General Cape Epic cutoff times

[Wyatt Earp]

Eina,couple hrs away and the thread has already turned into a nob measuring contest.

I still believe you can't have everything.We want to race against the pro's,we want to ride in a UCI event.You enter what some might consider to be the toughest stage race in the world but at the end a lot of guys are looking for sympathy.Sorry,I believe if you enter,you get your sh*t together and do what needs to be done.

I still believe it's pointless having cut of times if they don't keep to it.

At Comrades you have to qualify to be on the start line so at least those at the Comrades have a certain level of fitness at the start.If your granny has the 50K and is lucky enough to get a entry she would be at Meerendal.Should I then feel sorry for her because it's her 'dream' or because she is old,unfit,overweight,has a job and children.

NO

Sorry ,you enter Epic of your own free will.I don't give any sympathy to those at the back because they just havn't done what is necessary to do Epic comfortably.If you taking shots every day scraping to make cut off you only got the man in the mirror to blame.

 

What you wrote after this gives me a clear indication that you have the biggest tape measure out at the moment.

 

Secondly, none of us, and I mean none of us are "race against the pro's"

They have their own race.

[GLuvsMtb]

I remember standing at the finish in Saasveld in 2008. A wet stage... extended cut-off and then watching with fascination as riders tried to beat the count down clock to the finish. A namibian team missed it by about 45 seconds. Mannie Heymans walked out of the beer tent, put his arms around the 2 Nam boitjies and said something to them. I could not hear what it was, but it was one of the most endearing moments I witnessed at a race.

Cut offs are reasonable to have. Imagine guys rolling in at 8pm every night. It does not mean that the orginisers are not going to use their discretion. The other option is to alter the route. There was a clear point today where they could have cut about 8km out of that final loop if they wanted to. It would have meant to take a quadbike and move 4 directional arrows, and remove the other markers on the 8km loop.

I suspect that doing this would have diluted the event more than using discretion on cut off times instead as moving a cut off only affects the last 5 to 10% of the field. Changing the route affects 100% of the riders.

[arendoog]

So I have been an ABSA client for 30 years .I am fit enough to do this thing and I am a celebrity in my own house .I always ride my bike as if I stole it How do I secure an entry ! Exxaro ? .Any other ideas ?

Edited March 27, 2014 by Blitzer

[jaxtun]

Haven't been on the hub in ages... So relieved to return and find it is still overrun by opinionated fools!

[Wyatt Earp]

I remember standing at the finish in Saasveld in 2008. A wet stage... extended cut-off and then watching with fascination as riders tried to beat the count down clock to the finish. A namibian team missed it by about 45 seconds. Mannie Heymans walked out of the beer tent, put his arms around the 2 Nam boitjies and said something to them. I could not hear what it was, but it was one of the most endearing moments I witnessed at a race.

Cut offs are reasonable to have. Imagine guys rolling in at 8pm every night. It does not mean that the orginisers are not going to use their discretion. The other option is to alter the route. There was a clear point today where they could have cut about 8km out of that final loop if they wanted to. It would have meant to take a quadbike and move 4 directional arrows, and remove the other markers on the 8km loop.

I suspect that doing this would have diluted the event more than using discretion on cut off times instead as moving a cut off only affects the last 5 to 10% of the field. Changing the route affects 100% of the riders.

 

I rode that Epic, it was a wet, a very wet and muddy day.

The toughest day I ever had in any Epic.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Wyatt Earp

[Paul Ruinaard]

I remember standing at the finish in Saasveld in 2008. A wet stage... extended cut-off and then watching with fascination as riders tried to beat the count down clock to the finish. A namibian team missed it by about 45 seconds. Mannie Heymans walked out of the beer tent, put his arms around the 2 Nam boitjies and said something to them. I could not hear what it was, but it was one of the most endearing moments I witnessed at a race.

Cut offs are reasonable to have. Imagine guys rolling in at 8pm every night. It does not mean that the orginisers are not going to use their discretion. The other option is to alter the route. There was a clear point today where they could have cut about 8km out of that final loop if they wanted to. It would have meant to take a quadbike and move 4 directional arrows, and remove the other markers on the 8km loop.

I suspect that doing this would have diluted the event more than using discretion on cut off times instead as moving a cut off only affects the last 5 to 10% of the field. Changing the route affects 100% of the riders.

Was that not 2006? I rode in 2006 when the start was from Knysna in heavy rain which didn't stop until 3 pm. We missed the cutoff owing to technical issues on brakes and mechanicals caused by mud. Saw my epic evaporate in an 11 hour day that day. Hardest and longest day on a bike i have ever done. Calories were over the 5000 for the ride. I saw yesterday and heard the reports and was thinking about 2006.

 

It was a horrendous year for rain. Barberton race was washed out in January and shortened to 40kms owing to rain and mud. Sani 2 C was solid mud and rain for the first day and then Epic was rain and mud on a very tough day 1.

 

I hate mud and will not ride in rain or mud ever since.

[Wyatt Earp]

Was that not 2006? I rode in 2006 when the start was from Knysna in heavy rain which didn't stop until 3 pm. We missed the cutoff owing to technical issues on brakes and mechanicals caused by mud. Saw my epic evaporate in an 11 hour day that day. Hardest and longest day on a bike i have ever done. Calories were over the 5000 for the ride. I saw yesterday and heard the reports and was thinking about 2006.

 

It was a horrendous year for rain. Barberton race was washed out in January and shortened to 40kms owing to rain and mud. Sani 2 C was solid mud and rain for the first day and then Epic was rain and mud on a very tough day 1.

 

I hate mud and will not ride in rain or mud ever since.

 

Yip 2006

[goya-goya]

Haven't been on the hub in ages... So relieved to return and find it is still overrun by opinionated fools!

 

c'mon... that is a bit harsh... they do come and go

[Paul Ruinaard]

Have you done one before ?

I will never forget that third Epic where it rained non stop on day 1.

They extended cut-off by a good few hours, some riders arriving in the dark, if they didn't do that they would have lost half the field.

I was one of those guys arriving in the dark. Was gutted. Missed it by minutes - had huge technical issues and had a bad lead in to the race in the final weeks of training i.e. sickness, falls etc.in the last three weeks of training,

[Wyatt Earp]

I was one of those guys arriving in the dark. Was gutted. Missed it by minutes - had huge technical issues and had a bad lead in to the race in the final weeks of training i.e. sickness, falls etc.in the last three weeks of training,

 

I was sitting in a bakkie waiting to be taken to the Protea hotel, saw the guys coming in, saw grown men crying and guys slumping over each other.

The Epic has never seen a day like that again.

Also the longest stage in the history of the Epic, it was on day 7 if I recall, over Groenland berg towards the end of the stage.

My worst day was they day out of Greyton, I had very little in the tank as they ran out of food in the race village that evening, ended up chowing a loaf of bread and downed a big Lucuozade on tyne pavement outside the café the night before.

I was stuffed the next day after pulling my partner up hills as a result of a spider bite he got.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Wyatt Earp

[Cassie]

Haven't been on the hub in ages... So relieved to return and find it is still overrun by opinionated fools!

 

Auntie Jax..pay them no attention!!! Just ride it like you stole it!!

Hat's off to you...

[TALUS]

I read these stories and then I cringe that a guy like stringbean can think you didn't belong there...

[PhilipV]

funny how someone can sit behind a keyboard debating the merits of a race he/she is not doing, and probably will never (be able to) do.

 

 

Please don't debate what the epic should or should not be. It is not a cultural icon that we have any "rights" to. it is the brainchild, project and business of someone (Kevin Vermaak) who can do with it whatever he wants. He can sell it out to sponsors, make it a dirt roadie race, move cut off times or get the UCI to award points. ranting online over it is like pissing into the wind.

 

I also rode 2006 epic, there I learned how to suffer, or what it is to suffer. Most riders have no clue what it entails to ride epic (not until actually riding it.) I'll take my hat off to every single finisher. You have to dig very deep to finish.

Edited March 26, 2014 by PhilipV

[Wyatt Earp]

I read these stories and then I cringe that a guy like stringbean can think you didn't belong there...

 

Makes me wonder how one would actually go about dealing with these "lazy hackers" when they show you their medal.

Two pictures spring to mind.

 

 

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Jesse-Pinkman-Walter-White-handshake.gif

 

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K100_pC2aLk/UBFoEH_654I/AAAAAAAAC6I/gChmX0s21N8/s400/notworthy.gif

[Baaisikilist]

Eina,couple hrs away and the thread has already turned into a nob measuring contest.

I still believe you can't have everything.We want to race against the pro's,we want to ride in a UCI event.You enter what some might consider to be the toughest stage race in the world but at the end a lot of guys are looking for sympathy.Sorry,I believe if you enter,you get your sh*t together and do what needs to be done.

I still believe it's pointless having cut of times if they don't keep to it.

At Comrades you have to qualify to be on the start line so at least those at the Comrades have a certain level of fitness at the start.If your granny has the 50K and is lucky enough to get a entry she would be at Meerendal.Should I then feel sorry for her because it's her 'dream' or because she is old,unfit,overweight,has a job and children.

NO

Sorry ,you enter Epic of your own free will.I don't give any sympathy to those at the back because they just havn't done what is necessary to do Epic comfortably.If you taking shots every day scraping to make cut off you only got the man in the mirror to blame.

 

Well the 'nob' measuring can stop, I believe we've found the biggest one...

[Dicky DQ]

Cassie, I like what you said here.

Every time I do any stage event, Epic, J2C or whatever else it is.

I can't help but to stop and count my blessings.

 

I get in, wash my bike, have a shower and a nice wholesome meal.

Take a nap, grab a beer and get ready for dinner.

People are still finishing, as I have already had some recovery time from a rest and nutrition standpoint.

 

As I walk off to dinner, they now have to get their bikes washed, find their bags, get cleaned up, find their tent and pitch for dinner hoping that they have enough food to still fill their bellies.

They barely have time to recover, as a result of the amount of time they sat on that saddle , their bums are raw, their legs are tired and they still have to get to bed late as the mechanic works on their bike till midnight.

 

They get up the next morning, just to do it again, and the best part of all, they complain the least.

YES, THOSE ARE THE TRUE HEROES !!!!!!!!!!!

 

And they make it "Cheaper" for me to enter these events. Without them the entries would be way higher and I would look way K@Ker than i do now. Now at least I can finish in the top 50% if I have a bad day, but with out them I would be in the bottom 100%.

 

I like them more and more.