As we all know events like the Cape Eppic, Sani-2-Sea, and Trans Baviaans took the principle of endurance racing to a higher level, a level of difficulty at which very few of us are prepared to compete and a level we thought (about 10-20 years ago) were impossible. For me, this also posed questions like, how far can we go, where did it all start, when did people became this mad to do these events ?<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Then I found this book (historic) which referred to a cycle race from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, a little bit further than the Cape Epic. What amazed me about this event was that members of the Port Elizabeth Cycling Club took part in it and it happened in 1885, a full 124 years ago !! Even more amazing is that they used Penny Farthings (the original and proper version), which was the most popular bicycle at that time, to do the trip. The distance was 700 miles of which 150 miles had to be walked . I can only imagine that the walking was due to steep inclines on the route where the Penny?s could not be ridden up or down (and most likely due to a lack of proper brakes !!). Another amazing thing was that there was no highway and the old road between George ? Knysna ? Humansdorp were only completed in 1886 !! Adding to this, there were many wild animals around at that time, even lion, not to mention the wars with Zulu and Xhosa at that time !! One can?t even outsprint a lion on a modern day bicycle let alone a Penny Farthing !! This journey was done without any back-up (motor cars weren?t invented yet !!) and modern day medical assistance. Propably the reason why the President of the first ?Kaapstadse Fietskorps? and author of a song called ?Bicycle Galop?, George Silver Darter, was hurt on one of these events and had to give up his ?velocipede' as these bikes were referred to. Imagine what can happen falling from a Penny Farthing at 20km/h. This journey was undertaken without the luxury of pneumatic tyres (solid rubber was used ? at least no punctures), no gears, no full suspension, no water tables on the route, and without GU or VOOMA to boost the energy levels. Upon arrival in Cape Town these braves where met 7 miles out of town by members of the ?Kaapstadse Fietskorps? who then escorted them into the city. The illustration show these early cyclists and pioneers arriving in Cape Town (check out the head gear !!). Unfortunately no information is available as to how many riders took part and what time it took them to complete the trip. This answered my questions and made me realize that the human race are suckers for punishment and that enduro racing are no new concept nor was it invented by modern man. We are merely following these early cycling pioneers. Hats (or is it helmets) off to these cycling pioneers !!! <?: prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /> Illustration by: Heinrich Egersdorfer (1853-1915) <?: prefix = w ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" />
