bluewhite Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 Hi I’m getting ready to do the Swiss epic in August . I was wondering if there’s anyone who’s done it before that can give me a bit of advice and their experience of this 5 day monster
mrcg Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 Practice climbing and descending. Forget anything in between
BigDL Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 Hey, I have been eying this event from afar for a few years now. Please keep us updated on your training and the event itself if you don’t mind.
bluewhite Posted April 4, 2019 Author Posted April 4, 2019 I deffinatly will right now I’m just concentrating on climbing . Tomorrow I’ll do a loop at suikerbos then Saturday 2 loops with a recovery ride on Sunday . I’m pretty much going to do that until I’m 3 weeks out from the race
CK MTB Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 Hi I’m getting ready to do the Swiss epic in August . I was wondering if there’s anyone who’s done it before that can give me a bit of advice and their experience of this 5 day monsterWe rode Swiss epic last year. What a blast. Completely different to SA riding. Up or down!!The ups are doable. Ride able gradient on good surfaces.The downhills are the killer. SUPER technical. Roots,rocks and very steep. You absolutely must get a dropper post. Don't bother without one!! Lots of riders were using 2.4 + tyres. The wider the better. Massive travel upfront. Almost trail bikes? Wide handle bars. But dropper posts and tyre width are super important to deal with before heading over... Enjoy your trip. a real treat to tick this one off !Ck
dave303e Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 My advice is, you are going to hate it and will not enjoy, so you may as well donate flights and entry to me and I will suffer there for you on a more serious note- you lucky bugger, go enjoy the experience
Nick Posted April 4, 2019 Posted April 4, 2019 Admin did it last year. Here's his report: https://www.bikehub.co.za/features/_/articles/ride-reports/ride-report-climbs-and-cowbells-at-the-2018-swiss-epic-r7559
bluewhite Posted April 19, 2019 Author Posted April 19, 2019 Dave you made me laugh now. CK thanks for the advice I’ve been hammering hills the last 4 months but I’m lagging in the downhill thecnical section I think I need to find some trails with rocky downhills to smash
bluewhite Posted April 19, 2019 Author Posted April 19, 2019 On more question I’m still a new MTB’er so I’m not clued up on the finer details of things . Today I did a ride at thaba in alberton and I thought to let my tyres down on the demo bike I got given to help with traction going uphill cause last week I was batteling with my wheels slipping on the rocks having to stop a few times. This helped a lot it was probably a bit flatter than what it should have been but I clearly felt the difference. You think I can do this at the epic or will the rocks going downhill destroy the rims ?
arendoog Posted April 20, 2019 Posted April 20, 2019 On more question I’m still a new MTB’er so I’m not clued up on the finer details of things . Today I did a ride at thaba in alberton and I thought to let my tyres down on the demo bike I got given to help with traction going uphill cause last week I was batteling with my wheels slipping on the rocks having to stop a few times. This helped a lot it was probably a bit flatter than what it should have been but I clearly felt the difference. You think I can do this at the epic or will the rocks going downhill destroy the rims ?I weigh 100kg and rode Epic with 2,35 tyres at 1,6 bar front and 1,8 rear on rims with 26mm internal width .This was as close to perfect for me .Plenty traction on stable base
bluewhite Posted April 22, 2019 Author Posted April 22, 2019 Ok good to know then I’m going to do the same
bluewhite Posted August 1, 2019 Author Posted August 1, 2019 Hizit guys so I’m around 4 weeks out to the Swiss epic I’ve taken advice on the dropper and tyres and the type of training. I decided to buy a new bike so there’s no complications during the race . I’ve been doing 2 loops at Suikerbos I’ve taken my FTP up from 175 to 254 and today I managed 247 watts avg for 1hr on a spinning bike so I’m hoping that’ll get me to the finish line . If this isn’t good enough for a finish then bugger that I’m burning the bike
SwissVan Posted August 10, 2019 Posted August 10, 2019 Hizit guys so I’m around 4 weeks out to the Swiss epic I’ve taken advice on the dropper and tyres and the type of training. I decided to buy a new bike so there’s no complications during the race . I’ve been doing 2 loops at Suikerbos I’ve taken my FTP up from 175 to 254 and today I managed 247 watts avg for 1hr on a spinning bike so I’m hoping that’ll get me to the finish line . If this isn’t good enough for a finish then bugger that I’m burning the bikeAs CK said earlier, practice your technical descending as long as possibleYour FTP means boggerol when you can’t ride downhill because your legs and hands are cramping from going down long technical descents Good luck
Matt Posted August 10, 2019 Posted August 10, 2019 As CK said earlier, practice your technical descending as long as possibleYour FTP means boggerol when you can’t ride downhill because your legs and hands are cramping from going down long technical descents Good luckWhat SwissVan said! I've heard that this years route is a little less technical than 2018, but I'd expect any Swiss descents will be significantly more technical than what most of us will encounter in SA. If you've got a dropper post and >= 2.3" tyres (on the front at least) you've already ticked some key boxes in terms of the bike. On that note, you mentioned you got a new bike... what did you get? With only a few weeks to go I'm not sure it's the best time to cram in technical training (and risk injury) or train up your hands and forearms for descending (read: panic braking). Be prepared for the cramping hands, fingers, forearms and legs from the descents. It sounds like you've put in some ground work on your general fitness which will come in handy on the long climbs, if they're like last year the gradient is manageable and surfaces quite smooth, they're just LONG! My best advice for the descents is to learn from the locals, watch their line choices, body positions and brake control. We had a mix of riders on a range of bikes from older 26" / 100m bikes with narrow bars to full on trail bikes, but all were adept on the downhills and even the longer travel riders could climb solidly.
SwissVan Posted August 21, 2019 Posted August 21, 2019 Hi I’m getting ready to do the Swiss epic in August . I was wondering if there’s anyone who’s done it before that can give me a bit of advice and their experience of this 5 day monsterTime is approachingGood luck and let us know how it goes????
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