butafly

no wonder i had to pay for a day license for the Knysna and 94.7 eventhough i am a fully licensed rider and then i couldn't find the WP on the drop down menu. when i queried it with the organisers they hupped bubbles. can someone explain the following : who in the PPA/CSA hierarchy decided that if you want to enter a classic and you are from the Western Province you have to select the PPA as your province. i had the same problem with the 94.7 and the Argus - no WP in the drop down menu. so the organisers/PPA assume that if you are a licensed cyclist from the Western Cape you are a PPA member, it doesn't recognise the existance of the Western Province or its clubs. this is the height of arrogance.

if we could get one cycling organisation in the WP like the rest of the country then that would be great. PPA carry on as if the clubs/wpca/csa/licensed riders don't exist. they ignore events like SA champs/csa races/wp champs/track events and organise their events regardless of the national calender. they are like a bully.

when i entered the 94.7 , the western province wasn't on the drop down list??? only the ppa.

Read his book - couldn't put it down. he got no help or sponsorship from the cycling industry in SA when he started out, he had to buy his own bike, spares etc. can't remember the suppliers who were so unhelpful.

what i meant was , the elements like wind and rain wont affect my decision to ride mtb whereas with "road" if its raining i stay at home.

track, bmx, mtb don't diss it until you've tried it. they all require different bike skills and will contribute something to your road cycling. Road - nothing better than a smooth piece of tar and cruising at 40 kph+ in a pace line, track - the exhilaration of coming out of someones slip and hammering down the home straight and then flying up the banking, Mtb - is just fun, single track is lekker, its not affected by the elements (who cares if its raining, muddy and windy), i personally don't like the constant jarring of my bones for hours on end (see road and smoothe surfaces. too old for BMX so i cant comment

i agree the price of entry fees are still reasonable in CT. but let see what the increase will be come Spring season. my complaint is the fixed cost a cyclist must pay to ride as a licensed club member in the ppa league. ppa have also expanded the criteria to ride league ie a - f seeded riders qualify as opposed to a - c seeded riders of a year or so ago. have the ppa now realised that "leagues" are income generating without having an additional expense attached

no , its quite up to date , De Graafs Estate is built up as well as the beach on the perde eiland side of the lagoon mouth which only happened a few years ago.

take this for example: if you are a licensed cyclist belonging to a club and want to ride PPA League events it will cost you ?R2 000 for the year before you have sat your bum down on your bike. PPA member ? R200 (can't remember the exact fees) Club member ? R200 (are there clubs that charge less?)<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> CSA license ? R150 League numbers & entry ? R600 (12 months / 12 events and that is if it hasn't increased lately) Race entry fee - R80 x 12 = R960 (average entry fee) my 2 cents - why are we the only region where there are 2 cycling bodies running the sport iow ppa /club membership/ CSA license / League fee are all duplications of each other. What does the R600 league entry fee get you ? a race number and frame number?

its a sport when YOU pay to play but when you get paid to play/ride/hit then its your job. even the wannabe pro's down here in CT get fined by their sponsors if they don't train in their correct kit and the bike hasn't been cleaned. so when u race over the line first zip up and at least have pride in your appearance.

of course a team mate or two will help , one goes on the break and the others block the chasers

W E's group goes out tonite.

road or gravel???

why did they hit the panic button?

name & shame. what kit were they riding in.

i'm not . i attended a lecture by Prof Tim Noakes, he had all the performances plotted out on a graph. the USA were the best in all the games leading up to 1968 and then the E Germans came and matched them and even overtook them in subsequent Olympics. this proven by the number of top usa athletes busted in the Balco affair.

The Yanks at the Olympics wrt medals were always the best but were only matched in the late 60's and 70's by the Soviet Union and East Germany (when they competed as the USSR and E Germany who had a doping program). so we can assume that the Yanks were attaining those results because of doping, the USSR and the E G just caught up with them. funny how the performances of the East Eurpoeans went down once the Wall came down in the late 90's. now you have the Aussies and the Chinese (and they have a doping program) matching the Yanks.

my 2c don't worry about distance. time in the saddle at a speed that will get to the finish in 7 hours. start with back to back 2 hour rides every weekend in Aug and then take it from there. suggest you ride a lot with your team. the route is probally the easiest DC route of all. the two big climbs are in the 1st 60 k's BUT the hardest part is the last 30k's with 3 drags of ?2.5 k's. so from mid Oct when you are doing your 1st 130+ ride finish off with a big climb.

anyone have an opinion on Neutipure's Supplements for Life?

agree, leave the bike as whole as possible. went to Europe. CT - Jhb - Rome - Marseille. and then back. i just bubble wrapped the tubing. unscrewed the derailleur and turned the handle bars square and taped it onto the top tube. at checkin the staff came and fetched the bike and wheeled away to be loaded. first in and first out (bike was always the 1st item onto the rotissary).

will do it for the 1st time. got a bit of a skrik when i saw the entry fee but what the hell, you only live once.

one bunch was riding down a hill. in the bunch riding up the hill to the turn there was a fall and the rider that fell, fell into the right (wrong) side of the road. took out this oke head-on. it was a sickening thud and snapping of carbon. about four riders couldn't carry on riding as their bikes and bodies were broken.