Western Cape enduro is back!

[Robbie Stewart]

8 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Under biked...... I introduce the 140mm 650b Hardtail which did many many full run duty from the top drop to rock drops/rolls to step up.....

This is not the way to sell me on riding the Plumber. 

I have to convince myself I don't have the right gear [Specialized Camber Comp 29 with 120mm RS Revelation fork], otherwise I have to face facts and admit I'm just a pissy when it comes to that particular line.

Nice pic though, from this angle that line looks plenty doable. But I've watched Myles Kelsey's course preview, and all that shaking his GoPro was doing made me think twice before considering it. And his comment at the bottom about him needing to go look for new underwear didn't help either.

I'm building up the nerve to attempt Iron Monkey from the top, but Plumber I'll first let it grow on me some more.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Robbie Stewart
bike inserted

[MORNE]

2 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

This is not the way to sell me on riding the Plumber. 

I have to convince myself I don't have the right gear [Specialized Camber Comp 29 with 120mm RS Revelation fork], otherwise I have to face facts and admit I'm just a pissy when it comes to that particular line.

Nice pic though, from this angle that line looks plenty doable. But I've watched Myles Kelsey's course preview, and all that shaking his GoPro was doing made me think twice before considering it. And his comment at the bottom about him needing to go look for new underwear didn't help either.

I'm building up the nerve to attempt Iron Monkey from the top, but Plumber I'll first let it grow on me some more.

Not to mention he was also basically like “glad that's over, sketchy AF” lol, not very inspiring to a blind noob.

[MORNE]

@Rock Guy

gaan jy kom? 😅

[RiverInTheRoad]

5 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

This is not the way to sell me on riding the Plumber. 

I have to convince myself I don't have the right gear [Specialized Camber Comp 29 with 120mm RS Revelation fork], otherwise I have to face facts and admit I'm just a pissy when it comes to that particular line.

Nice pic though, from this angle that line looks plenty doable. But I've watched Myles Kelsey's course preview, and all that shaking his GoPro was doing made me think twice before considering it. And his comment at the bottom about him needing to go look for new underwear didn't help either.

I'm building up the nerve to attempt Iron Monkey from the top, but Plumber I'll first let it grow on me some more.

Don't think too much about it. You are going very slow mostly on Plumber, so it is actually not that dangerous. You can also walk down the dodgy stuff easily.

You have a much higher chance of getting hurt on Red Phoenix.

Try raising your handlebars a spacer or 2. Gives a huge confidence boost on steep terrain.

[Rock Guy]

2 hours ago, MORNE said:

@Rock Guy

gaan jy kom? 😅

Dis die plan ja. Ek smeld egter in die reen.

We had a very nice scouting ride on Saturday in Jonkers. If it doesn't actually rain on the day and we don't have a monsoon during the week somewhere, the trails are going to be amazing.

[MORNE]

petition to move the event, really want to do it but it's going to wash out for sure at this rate. More entry fees down the toilet lol.

rain hitting  Thursday and friday so it's going to be a slopfest already, slight reprieve on saturday ...then more rain for sunday, monday, tuesday 

im over this 'weekend only rain' in the WC this year. where the F is spring?

😔

[PhilipV]

1 hour ago, MORNE said:

petition to move the event, really want to do it but it's going to wash out for sure at this rate. More entry fees down the toilet lol.

rain hitting  Thursday and friday so it's going to be a slopfest already, slight reprieve on saturday ...then more rain for sunday, monday, tuesday 

im over this 'weekend only rain' in the WC this year. where the F is spring?

😔

It's only 6mm of rain on Thursday, and 4mm on Sunday morning. 

Not that much. 

 

[Meezo]

Was actually thinking of going to Recce Thursday... Theresa goes that idea

[Robbie Stewart]

1 hour ago, MORNE said:

petition to move the event, really want to do it but it's going to wash out for sure at this rate. More entry fees down the toilet lol.

rain hitting  Thursday and friday so it's going to be a slopfest already, slight reprieve on saturday ...then more rain for sunday, monday, tuesday 

im over this 'weekend only rain' in the WC this year. where the F is spring?

😔

I dunno hey. There's been plenty of rain in that part of the world over the last couple of weeks, and I've ridden there every weekend since early August. I can honestly say I did not experience any sloppy mud. For sure, the trails get lekker slippy, but they are very hard packed at the moment. The only "loose" trail that will generate mud is DH3 as it's very powdery. 

[MORNE]

33 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

It's only 6mm of rain on Thursday, and 4mm on Sunday morning. 

Not that much. 

 

Our understanding of what 6mm of rain in a few hours looks like differs greatly obviously 😅. Around the pot was also only predicted to be 1-2mm over a few hours. Look how that turned out.

its not a monsoon, but it is defo not only just a light drizzle 😁

Edited September 20, 2022 by MORNE

[RiverInTheRoad]

2 hours ago, MORNE said:

petition to move the event, really want to do it but it's going to wash out for sure at this rate. More entry fees down the toilet lol.

rain hitting  Thursday and friday so it's going to be a slopfest already, slight reprieve on saturday ...then more rain for sunday, monday, tuesday 

im over this 'weekend only rain' in the WC this year. where the F is spring?

😔

What we really should be worried about is wind, much more crap than rain.

[Robbie Stewart]

33 minutes ago, RiverInTheRoad said:

What we really should be worried about is wind, much more crap than rain.

☝️this

Windy.com thinks so far there will be a sustained NW wind of around ~22kph, gusting up to around ~55kph

Sure, the NW wind in that valley is mostly over the right shoulder from the back, but still. Wind has sent me to the ER before.

[MORNE]

33 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said:

☝️this

Windy.com thinks so far there will be a sustained NW wind of around ~22kph, gusting up to around ~55kph

Sure, the NW wind in that valley is mostly over the right shoulder from the back, but still. Wind has sent me to the ER before.

Yup, that will suck especially for us(read me) blind noobs and in those spots where there are seemingly steep drops to the side of relatively open trails haha. 
 

but im still hoping the weather system in question moves on just 1 day.  We just need like 12h even🤣

[Bos]

On 9/19/2022 at 10:27 AM, Meezo said:

This weekend's (Saturday) weather was near perfect. Couldn't of asked for better.

As per Philip and Jewbecca i think plumber in the rain is going to be mayhem... Wouldn't want to be on the organisation team if that is the case

In fact it maybe easier just to run down plumber... 

 

On 9/19/2022 at 11:18 AM, Robbie Stewart said:

I hit the DH line on Saturday and I loved every second of it. For sure, I b-lined those massive gaps, but the rest was great. What a line.

 

Can you people stop practicing ! 😁 The trails are pretty blown out.

I rode my last recce yesterday, as some of us have a day job and kids!

Plumber is pretty blown out. The dirt around the rocks are now even less, so nothing to drag onto the rocks if It rained And for the life of me I keep dabbing around the tight left hander just after the fast straight bit on the second section. I know its coming up, but then I'm kind of surprised at the gradient, and the last resort is to lock the back and try skid the back wheel but then my foot is out before the next steep shoot.. Maybe Sundays my lucky day. 

I am definitely able to hit the straights faster than before, but one pays for it in fatigue, and Im not sure If I'd be better off slowing it down a bit going into that section.. anyway, Ive ridden it twice before the race and that's about all the time I'm going to get, Should have stopped there and walked back up yesterday.

 

@Robbie Stewart I also rode the DH track the first time last weekend and was surprised at the fun factor, and then we are not even racing the last bit which also has plenty of jumps. It sure is fast. It felt like I flew down there, the top bit came and went really quickly, the 2nd part so much fun. I hit some of the doubles and by the time I was headed down that steep shoot by the end I was seeing double from the G-Forces. 

I'm very keen for the first 3 stages. Iron Monkey is going to be a battle to bleed least time on the lower two sections as they require lots of pedaling out of the turns and body-English to go fast. 

Main take away from yesterday was to fit a 30T chainring up front, as I suspect we will do that bugger of a climb up the back of Plumber at least twice.

[Robbie Stewart]

38 minutes ago, Bos said:

 I also rode the DH track the first time last weekend and was surprised at the fun factor, and then we are not even racing the last bit which also has plenty of jumps. It sure is fast. It felt like I flew down there, the top bit came and went really quickly, the 2nd part so much fun. I hit some of the doubles and by the time I was headed down that steep shoot by the end I was seeing double from the G-Forces. 

I rode the entire line ultimately. It was super fun. I am definitely going to go spend a day there on that line alone. And that last section was awesome. I had so much speed coming down that I cleared the first few tables that are rather huge, and I was totally blown away. I never thought I could clear such a large jump before. Doing it sans proper brakes kept me off the doubles though.

Suddenly Hoogies Hammer is a bit meh.

[Hairy]

7 hours ago, MORNE said:

petition to move the event, really want to do it but it's going to wash out for sure at this rate. More entry fees down the toilet lol.

rain hitting  Thursday and friday so it's going to be a slopfest already, slight reprieve on saturday ...then more rain for sunday, monday, tuesday 

im over this 'weekend only rain' in the WC this year. where the F is spring?

😔

stop being such a roadie, and just don't wear your white shoes.