I didn't finish the Epic because.....and the after effects

[HDW]

I love the Epic, it is a great race and achievement to finish it. I just like to make fun of people who thinks it is an extension of their personality. Exactly like someone who drives a WRX Sti or rides a S-Works

[arendoog]

I was commenting to my training partner yesterday that all the riders seem to be so skinny. But I think that is because you only see the top riders on TV.

To the okes that were there, are there real buffalos riding this race? Like in big big boys.

This race scares the crap out of me. Dont know why. If I ever got the opportunity to ride it, I would really need to mentally prepare. Woulndt want to mind fark myself.

I think we were probably the tallest team .We both ride XXL bikes and weigh close to a100kg each and we rode in the Grand masters category.This was my first Epic .Our only goal was to ride consistently and finish ,which we did each day with about 90minutes to spare .The route was really good .We rode every worthwhile piece of single track in the western cape .You need to prepare by riding events like W2W and then add some miles to that .I feel i got my monies worth and bucket list lifetime experience .I don,t think i will do it again ,unless i can ride with my son one day .Many other places to ride still

[Ysterbeertjie]

I did a 80 km mtb group ride this weekend............there was a lady that does not fit your typical stereotype but she was strong like a train..........don't judge by looks !

When you see people pushing up Dead Mans Tree in the prologue... and you see quite a few, then you know it is going to be a very long (or short) week for them.  The race dynamic has changed in my view.  The entry fee now ultimately only allows for the execs or big corporate sponsored riders (in many cases fat cat clients) to ride it.  Training and preperation is not always properly in place... many of these riders are destined to fail, but still they rock up.  Money cannot buy you a finish in the Cape Epic.

[HDW]

Does it really matter? None of us have ridden a Pro Tour race but we all have opinions on them....

 

Or like being the President. I'm sure not many Epic riders have been the President, but I'm sure they all have an opinion on how to run the country.

[Eldron]

You are making a very, very big mistake. Go ride Tokai and all the TBMTB trails, for example, and let me know what you think of the epic single track. Did you even ride Welvanpas this year?

Mmmm Velvenpas... One of the best trails I've ever ridden. That and Garden Route Trail Park. Man I miss those places when I'm riding the pan flat Danish trails.

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Eh? What’s that?

In SA

if u run people ask have u done comrades

If you cycle, have you done Argust or 94.7

Millions get spent by folks preparing to do these year in and out

 

Nobody outside of cycling asks if u done epic.. yet

All over the world, a marathon is a huge achievement, but here it's a qualifier for comrades? I dread the day where you aren't a real MTBer if you haven't done the epic...

 

That being said, I would love the opportunity to do it! Just don't have the right legs or wallet at the moment.

[Paul Ruinaard]

Hmm

 

IMO even to attempt the Epic as a back marker is a massive undertaking in terms of the amount of training you need to do and the impact on your personal life. 15 hours a week is barely enough unless its very structured. Enter all the multi day races you can and all the classics. Ride insane distances on your road bike for base kms (you know how far you can go in 51/2 hours when you are fit - 174km rides were common - i know of back roads in Koster you haven't even heard of). 

 

It's not about the event and the race but the sheer magnitude of the undertaking you are about to embark on, all concentrated in those 7 to 8 days where minor things can scupper all that work .

 

What I am saying is really that, even more so now, the scope and breadth of an Epic attempt is much larger than the week of the event and impacts you as a person for a much longer period thereafter because of that.

 

You change as a person by having tried this.

 

You can ride all that single track any day of the year - that's not the point. 

 

The point is to achieve something out of the ordinary which is normally outside of the reach of the average person and to get yourself up to that level that you can say you finished it.

 

Really this event is not on the front of everyone's mind as its so far out of the realm of what the average person is willing to put themselves through to even attempt it, but the respect it garners from  anyone who knows about this all is massive.

 

Would i ever try it again? - i am way too old and fat now to even attempt it but given that i was in the same racing condition again as i was at the time (by far and away the fittest and leanest i have ever been) i would even balk at the sheer pain you endure for those 7 or 8 days....

[porqui]

What are the chances of creating a poor man's Epic and still make it financially viable?

 

 

I would love to do the Epic but not for the prestige or being able to say I have done the Epic but just for the sheer joy and pleasure (is that possible) of it and being able to ride some of the locations.

[Eldron]

What are the chances of creating a poor man's Epic and still make it financially viable?

 

 

I would love to do the Epic but not for the prestige or being able to say I have done the Epic but just for the sheer joy and pleasure (is that possible) of it and being able to ride some of the locations.

You can DIY pretty easily.

 

A few years ago I needed some "me time" so I flew to Cape Town with my trusty Niner, hired a car and drove from Cape Town to PE and back riding a different bike park every day. It took about 2 weeks and I used a combination of mates, Airbnb and traditional accommodation.

 

It was awesome alone but I reckon it would be amazing doing it with some mates. I'd like a repeat with mates before I die for sure!

[HDW]

What are the chances of creating a poor man's Epic and still make it financially viable?

 

 

I would love to do the Epic but not for the prestige or being able to say I have done the Epic but just for the sheer joy and pleasure (is that possible) of it and being able to ride some of the locations.

 

Well if you enter the normal Epic then you kinda get the poor man's food of Stage races in SA, so that's a start?

[Dexter-morgan]

On a different note, I would like if the organizers would make a tv program of all the non-pro's follow a few get some facial expressions and their opinions after each stage.

[Duane_Bosch]

On a different note, I would like if the organizers would make a tv program of all the non-pro's follow a few get some facial expressions and their opinions after each stage.

I don't think regular joe's in agony makes for good tv.

 

The pinners doing whips and blasting does.

[Danger Dassie]

On a different note, I would like if the organizers would make a tv program of all the non-pro's follow a few get some facial expressions and their opinions after each stage.

Theres loads of video content on non-pro and regular joes and janes on both the FB and YouTube account. 

 

Live feed is for the racing, that's what it's about. Watching the world's fastest racers battling it out.

 

When it comes to media management and content, Cape Epic does it better than most. 

[Underachiever]

What are the chances of creating a poor man's Epic and still make it financially viable?

 

 

I would love to do the Epic but not for the prestige or being able to say I have done the Epic but just for the sheer joy and pleasure (is that possible) of it and being able to ride some of the locations.

It's called the Cape Pioneer Trek, and is probably just as difficult.

[Velouria]

I think it's amazing how people equate judgement based on what they like to ride.

 

I reckon you can finish the Epic and walk every 'tech'  downhill bit. My judgement would be more seeing guys struggling to maintain a decent pace or decent form up the Deer Park road climbs or looking entirely broken after somewhat pedestrian times over 25km. Never mind just scraping home on Stage 1.

 

All the 'trail' and 'enduro' guys want is for Epic to be more like their riding. More technical, 'real' mtb..... It's not that. I doubt it ever really will be that. I also ride a lot of 'trail' but am quite happy to leave all the Epic 'racers' to the jeep tracks and gravel roads.

I love Epic when I am riding it, and I hate Epic when I am not.

 

I have a story about how my partner almost didn't make it - way back in 2008, the last of the Kynsna to Lourensford routes.

 

We were in good shape. The point to point format suited us well - we're capable mountain bikers, but the masochist in me also loves a long dirt road. We had high hopes of a top 50 finish. We'd put some decent miles in (we'd ridden Epic the year before with different partners, and pretty much had the admin and routine of Epic waxed) and we were in good shape going into the first ever Epic Prologue. Not my favourite format of bike riding, but we did ok, despite my partner having a slight mechanical towards the end. My partner didn't say anything, but something wasn't right.

 

The next day was Kynsna to Saarsveld, and we knew to ride slowly, ride within ourselves etc, and we mostly did, but once again we both suffered from mechanicals, a freebody that didn't want disengage, and a jockey wheel that didn't want to turn. Again manageable problems that we could deal with. What we couldn't deal with were the cramps that my partner was experiencing. Like little mice running up and down his legs. We got our massages, we recovered well, fixed our bikes, and started Day 2 with high hopes that our bad luck was behind us.

 

Saarsveld to Caitzdorp. We started off well again. Bikes were finally working properly. We had a good morning. And then we hit the big climb of the day. Back in those days, portaging was a thing. You kinda knew that Dr Evil was going to send up some unrideable climb every single day. You either pushed your bike, or pulled the adventure racer move and put your bike on your back. And so we started pushing. Except my partner wasn't making much progress. He hadn't popped, or bonked - he just pretty much ceased to exist. Like his life force left him. And it was hot. Super hot. My happy place, but my partner's kryptonite.

 

 

Somehow we got over that mountain. I either relayed the bikes up, taking one 100 metres up the trail, running back down, and taking the other one two hundred metres up, or, where the trail allowed, pushing both at the same time.

 

I still fondly remember him asking me for some water (we had Camelbaks but he wanted water). My camelbak was dry, we had 30kms to go, and I was doing cut off calculations. I had 3 quarters of a bottle of water, which I handed over. Instead of drinking my precious water, he took it and poured it over his head. I was so mad, but he was quickly forgiven when I tried to offer him a pocket - he couldn't even hang on to my pocket. I had to push, and even then, he could barely turn the pedals. He was truly broken.

 

We eventually finish the stage, do our chores, recover etc when his wife comes over and k@ks all over him. His Camelbak was still full. He had barely had a sip from it all day. I was also k@kked on and given firm instructions to treat him like a puppy (it was way before any of us had kids) and check every 20 minutes that he was drinking.

 

We took the next stage super slowly. So slowly that I think 80% of the field went passed us. So slowly that my mind wandered off and I had a stupid fall on some loose gravel, taking off skin on my thigh and banging up my knee. Again, cutoff calculations needed to be done.

 

The head hang is my partner's tell when it comes to suffering

 

We finished the stage with the sun low in the sky. I went about my chores (back then you had to wash your own bike!) while his wife insisted he see someone in the medical tent (a tip from the inside - if you want them to see you sooner, vomit. No one likes a vomiter. And so my partner did a strategic vomit, although I don't think his body needed too much convincing). They kept him for 5 hours, gave him 3 drips (I think) and discharged him after everyone had gone to bed. 

 

Funny story - he couldn't find his tent - he'd only briefly seen it when finishing before going to the medics - and no matter how many times he tried to explain to the security guard that he was looking for his tent, the guard couldn't help him when all he had to go on was "it's red". I had taken a sleeping tablet and had earplugs in. His phone was flat. His wife was eventually called from the wive's guesthouse to come and show him where his tent was.

 

We started the next stage not knowing what was going to happen, and also saddened by the news that @J Wakefield had had to withdraw, having faced his own demons for a few days. Epic is tough, and takes no prisoners. We got through that stage in decent shape, and then slowly started to ride where we should have been all along, sneaking in a couple of top 50 stage finishes.

 

Epic is what you make of it. It's tough. It's emotional. It's exhilarating. The memories I have from this race alone will make for great stories one day when I'm old and cantankerous, as I sit in my lounger, recounting my experiences to my grandkids...

 

The finish in Lourensford

[Duane_Bosch]

WOW! Great read. Thanks for that.