Squier

Note that you used the words "professional photographer". Action photo's photos could have been taken by a 10 year old... nothing special. I would be more than happy to pay for a good quality photo (like the Epic photos) but R50 for these photos are ridiculous.

You're kidding, right? You don't have to print, just take it and upload it. Its nothing special, its just a normal unedited photo. R50 is steep.

Ok, on het n google maps file gekry. n vriend het n Garmin Edge 305. Enieg manier om die file op die 305 te kry?

29er Dual Sus gets my vote. Nothing compares on the rocky stuff, whether it's an uphill or a downhill. Goes like hell when you put the hammer down and so comfortable that you can spend hours in the saddle. Love my bike!

Sal so maak! Sodra ons die roete kry... Anyone?

Anyone? Please...

I know I said this last year and I was wrong but especially after stage 16 I cannot see Andy competing for the win at the Tour. Contador's TT this week was sublime. Yes, I know the Tour won't have a mountain time trial but still. He is just a cut above. Even if Andy sticks to him on the climbs the difference will be the TT. I can't see Andy (or anyone) breaking Contador on a climb. Still, 6 weeks seems like adequate time to recover IMO but then again I don't know anything about recovery between grand tours. We'll only really know whether he recovered adequately in the third week of the Tour. I know that Contador is in a league of his own but I Nibali was very dissapointing so far IMO. It's almost as if he just didn't care to follow Contador on his attacks. I expected some better form. Still, exciting and gruelling racing so far. I really enjoyed the Contador show! EDIT: Here I go rambling on about the Giro on the ATOC thread... sorry, wasn't paying attention. Anyway, Horner said after the race he will climb with anyone in the world. I wonder if he's been watching the Giro... Yes, the Radioshack boys are good enough to sit in the front bunch on the big climbs but I don't see them competing with Contador and Schleck on the big climbs. I'm hoping Horner and Levi would compete. Realistically though, I doubt it.

I'm still looking for a garmin file or something with clear directions for this route. Any help would be appreciated.

That's the point... If Tyler came clean without dragging LA into it everyone would've already forgotten about it and continued with their lives. However, I strongly doubt that he would've been able to sell his story to 60 minutes if LA was not mentioned. So there goes the cash benefit... I'm all for respecting a guy that comes clean and owns up but doing it whilst dragging other people down is not admirable... especially when you get financial benefit by doing so.

If you're only doing 35km races I wouldn't worry too much about heart rate. If you are relatively fit you're body will be able to sustain a high heart rate for the entire race. I've done a 35km race where I averaged at 185bpm, which is about 95%. For longer rides you need to start keeping your heart in check. On a +- 70km ride I average between 70% and 75%. At the end of the day there's nothing wrong with a high heart rate, as long as your body can sustain it, IMO.

No one comes clean without a motive. The motive being, in most cases, money. It's funny how it's only the people that blew all their (and the public's) money on appeals that come clean. Sure, everyone fell for the "I believe Tyler" campaign... Are we really taking him seriously again?

When I replaced mine I was told by the Polar agents that it's needs to go in the wash once a week and that the trasnmitter needs to be disconnected from the belt when not in use to maximise its lifetime.

I haven't heard anything bad about hte Momsen. Looks like good value. Though I'm always sceptical when it comes to Aliviio components. Also, the weight on the website is without clipless pedals and bottle cages. You'll be surprised how much pedals weigh... The weight won't kill you though. For once a week riding I don't think you'll really need more than this. Have a look in the new Bicycling mag. They have an article comparing a bunch of 29er hardtails.

Take the Anthem out for a test ride. We're all bias, so I wouldn't trust the hub answer. Only once you get to the technical stuff you'll know. You surely can't make this decision without riding the bike. I'm loving my dual sus 29er but I went from a 26" HT to a 29er DS, so our situations are not even close to being comparable.

Geez, that sounds like an awewome trip! We were there over the same time. I was little concerned anout riding on those roads. Even though they are very quiet, they are quite narrow. But I guess people are much more consciences of cyclists over there. I'm guessing you didn't have any issues though?

Ok, as promised, here’s the dillio on MTB’ing @ Gariep dam... I was blown away! There is so much riding to be done and the scenery is out of this world! Firstly, the entire area around the dam is a nature reserve. You’ll find the turn off to the Nature Reserve just after the Shell Garage as you head into town. There is a large sign. The entrance is +-3km from the turn off. To get there you’ll have to ride through the coloured community where you’ll be greeted by hordes of small children running from their homes waving their arms and yelling “More fietsryer”. It’s perfectly safe and quite an awesome reception. This road takes you through some rolling hills right by the water’s edge to the Gariep Dam Nature Reserve. Entrance to cyclists is free but entrance per car is R50. If you stay on the main road (mainly jeep track) you’ll do a +- 30km loop if you rode from town, however, there are many smaller roads that you can take from the main road. Some are dead ends and others loop back to the main road, however, all of them leading to another piece of stunning scenery. The one that we missed is the road heading in the direction of Bethulie. That road should take you to the other side of the dam and add some distance. Springbok, Kwagga, Black wildebeest, Kudu and Red hartebeest being the order of the day. We even spotted an Aardwolf but unfortunately missed out on Oryx. The Mrs and a Springbok The rolling hills Secondly, if you take the R701 (the road coming from the N1) there is a dirt road turn off just before you cross the bridge on the Orange River. There is a sign that says Waschbank Game Reserve. You can do some riding in the reserve. To be honest, we didn’t even get to ride here but I believe that you can. There is a split in the road before you get to the Waschbank restaurant and chalets. However, I would suggest stopping at the restaurant to get some directions first. Make sure to stop there again after your ride to have a drink on their deck on the bank on the river. Stunning views! The deck @ Waschbank Thirdly, follow the R701 all the way back towards the N1. About a km after you’ve crossed the highway you’ll reach a T-junction with a dirt road. This is the Donkerpoort road. If you turn right here you’ll have +-50kms of dirt road in front of you snaking through breathtaking Karoo farms. There are no massive climbs but you’ll soon realise that the Karoo isn’t all flat. You’ll later get to a T-junction. This is a tar road. Turning left takes you to Colesberg, +-40km, and turning right to Philoppolis (less than 10kms). Philoppolis is the oldest settlement in the Free State and worth a visit. The tar road section is not busy at all but very narrow with a narrow shoulder as well, so keep your eyes open. If you turn left towards Colesberg you’ll find another Donkerpoort road on your left (completely unsure how far but let’s call it more or less halfway between where you turned left and Colesberg). If you take this road you’ll end up back where you started, i.e. the first T-junction that I spoke of earlier in this paragraph. There are some farm gates on this road that you have to open to go through. I don’t know how long this road is as we didn’t ride it all the way through. Wide open spaces of the Karoo Lastly, if you ride through Norvalspont you’ll get to the R58. Turn right (towards Colesberg). +- 20 – 30kms down the road there is a dirt road on your left with a sign saying “Agtertang side road”. This service road intersects Gary Player’s farm. Take a GPS to get back or go the way you came. Either way, you just rode on Gary Player’s farm!

Yup, heard the same thing of a number of other riders as well. Keep in mind they weigh less than an anorexic 12 year old...

Some really awesome shots! Give us some more!!

Thanks dirt-rider!

I haven't done the XC track at fountains for a while but was at Groenkloof over the weekend. I rode to the gate at fountains just to cool down and saw a new bridge that was built right by the gate coming down from the right. A pretty big bridge. Is that part of the track now? Where does it come from?

+1

Sounds awesome! Would like to join you later in the year, just first need to get myself to 100kms. Not quite there yet. Which direction to you head, Cullinan, Bronkies, etc?

Saturdays I'm assuming? Going where? How many kms?

Groenkloof Nature Reserve - best riding around. Start a group ride thread on the hub when you wanna go. You'll definitely find someone willing to show you around. All the trails are well marked anyway, so even if you go by yourself you'll be fine.

My new machine...