The Fire Sale

It's probably considered a disease because I'm not the only one with it. And i got a real bad case too.

Firesales - just can't avoid them. The CapeStorm one is legendry, and the firstAscent one did not disappoint either. So very kak news in that muizies' Bike Store, the Bike Haven has had to close, for now. Justin Berry is a very cool guy, but they been robbed 3 times in the very recent history. This despite the fact that the copshop is just the other side of the field.

Sitting Ducks

So in a bid to avoid bankruptcy and clear some stock, they had a daylight robbery sale. After punishing my Wellgo SPD pedals for nigh on 7 years, I opted to stick with the brand. I haven't been overly impressed, so was in a real quandry on Saturday. Go for Crank Bros Candy C's or a Ritchey SPD set? At below cost? Well even my fast disappearing budget wanted 'em both, so we'll see which set gets the nod.

Africa is not a continent for sissies

The call was made for a ‘no poefdes’ week-end, and we had a grand total of four pitching in.


The program was simple to say the least. Wake up early and drive to McGregor, get on bikes and ride to Rawsonville.

local signage

Meanwhile, the car gets there and two fly fishermen jump out and get some trout for a lekker fishbraai.

kak campsite

The ride was awesome, nothing like touring through rough country on old wagon trails with a dodgy map for 9 hours. It was entertaining to see that Brandvlei prison looks more like a country club (we rode straight through it, hardly anyone around).

just chillin'



We pulled into Trouthaven after dark, to find that the boys had indeed caught fish, but it was a catch and release river. Tuna pasta demolished next to a roaring fire.

nice and peaceful

Next day we headed up valley in the car and tried to hike out of the kloof. Stettynskloof is not for moffies, and we got our asses kicked. Silly us thought we were actually ahead of schedule, but then the path just disappeared and it was bundu of Voortrekker proportions, and we turned back to the cars still about two hours hack to the nek. I left some blood there, but will be taking revenge in early July.

here be dragons

who's the boss of number 2?

space:the final frontier.

it must be tough living it up in the international space station. especially when your russian built crapper packs up.

Washington - The International Space Station's lone toilet is broken, leaving the crew with almost nowhere to go. So Nasa may order an in-orbit plumbing-service call when the space shuttle Discovery visits next week.

Until then, the three-man crew will have to make do with a jury-rigged system when they need to urinate.

While one of the crew was using the Russian-made toilet last week, the motor fan stopped working, said Nasa. Since then, the liquid waste-gathering part of the toilet has been working intermittently. Fortunately, the solid waste-collecting part is functioning normally.

Russian officials do not know the cause of the problem and the crew has been unable to fix it. They are now using a bag system

wonder which one they use, after the Hindunaut serves up his dish of freeze dried curry

The Homegrown Onion

The easiest job in the country?

Got to be Zapiro, as all his material is just dished up by public figures day in day out. Now if only they could get JZ to actually draw too, then they'd be properly waxed.

If you've ever spent any time in Oz, Canada, Denmark etc. you'll understand how boring boring news can be. Yay, flippie the donkey gets a new home and other such headline grabbers.

So some clever guys took the real news, and gave it a bit of spin. Enter the worlds top satire site - The Onion.

It had to happen, it was so blinking obvious that it would work here. The bonus is that half the articles won't even need to be spiced up. Thanks phil for pointing my browser at HAYIBO

The most hardcore man on the planet

no surprises, is an ex-Matie.

Mike Horn, what a legend. He makes that Kingsley Holgate adventurer/buffoon look like a fat slob (no surprises there actually). First man to Hydrospeed the Amazon, after paragliding off Aconcagua to get there. what a legend.

Anyway, whilst waiting to secure the funding for his first man to swim round the moon project, he's gonna just go round the world again on his own steam.

Check the press release for Project Pangea

or just read this:
One of the most remarkable voyages of exploration ever undertaken — a four-year trans-navigation of the globe by sea and by land — is launched by South African adventurer-explorer Mike Horn, in the presence of HSH Prince Albert of Monaco.
Among the guests present at the launch in Monaco to support this groundbreaking environmental initiative was Mrs Gaynor Rupert, wife of Mr Johann Rupert, Executive Chairman of Richemont SA , who has agreed to be the ‘Godmother’ of Pangaea.
The expedition, named ‘Pangaea’ after the supercontinent that existed 250-million years ago (and an acronym for his Pan Global Adventure for Environmental Action), will cover 100 000 kilometres, reaching the North and South Poles and crossing all the continents and the oceans. His mission is to unite the continents again through the Young Explorers Program, with a powerful environmental message, to share his knowledge and to initiate environmental solutions for future generations.
The baptism in Monaco begins a four-month road show that will take Pangaea from Monaco to Barcelona, Hamburg, Iceland and London, ending in Lorient.
The Pangaea Expedition begins on 9 October when Mike Horn sets sail from Punta Arenas in Chile on the first stage of his epic journey to Antarctica, where Horn will trek to the South Pole. Then his route will take him through Australasia, China, Russia, to the North Pole, then across Greenland, North and South America and back to Punta Arenas.

what a legend

The stupor 14

go BRYAN
So when odd one got the fourth try that effectively bumped the Stormers down to fifth and semifinal wilderness, it was time to go sort out the braai and murder that bottle of red that was looking so cheeky. Of course they had really put the Stormers out of their misery as a trip to Christchurch without Schalk was the best case scenario.

Now in the spirit of national pride I should be lauding the impressive display from the tjaaks, but unfortunately that is a bridge too far to cross for me. I do feel for Kanko, who's been outstanding all year and even Jake agrees that he should have been there with the 8 on his back in Paris and not that Danie like to play rugby bonehead we had.

So why the anti Natal stance, you say? The easy answer is that I was a fan of the Banana Boys until I met their supporters at varsity. As unbiased as a bowling ball, its just not worth your time talking rugby with them. But there are other reasons why we'll be giving a hoohaa to the 'Tahs come Saturday.
***They really do whine. Still moaning about that away loss to the Brumbies where the ref cocked it up. Well lets go to Round 2, where they needed the touch judge to remove Schalk from the field before sneaking in by 2 points.

***They still whine about last year's final, where they blame the ref when they could have just kicked the ball out.

***They have been playing really crap all year. They click for two weeks and all of a sudden they're championship material.

***Ajventer.com - it's down (thank god), but the salt has got to him (and looks like Frans is going the same way)
***Their ability to f#$% talented players up. Gaffie, Brent Russel come to mind first, let's hope they don't do the same to Frans Steyn.

***They go on and on about how their academy discovers and nurtures the best players. Offering a kid playing for Grey Bloem 1st XV a contract is hardly talent scouting of the highest order.

***Barrit, Murray, BJ Botha are the only locals who get any game time, the rest come from Free State and other areas.

Enough for now, you'll know why I cringe whenever I see a CA number plate with that dumb sharkie sticker on the car. Love them or fear them? Surely there's a third option.