shambler

Well, seems like the pricing sweet spot has been hit. After 2 hours you can still easily register, quite different as last few years. It will get full eventually, but this should be a sign to the organisers... You're more less charging the same price per day as a Swiss Epic. But seriously: sleeping in a tent or sleeping in a hotel in one of the most expensive countries in the world is a different thing.

https://www.hln.be/antwerpen/toen-hij-duizelig-werd-wou-hij-blijven-doorgaan-vlaming-sterft-na-zware-zonnesteek-tijdens-mountainbikekoers-in-zuid-afrika~a1f5fcee/ Some more context about the death of the belgian cyclist: Was quite a big news over all our media over here. Translation by ChatGPT: Flemish Cyclist Dies from Severe Heatstroke During Mountain Bike Race in South Africa "When he got dizzy, he wanted to keep going": "It went really well for two days. But on the third day, the average temperature was 44°C." Ben Elst (49) was with Ronny Raeymakers (51) during an eight-day mountain bike race in South Africa, which they were riding as a duo for the third time. Everything seemed to be going fine until Ronny suddenly suffered a severe heatstroke that proved fatal a few days later. "The whole mountain was filled with people who were feeling nauseous... Even Greg Van Avermaet said it was actually too hot," Ben recalls of that tragic day, where it took an exceptionally long time for Ronny to receive medical assistance. "A Match Made in Heaven" "I met Ronny and his wife at Cape Epic in 2021. We finished with flying colors back then, too." Ben Elst (49) from Kalmthout speaks warmly about his friend Ronny (51). They immediately hit it off and turned out to be the perfect match when it came to their shared passion: mountain biking. "We were known as ‘The Bears from Belgium’ because we were both solidly built and real power riders. As a duo, we could really put other riders to the test, especially on false flats. A match made in heaven. We were even making plans for the future to ride together more often." However, fate had other plans. During the eight-day Cape Epic mountain bike race—held in the western part of South Africa since 2004 and often called the ‘Tour de France of mountain biking’—things went terribly wrong for Ronny. Extreme Heat and Lack of Water "The first two days actually went very well," Ben continues. "But on the third day, last Wednesday, the average temperature was 44°C. The highest temperature I recorded was 61°C. That first hour and a half on the mountain was the worst of my life. The whole mountain was filled with people who were feeling sick. In the medical tent, dozens of people were on IV drips for hydration. Honestly, the race shouldn’t have started under those conditions. Even professional riders, including Greg Van Avermaet, said it was too hot. Some participants took 10 hours to complete the stage in that heat." At around noon, things took a turn for the worse for Ronny. Despite having completed Cape Epic twice before, he suddenly suffered heatstroke. "Also known as ‘heat stroke’—something we hardly ever experience in Belgium. We were in the front half of the group and had already noticed that there was no water left at some of the hydration stations, but we pushed through. A little later, Ronny mentioned he was feeling dizzy. I let him ride in front and adjusted my pace. But Ronny was a fighter, and he kept going." "He Needs to Get Off This Mountain Immediately" At one point, Ronny had to stop the race. "He got off his bike and walked for a bit while I carried both bikes, but after two minutes, he sat down. Around noon, he lost consciousness due to heatstroke and dehydration. I laid him on his side, but he also started vomiting. At that moment, you feel completely powerless. You're on top of the mountain, on a single track, and there's nothing you can do." Ben pressed the SOS button he had with him, but help took an agonizingly long time to arrive. "It took 45 minutes for someone to finally show up. And even then, that person had little medical knowledge but at least had a walkie-talkie. I contacted the organization and made it clear that it was extremely urgent. Two other participants, who did have medical knowledge, also emphasized: ‘This man needs to get off the mountain immediately.’" It wasn’t until an hour and a half after Ronny collapsed that someone with IV drips and extra oxygen arrived. By 3:00 PM, he was airlifted by helicopter—two and a half hours after losing consciousness. "That day, they had to pick up two other participants with the helicopter as well. He was taken to a hospital in Paarl, where he remained from Wednesday until Monday morning. At first, it seemed like he was improving, but at around 6:30 AM, we received the devastating news that he didn’t make it." "Ronny, Don’t You Dare Die" Ben is heartbroken and still struggles to believe what happened. "We had already been there for three or four weeks and had acclimatized well," he says. "And we both had so much experience. But the organization really failed here. The first time I rode Cape Epic in 2021, I was with another partner, Paul, when he suddenly crashed into a cable. Even then, it took way too long for them to respond to the SOS signal. That was just a flesh wound and not life-threatening, but we were already furious at the time." What happens next remains uncertain. "I never thought that sun and heat could do something like this to a person. The night before, I even told Ronny: ‘Ronny, don’t you dare die. Because I’ll never get over it.’ Damn it, he did it anyway."

I'm from Europe and rode and finished Cape Epic in 2023. I'm still baffled by the fact 80 teams had to give up during and before stage 2, mostly because of Gastrointestinal illnesses. This is not due to people being weak, that mostly happens after more race days. There must have been a real source of contamination somewhere. I'm used to race multiday stage races all over the planet for more then 15 years and know how to look for myself (joberg2c, Swiss Epic, Alps Epic, Breck Epic, Transportugal...). I also took probiotics before hand. We also struggled a lot in the night of day 1 and day 2 and started day 2 with a lot of doubt whether we could finish. We didnt slept at all due to being sick and the howling wind. We started day 2 as being tourists and in the end we finished the stage successfully. The next days we had better legs and stomachs but our appetite was gone for the rest of the race and the ****s remained for 4 more weeks (!). We had to ride through a cowshed in the prologue. And also through a lot of farmland on day 1. That could have been a potential source of contamination. We didnt use the water in the race village up until we got sick because we still had bottled water in our tent. Only possible contaminated water source could have been the water point. Another possibility could have been the after race dinner. Which had a lot debatble choices throughout the week. Since we never got real hungry anymore the rest of the days we skipped most of it. When using the facilities I always had hand spray with me. I was checked by doctors almost every day from day 3 onwards if it was still safe to race. Kudos for them for being so patient. Back at home I was diagnosed with Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli. Which I suppose most people had. You can avoid all of the above by going fully "Pro" and avoid the race village/food/aid stations all together, but we are just working people and the price for the Epic is already ridiculously overpriced that this not an option for the majority of the people. I guess sometimes it's just down to bad luck, because we really tried to avoid this.