Category
Adventure and Travel
The joy of exploring by bicycling.
Race Report: SRAM WC XCO Series, in association with Tygerberg MTB Club Round 3: Slanghoek
Round 3 of the SRAM WC XCO Series, in association with Tygerberg MTB Club took to the mountains of the Slanghoek Valley nestled behind Goudini Spa. Unusually the event took place on a Sunday and shared the limelight with Mother’s day. Despite the clash, the Junior categories were well attended for what was essentially a […]
Gravel gees at Tour de Braai
The Tour de Braai is a five day, luxury gravel ride, organised by South Africa’s braaimaster, Jan Braai. The event is fully supported, including accommodation in guest houses, mechanical support, access to a fleet of Specialized Diverge gravel bikes, backup vehicles, daily massages, and all food and drinks throughout. This includes an ample supply of […]
Chasing Trail: Cape Town with Andrew Neethling and Scotty Laughland
Watch Andrew Neethling and Scotty Laughland enjoy the dry, dusty trails around Cape Town. Video: Thomas Sandell. Cover Photo: Eric Palmer
Ride Report: Swartberg 100 Gran Fondo
My initial response when hearing about the Swartberg 100 Gran Fondo was a strong “Never!”. 170 kilometres of tar and gravel roads with 3000 metres of climbing, including the monstrous Swartberg pass thrown in at the end. It sounded arduous, and lacking in trail endorphins. But the lure of a challenge is irresistible to me, […]
Pure Savage Report: Killarney 12-Hour
The inaugural PPA Killarney 12 hour endurance challenge was held in April 2017 where the solo win was taken by Stephen Courtney, earning him kudos from us Savages and got him into the 2017 Double Century team. Having obtained a benchmark, PPA put a cash prize up for grabs with an additional prize for breaking […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Putting our efforts into perspective
Sombre is the best way to describe Zone and my emotion this afternoon. While we had a brilliant Stage 6, our elation at moving up to 55th on GC was dampened after we learnt that a rider, who we have been riding around over the course of the past few days, had suffered very serious […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Let Them Eat Cake
The most important thing to take away from today is that it’s over. Zone and I are safe, healthy and even snuck past a few ous on GC. Winning. Photo credit: Wayne Reiche. Stage 4 certainly lived up to the pre-event hype as 2018’s “Queen Stage”. Reflecting on our time in the cave today, it […]
Pinner’s Paincave: No Heroics, Got The Job Done
Photo credit: Gary Perkin. Stage 3 was one of those days where you just had to get it done. 122km is not to be messed with. There were no heroics from us today. It was a case of focusing on keeping things consistent. This sounds simple, but it’s often harder than one thinks. Especially when […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Unwrapping the Radness
Unveiling the Blur’s decals after today’s Stage. Photo credit: Gary Perkin. Today was a great day. It not only marked another solid effort by Team MCL on Stage 2, but also the culmination of months’ worth of preparation that came together with this morning’s global unveiling of Santa Cruz’s all-new XC / Marathon machine, the […]
Race Report: SRAM WC XCO Series in association with Tygerberg Mountain Bike Club #2 Rhebokskloof
The Western Cape is living up to the claim of being the hub of all things cycling. In the last 3 weeks, there has been a Mountain bike Cycle Tour, an Epic World Cup, the road Cycle Tour and now the Cape Epic. Slotted in the day before the Epic start was the 2nd round […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Danger! Gevaar! Ingozi! on Stage 1
#LightBro. Photo: Gary Perkin. Stage 1 got off to a roaring start… pan flat and on good, albeit loose surfaces. As A Batch hurtled down narrow vineyard roads, bar to bar, riders jostled for position. Every single one of the 80 odd riders wanted to be towards the front. Those who know the Epic will […]
Pinner’s Paincave: Epic Prologue
Photo credit: Gary Perkin. No matter how many Epics you’ve ridden, every rider shares a common emotion ahead of the Prologue. Butterflies. As your team number is called and you shuffle into line waiting for your turn to step up and into the start hut, your swarm of butterflies relentlessly up their tempo, swirling around […]