General So is the Epic getting ahead of itself - elitism in the dining hall

[Patchelicious]

Like I said before, the Epic is going to be good for the locally owned races that are willing to step it up.....

[Patchelicious]

I don't want to imagine then how I would feel. My wife once visited a wine farm, and the lounge suite was worth what my house was worth. She said to me that those people live in a different reality compared to ours.

 

Are we heading in this direction

 

[TIB]

Rather than shoot from the hip tell us about your Epic please. 

 

Well, it took me some 50 hours to complete. Pretty bad for 24 years worth of trying to be a mountain biker. That makes me a bottom feeder in the cycling gene pool. I did not complain about my parents giving me bad cycling genes.

 

However, I was a guest of the main sponsor. Nice treatment. Did not complain about that either.

[jcza]

Well, it took me some 50 hours to complete. Pretty bad for 24 years worth of trying to be a mountain biker. That makes me a bottom feeder in the cycling gene pool. I did not complain about my parents giving me bad cycling genes.

 

However, I was a guest of the main sponsor. Nice treatment. Did not complain about that either.

 

Well done! Genes are overrated anyway, someone remind me again how many grand tours Axel Merckx won.  

 

How does one become part of the Absa pride? 

[SCD]

Interesting discussion. 

 

I happened to be part of the ABSA Pride, invited by a friend of mine who was invited by ABSA. I eventually helped my partner to finish the EPIC, and in return enjoyed some of the privileges, which were: some kit, massages, mechanical service, excess to the ABSA tent with some extra food and water right after the finish, and some friendly smiles by the ABSA staff - all great. Mind, that we had to pay for our entry ourselves. 

 

Now to the main food tent: The tables with the free wine, beer and water were not for us. They were reserved for another level of folk sponsored by ABSA. These are corporate day visitors that take part at the day-trippers programme, where they ride 2 or 3 days of a shortened route either 1 day ahead or after the relevant stages of the EPIC. Like it or not but I guess it is part of the privilege ABSA is reserving for themselves after dishing out millions of rands of sponsorship.

 

I personally also found the food appalling (the ABSA tent did not serve breakfast or supper...). The policy around the water bottles was a joke. It was actually worse. They ran out of little bottles so quickly that I didn't bother anymore and brought my own.

 

Just coming from Tankwa Trek I was really surprised by HOW disappointing the EPIC presented itself. Basically everything was feeling cheap. Food, water, village layout... everything was disorganized, badly designed, appeared shoddy, ... The first village wasn't even ready when we arrived, they only had water late in the evening. Didata cocked up the tracking and the permanent need to log into the free wifi again and again drove me out of my skin. All in all like the opposite of what they market themselves, the opposite of premium. Just cheap. Sorry EPIC.

 

Will the EPIC change because of feedback like this? No, why should they? Selling out in seconds! The business model works. Years of really brilliant marketing is bearing fruit. Why spending more money on customer experience if the customers keep on coming back? It will get 'worse' going forward. This year the laundry service was an optional extra, 2018 the bike wash is a payable extra, and in future tended accommodation or food may become options like with other international stage races. And obviously the entry fee will keep on climbing at the same time.

 

So, will I do it again? Yes, the competition part of it is making me want to do it again. But I learned that I would need to budget more for this. Get a serious team partner to gun for a good GC, hunt for sponsorship, get a campervan and become self-sufficient. This may or may not all come together but I am not stressed by that.

 

Do you need to do EPIC to do the 'toughest' stage race on the planet? Nope. The EPIC is in fact much 'tamer' than it is made out to be, provided you are prepared as you should be, and depending how hard you attack it. Being prepared properly and then taking a chilled approach, even the hot days were quite ok, and the rest was a jol. If you look for tough you will find much bigger challenges out there. One example and a good Friday read is this blog about the 'Iron Bike' in Italy (https://bikemagic.com/mountain-bike-events/iron-bike-2013-full-rider-diary-recap-with-matt-page.html). 8 days, 700km, 26000m. Stages with more than to 4000m climbing and then you have to pitch your own tent . The entry fee this year is 750Euro... Free pot of soup for supper included

[TIB]

 

 

Well done! Genes are overrated anyway, someone remind me again how many grand tours Axel Merckx won.  

 

How does one become part of the Absa pride? 

You run up your overdraft high enough that they cannot lose you as a customer and you promise not to moan about the bank charges for two years 

[jcza]

You run up your overdraft high enough that they cannot lose you as a customer and you promise not to moan about the bank charges for two years 

 

Hahaha......

 

if you owe the bank R10k its your problem but if you owe them R10mil its their problem 

[mudda]

Regarding the helicopter costs ...

 

Isnt that part of the sale for the broadcasting ?

 

Meaning - Epic Video coverage brings in the bucks... it is not an expense ...

[Shebeen]

takes balls for one of then podium finishers to put this up.

 

go Grant (i guess he slept in a tent?)

[TIB]

Bit OT

The layers of elitism is mind boggling.  My home is in a bit of an elitist "area".  I'm at the entry level.  So I see how people live on the upper end.. 

 

Then I visited Monaco a few years back.  We have no idea.  I felt like a squatter...

 

There will always be someone that has more than what you have. In all aspects of life.

 

But we seldom look down and claim it is unfair for people that have less than us.

[DoomedUser]

Reading the comments here it sound more like the HateEPIC. (#hateEPIC)

 

I'm sticking to the downhill & enduro group. You don't see this BS there.

[Headshot]

Interesting discussion. 

 

I happened to be part of the ABSA Pride, invited by a friend of mine who was invited by ABSA. I eventually helped my partner to finish the EPIC, and in return enjoyed some of the privileges, which were: some kit, massages, mechanical service, excess to the ABSA tent with some extra food and water right after the finish, and some friendly smiles by the ABSA staff - all great. Mind, that we had to pay for our entry ourselves. 

 

Now to the main food tent: The tables with the free wine, beer and water were not for us. They were reserved for another level of folk sponsored by ABSA. These are corporate day visitors that take part at the day-trippers programme, where they ride 2 or 3 days of a shortened route either 1 day ahead or after the relevant stages of the EPIC. Like it or not but I guess it is part of the privilege ABSA is reserving for themselves after dishing out millions of rands of sponsorship.

 

I personally also found the food appalling (the ABSA tent did not serve breakfast or supper...). The policy around the water bottles was a joke. It was actually worse. They ran out of little bottles so quickly that I didn't bother anymore and brought my own.

 

Just coming from Tankwa Trek I was really surprised by HOW disappointing the EPIC presented itself. Basically everything was feeling cheap. Food, water, village layout... everything was disorganized, badly designed, appeared shoddy, ... The first village wasn't even ready when we arrived, they only had water late in the evening. Didata cocked up the tracking and the permanent need to log into the free wifi again and again drove me out of my skin. All in all like the opposite of what they market themselves, the opposite of premium. Just cheap. Sorry EPIC.

 

Will the EPIC change because of feedback like this? No, why should they? Selling out in seconds! The business model works. Years of really brilliant marketing is bearing fruit. Why spending more money on customer experience if the customers keep on coming back? It will get 'worse' going forward. This year the laundry service was an optional extra, 2018 the bike wash is a payable extra, and in future tended accommodation or food may become options like with other international stage races. And obviously the entry fee will keep on climbing at the same time.

 

So, will I do it again? Yes, the competition part of it is making me want to do it again. But I learned that I would need to budget more for this. Get a serious team partner to gun for a good GC, hunt for sponsorship, get a campervan and become self-sufficient. This may or may not all come together but I am not stressed by that.

 

Do you need to do EPIC to do the 'toughest' stage race on the planet? Nope. The EPIC is in fact much 'tamer' than it is made out to be, provided you are prepared as you should be, and depending how hard you attack it. Being prepared properly and then taking a chilled approach, even the hot days were quite ok, and the rest was a jol. If you look for tough you will find much bigger challenges out there. One example and a good Friday read is this blog about the 'Iron Bike' in Italy (https://bikemagic.com/mountain-bike-events/iron-bike-2013-full-rider-diary-recap-with-matt-page.html). 8 days, 700km, 26000m. Stages with more than to 4000m climbing and then you have to pitch your own tent . The entry fee this year is 750Euro... Free pot of soup for supper included

Thanks, great to get a  bit of insight. I spoke with some riders last night. They finished around the 200 mark. Basically they confirmed what you say. 

 

A woman friend of ours is riding the TDA at the moment. They have covered over 6000km already and are in Malawi. Some days are well over 150km and some with a lot of climbing. She has ridden Every frikkin Inch so far  - one of only 4 on the current tour who have.

 

Not a corporate sponsor in sight. 

 

We expect them back in May 2017. Pretty Epic.

[TheJ]

.

[tubed]

We all need a bit of feelgood today so, just pinched this off facebook, its the sort of feedback you might publicly give to a race office if you looked around at some of the other events in our wonderful country. Thankfully we have so many options, Epic included.

 

 

Hi Meryl
I hope you are doing well.
You must still be very busy with the RTW now fully under way. Looks like a nice route from what I can see on Twitter and the rest. Baviaans is a special place!

Eddie and I are safely back in Mauritius, feeling a bit depressed . After the long build up to the race and excitement one feels there is nothing to look forward to now. But there is! Next year! If I had enough leave (and money) I would have loved to do RTR in May. But the time will... come!

This event was such a nice experience, it is so difficult to explain to anyone how I feel. Me normally being a racing snake in the normal XC MTB races, people ask me about how my race was and did I get top 10 etc. This was not a race for me, but an adventure and a "kop skoonmaak". The whole atmosphere around the event is sort of addictive. The people are friendly and polite, the scenery on the route is absolutely breathtaking and the attention that each rider gets individually is unheard of anywhere else. Where else would you get the opportunity to see sunrise from the top of Aasvoelberg, or the sunset from the top of Bontehoek (while being lost ).

Then I can write a book about the support stations! Wow, it is truly unbelievable that the farmers go to such lengths to make the riders feel comfortable and at home. They open their homes to riders to use their kitchen and bathroom and walk around in their houses with their sweaty clothes! Not something you'll see in the city, thats for sure.

It's a pitty we had to leave so quickly afterwards, but thats unfortunately how the timing of things worked out. It was not supposed to be such a rush. I would have loved to sit and kuier with you guys and see the other riders come in. It was very nice to finally meet you. I feel privileged to have been part of this event and to be associated with the "sout van die aarde".

So I want to thank you Meryl and Johan and the team for making this possible for us to enjoy. And especially thank you for the manner in which you run the event. I felt at home. If the Lord permits, I'm definitely coming back for more!

PS: I'll appreciate it if you can provide me with the contact details of the hosts at the support stations, just send them a thank you note.

Groete!

[Velouria]

Entry cost of an event and what the organiser provide are not related. Entry is driven by demand, and while there is demand, they'll keep upping the price. Am I happy with that? No. Have I made peace with that. Yes.

 

If you okes are moaning about Epic now, I hate to think what you would have to say about Epic waaaay back in the day. Epic was a game changer for events in this country, and the Epic of 2007 is a shadow of what they put together these days.

 

The race village literally consisted of 3 gazebos, a food tent and a truck with showers on the back. There was a halfhearted attempt at a supporters village - again, 2 bike shops and a physio offering massages.

 

We quickly caught on that in order to have something to eat after the stage, you had to load up with Mule bars at the last water point, otherwise you'd go hungry till supper.

 

Unlike now, crossing the finish line signalled the start of the hard work. We had to wash our bikes our selves, which meant we had to stand in a queue, still in our kit, and wait for our turn to use the hose pipe. Then it was off to the bag truck to get your bag, find a tent, eat a Mule bar or two or three, and wander over to the queue for showers. And they were the same showers for the weekend warriors as for the pros (which was kinda cool!).

 

Next on the list was housekeeping - wash your kit in the basins provided, wash bottles, and try to find the water truck. For something so big it amazed me at how well they were able to hide it.

 

With the Mule bars causing havoc in your belly, it was off to the daily torture session at the hands of the inexperienced Stellenbosch physio students. I often dreaded those massages more than what Dr Evil had ride up and down.

 

By this time is was usually dinner time, which meant standing in another queue while listening to Mic Mic scream into the microphone in German English, and not being able to understand a word he said! Oh yes, and we had to bring our own water to dinner.

 

After the awards and route previews (I can still remember having my mind blown by the flyover feature of Google Maps!) it was bed time. Except it never was easy to sleep because of the sound of the diesel generator they had parked next to the little yellow tents.

 

I didn't mind it then, and I don't mind it now. Epic is about the stuff that happens from when the gun fires, till that moment we cross the finish line. I don't know how they do it, but that part of the event is still something they just get.

[Li Mu Bai]

he looks like he need a good feed...

hahaha good 1