Willie Smit

[Vetplant]

Just saw this on his Insta

 

[babse]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:44 PM, FootballingCyclist said:

We currently also have Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg without a team at all. Heard nothing on Nics side so looks like he will be riding for the Qhubekha Conti team, Marc Pritzen who is the current SA Road Champ has signed for Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling who are also local and are based up in JHB, So alot of SA boys starting 2022 off from "scratch" if I can put it that way.

 

I tell you what though, I believe SA's this year is going to be insane and super to watch as there are ALOT of hungry riders who "need" that title or even more who want it.

Isn't SA's in the middle of nowhere again? Coverage will be non existence as per norm... 

[TNT1]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:44 PM, FootballingCyclist said:

We currently also have Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg without a team at all. Heard nothing on Nics side so looks like he will be riding for the Qhubekha Conti team, Marc Pritzen who is the current SA Road Champ has signed for Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling who are also local and are based up in JHB, So alot of SA boys starting 2022 off from "scratch" if I can put it that way.

 

I tell you what though, I believe SA's this year is going to be insane and super to watch as there are ALOT of hungry riders who "need" that title or even more who want it.

Locally we call them team moneycomb. 

[FootballingCyclist]

10 hours ago, babse said:

Isn't SA's in the middle of nowhere again? Coverage will be non existence as per norm... 

LOL yeah it is in the middle of nowhere but in terms of live streaming it's going to be super (so they say), No TV coverage obviously. CSA don't have money to host SA's so Honeycomb are funding this event in agreement with CSA, and by the looks of things, following their social media etc, They might just be able to pull off a fantastic event. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by FootballingCyclist

[babse]

55 minutes ago, FootballingCyclist said:

LOL yeah it is in the middle of nowhere but in terms of live streaming it's going to be super (so they say), No TV coverage obviously. CSA don't have money to host SA's so Honeycomb are funding this event in agreement with CSA, and by the looks of things, following their social media etc, They might just be able to pull off a fantastic event. 

Yeah look forward to it in that case... as mentioned above I'm sure "Moneycomb" will get the right people involved to ensure decent coverage.

[FootballingCyclist]

11 minutes ago, babse said:

Yeah look forward to it in that case... as mentioned above I'm sure "Moneycomb" will get the right people involved to ensure decent coverage.

Yeah it's what happens when you get people who actually ride and have a passion for cycling involved.

[Jewbacca]

Mpumalanga in Feb! Those roads in that climate is going to be a proper test.

Awesome

Graskop is what? at most a 4 hour drive from Joburg and an hour from Mbombela/Nelspruit? So it's 'in the middle of nowhere' but also not massively inaccessible.

It's like having it in Paarl via Cape Town if you fly to Mbombela directly.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Jewbacca

[bleedToWin]

41 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

It's like having it in Paarl via Cape Town if you fly to Mbombela directly.

Except that flights and car rental to CPT is much cheaper than MBombela, and cheap accommodation in and around Paarl is plentiful...

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, bleedToWin said:

Except that flights and car rental to CPT is much cheaper than MBombela, and cheap accommodation in and around Paarl is plentiful...

Plenty of cheap, awesome accommodation around Merry Pebbles/Graskop area. 

That's why I mentioned flying to Joburg and going from there. It's an easy drive and it's cheap as chips to and from joeys

[Danger Dassie]

On 1/12/2022 at 10:27 AM, bleedToWin said:

Except that flights and car rental to CPT is much cheaper than MBombela, and cheap accommodation in and around Paarl is plentiful...

They're pretty much on par, in fact I'd say the less touristy MBombela region has cheaper accomodation options than Paarl. Everyone has to travel at some point, last year it was Swellendam in the Western Cape. Which was quite a trip for Gauteng and beyond. 

[agilwolf]

On 1/12/2022 at 10:33 AM, Jewbacca said:

Plenty of cheap, awesome accommodation around Merry Pebbles/Graskop area. 

That's why I mentioned flying to Joburg and going from there. It's an easy drive and it's cheap as chips to and from joeys

Just be careful on the road after you turn of the N4; if you do take the route via Belfast and Dullstroom; tyres get destroyed.

[warick_wrx]

43 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:

They're pretty much on par, in fact I'd say the less touristy MBombela region has cheaper accomodation options than Paarl. Everyone has to travel at some point, last year it was Swellendam in the Western Cape. Which was quite a trip for Gauteng and beyond. 

Fair enough. If I amm not mistaken year before last it was almost in the same area. In an ideal world the location should change yearly from province to province. This discussion should be under a different topic ! 

[J Wakefield]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:11 PM, FootballingCyclist said:

Willie and his wife own(well atleast I think so watching his Vlogs) a coffee shop in Spain where he was based if I'm not mistaken, But yes unless earning a proper salary, life gets very tough in Europe as the Rand against the Euro stands no chance and no pro or aspiring pro cyclist wants to be living off the very bare minimum then still has to be 100% focused on training daily, correct on and off the bike nutrition and supplements etc. I know a few guys who were in Europe then had to try and sell their bikes and bits they had in SA to fund themselves whist they were still there.

When I left SA for spain my monthly living costs went down a hand of figures and my quality of life went up. 

not all of Europe is expensive vs the rand. 

[Duane_Bosch]

1 hour ago, J Wakefield said:

When I left SA for spain my monthly living costs went down a hand of figures and my quality of life went up. 

not all of Europe is expensive vs the rand. 

I maintain that if you stay away from the bars and the restaurants feeding yourself in Europe is cheaper than here. That's certainly been my experience.

[J Wakefield]

4 minutes ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I maintain that if you stay away from the bars and the restaurants feeding yourself in Europe is cheaper than here. That's certainly been my experience.

Correct. for R2000 you get a whole lot more in your packet when leaving a pick n pay than in SA. the exchange rate is alot but the living costs aren't dependant on where you are.

[eala]

5 hours ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I maintain that if you stay away from the bars and the restaurants feeding yourself in Europe is cheaper than here. That's certainly been my experience.

 

5 hours ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I maintain that if you stay away from the bars and the restaurants feeding yourself in Europe is cheaper than here. That's certainly been my experience.

I agree