Rapunzel

Awesome event but the entry is a bit (ie very) pricey , I've really had to ration my races this year

lol!! unless the headset is now being quiet just to confuse me, it was the pedals :-)

You guys are awesome Went through the first few suggestions and it appears that the pedals are the culprit. Will put the bike through it's paces before the day is out to make sure.

I've just reassembled my carbon hardtail after a respray and it's now making a ticking noise (once or twice per pedal revolution). It only does this under load and it's not the saddle or seatpost as it does it when I'm out of the saddle as well. I've checked the bb and crank bolt (Sram X7) to make sure they're tight and greased all threads before assembling. What else could it be?

I just serviced my headset and did this. The lower bearings were fairly shot but opened them, cleaned, regreased and then reassembled (with the more worn bearings at the top this time) and it feels good for a few more months.

with the mud season upon us I'm thoroughly enjoying getting out on the road bike and not having to worry about the huge maintenance bill but MTB will always remain my favorite.

I take offense - I can get my bike over the climb-overs and I'm a chick!! Re stampers - they don't work as the trail is cambered or on a gradient in most places which makes it virtually impossible to get the stamper to go where it is designed to. Maintenance year round is not possible - ground forms a crust in summer and if you break it, it turns to dust and then tires and wind erode it. Regarding any complaints regarding the parts of the trail, please complete a trail maintenance request first and then follow up with comms directly with Patrick. Between Patrick and Bennet (who builds trails in Jonkershoek), they have sufficient experience with building and maintaining our trails and I'm inclined to trust their judgement. Regarding Epic: I agree that many of our trails missed out on maintenance for a period of time but they played catch up and the trails are currently in very good condition. When one of the most prominent land owners wishes to host the Epic, I feel that it is in the club's best interest to assist the landowners to make it a success. Regarding response from the committee: Some members of the committee are representing affected bodies (eg sponsors, conservancies, ...) and are not heavily involved in the day to day running of the club. Those who are involved with the daily running of the club are holding down full time jobs and in my experience from handling comms, an employed person is seldom sufficiently equipped to handle many of the queries that come in (and there are 100's - some easy to respond to, some are emotionally draining). I'm pretty sure that the committee is aware of the shortcomings in comms and I don't envy the position they are often in. Lastly, I'm sure I fall into the category of the 90% or more of members who are happy - we have awesome trails we can ride on year round. We have our tumbles, get caught in ruts, curse and swear when we ride through fresh cow plotcha and occasionally wish we could fit weedeaters to the front of our bikes to help cut back spring vegetation growth BUT, it's all part of mountain biking in the tygerberg and I love it

racing: banana and gel after 1.5 hours (too intense for anything else) training: bananas or dried dates and almonds (mixed in a sandwich bag) I try to steer clear of processed stuff and banana peels can be ditched in the bush which is useful.

Nailing the guy in my car would certainly become my problem :-( I also had a problem with battery life and got caught with no front light last week but I always make a point of having 1 spare light (el cheepo flashing red led) so I can at least be visible (kinda common sense I thought).

... but will tankman be taking part moon boot and all?

A while since I was at varsity but my cycling fell apart over the course of my varsity career and I spent over 10 years off the bike after that. Reasons were probably a combination of no routine, no discipline and a complete change in priorities which killed my motivation to get on the bike. My general observation is that the more hectic your schedule, the more you get done.

not really much technical on the 60km. Never had a problem with congestion but have been lucky enough to get an early start. The climbs around coetzenburg are on wide tracks and normally spread the field out before hitting any of the singletrack. Routes and profiles are under "Info" on the website http://www.dieburgermtbchallenge.co.za/ Request to riders - please don't give sweets to the farm children (some get a bit aggressive when there are no handouts)

is that ground floor willowbridge south?

45km hurt my legs a bit - think more training is in order. Climb in the 2nd half is quite a beast!

also beware of the climbs in the middle and at the end If you head out fast enough then the bottlenecks won't affect you but remember there are no free km's in this route.

Really worth signing up for the newsletter - comms were first class. You probably also missed the notification of the race pics (free downloads available): click here

I think your comments are harsh considering mails were sent out at the beginning of the week to thank participants and notify us that results needed to be audited before being sent out later this week. The organizers and sponsors worked their butts off for this event and they deserve praise. So thanks so much to the race organizers (Arno and Lolette Lubbe, race commissionaire Chris Nixon, course designer Brian Strauss and others) and sponsors (especially Stephan vdWalt of Paarl Media). The entry procedures were flawless, the best goodie bags I've seen in years, well marked and marshaled course, classy medals, printed certificates to those who got provincial colours, CWC for the bike wash, ...

will be posted here: http://www.wp-cycling.co.za/downloads-mtb

agreed - ride on my own most of the time and we are spoilt in cpt with an abundance of safe routes (both on and off-road). However, the latest spate of road accidents affecting cyclists well inside the yellow line leaves me feeling vulnerable on the road.

Well done and well deserved Ariane - you are a true champion!

I'll be joining the ranks of those who are going to be pushing their bike out of the river crossing - it's going to be an interesting morning of racing.

I do agree that we sometimes need to play devil's advocate and look at each case on it's merit. Most of the time motorists are to blame but in this durbanville case, it appears that the cyclist fell after clipping the curb and fell under the bus (the curb juts out at the traffic light and the cyclist may have misjudged his proximity to it).Before judging the bus driver, imagine how it must feel to be sitting 2m up in your bus at a red traffic light, a cyclist pulls up on your left and you cannot see them and as you both pull away the cyclist falls under your bus wheels.

I may give it a try during school hols when I can afford to get back by 7H30

same problems with crest rims after inflating a new tire to 3 bar (to assist the tire to seat properly). Now when putting a new tire on, I just inflate to about 2 bar and leave it to settle in on it's own which takes about 10min. Haven't subsequently tried pumping to 3 bar but I think that if the beading is properly seated on the rim the chances of it blowing off again are slim to none.

Add some earplugs and then a bunch of flowers the next day for damage control