General Cape Epic 2016 Group

[Acerunner]

Yho, that is serous. Well in case you want to know, a lot of the guys that podium (vets, masters etc. Not Pro) normally get by on 9 to 11 hrs of training per week. I would also say most of the top 100 teams get by on 9 hrs or less.

 

Remember guys it is not how much but how effective the training is.

 

But if you have the time and are sure you are not doing "junk" miles

Dude, with all due respect, you dont know what youre talking about... I dont think youve done an Epic have you? Do you have any frikken IDEA how many quality hours you have to put in to be top 100? All of them avg 16 hours + a week if not more...

[cadenceblur]

To each his own guys. At the end of the day you riding, not anyone else.

[AuctionLamb]

 

Yho, that is serous. Well in case you want to know, a lot of the guys that podium (vets, masters etc. Not Pro) normally get by on 9 to 11 hrs of training per week. I would also say most of the top 100 teams get by on 9 hrs or less.

 

Remember guys it is not how much but how effective the training is.

 

But if you have the time and are sure you are not doing "junk" miles

 

Dude, with all due respect, you dont know what youre talking about... I dont think youve done an Epic have you? Do you have any frikken IDEA how many quality hours you have to put in to be top 100? All of them avg 16 hours + a week if not more...

 

No...wrong statement there

[arendoog]

I'm quite blown away with the amount of training (hours, km's and climbing) some of the guys (girls?) here are doing. Where do you think to finish in the race? Are you riding for a podium? Simpledom, 18,6 hours a week? Even the pro's don't ride that now. Aren't you afraid of overtraining?

I agree .Almost half a year left before the event and some guys train asif it is next week .My base training is always 5 to6 hours per week with the odd event inbetween ,then increase to peak at 12 hours in a 12 week programme before the event  .If you are going for top 100 then by all means .100,150,200, position is all the same 

[jcza]

4 months to go which means 3 big blocks with plenty rest between blocks 

[JollyJo82]

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[GLuvsMtb]

Hi guys..what are the rules around selling an entry - are you allowed to ask more than the R59600? I am trying to find an entry, but have had some dodgy requests from an overseas rider trying to cover flights and car rental expenses. He outright refuses to tell me how much he wants for the entry and wants me to make an offer.

Do not pay more than the R59 600 plus the double rider change fee. Car rentals are payable on arrival and flights can be changed / cancelled with minimal surcharge. Better yet, wait until 2 weeks before the event and pick up an entry for 50% of the RRP.

[janbiker]

Dear Acerunner, I happen to know 4 guys (2 teams)  that finished top 100 in the 2014 edition. None of them rode 10+ hours regularly at this time in their training. They, as most of us do, increased this only during the last 12 weeks. And I second what Blitzer writes: as a 50 year old in 2014 Epic I finished in top 200 averaging 10 hours a week of training during the last 15 weeks.

 

Most of the people that finish in the top 100 are amateurs, there is only a limited amount of full time pro's. And if you have a job and a family, finding time to train over 16 or 18 hours a week for over 4 months is not possible. I can't see how I could fit in 3 6hr or 5 3,5hr training sessions. Regardless of the limited training effect that this will generate. Less and more qualitative hours will do fine.

 

If you can train more without getting bored or overtrained, knock yourself out, but I think that it is important that people that are new to the Epic and read the accounts of the "hours warriors" don't doubt their training plan or get frightened if they don't train these monstruous amount of hours.

[Acerunner]

Dear Janbiker,

 

In my personal opinion, I think if you are top 100 in the epic, you are among the best amateurs in our country, And I wish people would back me on this, jan, I consider myself an avid cyclist, and I won my first race this year, I didnt even come close to top 200. The guyz finishing top 200 have special talent and they are super super fit, top 100 epic is INSANE, considering 35% of that top 100 is pros, just my opinion Jan.

Now let me tell you my training plan for this week :

Today I rest

2 hours hard with Velo tomorrow morning

1.5 hours flat recovery on wednesday

2 hours hard with Velo on Thurs

Friday rest

Saturday climbing day, 4 hours 2000m climbing

Sunday 5 hours flat LsD

Thats 14.5, seems like a solid normal training plan?

 

One thing we agree on, by Jan, I will be upset with my MB...

[janbiker]

. The guyz finishing top 200 have special talent and they are super super fit,

 

No, the top 100 to 200 don't have special talent nor are they super super fit. They just train well, try to keep their weight under control, work on their technical skills, buy a decent fully and choose an Epic partner they get along well with. At least that's what I did and do. And I never won a race, not even close. So if you are training as you wrote and the Epic is a first for you, you'll do more than fine.

[SimpleDom]

Interesting debate. In the end, what ever gets you through it. If it helps mentally to train more or train less, then do that. Go in strong enough to enjoy the experience.

[LouisS]

https://www.bikehub.co.za/index.php?/topic/155118-Are-we-paying-to-much-for-Maintenance-Packages-at-Stage-Races

 

You are comparing grapes with watermelons dude. Rocking up with a massage table, some massage oil and some K - tape with exact certainty on how much time is required per client opposed to stocking up a van and a trailer with tools and spares and having to cover all eventualities is very different from each other.

Spares which they sell at a 40% + markup and tools which they in anyway have. Spares not used will be sold at the shop.

 

Yes, they have a much bigger capital outlay, but the point i'm trying to make is that there are LBS out there seeing you come and "ruk die dam onder die eend se gat uit". But, as someone previously mentioned, there are some reasonable value for money packages out there and they are still making money (fair enough!!)

 

Its just interesting to see how much the packages differ in price for the same service, Dude.

[SlowManiac]

Gee I don't think 18 hrs is that much at all! If you commute it's really easy to rack up the kay's (even with a family and job) - though I full agree that these aren't 'quality' kays.

 

I probably average around 15hrs a week all year. My most direct commute is an hour each way and I often do extra. So 15hr a week is quite easy. One long ride on the weekend and a 20hr week is fairly attainable.

 

That's not to say that you can't do less - I like training and I get up early a lot (like 4am)!

 

I am a pretty average rider (came in mid pack this year) but was great being so fit because I really did not suffer at all (I was stronger than my partner).

[Grogs]

Want to post something in this topic, but Acerunner has forbidden it.

 

Ho hum.

[GLuvsMtb]

Spares which they sell at a 40% + markup and tools which they in anyway have. Spares not used will be sold at the shop.

 

Yes, they have a much bigger capital outlay, but the point i'm trying to make is that there are LBS out there seeing you come and "ruk die dam onder die eend se gat uit". But, as someone previously mentioned, there are some reasonable value for money packages out there and they are still making money (fair enough!!)

 

Its just interesting to see how much the packages differ in price for the same service, Dude.

I know I might get flack for this, but ask yourself what is the least that they can charge without cutting corners with your bike, and you will see that R5k is more than reasonable. And when you line up on day 5 (if you are not one of the 25% that fell out at that point) think about this one ( a little dramatic, I know)

http://youtu.be/CuAUE58MQt4

There are many who get through the event with no tech support or by waking from tent to tent asking mechanics to assist, and they'll tell you not to waste your money on a tech support package. I respect their view but don't agree with it.

I hope that your budget mechanic is not tested during the event as no-one deserves to piss away R30k plus other expenses.

[eddy]

Want to post something in this topic, but Acerunner has forbidden it.

Ho hum.

Huh ?