The expat cyclist

2 years! That is how long I had my crossmark on the rear wheel (The front one will go 3 I think). The rear one started looking like a slick! I replaced it with a Geax - just because I can. The crossmark is a good tyre for hardpack. Stay clear from muddy conditions it has little grip there. It is durable (which makes it heavy), lasts long (Not as sticky) and good for most surfaces (does not clear mud very well)

My wife and I were on a cycling shop and I told he just to try on one of these bibs. She walked out with a R2300 pair of bib shorts vowing never to ride in shorts again. The end.

I had a fav cycling jersey. Crashed at Cullinan and tore the shirt in half! The I got a black and white Fox shirt and black world cup champion socks...And in races that I wore that, I did good...Check my avatar - I am wearing it there - although I sucked in this race! :-)

My wife runs 317's but they are tubed. With tubes they weigh the same as my tubeless DT Swiss. I know that by making them tubeless there will be w weight penalty for her. Now she only weighs 50 kilos so adding the extra weight is not worth it PLUS, she only has had one snakebite in 2 years of racing.

My mom has been smoking for...Hell since forever I think. She is now almost 70 and she still smokes. I never got why people it. I mean there is zero benefit in it. It is like PowerBalance thingy!

Just wondering, but what made you start smoking in the first place?

And do note that he did not pull her over because she did not have a licence with her - how would he know that? He pulled her over because: 1. She was white. 2. She was female. 3. She was alone!

Yes, my wife was wrong...AND I WOULD HAVE PAYD ANY FINE SHE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN! She even asked him to give her fine!

I know you won't ever see this, but I need to vent somwhere! My wife dropped me off at the airport yesterday. As she gets back on the R21 towards Pta, black, vetgat cop pulls her over. As the devil wanted it my wife did not have her licence with her as she was driving my car. When fatass finds this out, het sets her up for a bribe - tunes her that the new action campaign aver the festive season is to lock people up who do not have their licences with them. And because she stays in Pta, she will have to go to Mamelodi. For 10 minutes, he tells her all the bad things that will happen to her. Now, take note that my wife has never been pulled over by a cop! EVER! His tactic worked... I had to stand at customs listening to my wife crying over the phone, scared like she has never been before!!! YOU FARKING SOB!!! Do you know the fear you created in her hart??? Do you even care??? Do you care that she is now scared off all black cops in JHB??? I bet you would care tonight - if I could have a chat with you in person...But you don't have the balls...You targeted her, because you knew! F$ck you and the horse you rode in on!

Oh sheeeeeeeeeeeeet! I gotta let the wife know 'bout this! 'Caiuse if this is true I am female and she is a lesbian...

Hmmm...Train harder so you can ride upfront??? And by the way guys, it was a dumbass dude who knocked my wife over last year at Mabalingwe causing her to break her elbow. He just came around the corner waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to fist, ran out of skill, slipped on the gravel and took her out. Net jammer sy het nie sy nommer gevat nie - I could have returned the favour. I remember this one time at bandcamp, during a race, some dumbass also took me out. Just the normal stuff - coming up to the corner waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to fast...Anyway, I fell, he did not. I got back up and chased after the group. I caught up with him and as I passed him, I just could not stop myself: "Try and pass me again..." I believe in returning the favour.

So what are your cycling plans for 2011? I would like to do a stage race...Something like the 3 towers. Maybe something like a 12hr relay type race - maybe setup a team from the hub??? And a race in another province. Something like the Hill2Hill or Sewekespoort...But we'll see.

You know, I think there should be prizes for these shorter events...But for woman only. A lot of girls are scared of the longer distances and thus prefer the shorter one's.

1.79 to 1.93 bar (26 to 28psi) Any tyre. Currently I have Sagauro on the back and 2 year old crossmark in the front.

Dis jammer die goed is so flippen duur...Ek sal schmaak om een oop te breek en te kyk wat is binne... Dit sal die eerste device in die wereld wees wat werk sonder 'n power source.

Ja, but wouldn't it become hooter if the lycra is made tougher? And if it gets wet it might take longer to dry out.

Couldn't resist. Sorry.

Hahahahahaha - hole in your ass-os??? Hahhahahahahahaha! Well, you need holes in your pants. Else, how ye gonna get yer legs in?

Let's cater for all. Let's make the routes easy. Lets flatten out the bumps...Shoot, lets tar the place up...Lets be roadies... You see, if the organisers start grading events, people are going to start giving events a skip based on grading. Then 2 things will happen: 1. Events won't be challenging enough and thus it will look like MTB'rs are all just super fast and tough. 2. MTB'rs won't improof their skills and as soon as they hit a little rock in the road, they dismount and walk it!!!! What gets to me is that the whiners...are all men!!! My wife did the 40km...She fell 3 times. She had thorns in her fingers, she has multiple bruises and she even shed some blood...She finished in 2:47...And no, she hasn't been cycling for 100 years...She has only been cycling for 2 years! SHE DID NOT WHINE ONCE!!! 4 vark steaks - stop whining you pansies!!!

And who is going to decide what is advanced, flowing etc? A panel of judges? So every year the entry fees will be more expensive because the trails will have to rated...And, you will have to use the same judges for all the trails because what is advanced for you, is not for me.

Grading trails...Hmmmm...How would you grade it? First of all when you grade something, you must have something to compare with. Ok, so most of us Gauteng folk know Babba's. So as far as technical goes, Babbas will get a 1 on a scale from 1 to 5. So now the powers that be, go and decide van Gaalens was a...uhmmm...3.5 outa' 5. So now you finish the race all up in arms because it should have been a 4.5!!! 4 vark steaks man - it is a 4.5. And then the question is who decides what the rating is. I mean if you ask Burry Stander he might give it a 2 because his 5 is not your 5. Look, in a way I see your concern...BUT you won't be able to keep everyone happen and it won't ever be perfect! My personal opinion is that guys and gals are not prepared for what they are getting themselves into!!! The get bullied into doing the 70km because real men don't the 40km and bla, bla, bla. So they do the 70km - trained 5 hours a week, a camelbak having one liter of water, a spare tube and some bombs and off they go! And then when they get to the waterpoints there are now more water and bla bla bla. Then they slip doing a downhill (because they lost concentration from getting tired when doing a climb of 13km) and bla bla bla. Bla bla bla. Bla bla bla. Stop bitching! Train more. Train harder. Be prepared. Rest more. Rest harder. JY K@K AF WANT JY IS UIT JOU LEAGUE UIT EN ONVOORBEREID. OOR UIT EN KLAAR!!! And if you are going to tell me that we are not all Burry Stander - well, that is just you looking for an excuse to be...AVERAGE (read roadie)

Maybe I am wrong here but as far as I know there is a minimum age that riders have to be to participate in certain events. Like for marathon events I think the age is 19... I noticed some under 19's doing the marathon distance at van Gaalens and getting prize money as a senior riders - which they were not (senior). All I am saying is that if you DQ some riders because they don't adhere to the rules, it should be the same for all...

Just want to make one comment - if a tubeless tyre does not inflate WITHOUT sealant, it is not going to with it!!! (And I am refering to brand new tyres - not one's with punctures!) And one last thing - did you know that when Sauser rode for Commendale/Vredestein in the Epic, his back tyre weighed 900g's???? My Crossmarks lasted me 2 years and just one puncture! Sometimes it is better to leave the nail/thorn in the tyre! Rode for 8 months with the mother of all thorns in my rear tyre!!!

Got stabbed in the hand in a everyday farm attack...

Why power? Why not endurance...or speed... I don't think power alone makes you a better cyclist.