Bike Whisperer

I don't at all feel I'm entitled to a discount. I merely put out an opinion for discussion. Even if it was half-price, or free, I wouldn't be riding the second lap. I agree that the organisers can charge what they want, it's a free market. Again, I am merely critiquing the logic and don't expect everyone to agree with my view. Good luck striving for that email. See you on the route.

Tx. Just put it out for discussion, not about winning or losing. It's merely an opinion.

I received an interesting email yesterday from CTCT indicating that we can ride a second lap for an additional entry fee of R550. I'm all for charity and contributing, but this is plain GREED... Oh, I wasn't intending to ride the additional lap anyway, but surely there needs to be a bit of fairness in the approach. I have no issue in paying an additional fee for a second lap if I were to ride it, but the second lap is far cheaper for them as they do not: 1. provide double hospitality2. print additional numbers and other registration material3. cater for additional admin at registration4. provide additional infrastructure is needed5. hire additional staff to cater for the second lap (since this is only open for relatively fast riders, so will finish within the normal cut-offs, which is a condition anyway)6. incur many other costs which are only incurred related to the individual and not the second lap Surely they should apply some fair play here and charge a discounted rate for the second lap and I am sure that they would get more takers. In this environment where event entries are on a serious decline (still available for CTCT recently, where in the past these sold out on day 1) and the premium price charged already of R550 per entry, this is plainly greedy. Maybe it's just me overthinking this...

No

Maybe I should get their financials and do a R/km profitability graph? Or Ascent/R efficiency. Anyone have a connection with access to that data?

The 2020 Epic route has been announced and I thought I'd update the comparison I did last year. It looks like more of the same as last year... shorter route with high climbing rate / intensity. Coupled with the location (hot, rocky and dry), it will be another tough one. As before, RED is tough, BLUE / GREEN is less tough, but not by any scientific means. As there is limited data of what to include, I simply look at distance, ascent and and ascent rate in m/km terms. For me, distance, coupled with climb intensity is a pretty good measure of overall effort (difficulty), but this is not the case for everyone. (Click on the images to enlarge)

2019 Stage 1: 36 Deg C, 78% Humidity, 17km/h SSW... Wait, This is the Cape, so any forecast older than 15 minutes is no longer valid.

Science... Better drugs!

Correct. I just struggled to get credible data on De Hoop geology, rock abrasiveness and turn bank angles to truly calculate the intensity.... oh, and the angle of repose of that specific sand type you mention.

Tx. Stage 5 is 29m/km. Like that matters. They are all tough in 2019

The 2019 Absa Cape Epic route has been announced (old news now), which lit up my riding group's whatsapp discussions. This was then followed by some unusual noises and sighs from my Epic destined friends. I thought I'd try to compare the routes since the event's inception in 2004 to see whether their moans were warranted. Based on the limited route information available, I could compare entire events and their stages in terms of event and stage distance (km), total event and stage ascents (m) and average ascent (m/km) for the event and individual stages. 2019 is going to be a cracker (hopefuly not frames or riders)... but seriously tough. It's the shortest Epic at 624km (longest was in 2008 at 966km). But... it's the most intense in terms of climbing per distance covered at almost 27m per km of riding (on average), with stage 6 dishing out 30m per km. Every stage in 2019 will be brutal in terms of climbing demand. Have a look at the graphic below and you'll immediately notice that 2019 seems a lot redder / orangier than any other year in the ascent rate category. For reference: RED = PAIN BLUE = LESS PAIN. 2019 only has reddish / orangeish (lots of pain and significant pain) stages in terms of climbing rate, where all previous Epics had some blue to dilute the discomfort somewhat (relatively speaking). What's interesting is that the Epics are becoming shorter and more intense over the years, especially since 2016. For all of you 2019 Epic riders, feel free to print, cut out the blokkies and paste these into your training palns / diaries where you need to be doing hill repeats. I doubt whether this will have any impact whatsoever on the outcome of your efforts, but at least you can keep reminding yourself that there will be pain, and lots of it next year. Click on image to enlarge

Except there is no front one in an Eagle 1x12 setup. But... there's alays the back pocket for a spare. The battery gives you approx 1000km, so ample to do an "Epic" ride on one charge

I'll let you know how it turns out once I get the Di2 bits... Anyone want to buy 2x11 standard XT Shifters, FD and RD?

As stated before, I already have a 1x11 setup, with the e*Thirteen 9-44 cassette with 489% range. Pretty fine setup, but for multistage or ultras, I prefer closer / finer gear jumps, especially at the end. 20% gear jumps are just too brutal and I end up hunting for gears. But the SynchroShift makes a lot of sense