DJR Posted February 11, 2018 Share Rhodes to Constantia Neck with team Beattbox. Yes, it was a day for punctures and shifting problems, but the weather, view and a perfectly timed breakfast made it all worth the effort! Reme Le Hane, Bloukrans, Lurch the stalker and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted February 11, 2018 Share Had a short recovery ride on Friday Rest day on Saturday This morning 6:45 it was me and Meerendal, more specifically me and Dorstberg .... Nice relaxed start past the vineyards, then up along the new switchback route next to the road. Took a moment to take a pic of a group of riders on the upper dam wall - The two hills along the top fence, Mineshaft, and then Stariway-to-heaven to loosen up the legs for what was coming. Was most interesting doing the Stairway-to-heaven so early, still in the shadows, but looking straight into the sun on those switchbacks ...... tricky to stay on those narrows trails with the sun IN your eyes. A group ahead of me - Time to take a seat, and build up the courage for Dorstberg ..... the aim was to get to the cut-back with only one stop along that steep climb ..... Taking photos is a very handy excuse to rest a bit longer ..... From the top of the Stariway-to-heaven - Okay, no more delays .... along the contour line and tackle the CLIMB .... about 50m in almost stopped .... I hung in there and tried my best to get to the "turn", to have a halfway stop to the cut-back point. Dug in and kept on peddeling .... Imagine my utter joy when I made it to the cut-back point without a single stop !! Yes, I was gasping for breath .... who cares !! I made it that far without stopping !! I had a bite of my energy bar, and some water. A lady comes up that steep hill, I believe the PC term is she is a "vet rider" ..... She encourages me and says "One step at a time" ..... NO ! No walking today !! Rather one "peddle stroke" at a time. But somehow this encouragement gets me to the point where I want to try and go up another few hundred meters ..... not even considering the option of reaching the top, but I want to see just how far I can cycle up there. Some 200m further I stop to take a couple photos. Surprisingly still "okay", but now the loose rocks are waiting - After a short break I proceed up these loose rocks .... one pedal stroke at a time ..... then a worse section of loose rocks .... after this section I am knackered !!!! Gasping for breath !! I have far exceeded my goal for the day, ready to call it a day and lift the bike over onto the downhill track .... But first another bite of the energy bar and some more water, walking in circles as my heart rate slowly recovers .... And then it happens - the same "elderly lady" comes DOWN the route, not down the single track, down the trail I am struggling to conquer ... She stops and we a have brief conversation. She uses this hill to practice her hill climbing, and is just quickly going down for another run ... She encourages me, and tells me "just one more" section then it levels out. Dankie tannie. And so I give it my all and continue, taking 2 or 3 tries to get started up the hill .... but NO walking today ! Probably did another 150m before I was gasping for air, and stopped yet again. Now CLOSE to the top. I watched a couple walking up, and got back on the bike .... to realise I had stopped about 25m short of the top. Whhoppaaaa !!!!!!! What a view - Time for some reflection .... YES, I stopped many times. Yes, an "ou tannie" passed me, went down and did another run of Dorstberg ... RESPECT ! But there were also many others that stopped along this climb, and a fair number that walked up. Truly a bucket list item, for me - I CYCLED up Dorstberg, without walking, no ebike. Next step is to repeat this with less and less stops ..... now that I KNOW I can do it. And then it was time for the rest of the Meerendal route, the Eastern part of the trail and the section along the lower dam wall. Can add that the little climb from the dam wall towards the tar road has never seemed so steep .... Along this section I rode next to an elderly gentleman, 72 years old. He had a knee replacement 6 months back. Respect !! Edited February 11, 2018 by ChrisF Bloukrans, Rouxenator, BSG and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSG Posted February 11, 2018 Share Had a short recovery ride on Friday Rest day on Saturday This morning 6:45 it was me and Meerendal, more specifically me and Dorstberg .... Nice relaxed start past the vineyards, then up along the new switchback route next to the road. Took a moment to take a pic of a group of riders on the upper dam wall - Dorstberg-1 (Large).jpg The two hills along the top fence, Mineshaft, and then Stariway-to-heaven to loosen up the legs for what was coming. Was most interesting doing the Stairway-to-heaven so early, still in the shadows, but looking straight into the sun on those switchbacks ...... tricky to stay on those narrows trails with the sun IN your eyes. A group ahead of me - Dorstberg-4 (Large).jpg Time to take a seat, and build up the courage for Dorstberg ..... the aim was to get to the cut-back with only one stop along that steep climb ..... Taking photos is a very handy excuse to rest a bit longer [emoji317] ..... From the top of the Stariway-to-heaven - Dorstberg-5 (Large).jpg Okay, no more delays .... along the contour line and tackle the CLIMB .... about 50m in almost stopped .... I hung in there and tried my best to get to the "turn", to have a halfway stop to the cut-back point. Dug in and kept on peddeling .... Imagine my utter joy when I made it to the cut-back point without a single stop !! Yes, I was gasping for breath .... who cares !! I made it that far without stopping !! I had a bite of my energy bar, and some water. A lady comes up that steep hill, I believe the PC term is she is a "vet rider" ..... She encourages me and says "One step at a time" ..... NO ! No walking today !! Rather one "peddle stroke" at a time. But somehow this encouragement gets me to the point where I want to try and go up another few hundred meters ..... not even considering the option of reaching the top, but I want to see just how far I can cycle up there. Some 200m further I stop to take a couple photos. Surprisingly still "okay", but now the loose rocks are waiting - Dorstberg-7 (Large).jpg Dorstberg-10 (Large).jpg After a short break I proceed up these loose rocks .... one pedal stroke at a time ..... then a worse section of loose rocks .... after this section I am knackered !!!! Gasping for breath !! I have far exceeded my goal for the day, ready to call it a day and lift the bike over onto the downhill track .... But first another bite of the energy bar and some more water, walking in circles as my heart rate slowly recovers .... And then it happens - the same "elderly lady" comes DOWN the route, not down the single track, down the trail I am struggling to conquer ... She stops and we a have brief conversation. She uses this hill to practice her hill climbing, and is just quickly going down for another run ... She encourages me, and tells me "just one more" section then it levels out. Dankie tannie. And so I give it my all and continue, taking 2 or 3 tries to get started up the hill .... but NO walking today ! Probably did another 150m before I was gasping for air, and stopped yet again. Now CLOSE to the top. I watched a couple walking up, and got back on the bike .... to realise I had stopped about 25m short of the top. Whhoppaaaa !!!!!!! Dorstberg-13 (Large).jpg What a view - Dorstberg-21 (Large).jpg Time for some reflection .... YES, I stopped many times. Yes, an "ou tannie" passed me, went down and did another run of Dorstberg ... RESPECT ! [emoji106] But there were also many others that stopped along this climb, and a fair number that walked up. Truly a bucket list item, for me - I CYCLED up Dorstberg, without walking, no ebike. Next step is to repeat this with less and less stops ..... now that I KNOW I can do it. [emoji106] 20180211_122554 (Custom).jpg And then it was time for the rest of the Meerendal route, the Eastern part of the trail and the section along the lower dam wall. Can add that the little climb from the dam wall towards the tar road has never seemed so steep .... [emoji317] Along this section I rode next to an elderly gentleman, 72 years old. He had a knee replacement 6 months back. Respect !!How does the new cassette compare to the one you replaced? Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted February 11, 2018 Share .........Some nice pictures Chris! ChrisF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted February 11, 2018 Share How does the new cassette compare to the one you replaced? Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk Uhm .... replaced a "bit more" than the cassette .... Turns out the old cassette was perfect. It was a wheel bearing that collapsed ... , then the freehub had to be re-shimmed to get it to work properly, then the front chain rings needed replacement (the chain is not stretched, but climbs on the chain rings..) Let's just I have a newly serviced set of rims for sale. Louise at Knipe_Racing did his magic and replaced a "few goodies" for me -- new set of RacePace rims- Eagle GX 1x12 set, 10-to-50 teeth at the back, new 28T ring on my existing crank- Shimano flat peddals- new stem Back to the question of "gearing" -I had a 22 to 40 setup, ie a ratio of 0,55.The new setup provides me with 28 to 50, ie a ratio of 0,56. As said by so many in the other thread, going any lower it would become difficult to keep enough speed for stability. Can also add that the 10 to 28 ratio provides a comfortable speed of 35km/h, spinning out at 40km/h. Okay for the terrain where I cycle, actually perfect as it provides the climbing ratio I need. Significantly easier to use the 1x setup on these trails ! Edited February 11, 2018 by ChrisF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertusras Posted February 11, 2018 Share Getting back into it after a few crazy months at work. Spying on behalf of Velo on Saturday And getting back to the coolest spot stripe in Pretoria on Sunday HdB, Lurch the stalker, ChrisF and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchelicious Posted February 11, 2018 Share Went and checked out Richmond Park, going to be my panic training grounds for the next 2 weeks. https://instagram.com/p/BfD9deMhkEB/ https://instagram.com/p/BfEKiaJBja2/ Edited February 11, 2018 by Patchelicious Andrew_Smith, Lurch the stalker, Pikey and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted February 11, 2018 Share Went and checked out Richmond Park, going to be my panic training grounds for the next 2 weeks.https://instagram.com/p/BfD9deMhkEB/https://instagram.com/p/BfEKiaJBja2/Looks a tad fresh there in the big smoke ❄️❄️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchelicious Posted February 11, 2018 Share Looks a tad fresh there in the big smoke ❄️❄️-2 to 8 for whole 2 weeks, luckily mostly dry. But the weirdest thing happened on my 3rd lap, out of the blue some clouds came over, wind picked up and it started “raining”, but the rain hurt! Which was weird, then I noticed my arms covered in ice! WTF was that? Ice was falling from the sky, not hail like we get back home. It was like a sandstorm of fine ice! Lasted 10mins then cleared up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Buttox Posted February 11, 2018 Share -2 to 8 for whole 2 weeks, luckily mostly dry. But the weirdest thing happened on my 3rd lap, out of the blue some clouds came over, wind picked up and it started “raining”, but the rain hurt! Which was weird, then I noticed my arms covered in ice! WTF was that? Ice was falling from the sky, not hail like we get back home. It was like a sandstorm of fine ice! Lasted 10mins then cleared up again.Sleet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patchelicious Posted February 11, 2018 Share Sleet?Are you saying I got sleeted on? Ewww (What is that? It sounds gross) Edited February 11, 2018 by Patchelicious Pikey and Zatopek 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatopek Posted February 12, 2018 Share Are you saying I got sleeted on? Ewww (What is that? It sounds gross)Be on the lookout for Fenton the Labrador as well Rouxenator 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor Buttox Posted February 12, 2018 Share Are you saying I got sleeted on? Ewww (What is that? It sounds gross)Icy rain, squire. Happens often over there as I understand... Probably explains the voting. Patchelicious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted February 12, 2018 Share -2 to 8 for whole 2 weeks, luckily mostly dry. But the weirdest thing happened on my 3rd lap, out of the blue some clouds came over, wind picked up and it started “raining”, but the rain hurt! Which was weird, then I noticed my arms covered in ice! WTF was that? Ice was falling from the sky, not hail like we get back home. It was like a sandstorm of fine ice! Lasted 10mins then cleared up again.Dude that weather just doesn’t sound conducive to enjoyable riding ????....but needs must I suppose ✊️ Patchelicious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anybody seen george? Posted February 12, 2018 Share Meerendal - Yesterday Afternoon:Needed some climbing miles and decided it is the time that us baggy wearing folk go add some brake bumps on the lycra blokes berms! All is fair you know Rampage is a nice descent. But definitely not a "rampage" Edited February 12, 2018 by Mr.GT L.T.G, DJR, Andrew_Smith and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted February 12, 2018 Share Circus / Sbr / Circus on Saturday with trailer Park.Longest road ride since November.But it’s worth the banana bread & coffee ???? Andrew_Smith, BSG, Reme Le Hane and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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