DJR Posted December 20, 2018 Share Chappies midway caffeine injection...WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 14.13.25.jpegI'll need more than coffee to push that gear ratio up Chappies capediver, Zatopek, ChrisF and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capediver Posted December 20, 2018 Share I'll need more than coffee to push that gear ratio up Chappies 48/16....good climbing ratio but run out of gear quickly downhill.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted December 21, 2018 Share Waiting for the chain gang 05h47 Â Â Edited December 21, 2018 by 'Dale Zatopek, fanievb, BenReaper and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatopek Posted December 21, 2018 Share Chappies midway caffeine injection...WhatsApp Image 2018-12-20 at 14.13.25.jpegThis is new?  What side of chappies is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capediver Posted December 21, 2018 Share Noordhoek Village.... Zatopek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted December 21, 2018 Share 6:10 I parked at Bloemendal. This was to be my FIRST ever ride of Upper Bloemies, and the Traverse, also my first ride of the Protea Hotel corridor .... LONG shadows in the very empty parking lot.    But what a beautiful morning !!!  Fine and dandy to plan a route from a "map" .... eary to head out onto a brand new route all on your own. Across the road and follow the boards. And then a sharp left and an impressive little climb. Route is WELL marked and I soon have to decide between right or left .... Traverse is to the right, followed by yet another little climb. And suddenly you realise just how high you have climbed in that first kilometer .... WHAT a nice morning !  The board points to the left, yes another little uphill .... BUT, all the bike tracks comes through the gate straight ahead of me ..... okay, maybe I should follow the tracks .... Uhm, NO !! Patrick actually DID mark the track properly .... and B-Gum forest does not exactly "flow" in reverse ....  Not to worry, this links back to the trail soon enough, and I am heading to the Traverse. The trail is level, even a slight downhill .... okay, seems like a nice contour line to the Traverse .... NO WAY !! Left and UP ! Grab a granny and idle up and up ....  BUT, each up section is just short enough that you actually get to the top before you red-line. Enough contour to catch your breath, lower your heart rate, and then it is time for the granny to work again .... and again ... and again .... Now I am starting to worry ... am I heading to the mast or to the Traverse .... o-well, just keep those pedals turning and lets see ....  Did I mention it was a breathtakingly beautiful morning ? The vineyards .... The animals ....   Gradually more and more people were doing the route, and coming from the front. Had a few nice chats, while taking pics ... not once did I have to stop to recover from these hills, but I simply could not pass up on the repeated photo opportunities - thats my story and I am sticking to it !! From St John Road to De Bron is over all to quick .... Now for the corridor. Back at Bloemendal I had a bit of heat-stroke ... turned UP the hill and headed up to the eskom towers .... Actually surprized that my legs was still co-operative at this stage, well sort off .... my ego is having a tough time with the young lady that breezed past me on that monsterous hill - I was just too late to grab a photo-opportunity .... Time for some pics at the top.   I took a few minutes to make sure I was awake and alert and ready .... Then did Lombards Terra. At the bottom I took a sharp left and headed up a ways, and did the full length of Home Run. The coffee at the Bloemendal stand tasted GOOD !!    PS - for the REGULARS - okay, I know this is just a warm up lap for the experienced riders ...  For the NEWBIES - the extra detail was added so that you may KNOW:- the trails are WELL marked !! The odd board is partially obscured by vineyards or weeds ... so be alert.- the uphills are steep, but short !! Hey, even if you walk a couple of these, so what !! You will ride the full section in no time at all.- even if you start on your own, there are MANY people out on the trails !! Each time I was next to my bike (taking photos of course), riders slowed down to check if I was okay ... just one grumpy old lady that did not greet me.- The full route was 15,5km. Cutting out B-Gum, and the extras at Bloemendal you can do this for just more than 12km. HOWEVER - just make sure you are okay for the 323m elevation, again not so much if you leave out the extras at Bloemendal .... so really do-able, even for newbies.  - NOTE the limited time on the corridors !! We must be OFF these by early afternoon !!!- I took my first ride extra slow, and looking at a couple of the sharp turns, and ruts it is a good idea to first get to know the route before pushing for better times ...- If you want to do "fun-rides", this route is an excellent training ground !! Just enough climbs to keep you honost and to prepare you properly for those "later climbs" in the fun rides .... Edited December 21, 2018 by ChrisF Twaatie, RocknRolla, Me rida my bicycle and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twaatie Posted December 21, 2018 Share 6:10 I parked at Bloemendal. This was to be my FIRST ever ride of Upper Bloemies, and the Traverse, also my first ride of the Protea Hotel corridor .... LONG shadows in the very empty parking lot.  Upper Bloemies-1.jpg But what a beautiful morning !!! Upper Bloemies-2.jpg Fine and dandy to plan a route from a "map" .... eary to head out onto a brand new route all on your own. Across the road and follow the boards. And then a sharp left and an impressive little climb. Route is WELL marked and I soon have to decide between right or left .... Traverse is to the right, followed by yet another little climb. And suddenly you realise just how high you have climbed in that first kilometer .... WHAT a nice morning ! Upper Bloemies-4.jpg The board points to the left, yes another little uphill .... BUT, all the bike tracks comes through the gate straight ahead of me ..... okay, maybe I should follow the tracks .... Uhm, NO !! Patrick actually DID mark the track properly .... and B-Gum forest does not exactly "flow" in reverse .... Upper Bloemies-5.jpg Not to worry, this links back to the trail soon enough, and I am heading to the Traverse. The trail is level, even a slight downhill .... okay, seems like a nice contour line to the Traverse .... NO WAY !! Left and UP ! Grab a granny and idle up and up ....  BUT, each up section is just short enough that you actually get to the top before you red-line. Enough contour to catch your breath, lower your heart rate, and then it is time for the granny to work again .... and again ... and again .... Now I am starting to worry ... am I heading to the mast or to the Traverse .... o-well, just keep those pedals turning and lets see .... Upper Bloemies-7.jpg Did I mention it was a breathtakingly beautiful morning ? The vineyards .... The animals .... Upper Bloemies-10.jpg Upper Bloemies-12.jpg Gradually more and more people were doing the route, and coming from the front. Had a few nice chats, while taking pics ... not once did I have to stop to recover from these hills, but I simply could not pass up on the repeated photo opportunities - thats my story and I am sticking to it !! From St John Road to De Bron is over all to quick .... Now for the corridor. Back at Bloemendal I had a bit of heat-stroke ... turned UP the hill and headed up to the eskom towers .... Actually surprized that my legs was still co-operative at this stage, well sort off .... my ego is having a tough time with the young lady that breezed past me on that monsterous hill - I was just too late to grab a photo-opportunity .... Time for some pics at the top. Upper Bloemies-15.jpg Upper Bloemies-16.jpg I took a few minutes to make sure I was awake and alert and ready .... Then did Lombards Terra. At the bottom I took a sharp left and headed up a ways, and did the full length of Home Run. The coffee at the Bloemendal stand tasted GOOD !! Upper Bloemies-3.jpg   PS - for the REGULARS - okay, I know this is just a warm up lap for the experienced riders ...  For the NEWBIES - the extra detail was added so that you may KNOW:- the trails are WELL marked !! The odd board is partially obscured by vineyards or weeds ... so be alert.- the uphills are steep, but short !! Hey, even if you walk a couple of these, so what !! You will ride the full section in no time at all.- even if you start on your own, there are MANY people out on the trails !! Each time I was next to my bike (taking photos of course), riders slowed down to check if I was okay ... just one grumpy old lady that did not greet me.- The full route was 15,5km. Cutting out B-Gum, and the extras at Bloemendal you can do this for just more than 12km. HOWEVER - just make sure you are okay for the 323m elevation, again not so much if you leave out the extras at Bloemendal .... so really do-able, even for newbies. - NOTE the limited time on the corridors !! We must be OFF these by early afternoon !!!- I took my first ride extra slow, and looking at a couple of the sharp turns, and ruts it is a good idea to first get to know the route before pushing for better times ...- If you want to do "fun-rides", this route is an excellent training ground !! Just enough climbs to keep you honost and to prepare you properly for those "later climbs" in the fun rides ....Got to work the climbing legs to do proper upper bloemies via hill crest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted December 21, 2018 Share Got to work the climbing legs to do proper upper bloemies via hill crest Thats for sure !! Looking at my progress over the last 25 months I am super stoked about this ride !!!!  The hard reality is that I can not cycle with my friends ... my knees are to messed up to keep up with my friends..... But the Garmin stats show consistent progress !! And YES, tonight it is my "leg muscles" that ache, not my knees - the benefit of knowing when to use the granny gear and to protect my knees ....  Nice recovery ride tomorrow .... Monday I will see if I can shave a bit of time off my first ride. Twaatie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rouxenator Posted December 21, 2018 Share Home Reme Le Hane, 'Dale, RocknRolla and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocknRolla Posted December 22, 2018 Share Took a drive out to the otherside of the boerewors curtain with the missus, made sure we had our passports. First time out at Buffelsdrift, and the place does not disapoint. Had great aspirations of doing the full red route, but ran out of legs and water, so when the "shortcut home" board came up, we hightailed it back. All in, a great route, work on the climbs to be rewarded with fast, flowy technical downs.   Will go back soon to ride the 13km we missed. Edited December 22, 2018 by RocknRolla BenReaper, Eugéne Alberts, CogitoErgoSum and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapunzel Posted December 22, 2018 Share Stayed a few days at Balie's Gat in the Cederberg. The road out is a bit rough and steep but the oasis at the bottom is a gem. DJR, 'Dale, BenReaper and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydude Posted December 23, 2018 Share Strolla Cape Town [emoji39] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MphatiPyga Posted December 23, 2018 Share Pre Christmas ride near Newcastle Stanleynel, DJR and BenReaper 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted December 23, 2018 Share While the university town still sleepsJonkershoek Rd, Stellenbosch Edited December 23, 2018 by 'Dale Reme Le Hane, DJR, BenReaper and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rouxenator Posted December 23, 2018 Share  DJR, CraZyCupCake, Reme Le Hane and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted December 23, 2018 Share Bloemendal for a relaxing recovery ride. Two laps of B Spot and some coffee. Then got the bright idea to take a very relaxing ride up to the start of Home Run .... got there and turned left .... UP and up and up .... Go to the very top and decided to see what the XCO track is all about - knowing that I surely wont be "grabbing air", just a slow scouting ride ....  The start was pretty much what I expected .... did NOT expect the 180 degree turn taking me back up the hill ! The second down section has the very visible jump, followed by yet another 180 degree turn .. but just a short climb. Though riding up those steps are "interesting" !! Happy that I did manage most of them. The third climb took some concentration, up those terraces .....   DONT be fooled !! The chicken run is more trying than most other trails !! Nice sections with rocks ...   Actually a NICE route ! But be very careful !! If you come around a corner too fast you may not have enough time plan your options for what awaits you ....   Surely want to be up there with a camera when the serious riders have their fun ....  BenReaper and DJR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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