Windbreaker

You jest ... right?? So maybe we need to develop some sort of sms system for cars that are approaching a road regularly used by cyclists instead of signs. Mmm something is amiss. And if the sign says yield to cyclists and you don't then you get to be punished.

But I can tell you exactly what the speed limit is on the majority of all the roads that I drive/cycle on regularly. If you don't take notice of road signs (forget the information stuff) then you should not have a licence. There is a difference between the info signs and warning signs. If I see a sign that says horses/pedestrians/schoolchildren ahead then I do make a point of being on the lookout for them.

I agree that CSA should be doing more in this regard. I must however congratulate the PPA in the Cape. Looks like their quiet background discussions with the Gordons Bay Municipality worked. I noticed this morning that the Rooi Els road (which at one point was on the verge of being closed to cyclists) now has "Bicycle signs" displayed at certain points. Not sure what they mean ("yield to cyclists"?? - triangle with bicycle in it). But at least they are drawing attention to the fact that cyclists are present.

I agree but I'm not sure that I have ever seen someone towing a trailer take out another heavy vehicle (except in parking lots etc) but I now know of 4 trailer/cyclist incidents in the Western Cape in the last 3 months.

This posting is not to raise yet another debate on the subject. It has all been said on this forum BUT I implore every one of you to do your little bit with "non-cycling road users". If anyone you know drives a motor vehice in the yellow line, make a point of informing them how dangerous this is for cyclists. If they must then ask them to do so only for the time that it takes to be passed AND only if they can be sure that there are no cyclists ahead. On the Kleinmond-Hangklip road this morning there was another cyclist hit from behind. He was cycling well within the yellow line (2m plus wide) and from what we could ascertain the motorist, in his angst to be a "polite motorist" got too close and took the cyclist out with his trailer. Fortunately he lives to ride another day but not for a long time to come with at least a broken leg to show for the encounter. Guys & Girls even (especially) when riding in a wide yellow line "lane" keep as far left as you can! And spread the message that passing a cyclist with less than 1.5m gap is literally playing with their lives.

Drugs work just fine for him!

Except that they don't subscribe to this forum so it is "falling on deaf ears" unless you bring it to their attention in manner which will at least have a chance of getting them to consider your point of view.

I agree that it is out of place and inappropriate. But I do think that Maas should be made aware of every tragedy like this on the basis that his article was completely insensitive to relatives and friends of anyone who has ever been killed or badly hurt in a motorist/cyclist accident.

Grapkas I have completely missed the reasoning behind your posting. You might not have noticed from my past postings that I take cyclist safety very seriously and I believe that the only way forward in South Africa is to raise the awareness of motorists to what cyclists face (and to try to get a better general tolerance of everyone as road users). So nothing that I will ever post will detract from, or be flippant about, the tragedy of cyclists being knocked down. The point I was making is that although it might be illegal for motorists to use the yellow line I don't think that the cycling community can try to campaign for the enforcement of that rule - unless the authorities change the law to allow cyclists to use the yellow line exclusively. What I meant by "So ..." was along the lines of "so ... what do you do???"

Yes, but if I'm not mistaken then that rule applies to cyclists too. So ...

Yes you are. The only roads which are restricted are freeways & highways and are always properly signed.

So was I . mmm ... seem to have misplaced my spoon.

Lance came 1st 7 times and his talent is really rare ...

Nope, iBike would measure the combined power for both riders and even if that was the goal is still not a good solution as it would require calibration for each different rider combo. The Polar would be measuring from the timing chain so the triple chainring thing is not an issue.

Interesting one this - Adrian and I discussed it recently - the problem is that due to the two riders and the timing chain it is tough or even impossible to get a direct accurate reading of both riders power. If you put an ergomo or an SRM at both cranks then the front one would read accurateley for the front rider but the rear one would read the power for both front and back combined - so you would need to subtract front power from back power reading to get a figure for the stoker. Same issues I would imagine with any device due to the different loads through the front and back cranks via the timing chain. I would just estimate TSS for the tandem rides based on a hard L3 ride for that duration. I'm only interested in the front riders power. I can probably get my hands on a Polar to test if it is feasible.

I've got plans to do quite a bit of tandem riding in the coming months but this threatens to disrupt my training program (even more) in that I will have no data for the tandem rides. So I've been thinking ... . The Polar Power sensor theoretically could work on the timing chain. I'd have to make up ugly brackets again including one for the chain speed sensor which usually fits to the rear derailleur. But I guesss that should be more accurate than a normal installation as it doesn't have the cassette / chainring combinations to deal with. And the ErgoMeter could also be used I guess? Anyone see any problems with either option before I start sensitising my wife to the prospect of spending more money on "toys".

I've actually learned to enjoy some of the humour from Big H so it has little to do "with mine is ..." (excuse the pun).