GLuvsMtb Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 And that my friend is exactly what people want to see when they watch sports. Super athletes with extreme skills, huge cahoonas, crazy talent and supernatural abilities! Who cares about the ex F1 driver and the ex Bok captain coming in at 7 hours anyway?A very small portion of the viewing public watch it to appreciate the skill. The biggest latent reason people watch extreme sport is to see crashes and people covered in blood, even though they will never publicly admit it. I call it Gladiator syndrome.
droo Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 This one I do take credit for incl the lie down. AFAIK that bridge was built for the Epic. It ruined a lovely tricky but quite rideable corner,,, Argh. That bridge was surely built by a lawyer.
DJR Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 This one I do take credit for incl the lie down. AFAIK that bridge was built for the Epic. It ruined a lovely tricky but quite rideable corner,,,Funny how a little rock in just the wrong place at just the wrong moment can taste like fynbos in the back of your throat Like the vid & the music
Skubarra Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 if you are a slow climber but a capable technical rider, 99% of the time you are being slow on some wide-ass dirt road where you are not affecting the flow of the race or causing any frustration. years ago on sani2C, i landed behind a bloke (or maybe a girl, cant remember) that literally got off his/her bike and pushed around every switchback on nicks pass. some will argue that that section of single track must be some of the most awesome pieces of riding in the whole of SA, and every moment of fun was taken right out of it because of one dude with no skills. You probably wouldn't know because you have never been stuck behind a rider on a technical singletrack climb or 2 donkeys on a steep jeeptrack climb that are 2 tired to give you some space to pass They probably got to the climb before me because they descended like demons going down the valley and I was stuck behind them because I'm more cautious and less skilled. I can of course now demand that they work on their weight & fitness before entering another mtb race or I can work on my skills and not be overtaken on the descent? Same goes for the "capable skilled riders" on this thread, start working on your fitness and stop moaning about the unskilled riders in your path. You cannot expect the rest of the field to up-skill to compensate for your lack of fitness. Fitness is the easy part to improve, and you already have the skills so you can only blame yourself if that noob girl who can't ride singletrack is in front of you at the sani2c
dev null Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Just a small story of how my technical riding skills got improved. Beginning of last year I was useless. Then I did Dirtopia 15km loop. I did the Gravel Travel mud fest. Things got a little better. Then I did Garden Route Trail Park twice in one week, as well as Harkerville and Homtini. My skills improved so much I could not even believe it myself. Stuff that I would OTB in an instant in the past did not even bother me anymore. Thing is, it was not only time on the saddle, it was also learning my bike and how to set it up for the route. The correct tyres pressures for the route and the day (weather) made a huge difference. The secret is to ride as many different trails as possible in as many conditions, and to every now and then to do things out of your comfort zone. Riding the same trail day in, day out will not help you improve by big amounts.
marko35s Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Amazed at the turn this has taken.There are entire threads on here dedicated to people binning it in style but do the same, even on a small scale, about the Epic and the knives are out.
dev null Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Amazed at the turn this has taken.There are entire threads on here dedicated to people binning it in style but do the same, even on a small scale, about the Epic and the knives are out. We are just jealous that we have to sit in an office during this time.
rudi-h Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 You probably wouldn't know because you have never been stuck behind a rider on a technical singletrack climb or 2 donkeys on a steep jeeptrack climb that are 2 tired to give you some space to pass They probably got to the climb before me because they descended like demons going down the valley and I was stuck behind them because I'm more cautious and less skilled. I can of course now demand that they work on their weight & fitness before entering another mtb race or I can work on my skills and not be overtaken on the descent? Same goes for the "capable skilled riders" on this thread, start working on your fitness and stop moaning about the unskilled riders in your path. You cannot expect the rest of the field to up-skill to compensate for your lack of fitness. Fitness is the easy part to improve, and you already have the skills so you can only blame yourself if that noob girl who can't ride singletrack is in front of you at the sani2cYou don't go play golf without taking a few lessons do you? Technically you never have to practice and can play off a 24 handicap for the rest of your life and one in 5 lucky days you can even go home with a blender... Even so, golfers spend their weekends at the driving range and watch stroke videos during lunch. Why? Because they want to be good, not just win a blender on a good day... Mtb is the same, a sport of skill and fitness. Why can't mtb riders do the same when training? It's about being good on any terrain. PS you may be stuck behind a slow rider going uphill once for every 20 times that you get stuck behind slow riders on gnarly singletrack...
GLuvsMtb Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 You don't go play golf without taking a few lessons do you? Technically you never have to practice and can play off a 24 handicap for the rest of your life and one in 5 lucky days you can even go home with a blender... Even so, golfers spend their weekends at the driving range and watch stroke videos during lunch. Why? Because they want to be good, not just win a blender on a good day... Mtb is the same, a sport of skill and fitness. Why can't mtb riders do the same when training? It's about being good on any terrain. PS you may be stuck behind a slow rider going uphill once for every 20 times that you get stuck behind slow riders on gnarly singletrack...I know many golfers who spend hours at the range only practicing their long game. They suck at chipping and laying up, but never practice these shots. If they are happy to play off an 18, why tell them to work on their short game, just because they may hold up the four ball behind them? Its after all not like they have aspirations to play on the Sunshine Tour.
NicoBoshoff Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 I know many golfers who spend hours at the range only practicing their long game. They suck at chipping and laying up, but never practice these shots. If they are happy to play off an 18, why tell them to work on their short game, just because they may hold up the four ball behind them? Its after all not like they have aspirations to play on the Sunshine Tour.Because at the Epic they ARE at the Sunshine Tour and they're moering every third shot into the water. Have some respect for the event and prepare.
Hackster Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 You nailed it. It's the 100 metre stretch before this little section that sets you up for failure. It's a badly-rutted walking trail with enough gulleys, rocks and holes to keep your pace way slow. I have never ridden anything remotely as demanding in any race I've ever ridden. It's DH type stuff, but without the jumps or the speed. Most MTBers in the area don't ride it because it's just not fun. That bit in the video is technical in its own right and I suspect that the sheer-ish slope to their left interferred with the concentration a bit. No shame in wiping on that section, I'll stick my neck out and say that 80% of us would have done the same - had we even ridden it in the first instance.Ah... so having watched the prologue carefully last night. I see that the previous stretch I described so breathlessly above, has been, shall we say, botoxed. Smooth out, filled in and widened. Still bumpy, but a shadow of its former self. So I take it all back. They're a bunch of wussies*. *(very fit wussies who would be so far ahead of me in a MTB race that they could dismount and hop the single track sections, and still beat me to the finish line.) A pox on DStv and reality for disproving my theories.
GLuvsMtb Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Because at the Epic they ARE at the Sunshine Tour and they're moering every third shot into the water. Have some respect for the event and prepare.To play on the sunshine tour you have to qualify. You cannot play off a 24. The only qualification for the Epic is a credit card with a R60k limit to enter with. Many riders (female in particular) are very successful without enjoying single track or being good at high speed technical descends. Knowing your limits is far more important than being technically proficient. Look at Ariane's crash again at 1:10 They ended up having a 20 odd minute gap on second place. Which would have been more prudent for her? Do 2 Enduros (where my comment on technical proficiency started) or take it down a click or 2? She is one of the most technically proficient female riders on the course, yet she came off yesterday. Watch closely, she tucked her elbow and arm in to land on the triceps and not snap the collarbone. That in itself displays a certain level of proficiency. The collarbones snapped on the prologue may or may not have been preventable with a good tuck and roll. To tuck and roll like that you have to fall... lots. I don't intend practicing my tuck and rolls, but I observe and trust that I would be able to react in a similar fashion. I rather take it down a click or 2 so that my tuck and roll is tucked away in the back of my mind should I need it at some stage. If you watch the midfield going down Groenlandberg you will see that they do about half the speed the pro's do. That's more than ok to finish the Epic if you can climb half as fast as the pros and descend half as fast as they do. Obviously you can't get away with ZERO skill, but work with what you have. Elana Meyer did not display good technical skills in the 2012 Epic she completed. I watched with fascination on the prologue how she struggled, yet she has a medal hanging in her trophy cabinet. If you are inclined to improve a weak area, good for you, but if you prefer to focus on your strengths while preparing, at least know your shortcomings and understand how you get around them. Female riders seem to do a lot better at this aspect than male riders (generalization, I know). That is probably why they seem to make it through the Epic with seemingly more skin intact than the males. For some understanding your shortcomings is a good tuck and roll. For others its get off your bike and walk a section of the trail.
Headshot Posted March 17, 2015 Author Posted March 17, 2015 G I dont think anyone doubts AKs or any other pros skill level. Many race XCO and have massive skills. Schurter is an ace on an enduro bike. I like the golf analogy. In MTB people, me included, buy a bike and go ride. MTB is probably the most technically demanding form of two wheeled sport but hardly any people get skills coaching and never progress beyond jeep track level skills. Wheres the sense in that?
_David_ Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 maybe they had to run 18k of the 20 - it does happen and people do run to make the cutoff time.. with a broken bike... seen that happen before... kudos to those that make it when that sort of thing happens.
Thor Buttox Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 I am crap on the downhills BECAUSE I have had too many crashes and ended up in the emergency room getting scraped down and pieces of dirt/shrubbery/rocks removed. But, touchwood/cross fingers/make cross sign, I have never broken anything cos for whatever reason I do tend to tuck and roll, or try land on my Camelbak. But mates of mine have broken things in innocuous crashes cos they don't. I will never be fast on the downhills. I can only get faster on the uphill, and even then I can't get light enough. But would still love to 'compete' and complete this. I just don't have the cash.
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