Really, No Epic 2023 Thread?

[Robbie Stewart]

5 hours ago, Kom said:

Keen to know what fixes they tried. For rim damage I’d imagine only a tube would work, but have seen a solution where you duct tape the tyre around the rim and tyre to compress the bead onto what’s left of the rim. 

I don't think a tube would last beyond one full rotation of the wheel with carbon splinters sticking out all over the place. Even if she had a truck full of tubes on hand she wasn't saving that wheel or her race. It was properly wrecked.

I really feel bad for her and Candice after the week they had, but they showed true grit and character in the face of odds that would have caused lesser folks to quit long before the thought would have crossed their minds. To me, THIS is the spirit of the Epic. To overcome all obstacles to make it to the end.

[Kom]

1 hour ago, Mike Nel said:

We went to the finish yesterday mostly just to enter the kids into the Epic Kids races in the morning. 
At one stage my wife looked at me with a smirk and said, “ you want to do the Epic don’t ya?”

Is this race something I should consider doing at least once? Being 40 odd, I can’t postpone much longer.

How do you even go about finding a partner of more or less equal ability?

So much to take into consideration 

Being 40 odd still leaves you plenty of time!

Start with smaller events like W2W or Sani2C, you'll establish a partnership with someone you might build up to the epic with in no time. 

Transcape is also a multi day event that can prep you and a potential partner, and actually a great event too.

[bolt67]

21 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Imagine paying over a hundred thousand randelas so that you can queue for a perfectly rideable single-track.

I'd be hopping mad to get caught in that mess. This just confirmed my suspicions about the total lack of skill at the back end of these events. I don't see the value proposition in this type of stuff up.

These people are the ones paying for the helicopters and the hospitality for the elites and corporates to which these same people don't have access.

Baa. Baaaa.

What the photo doesn’t show is a 2 meter high 45 degree wooden ramp to get up to the single track which was covered in mud Totally unrideable. And there was a great atmosphere in the queue , everybody in great spirit after the mudfest slugfest the day before. Will be a long time before Lourensford trails are rideable again. Absolutely destroyed. 

[nathrix]

I wonder now with all this talk about Nino’s team mates he destroys at the Epic if Frisch-Connect will be his partner again next year.

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, Mike Nel said:

We went to the finish yesterday mostly just to enter the kids into the Epic Kids races in the morning. 

At one stage my wife looked at me with a smirk and said, “ you want to do the Epic don’t ya?”

Is this race something I should consider doing at least once? Being 40 odd, I can’t postpone much longer.

How do you even go about finding a partner of more or less equal ability?

So much to take into consideration 

 

 

 

Mike you can still do, even with taking a few years to work up to it.

 

Friends of ours came top ten in the Grand Masters class (50+).  This is what I know of their preparation:

- They do MANY events, especially the longer ones.

- LOTS of traveling to attend all these events.

- They are fit enough to be ahead of the fun groups ... staying out of trouble

- That said, they messed up their starting shute way too many times during this epic.  Which meant the stint to the first WP was unessacerily hard work.

- The benefit of all their events were that they could read each other.  On different days one would be stronger than the other, even fluctuating during a long stint.

- They took care of each other out there !!  This clearly is a TEAM sport !

- Nutrition .... had a nice long chat with him about this.  Critically important to get your feeding RIGHT.  Recovery meal, rest, etc ..... being ready day after day is a real challenge ...

- Family (and friends) .... being on the WA group it was clear to see the support from all members of the family, and friends, all buying into the adventure.

- Risk vs reward .... having to go back to the office after the event these riders are slightly more cautious .... Though still way faster than I can dream to be.  I KNOW, as I did the Trans Augrabies with them last year .... well I was entered in the same event, I saw them at the start and then after the race.

- HUMBLE .... each of these riders that I know are very humble people.  In fact, seeing their interactions with Amy and Nino at the race village you realise the actual riders are a totally different breed than some of the previous posts elude to ....  Back in Augrabies these very experienced riders were accepting of us first timers, even ebikers.  They welcomed us into the world of multi-day events.

 

 

My take away from watching this team .... do this with a good friend.  You will spend a LOT of time training together.  And sadly, you need a very thick wallet .... The entry fee is just a portion of your total costs.

 

Obviously your current fitness levels greatly impact YOUR journey to the Epic.  Some active and generally fit young riders will need much less of a program to get there than a 40+ weekend rider ...  Equally obvious, your goals dictate just how hard need to push yourself .... most of the field are not super fit athletes.  Do you want to finish, or do you want to be top half of your age cat ....

 

 

PS - pretty sure there are other ways of doing this, without doing so many events.  BUT, this way they have traffic experience.  More experience with race day repairs.  More experience with what nutrition strategy works for them.

 

PPS - one of them completed his 4th Epic on Sunday the other his 8th.

 

PPPS - In 11 weeks I will be sitting around a fire with them at Trans Augrabies 2023.  Looking forward to their war stories.

[jcza]

17 minutes ago, nathrix said:

I wonder now with all this talk about Nino’s team mates he destroys at the Epic if Frisch-Connect will be his partner again next year.

Suppose the team manager will decide 

[Robbie Stewart]

4 hours ago, Shebeen said:

*carbon rims are high risk crap, if they had alu rims they would have won the epic

I get the weight saving of carbon, and supposedly they're strong, but I'm a big boy and I've only wrecked one alu rim in 10 years of being a hooligan on a bike, and that was after riding the Leatt Skills park hard on entry level rims. Since then I have been riding probably harder on Rapide rims hitting everything I can ride from jumps, gaps, casing a heap and plenty rock gardens. There has got to be something said for alu wheels.

[TheoG]

I don't have the bucks for them but the Santa Cruz reserve carbon wheels look pretty indestructible with a life time warranty, just saying .... 🤪😁

Edit: 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by TheoG

[Bicycle Yard WESTERN CAPE]

The rain was insane and the bikes were butchered!!!

 

You guys are all bloody legends that finished and tried !!!

 

See you guys next year again !!

[Shebeen]

5 hours ago, Mike Nel said:

We went to the finish yesterday mostly just to enter the kids into the Epic Kids races in the morning. 

At one stage my wife looked at me with a smirk and said, “ you want to do the Epic don’t ya?”

Is this race something I should consider doing at least once? Being 40 odd, I can’t postpone much longer.

How do you even go about finding a partner of more or less equal ability?

So much to take into consideration 

 

 

If you need to come to the internet to ask random people then the answer is a hard NO.

[Fauret]

A friend of mine finished yesterday. But as a second time finisher he was quite disgusted at the Cape Epic organisers for the disregard for rider safety on stage 6.

On stage 7 at the top of Botmanskop he passed a rider laying on the ground that supposedly had a heart attack, with a blanket covering him......

[Shebeen]

2 hours ago, nathrix said:

I wonder now with all this talk about Nino’s team mates he destroys at the Epic if Frisch-Connect will be his partner again next year.

Well they very much mentioned that social media experts told them to get better tyres after last year, so let's take the lead on this one

[Scary Rider]

On 3/25/2023 at 1:37 PM, J Wakefield said:

Yes cause I remember seeing the guy Blackie Swart from Potch in his mid 40's having a mid life crisis enter the Tour de France so he can ride with Tadej

Joh, Potch riders becoming famous on this forum🤔🤭

[dev null]

Sadly not an event I will ever be able to do. Not that I do not want to put the hard yards in for the training. I have more than enough tech skills for it. What I do not have is the body. I am 6 feet and weight 85, but my biggest issue is that I have insulin resistance and my body shuts down as soon as it gets too hot. I currently have no idea how to fix that. Give me a cool day and I can pedal for miles and miles over the mountains. But give me one day in the mountains with over 32 degree heat and no wind and my body cooks and the power goes poof. And with the Epic you have no say on which weather you prefer so you have to be prepared for anything from rain up to 40 degrees in the WC sun.

Edited March 27, 2023 by dev null

[SwissVan]

15 minutes ago, Fauret said:

A friend of mine finished yesterday. But as a second time finisher he was quite disgusted at the Cape Epic organisers for the disregard for rider safety on stage 6.

On stage 7 at the top of Botmanskop he passed a rider laying on the ground that supposedly had a heart attack, with a blanket covering him......

Can you expand on the bold part perhaps

[Fauret]

If someone were to seriously injure themselves on the now unrideable trail, in the woods, with all this mud and water rushing everywhere, a medic will have a very slim chance of reaching him and provide emergency medical attention.