SamTaylor

I just wish we could have had some footage of Nino making his way back through the field after that puncture. He must have put in a hell of a ride to make it back to the front of the chase group. as impressive as the Spez combo was out front, it did get a bit boring watching them racing out front alone all day long. Maybe an extra drone operator to focus on the meaningful action further down the field if needs be wouldn’t be the worst idea.

The UCI is in partnership with WBD. WBD press release on Friday said that they had assessed the situation in consultation with the UCI Mountainbike commission, and that they are sticking to the three rider podium decision. So, maybe the UCI was previously okay with the 5 rider podium, but right now, they are letting WBD dictate terms, regardless of what the riders or fans want. The racing this weekend was awesome though, and I’m trying to keep my focus on that, as much as I want to scream at the top of my lungs “bring Red Bull back”.

What a bunch of legends storming the podium and making it a 5 rider podium weather WBD wanted it to be or not! im pretty sure the UCI will be issuing fines for that, but I think the teams will be happy to pay!

Okay cool, my bad then, I seemed to remember the XCO lap count only to be determined after the first lap in previous seasons, but obviously I was mistaken! what a ladies race though. Super exciting, and what a strong finish by maxwell. She couldn’t believe it herself when she looked over her shoulder on the finish straight and saw no one there! and candice, well done girl! We all know you should have been up on the podium as well, regardless of what Warner brothers thinks! this years ladies season is going to be fire!

Yes, but with this race they knew it would be 8 laps right from the moment the start gun went off. They didn’t wait for the first lap to be completed.

How do they know it’s going to be 8 laps from the the start? Has the thing where they only decide the number of laps after the first lap is done

Cool man. Yes if you’re going to do this slowly over time, then by all means. If you did everything DnD recommended in one go, then you may as well just trade the bike in on a higher specced model, but spread over time makes sense, and will be easier to budget. My opinion though, if your doing a lot of trail riding, is a dropper post would be a more pertinent upgrade than a set of carbon wheels.

Am I understanding this correctly? Do trials bikes have a freehub fitted on the crank, with the cassette being locked?

Bro, these days 2.2 rubber is practically gravel bike territory….🤣. when you think about it, it’s pretty hard to believe we ever rode anything other than paved sidewalks with our 28mm stanchions, no droppers and 2.1 maxxis cross marks.

What is your timeline for all these upgrades? That bike is pretty much as entry level a dual sus you can get these days, which isn’t in itself a bad thing, but it depends what your expecting to get out of the bike. It’s a decent frame though, and the geometry is great, so in that sense worth while to upgrade, if your plan is to slowly upgrade over time as things become due for replacement anyway. But then you need to be honest with yourself, and not waste money on too much maintenance, especially the drivetrain, as that NX drivetrain isn’t worth servicing or maintaining, and nor is that fox 32 either, especially if you weigh anywhere over 80 odd kgs. my fear is, by the time you have done all the upgrades suggested, and you add up the cost, along with the initial purchase price of the bike, you may as well just have bought a 920 or 930 te begin with.

Are 24 hour lap races still a thing? I have great memories of the 24 hour team relay in Parys from what seems to be a lifetime ago. I know there was one in Elgin/Grabouw at once stage as well. But haven’t seen much on that front for a while

I have often wondered about the practicalities of carrying a handgun while cycling. I am surprised to read how successful some here have found carrying at 6 o clock or 4 o’clock on a belt. I have always thought the only feasible way to carry would be a pretty tight fitting tactical chest rig, especially when mountain biking, but this is pretty much impossible to conceal. The thing with bike jackings is they tend to ambush and tackle you from the bike. Meaning your going to be pretty bewildered/confused for a while while getting your bearings, and if they notice the firearm, this would be a perfect time for them to take it off you and use it against you.

Another tip I think lots of people doing these events under appreciate is building decent upper body strength, especially the shoulders and forearms and working on grip strength. This become important on the technical terrain, 5 days into an event.

What was his point about JHB riders then that I completely misunderstood? He claims the majority of the field is from Gauteng - that is the bit I didn’t agree with, because from my experience they weren’t, there were a hell of a lot of internationals, and a lot of locals from the cape, as well as riders from all over South Africa. If GP trail parks don’t prepare you for riding the epic, or if GP riders aren’t doing enough technical terrain training, then maybe they should get some prep in elsewhere also. Last time I rode up there, there were tons of options that provided some big days out, technical riding in the Magaliesberg, and there are trails in the escapement/mpumalanga/waterberg etc that are proper.

https://www.treadmtb.co.za/absa-cape-epic-its-no-longer-the-race-it-used-to-be/ Tread Media has always been a reasonably decent media outlet regarding the local cycling scene. But this article must be some of the worst and most pointless “journalism” I have ever seen. I have no idea what point Shaun is actually trying to make here - or is he just trying to jump onto the “epic bad” bandwagon that seems to be doing the roads. Is he saying Joburgers should prepare better, or is he suggesting because I the bulk of the field is from Gauteng (which I don’t think is really true), the organisers should take that into consideration? I do agree that planning 2 full days around Paarl, in mid March wasn’t particularly well thought through, but also, the riding around Paarl was amazing (barring the heat). As a local, I don’t particularly find Lourensford/Somerset West/Stellies trails to be “bad” when it’s wet…. Also, there’s always a chance of rain, anywhere. Would he prefer they go back to a primarily gravel road route format incase it rains?

Interesting take, although I 100% agree with you on the Zone 2 training (and it took me a long time to accept this, but so glad I did), the rest of what your saying is almost completely the opposite of what I do, and mentioned in my previous post. Just goes to show there really is no 1 size fits all solution.

I might get flamed for this, it has often been an unpopular opinion amongst other riders I have shared it with, but I really do think people tend overthink/overanalyse the preparation and training for these events, and forget that at the end of the day it’s still supposed to be “fun”. Especially if you aren’t aiming for an age group podium or something like that. I don’t mean you shouldn’t train hard and be prepared, that’s critically important to actually enjoying the ride. What I mean is things like obsessing about route profiles and exactly how many hours a week you train, and how many grams of carbs per hour and and and. Nutrition is especially a topic people tend to over obsess about. All these multi coloured bottles full of chemical concoctions that cost a fortune a not needed. If you take the time to train your gut properly, it’s amazing how well you can do with real food, and if you can get your fat oxidation up, even better. Firstly, you are going to save a ton of money, and it’s going to taste a lot better. Lots of nuts, fatty dry wors, dates (as mentioned by others) goes a long way. I use either energade or game for carbs and isotonic, and I have never needed more. Marmite/bovril sandwiches also a great way to replace salts. Then, if you simplify your nutrition to this level, then it becomes easy to stop off at the water points, and survive well on the real food they have there. 5 minutes at a water point, a cup or two of coke, and a good feed on real food, is all you need. It doesn’t need to be a complex operation of prepping different bottles and gels every day to get you through the day. I always carry a gel or two as a real last resort, but try avoid using it, and if I do, I only use it in the last hour or so of the day. Because once you start chasing that simple carbohydrate dragon, you can never feed it fast enough.

For 2024 it was R113500.00 per team, 2025 will be R119500.00 per team. international riders pay a USD price that works out closer to R150k per team, not entirely sure why, as they get the same service as SA riders

Also very glad to have had the opportunity to ride, especially as it seemed like a non starter 2 weeks before the start, when my partner had to withdraw with injury. But then another guy in our group also lost his partner, and we could end up riding together. Looking back, I think if the weather played along, it would have been fantastic riding all along. But they should have known how hot it could get in Paarl, and stage 3 was always going to be a bad idea. That almost broke us. I also wasn’t a fan of stage 2 TT. That just seemed to be a convenient solution to what would otherwise have been a boring and perhaps too “short” for epic transfer from Meerendal to Paarl. stages 4-6 was exactly what I was expecting and looking forward to. More of what we had signed up for. The weather shortened stage 7 felt a bit of a disappointment at first, but turned out to be a good route considering the conditions. The lack of spectator points for a grand finale was a bit of a let down though. They also left the announcement way too late. We were in D, but had guys in our group riding in A, and they were already warned up and on route to the chutes when the announcement came through. I also think the 10:30 start was called 100% to ensure helicopter coverage for the UCI race, and nothing else. The route was as wet as it was going to be at 07:30 already. Waiting around in the race village without any real comforts until 10:40 was pretty crap. as to the “gees”, that was severely lacking. This was my first time out as a rider, but I think my 7th or 8th Epic I have been involved in as support staff/crew for teams etc. The lack of gees was a serious let down, and there was very little to make the race village a nice place to be in between stages. I think the layout of the race villages played a big role here (and in the fairview scenario, the choice of venue as well. It was all just ***. one of the other guys in our group summed it up well saying this was by far the most low budget epic he had ever done (and it was his 7th as a rider). I can’t ever recall the race villages being such cold, dreary places to be, and I’m very glad we opted to sleep out the first few nights, and could stay at home for the lourensford bit. There weren’t even refreshments in the rider lounge/chill zone unless you paid for it - not even electrolytes. It was only water from one centrally placed (and therefore far from everything) water station. Anything else you wanted had to be paid for. The “lunch” if you can call it that given out at the finish was essentially glorified airplane food, and if you wanted to buy something else to eat in the race village your choices were very limited. Dinner wasn’t too bad, but it’s a long way from what we were expecting. Hard to think this is the same team that puts on wine2whales, where the food, and the gees, is always awesome. the spirit of riders out on course, that stays awesome, and is probably the only reason I will give it another go next year, but only after having a good look at the proposed route. If it isn’t going a little further affield, like to Ceres or the Overberg again, then I’m out.

after 7 days of racing, there’s only 40 seconds splitting first and second place in the men’s GC. It’s going to be a proper race for the podium tomorrow. and only 10 seconds splitting 3rd and 4th. for the rest of us, it’s gonna be another tough day in the mud tomorrow.

The Tall boy is really good looking, but I just assumed any SC with half decent build kit would be beyond my budget, considering the premium normally attached to them. will go take a closer look when I get a chance next week.

I dont even want to think about how *** hot it must be in those tents right now. Like @DieselnDust says, they need to truck water in, and they seem to battle to get it in fast enough, primarily because the access to the site is really limited. there is only 1, narrow standard farm gate, and one farm track to access the race village, support village (which is about 6 dusty rugby fields away), spectator parking, AVIS uprgrade parking and everything in between. there is no seperate entrance for services - which is like event planning 101. The race village is also just plonked on a dusty field in the middle of nowhere with absoulutey zero sense of place, and the layout means everything is far away from everything else. I would swop a ankle deep in the mud sloshfest at Oak Valley for this place any day, and cant believe we will be spending two more days and nights here. I keep telling myself there must be some kind of good reason they chose this setup, but im really battling to come up with one. anyway, long day ahead tomorrow, so I better get some more sleep in.

And they have gone extra heavy on pushing the upgrades this year compared to previous years. If you don’t have ABSA VIP access, then you’re stuck to suffer like a real pleb. Pretty much anything that would be considered decent customer service is only available as a paid upgrade. Heard a lot of grumbling from the international riders at the bag pickup and the massage tent today. Okes aren’t happy.

Glad we staying in Paarl tonight, just chatted to okes in the checkout line at PnP saying the water situation in the race village is dire. Both for drinking and showers unless they sort something out quick, and maybe get some more shade sorted out for chill zones, three nights in that dust pit are going to get seriously unpleasant. and everyone in our group is pretty happy with the stage being shortened.

Somebody needs to be drawn and quartered for firstly choosing this site as a race village and then also for the piss poor layout of the race village. starting to get the idea the accountants had a lot more say than the people on the ground when making these calls.