Christie Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 Perhaps there is a gap in the market for somebody to start a "Great Cape adventure" or something like that from Knysna/Plett or there abouts to CT & focus on the non-pros.
bontie Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 in chatting to some friends about this thread, I was asked if I had the cash and the time would I do it. I said no. There is just something about riding in the circles for 7 days that does not appeal to me. However riding from Knysna to CT, now that is a very different story! Each has its place I think, and I'm with Christie, there may well be scope for a Knysna to Cape Town type event, but then there is the J2C, whihc is very hard to beat. I am doing this in June - http://eng.mtbtrophy.webworld.pl/?expander=0:354:1 I admit its only 4 days, but start and finishes the saem place every day -hotel accomodation already booked.I am a fan of a tent, but those porta loss after a couple of days... I would also love to do Epic again, but to me R35k for an entry is just a bit steep...
kandui Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I think it's time to dump your entry. Sell if for whatever you can get, a mate picked one up for R 19500 last week. Another mate is selling and wasted time by naively thinking he could get his money back. He had an offer for R25k the other day and by the time he had thought about it, the guy had moved on.Come mid Feb you will be lucky to get R 10000.Got my entry for half price in November 2011. In 2013 I will wait till the last day the organisers will accept rider changes and pay even less. Why not, if they're out there?
Red Zone Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 It was the most incredible event when I did it. It was more of an adventure when it was still point to point - Knysna to Cape Town. I truly did have the time of my life. It was also pretty affordable back in 2007, I think it only cost R12 500 for a team entry But now it has become more of a racing event, focused rather on times and positions than the MTB riding. I think that it has lost its appeal to the weekend warrior or "recreational rider" I certainly wont do it again at that price and just to do laps around areas where one can do a lot of riding with either one day race entries or on your own. I also think that the pool of "epic" riders is pretty static and once these guys have ticked it off or done 2 or 3 they wont go back for a while.
smerds Posted February 1, 2012 Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) i feel the same. would love to do the event and will in future wait till the end and try and find a bargin, that is the only way i will ever get to do the epic since R35k can buy me much more than a stage race. Edited February 1, 2012 by smerds
TNOSE_E Posted February 1, 2012 Posted February 1, 2012 just heard of an epic team entry sold for R16000...
kosmonooit Posted February 1, 2012 Posted February 1, 2012 From a TV coverage point of view its already a pro only event, hardly any TV (or DVD) coverage of riders not competing for podium places is shown... That's much the norm with all TV coverage - mainly (I think) to give the sponsors the screen time. That's what is about really, even with our dearly beloved public broadcaster SABC's Pedal Talk, forever plugging the sponsors.
NotSoBigBen Posted February 1, 2012 Posted February 1, 2012 in chatting to some friends about this thread, I was asked if I had the cash and the time would I do it. I said no. There is just something about riding in the circles for 7 days that does not appeal to me. However riding from Knysna to CT, now that is a very different story! I never had the feeling I was 'riding in circles' and after 2 or 3 days I was more concerned with 'survival' than anything else but maybe that was just me. I am really chuffed I got an apportunity to do it (free entry with 4 weeks to go) and managed to finish albeit a 'broken' man!
Niner Posted February 1, 2012 Posted February 1, 2012 Perhaps there is a gap in the market for somebody to start a "Great Cape adventure" or something like that from Knysna/Plett or there abouts to CT & focus on the non-pros. Oh yes that would be VERY NICE!
kandui Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Just saw this on the Epic home page: ".....as approximately 600 teams of two compete in this tough 8 day race."Looks like they know they have a small problem - overcharging.
scotty Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 A lot of land is private, so by introducing new races i'm not sure the owners will be okay with it.
koukie Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Just saw this on the Epic home page: ".....as approximately 600 teams of two compete in this tough 8 day race."Looks like they know they have a small problem - overcharging.Huh? what is wrong with that?
GLuvsMtb Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 Huh? what is wrong with that?Yeah. Its always been 600 teams + one or 2 celeb teams that gets pulled in at the last minute
SwissVan Posted February 2, 2012 Posted February 2, 2012 I never had the feeling I was 'riding in circles' and after 2 or 3 days I was more concerned with 'survival' than anything else but maybe that was just me. I am really chuffed I got an apportunity to do it (free entry with 4 weeks to go) and managed to finish albeit a 'broken' man! +1 Felt like we had been riding over landmines on day 3.... You lie, you never looked broken to me.
Caerus Posted February 6, 2012 Posted February 6, 2012 I see a Team entry going for R20 000 in the classifieds today. Maybe one day I might just get to do it
MuddyMike Posted February 8, 2012 Posted February 8, 2012 This topic has interesting comments.... 2012 will be my 1st Epic and I cannot wait! Yes it is a lot of money in anyones language, but we have to understand that this is THE mtb stage race in the world, no ther race comes close. Any mountain biker out there who says they would never want to do it is either a liar or in denial (take the money issue out of that choice). I agree with a comment made by live2ride earlier, there are so many entries out there now simply because too many guy's eyes (and wallets) are bigger than their balls and determination to see their decision, through to crossing the finish at Lourensford. Imagine if the entry fee was half the price, every Joe and their dog would enter, only to find out in Feb that they are way under trained and guess what, the market would be flooded with unwanted entries. The high price of the entry helps to keep riders focussed on their "investement" and get the required training done, cause they know if they dont they are in for a big financial loss come Feb when they try to flog their entry. Maybe an idea to keep Epic entries open for riders who are serious about the challenge and the commitment is to introduce some kind of qualifying criteria. (I can hear the howls of objection to that already). I dont agree that the Epic is all about racing. Look at the cutoff times per stage, between 8-11.5hrs - Not exactly racing speeds is it? Epic is what you make of it, no-one is putting a gun to your head to force you to race it. You are given the leeway with the cut off times to make it into an adventure and not a race if you so choose. As for the earlier comment that anyone who can afford the cost can ride - Total BS!! You can buy an entry, but you earn your finish. Will I be back again after 2012? Probably not as there are many rides out there I want to do, But I will never regret my 2012 entry.
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