-forever-2019-3

Shock horror

https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/social-media/2103993/sa-expresses-shock-and-disbelief-at-eskoms-stages-5-and-6-load-shedding/

New leaked documents seen by the Sunday Times show how a Gupta-linked company purchased an auditing firm so it could loot Eskom. The report stated that Trillian bought an auditing firm – Nkonki – which had contracts with Eskom so it could be “looted with impunity”. “Trillian and its former owner, Salim Essa, allegedly used Mitesh Patel, a minority shareholder in the black-owned Nkonki auditing firm, as a front,” stated the report. Nkonki had auditing contracts with Transnet and Eskom, and after it was bought by Trillian it secured several new contracts with Eskom. The report added that this happened at a time when several “Gupta supporters” were on Eskom’s board. The purchase of the auditing firm, and it securing contracts with state entities, was part of the Guptas’ plan to capture SOEs. Looting at Eskom Looting at Eskom has reached biblical proportions in recent years, with reports stating that the total amount stolen could reach R500 billion. The Special Investigating Unit is currently looking into the theft of R170 billion from Eskom – R139 billion of which is related to 11 contractors who helped build the Medupi, Kusile, and Ingula power plants. With Eskom’s Medupi, Kusile, and Ingula plants costing R334 billion to build, the R139 billion stolen by contractors makes up a large chunk of the total price tag. The SIU said as part of its investigation it has identified 1,980 employees who failed to declare their interests to Eskom. Load-shedding State capture and looting at Eskom have resulted in the company not being able to deliver a stable power supply to South Africa. In December 2018, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said that a lack of skills at Eskom, problems with coal supply systems, and problems with the power generation system were major issues the utility faced. He added that Eskom was one of the institutions heavily affected by state capture and contracts being awarded to the Gupta family. “Today we feel the effect of state capture, and the reality that we have very old power stations that we are operating,” said Gordhan. The effects of this are being felt by South Africans this week, with Eskom implementing stage 2, 3, and 4 load-shedding. On Saturday and Sunday, stage 4 load-shedding has been put in place. This has been attributed to a loss of power imports from Mozambique and the need to conserve diesel and water supplies for the week ahead. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/299570-shocking-new-details-on-how-guptas-looted-eskom.html?source=newsletter

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PARIS - A tiny beach restaurant in an isolated South African fishing village was named the best in the world on Monday. Chef Kobus van der Merwe, who did not begin to cook seriously until he was 30, forages every day for ingredients on the wild Atlantic shore of the Western Cape near his Wolfgat restaurant, where he also makes his own bread and butter https://ewn.co.za/2019/02/19/tiny-sa-beach-restaurant-crowned-best-in-world

That's the one.

Would-be cigarette smokers in the US state of Hawaii might have to wait a very long time for their first legal drag, after a lawmaker introduced a bill that would bar sales to anyone under the age of 100 Creagan’s proposal calls for raising the cigarette-buying age to 30 by next year, 40 in 2021, 50 in 2022 and 60 in 2023. By 2024, the minimum age would be 100. https://citizen.co.za/news/news-world/2077121/hawaii-considers-raising-legal-smoking-age-to-100/

Last week I was browsing through the last years Ride booklet at my bike shop. One of the articles covered how CSA are working on been more transparent and supporting cyclists, event's etc. Come 2019 same old same old, in fact they have become worse. Threats, stubborn, self importance and unwillingness to change. The saying goes a new broom sweeps clean, CSA proves this wrong.

I drive a white bakkie

Somehow i don't think duct tape will cut it