Ride - January2015

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www.ride.co.za
JANUARY 2015 R34,90
Other countries R30,61
SET UP
YOUR REBOUND
25
TOP
TRAILS
TO TRY THIS HOLIDAY
EVENTS
BERG & BUSH
AFRICA CYCLE FAIR
PLUS
SIX PAGES OF FOMO
WINES2WHALES IMAGES
PRODUCTS
BIANCHI // SILVERBACK // SPECIALIZED
CRANK BROTHERS // BELL HELMET
PROFILE
ANDREW MCLEAN
SUBSCRIBE AND GET A SCHWALBE SADDLE BAG WORTH R150 - pg 26
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January 2015 ride
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January 2015
On the
cover
Stage-racing perfection
captured in the FNB
Wines2Whales. Photo by
Tobias Ginsberg.
20 25 Top Trails to try
52
58
64
72
76
76
80
88
this holiday
Andrew McLean
Africa Cycle Fair
Berg & Bush
Set up your rebound
Relieve ITB
Start commuting
Bianchi, Silverback,
Specialized, Crank
Brothers, Bell
Wines2Whales
REVOLUTIONS
CHAINMAIL
ROUTES
7
RIDE HERE
Weighty matters.
QUICK RELEASES
8
READS
Queen Marianne dominates the
Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge.
VROULIEF
20
A bumper edition, with 25 top trails to choose from.
INSIGHT
12
Pasop waar jy ‘gaan’.
20
38
The mess that is Brandon Stewart vs
SAIDS – inform your opinion here.
INSIGHT
PRO DIARY
James Reid turns the pages, not the
pedals, as the new season looms.
14
PRO DIARY
How the MTN-Qhubeka team powers up for
performance.
18
PROFILE
Louis Meintjes eats ice cream. And waffles.
LEGACY
Ron reports from the recent NMT conference.
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January 2015
44
16
50
Lebo fast-tracks to the Olympics.
www.ride.co.za
SUBS
OFFER
SUBSCRIBE
& GET A
SCHWALBE
SADDLEBAG
WORTH R150
RIDES
SEXY CELESTE
Go to page 26 for
more details.
80
Bianchi’s latest super model is built
for comfort and speed.
RIGID ROCKET
84
This Silverback’s fast and furious.
THIS PAGE:
Fynbos, Natural Beauty: The
FNB Wines2Whales at its
most gorgeous. Photo: Cherie
Vale/Newsport media
PROFILE
TESTED
86
Helmets, shoes and a magic multitool.
SOCK TALES
Runs with goats.
96
64
52
52
The face of cycling in South Africa,
Andrew McLean.
RIDES
EVENTS
58
The Standard Bank Africa Cycle Fair.
RIDE REPORT
64
Berg & Bush, beauty and beasties.
REVELATIONS
HOW TO
Roll out stiffness, and stop driving to work.
www.ride.co.za
70
80
January 2015 ride
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HEAD
SET
PUBLISHED BY RAMSAYMEDIA
FOR SILHOUETTE SPORTSWEAR
MANUFACTURERS
Hannes Koekemoer
Attie Koekemoer
EDITORIAL
Editor
Chief copy Editor
Contributors
Digital content manager
Photography
ED’S LETTER
Tim Brink
Alan Valkenburg
Jazz Kuschke, Jacques
Marais, Louis Meintjes,
James Reid, Steve Shapiro,
Brandon Stewart, Adèle Tait,
Ron Thompson, Xylon van
Eyck, Vroulief
Elise Kirsten
Bettiniphoto, Zoon Cronje,
Em Gatland, Rika Joubert,
Jacques Marais, Mike Turner,
Cherie Vale, Cor Vos, Pieter
Vosloo, Tobias Ginsberg
CREATIVE TEAM
Art director
Designers
Illustrations
RIDE AND PREJUDICE
We are a sanctimonious lot, aren’t we.
Judgemental, condescending, entitled.
YES, I am grumpy again.
And it is about a two-word
label that keeps cropping up
across the riding melieu: dirtroadie. Allegedly, this lesser
sub-species of the mountain
biker, which is, let’s face it, just
a lesser sub-species of the
roadie genus anyway, is inferior
in all ways. DRs are incapable
of riding singletrack, walking all
but the smoothest of trails, and
just get in the way. Of course,
the anti-dirt-roadie brigade only
knows this because they are too
lazy to train enough, or maybe
just not quite gifted enough
physiologically to get into the
singletrack ahead of these
vermin.
There was a fair amount of
DR-bashing in the wake of the
super-fun Hollard Juma event
in Jozi, but that came with a
pinch of salt, to be honest, as
the event was in danger of going
Eskom coal-silo such was its
first-year success. And with that
many mountain bikers – many
of them trying a race for the first
time – in one spot, there were
sure to be problems. But then I
started to hear it from the FNB
Wines2Whales riders too: “The
pg.
80
singletrack at the end was so
rideable, and the okes were
walking!” “Dirt roadies ruined
day two.” What a crock of the
proverbial.
We were all beginners, once.
We all walked the simple stuff,
and gradually got better at
riding and can now ride better
than the beginners we see at
events. All of us. Sure, we may
not have had the spending
power some of these new guys
have, and started out on bendy,
heavy tanks, which help skillsdevelopment immensely, but
we almost all came from riding
road bikes and endured that
sphincter-twisting few months
of skills acquisition. Some of
us got better than others (I am
still a wuss and walk bits my
buddies laugh at) but we all did
get better. Thank goodness we
didn’t listen to the idiots looking
down on us and persevered.
So here is the credo for 2015:
hug a dirt roadie today. Because
the nicer “we” are to “them”,
the quicker they will get good
enough to not get in our way.
Group digital designer
Group Smalls designer
Yolande Verhoef
Leilani Solomon, Leigh Taylor
Shereen Cheminais, Tauriq
Loofer
Matthew Ackermann,
Tauriq Loofer
Colleen Visser
Relic Wessels
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Chanelle Vivian
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Adéle Rhodes
Tel: 011-449-1090
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Nawhaal Fakir
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Tim Brink, EDITOR
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January 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of
the copyright owners, RamsayMedia (Pty) Ltd, Howard Drive Pinelands
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arise from incorrect information.
WHEN TR AIL S CROSS
OPTIONS OPEN
TRAIL
XC RACE
SHIF TIN G | D RIV E T R AIN | B R A K IN G
SHIF TIN G | D RIV E T R AIN | B R A K IN G
No matter how you earn your descent, ripping
corners and launching into the void is where you
find your zen. You are XTR Trail.
You conquer from the bottom up, never satisfied
with only the descent. You are XTR Race.
v i sit w w w. rid ex t r.co m
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CHAIN
MAIL
LETTERS
interesting so that one can
compare, say, a Trek super
fly SL 9.9 with standard spec,
versus one with, say, Rockshox
Sid World Cup. It helps when
one is looking at prices versus
weight for a starter. Personal
preferences and riding style also
impact on choice. We would like
more bike tests but know you
have to rely on the importers
for equipment. Another thing: is
Morewood still manufacturing/
importing bikes?
– JOHN DUMINY, BY EMAIL
Hi Joh n
Where I can, I weigh test bikes
on the same Park Tool scale,
and where relevant. That isn’t
always relevant like when the
manufacturers deviate from
catalogue spec on a bike,
swapping out bars or tyres, for
example, so sometimes I don’t
give a weight. I also won’t if I
haven’t made it to the same scale
I always use, as I feel we need to
be as consistent as possible. That
is infrequent, but you are right on
the Vipa – we got the bike just
before the 2015 models pitched, I
am looking forward to the new
one to test, eagerly, with scale in
hand. And the aluminium one,
wanting to sound corny, I have
labelled this technique: “Watch
their eyes and stay alive!”
In a nutshell, if you are
riding a bike and are about to
change direction or cross an
intersection, slow down and
make direct eye contact with
the motorist who is stationery
at a stop street whose path
you are about to cross or, if
you’re about to make a right
turn from the left side of the
road, look behind you and
make eye contact with the
motorist whose path you are
about to cross. Even better, try
and get visual affirmation from
the motorist that he is aware
of your intentions and will
await your successful direction
change before proceeding.
Although this may appear
to be common sense to an
experienced driver/cyclist,
many cyclists do not apply this
principle and consequently
have had serious and even fatal
collisions. Although short and
sweet, I do hope you publish this
Weighty subject
Hi guys – love your mag. The
only criticism I have is you do
not often give the weight of
cycles reviewed. If necessary,
one can find the standard weight
of a Momsen Vipa 2014, but
why not attach it to a scale and
give it to us? Perhaps you’re
waiting for the lighter 2015
version? Even more interesting
are bikes like Robyn de Groot’s
or Candice Neethling’s, where
we are almost told the pet
names but given no weight.
These are especially
which I think will be even nicer.
Similar weight, heavier wallet
afterwards. The Show-Us-Your
Bike guys and girls don’t always
supply their weights, but I do ask
every time.
Final word on weight – we
all focus on it too much. Far too
much. I have been playing on an
Epic and a Camber – camber is
a kilo heavier, time to the radio
mast in Tokai (10km, 900m
ascent) is virtually identical.
Time down: waaaaay quicker.
If you are top 5% of the field,
it matters, for the rest of us,
travel is more important.
Morewood: I am not sure
if you mean the man or the
brand – Morewood Bikes is
still in business, but if you
want a Morewood, buy a
Pyga, that is where Patrick
Morewood is these days. – Ed
Look and live
As a passionate social cyclist
and having owned and ridden
bicycles for most of my life, I
have given a lot of thought to
the topic of avoiding a collision
with a motor vehicle. Although
I have had a few tumbles
over the years, I – touch
wood – have never been hit
by a motor vehicle. Although
it is very difficult to avoid a
collision from the rear if a
motorist is distracted and not
concentrating on the road, I am
convinced that I have avoided
any serious accidents through
one very simple technique. Not
letter as the advice given will
undoubtedly save some readers
in the future!
– GAVIN MOONEY, Alverstone, KZN
I couldn’t agree more, Gavin.
We shouldn’t have to ride as
defensively as we do, but the
reality is that the moral highground is a dangerous place.
Watch, and plan. It is amazing
how quickly we develop a sixth
sense, and know which cars are
going to behave badly before the
drivers do. – Ed
If you have something on your mind, share it with our editor at [email protected].
IN THE KNOW
QUICK
RELEASES
The Vos was with us
But it was in the women’s race
that the story of the day – if
not the cycling year – lay: the
much-anticipated entry of Dutch
rider Marianne Vos drew plenty
of attention, and she rose to
the occasion with a dominating
performance, riding away from
SA champ Ashleigh Moolman-
Pasio (Bigla) and Cherise
Stander (RECM), who finished
second and third.
Her ‘attack’ was more of a
leg-stretch, but once she had the
gap, the class that has brought
her Olympic, multiple world and
national championships became
obvious, with her final winning
margin over the chasing bunch in
the order of four minutes. Stander
said it was an aggressive race
from the start. “It started off
fast, lots of moves. Every time
Marianne went to the front, she
lifted the pace by 5–10kph. Very
tactical. The pace came down
at times, and with about 20km to
go, she put in a big effort, but
the South Africans were all on
the limit by that time. There were
about six locals in the bunch.”
A classy ride by three of
the best women racers on the
planet, we are privileged they
chose to make it happen on the
streets of Jozi.
Got something we and our readers need to know about? Email us: [email protected].
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January 2015
www.ride.co.za
PHOTOS: ZOON CRONJE, CORVOS
The 2014 Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge took to a new, tougher route through the
suburbs of Johannesburg in mid-November, starting and finishing at Riversands, in
Fourways. The hottest thing out of Namibia since Dan Craven’s beard. Till Drobisch, won
the men’s race in a few seconds shy of 2 hours 22 minutes – averaging over 40kph on the
hilly, technical course. Representing the MTN-Qhubeka feeder team, he narrowly edged
out Reynard Butler (Team Abantu) and Herman Fouche (Bonitas) after being in the large,
14-man break-of-the-day for much of the 94.7km route.