SimpleDom Posted March 14, 2016 Posted March 14, 2016 Loved it. The heat is Killer. Tomorrow is also going to be hot, but a little shorter. Those single track climbs are brutal, but the reward on the other side is worth it. The Pyga is just unreal down those hills. Now to find someone to pull me up.
jcza Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 War Story First Epic, had a great ride. Not a single mechanical or puncture. Dropped chain a couple of times and broke 2 spokes. Partner had a dodgy gut for 2 days and I suffered with cramp once. Some of the finest trails I have ever ridden but make no mistake it was tough. Relentless steep climbing. Do it again? Hell yes! PS: Good to meet you Gnarly
Lexx Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 Well Done Johan and Neil. Jeez you guys are making me Jelous....Hopefully I will see you guys there next year.
Dominik Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 First Epic, after the Prologue I though, WTH am I doing here, Im going to die, its been the highest I have seen my heartrate go up but luckily it dropped from there on each stage as my body started adapting.The heat was something else during the first couple of Stages, the sand, WOW.The trails were awesome, I especially loved the 28 switchbacks up Aap d/Huez and Skyfall.Loved the Queen Stage and felt like I was riding in my backyard in George. The Mitas tyres was absolutely bulletproof and not a single problem with them, last year they tested them with 40 teams and didn't had a single puncture, they are surely my favourite tyre choice now. I had no small gear on Stage 6 with all that climbing so suffered quite a bit and broke my chain 20km's out of the finish on the last Stage, but managed to fix it and finished crying like a baby from 2km's out, when the supporters started clapping hands and said "this is the last climb all downhill from here and my partner just looked back at me and pointed his finger to me" Great experience, FLIPPEN tough, even when you thought the climb is now over and its a straight part or downhill then it was very technical, the Stats speak for themselves, proper MTBing, loved it, will be back in 2 years time. Well done to all that finished.
waveduke Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 Finished my second Epic. Very stoked. The 2016 route was much tougher than the 2014 edition. But what an amazing route - the scenery and amount of single track will be difficult to top. Only the last stage was terrible. Not my thing riding on endless roads into a headwind ;-) The competition in the Top100 was harder than expected. It seems that everyone is much better prepared nowadays. I'm very happy with my tyre choice - not one single puncture and plenty of grip from the Barzo in front. On the downside there were a few things which gave me the feeling that the average Joe rider is not on the priority list of the event organizers anymore. Might be just my personal experience but I recall that in 2014 the services where better organized. Anyway - again a bloody amazing event and I was glad to be part of it!
Lexx Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 First Epic, after the Prologue I though, WTH am I doing here, Im going to die, its been the highest I have seen my heartrate go up but luckily it dropped from there on each stage as my body started adapting.The heat was something else during the first couple of Stages, the sand, WOW.The trails were awesome, I especially loved the 28 switchbacks up Aap d/Huez and Skyfall.Loved the Queen Stage and felt like I was riding in my backyard in George. The Mitas tyres was absolutely bulletproof and not a single problem with them, last year they tested them with 40 teams and didn't had a single puncture, they are surely my favourite tyre choice now. I had no small gear on Stage 6 with all that climbing so suffered quite a bit and broke my chain 20km's out of the finish on the last Stage, but managed to fix it and finished crying like a baby from 2km's out, when the supporters started clapping hands and said "this is the last climb all downhill from here and my partner just looked back at me and pointed his finger to me" Great experience, FLIPPEN tough, even when you thought the climb is now over and its a straight part or downhill then it was very technical, the Stats speak for themselves, proper MTBing, loved it, will be back in 2 years time. Well done to all that finished.Well Done Dominik,Will grab a few beers at Oudshoorn after 36One.
V12man Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 War Story First Epic, had a great ride. Not a single mechanical or puncture. Dropped chain a couple of times and broke 2 spokes. Partner had a dodgy gut for 2 days and I suffered with cramp once. Some of the finest trails I have ever ridden but make no mistake it was tough. Relentless steep climbing. Do it again? Hell yes! PS: Good to meet you Gnarly Thanks for pointing Gnarly out in the start chute still won't recognise him in a pub - but you on the other hand I might now identify All in all a good ride - except for our tech support crew who could not even fix a mis shifting front dr for the whole epic despite reportiing it EVERY DAY - and did not even wash the bikes properly on the last day - didn't even lube the chain.
jcza Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 Thanks for pointing Gnarly out in the start chute still won't recognise him in a pub - but you on the other hand I might now identify All in all a good ride - except for our tech support crew who could not even fix a mis shifting front dr for the whole epic despite reportiing it EVERY DAY - and did not even wash the bikes properly on the last day - didn't even lube the chain. You know who we used, cannot recommend them highly enough. Bike has never felt better.
Carmichael Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 Anyone wanna exchange his large med amabubesi cycling shirt for my med?
cyclesharp Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 Finished my second epic, the epic is becoming extremely tough tho, my partner fell out on day 5 because of dehydration... So that part was hectic, people were cool this year compared to last year.. The epic remains a amazing feat and achievement...Words cannot describe the feeling you get when crossing that finish line! Congrats to everyone who finished cause 171 teams did not...
Donovan Le Cok Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 My second start - DNF. A picture says a thousand words so I will just leave this. WP 2 stage 5. Racing well into the top 50 for the day. Making progress and feeling strong. Slipped on a wet root and took a boulder to the spine. Tried to continue but couldn't move my back and felt pins and needles in my back. Doctor told me not to continue. I cried like a baby..
jcza Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 So did anyone finish it on a 1x11? Yip rode 1 x 11 with 32 ring and 11-42 cassette. Wasn't too bad, walked some sections of day 3 (stage 2) up the mountain
SimpleDom Posted March 22, 2016 Posted March 22, 2016 So did anyone finish it on a 1x11?Yip. 1x11 here. 30t oval up front, 10-42 sram at the back. No problem. Don't think it was any more or less tough for me than someone on 2x
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