Archived entries for Local Pics

Misty Mountain 2

Here are a few more pics from the ride up Table Mountain a few weeks back. These were shot on 35mm black and white film.

The road, which has been closed off to cars because of rockfalls and collapses. Perfect for going super fast.

Tobie, doing just that on his single-speed.

Going, going,  gone…

Ian, wowing one of the early morning geezers with a one handed wheelie

The mountain is super rad, hard to believe that there is an entire city below you when you’re up there

Ian and Georgie, from the UK, who got hold of us from through the site and joined in, riding the biggest gear of all! Yeah!

Just hanging around. All in all it was super good and really beautiful up there. Ian, Tobie, Georgie and Dave, big ups for going up! Hopefully next time we’ll get some more people to ride with!

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New spot – V&A Waterfront

On Sunday afternoon Mike and I did a recce for potential photo shoot locations. We found a couple of rad spots, including this beauty which is just crying out to be used and abused:

Located at the entrance to the V&A Waterfront, the spot has a huge expanse of smooth concrete which would be perfect for laps and skid comps. Someone had even constructed a little ghetto box to mess around on. Which I duly did.

I remember the spot being used for skate comps and roller hockey back in the day. No word what it’s being used for now.

Definitely worth another look sometime soon.

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Wednesday night speed wobbles

Gavin! Genius. Just out of nowhere the dude decides to send out a mail inviting all of us to a race around the Bremner Building at the UCT Campus.

Yesterday was one of the hottest yet this summer, and as the sun set behind the mountain, the temperature dropped just enough to make it one of those balmy perfect summer evenings.

I met up with Flagg in Woodstock before the race, and we rode down to the campus together. Really nice long, straight roll along Main Road.

The turnout was really good, about 15 of us in all, 10 of us riding. It’s really fun to see more numbers at these little events. Keep it up, and who knows what might happen… ;)

So the Bremner Building is where all the boring admin happens at UCT. Perfect. Because the adminny folks are always the first to go home, so the building, situated on its own block of land, and completely circled by a wide tarmac road, becomes completely void of any human activity after 5pm.  Except of course for the two freshmen learning how to parallel park in the back parking lot, and mister security dude, who is not quite sure what to make of a group of cyclists charging around in the dark on bikes with no brakes.

It was my first time racing, so as with my first experience during high school of running the u/15 800m, as I came around the first turn and realised I was in second, I figured I’d make a go of it.

The format for the race is 5mins around the building, and then one lap to decide the winner. 5 minutes may seem a short time, and peddling around an admin building might not seem such a big ask, but believe me, it BURNS.

Dave Mackay set off at a blinding pace. Toby was heading up the front pack on his BMX (Hard as nails!), which was a bit of a surprise, but that didn’t last much longer than the second corner. So it was Mackay, myself, and… well I wasn’t exactly keeping tabs on what was going on behind me.

As I said before, Dave was rocketing around the course, and I was torn between keeping up with him for the whole 5mins or hanging back with the rest of the pack and making a strong final sprint.

Steve was right on my back wheel, so I decided to open up and catch up to Dave a bit. Somewhere in the last two laps, Steve and James both came flying past on the back straight like demons on a mission, and heading into the last lap, it was all between the two of them. I was still leading Mackay into the last lap, but he found some legs along the back straight again, and coming into the last turn I was pushing as hard as I could, but just couldn’t get my wheel ahead of his.

James had his ladyfriend there, so of course he had to impress, but a deserved winner nevertheless. I’ve got no idea how close it was between him and Steve, but the two of them had mad speed to pull away from us the way they did.

DFL goes to either Flagg or Toby (on his BMX, did I mention that?). Big up to Flagg anyway, she tuck it out against a bunch of mad boys and held her own!

Next we had a “very tightly contested” skid comp, between myself, James (I think) and a one-armed-Gavin. I only mention this, cos I managed to win the round (yippee for me) but I think under normal circumstances Gavin might’ve owned it, if he had full use of both arms. Anyway. We take our victories when they come.  I won. Suck it up!

Drinks at Champs bar down the road was good fun and good chat. I really can’t wait for the next one, I’ve got a score to settle with you Mackay!

Mega thanks to Gavin for putting it all together and keeping time. And Mackay for the photos. (and some from my cam :)

We’ve been bouncing around the idea of heading out to Belville for a proper little burn around the velodrome. Although I do think we’d get totally roasted by the local track riders, it could be a really fun day out.  Watch this space for more…

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Bombing Chappies – The Ride

After a whole week of blissful weather we could only hope that it would last till Sunday.  If you have been around the blog, you would know that I’ve been up for getting a few riders out to Hout Bay to cycle up Chapmans Peak.

After being inspired by the post from FGS, the urge simply became too much to resist.  We finally set a date, got a few interested names (more than expected tbh), and set out up the mountain.  The weather did not in any way disappoint. It was a hot cloudless day, light breeze and the water was that amazing crystal blue like you see on postcards of places you’ll never get to.

We met at 9ish just outside Chapmans Peak hotel. Major props to Gavin and David who friggin cycled in from town.  Fortunately I live in Hout Bay, so my legs and my Sunday lie-in where preserved. (smug!)

I’ve done this ride a few times before, and although it is quite a tough ride up, having 5 other riders to tackle it with kinda makes it a breeze.  I was really surprised at how easy the assent was.

The stoke was instant – Mettie hollering “King of the world!” and the biggest dumbest grin ever on his face! Gavin was proving his super-legs again, racing up every incline and then laughing at us panting and cursing our way up behind him.

Great photo op at the Peak (see group shot) and then the speedy descent down the other side of the pass. The long smooth turns on the Hout Bay side of the pass become steep short bends with sheer cliff faces as you head down towards Noordhoek. I think because it was such a perfect day, there were a few more cars on the road, and although we did get a good few high-speed rolls in, it would’ve been more fun to have no worries of negotiating huge tour busses on a 5ft wide path carved out the side of the mountain.

Still one of the best things about living in this place is being able to drink water straight out the mountain streams. Catching a breather before heading back, we found a little stream. Purest water ever! Little things hey?

Major thanks to Dave Mackay for taking some awesome pics, and the 5 who made it out for the ride.  To those who were mysteriously absent (Flagg, I’m looking at you!), or too hung-over (Malan!) You missed out. Get there next time!

I know Cammo Dave is up for some long distance rides around the peninsula, and I know Gavin will be in on that just to kill us all up the hills again, so watch this space!

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The Revival recap

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I’m super happy with the way things went down last night. About 50 people turned up (I was expecting about 20!) and it was cool to see a bunch of new faces joining the usual suspects. The venue – an old art deco theatre – is off the hook and I would love to use it again in the future.

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The movie itself was sickatron, although it made me wonder why I even bother trying to learn stuff – those guys are just so good. There was a mix of tech-y flatland stuff, balls-out bmx-inspired stuff, and a bit of boulevard bombing thrown in for good measure. The parts that stood out for me were Tyler Johnson, Chris Clappe, Tom Mosher and Ed Wonka at the end.

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Massive thanks to everyone who showed. And to Conrad, Paul and Kev for organising the venue and equipment, and the setting on the night. And Dave for taking photos.

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As seen in Ride Magazine November 09

Kevin tipped me off about this on Monday. Nice to see CT’s fixed gear scene getting the attention it deserves!

(Click to enlarge)

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New Old Spot

I ran into Savage in Kloof Street last week and we got around to talking about spots to ride around town. He tipped me off about some abandoned tennis courts not too far from the Gardens Centre. So in between the rain, I went to take a look.

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The place is madcrazysick©. The location isn’t top secret or nothing, but it did feel like quite a find.  The only people in the vicinity were the junk fiends and crack heads from the merchant’s house across the road.

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There’s a series of about eight tennis courts set across four terraces. In addition to a shitload of wide open space, there’s stair sets (one day), gaps and a couple of small banks. The local skaters have also sunken a rail into the ground, which is nice of them.

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I also happened upon a couple of murals, which called for the obligatory “urban fixie photo session”.

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Dude didn’t seem too impressed.

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Ghost Town Alleycat Photos

Ray at Mirra Photography just sent through a smorgasbord of photos of Sunday’s alleycat. Thanks man!

I haven’t quite worked out how to use the gallery function, so just scroll down to see them all.

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The weekend that was…

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I counted 13 (lucky for some) fixie fiends out at last night’s “Ghost Town” alleycat. The usual suspects were in attendance plus a couple of fresh faces, too.

Despite the brutal south-easter, Thibault Square was surprising wind-free. I’m definitely eyeing it out as a potential spot for a regular “City Session”…

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Anyway, here are the results from the evening’s various fixtures…

Alleycat:
Paul + Big Red (looking surprisingly calm and collected despite tearing the course up… Hmmmm.)

Trackstand:
Mettie

Skid comp:
Camo Dave

Best dressed:
Dorothy/Emil

Thanks to everyone who showed, esp. Ray for the photos (coming ASAP) and the mad woman who shared her insight about the prophets/UFOs/apocalypse.

Good times!

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Readers’ Rides

The second in the series.

I’ve been meaning to post Ashley’s Batman-inspired bike for a while now.

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Slick custom paint job! Hope to see it at the alleycat on Sunday!

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