Rhino rider Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 Hannele deeply touched by spirit of solidarity displayed by Epic riders Zurreal rider Hannele Steyn survived one of the world’s toughest races to complete her record twelfth Absa Cape Epic on Sunday – the only woman to accomplish this feat. The 49-year-old finished the gruelling multi-stage mountain bike race as a solo rider after her mixed partner Fourie Kotze was injured and had to retire from the race with four days to go. Kotze split his left knee after a nasty fall caused a hairline fracture and ended his participation in what remained of the Epic. “I finished the race and I am still the only woman to have done 12 Cape Epics, it was awesome yet very tough,” Steyn said. “It was the most difficult route in terms of the climb. Usually there are short ascents in the Epic but this year there were long, continuous ones, while the terrain was unrelenting,” Steyn said. Steyn, a self-confessed Epic addict, said that as long as she could afford to take on the demanding multi-stage mountain bike race, she was unlikely to quit any time soon. Zurreal ensured her an entry this year, enabling her to continue her record run in the race, which is held over eight days. "It is amazing that Zurreal sponsored me. They really do stand for the same values that I do as they reward and encourage a healthy living and lifestyle," Steyn said. As if it was not enough that she is the only woman to have completed 12 consecutive Epics since its inception in 2004, she hopes to stay in the saddle until she is the last rider standing. “For me it is not about racing anymore but about being the rider who never gives up. I relish attaining major personal milestones for the very first time,” she said. Steyn, who won the Epic in 2005, said she was nervous about reaching the milestone as misfortune could have struck at any moment in the world’s toughest mountain bike stage race. “At each watering point it would be announced that I was doing my twelfth Epic and I would tell the announcer that you have not completed the race until the moment that you cross the finish line,” she said. “You don’t know what can happen during the event. When I reached the final hill I became emotional as I could see the finish with the three kilometres of downhill to go. I wondered whether I was crying because I had finished the race or because my legs were aching.” Steyn added that she was deeply touched and amazed by the spirit of solidarity shown by her fellow riders on her solo journey towards the finish. “It is difficult to ride on your own in the Epic as it is designed for partners. One rider can take the lead when the other gets tired and you wait for each other at water points,” she said. “There are such amazing people on the Epic, with a special kind of camaraderie. On your back with your race number is your nationality and the number of Epics you have done.” “When other riders see that you have done 11, they motivate you. So it is really great that they kind of look after you when you are riding on your own.”
Shebeen Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 so there are women elsewhere in the solar system who have done all 12?! great record...she even did it with mr Min once AFAIK
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