the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[J Wakefield]

40 minutes ago, Titleist said:

On another note, how does a typical day in the life of Matt look during Epic prep in one of those 25 hour weeks? What does he do for the rest of the day after a 4 hour morning session for example?

Sure there is some things I cannot share but in general it Depends what he has going on. Recovery is key post training then should he have admin to do he will sort travel logistics, we discuss training based on the day sometimes or what is coming up travel, races etc. what is a good plan or not. 
he sometimes has sponsor obligations to do and if there is heat training or acclimation then this is post training in some cases. 
 

what is fact and what the general conception is, is that he doesn’t sit and Netflix all day. 

Edited March 24, 2024 by J Wakefield

[J Wakefield]

1 hour ago, Wannabe said:

John, my perception is that some of the newer "experts" on lehub do not know who or what you are, therefore they are under the fallible impression that they know more about our beloved sport than you. (top tip, if you do not know who John Wakefield is, consult Dr Google)

Matt again said in the interview today that Howie put him in the hurt box and that all he could do was to hang on. (I dunno if that was tongue in cheek/an inside joke) What I saw was that Matt was on the front most of the time, only on the more technical climbs did Howie go to the front. On the long gradual climbs Matt could throw his watt bombs down.

Howie won both his Epics with partners physically way stronger than him (Koolharvy and Matt) but he survived both with relative ease.

But hey, what do I know about Mtb riding, I'm just a armchair critic that only rides in good weather.

 

 

You dont need to google, Im not important I found out in November via WhatsApp.  

More importantly to answer your questions, Matt had some stomach issues today hence the not feeling tip top and its day 7 of a tough Epic, I cannot believe anyone is tip top today.

With the much shorter steeper climbs it does not suite his 81kg frame compared to a bunch of low 60kg riders so his energy output and also consumption is alot more. It hurts and he will be on the back foot somewhat naturally. Same to say on a drag or flat road when he puts said 60kg riders into the gutter at 50kmh its not fun for the them. 

It also shows how much class and knowledge Howie brings to the table, in both epics he has won. For me it's about partner management from the stronger rider, communication between partners. This is something Matt and I are always in discussion about but in fairness to him, I feel he is 1 of the best in the World Of MTB to deliver this service. I dont say this cause I coach him, I say this cause it's factual when you just look at performance and see who he has to partner with to race wins. For Epic he is always with a new partner - 3 wins 3 different partners, many teams are stable team mates and know each other really well. 

 

[tinmug]

I'm pretty sure everyone here knows who JW is, and what (many of) his achievements are. But it's still good fun to rag him a little now and then. Obvs enormous respect. 👏🦾

Great Epic. Entirely worthy winners all-round. Enjoyed the routes and scenery (and even the broadcast ... can ya believe it) this year (like we all do every year, but route just consistently nicer this year than in recent years > from a telly perspective) and ready for the 2025 broadcast (if WW3 doesn't interfere, that would be a tad annoying). 

[The Bull Shark]

For those that never heard of the G-Spot trail, and those that does on how to ride it.

 

[ChrisF]

27 minutes ago, dev null said:

For those that never heard of the G-Spot trail, and those that does on how to ride it.

 

 

Rode there a few times.  I am VERY careful !!

 

The way the A and B lines flip left right means I never know where to aim ... 

 

But once you know it .... WOW !!!   It must be such a thrill to FLOW those lines 👍

[love2fly]

3 hours ago, J Wakefield said:

You dont need to google, Im not important I found out in November via WhatsApp.  

More importantly to answer your questions, Matt had some stomach issues today hence the not feeling tip top and its day 7 of a tough Epic, I cannot believe anyone is tip top today.

With the much shorter steeper climbs it does not suite his 81kg frame compared to a bunch of low 60kg riders so his energy output and also consumption is alot more. It hurts and he will be on the back foot somewhat naturally. Same to say on a drag or flat road when he puts said 60kg riders into the gutter at 50kmh its not fun for the them. 

It also shows how much class and knowledge Howie brings to the table, in both epics he has won. For me it's about partner management from the stronger rider, communication between partners. This is something Matt and I are always in discussion about but in fairness to him, I feel he is 1 of the best in the World Of MTB to deliver this service. I dont say this cause I coach him, I say this cause it's factual when you just look at performance and see who he has to partner with to race wins. For Epic he is always with a new partner - 3 wins 3 different partners, many teams are stable team mates and know each other really well. 

 

Good insight, thank you.

[eala]

Howie has some serious pedigree .To deliver every day takes some doing from both riders and that goes for Matt also .Look what happened to speed company .Both have to turn up and give at least 80% on the day to stay relevant  

[The Bull Shark]

3 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Rode there a few times.  I am VERY careful !!

 

The way the A and B lines flip left right means I never know where to aim ... 

 

But once you know it .... WOW !!!   It must be such a thrill to FLOW those lines 👍

I have already invested in some land at G-Spot. 

A few square meters after the big jump just after the road gap jump.

[Robbie Stewart]

3 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Rode there a few times.  I am VERY careful !!

 

The way the A and B lines flip left right means I never know where to aim ... 

 

But once you know it .... WOW !!!   It must be such a thrill to FLOW those lines 👍

Locals in Cape Town, and Tygerberg in particular have the perfect setup at the Leatt skills park at Hoogekraal to hone the required skills for lines like G-spot. 

Spend some mornings riding just the skills park to learn bike handling skills in drops, berms and jumps and then see how that translates to the trails and how your progression just sky rockets. Too many people pedal past and do their riding such a massive disservice. If they only knew what they were losing out on.

Edit: not forgetting about the Hoogies Hammer and Bloemendal flow line. Don't just ride it once, but do laps over and over until you conquer the obstacle that intimidates you and then progress on to the next bigger feature.

Then when you ride a place like G-spot again it is a joy and not a exercise in fear management.

 

Edited March 24, 2024 by Robbie Stewart

[Pieta Swanepoel]

Not sure if it has been said in previous comments but I am really disappointed in the coverage of the other categories at the epic. I realise this is essentially a UCI Pro race now, that allow some amateurs to also ride, but to not even mention these winners? Really?

[mecheng89]

32 minutes ago, pietas said:

Not sure if it has been said in previous comments but I am really disappointed in the coverage of the other categories at the epic. I realise this is essentially a UCI Pro race now, that allow some amateurs to also ride, but to not even mention these winners? Really?

Yes, in the daily highlights package they perhaps named the age cat winners once. 

BTW, why did Bart B not ride this year? His "pigeon chest" is looking worse as time goes on.

[mecheng89]

16 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

The relative positioning of team mates isn’t a dead cert in hierarchy. One day you’re the hammer the next day you’re the nail. From what I can tell, Matt likes to ride on the front. There could be several reasons for this; sighting the trail , just a better feeling of comfort could be another.  You’d need to be able to hear the dialogue between them to get a better sense of what is going on. Howard seems more comfortable across a broader speed range on the climbs whereas Matt likes a constant tempo. So let Matt sit on the front to set his tempo and Howard follows. You don’t want a faster climber starting to stretch you out when you’re having trouble on the climb. Matt can’t hide behind Howard anyway, he’s a hike head and shoulder taller.

what is apparent is that Bikehub needs to do a podcast with Matt where these questions can be asked. Maybe John can arrange a S2S seminar with some of their top athletes and the audience can ask the milllion and one questions.

just based on the highly variable and sometimes downright weird training and preparation for the epic amongst the back markers there is very clearly still a huge gap in the market for this information 

He was on a podcast a little while ago with some US-based riders, I'll have to go dig for it, it think it was just after this previous Epic overall victory.

[Jewbacca]

36 minutes ago, pietas said:

Not sure if it has been said in previous comments but I am really disappointed in the coverage of the other categories at the epic. I realise this is essentially a UCI Pro race now, that allow some amateurs to also ride, but to not even mention these winners? Really?

The thing is, the UCI teams don't make up many numbers.

Let's round it to 490 finishing teams, 42 were UCI mens and 17 were UCI ladies.

54 men UCI teams started and 19 Female teams out of 720 ish teams. A shade more than 10% of the field 

The marketing is pro centric though. The whole strategy has been aimed at getting to ride the same race, route etc at the same time as the best pros in the world. 

It isn't the L'Etape where you ride the same route but on a different day, you are sold on being a part of the MTB tour de france actual race.

The race coverage follows the pros at the racing end as it is exciting and the big names get people engaged and keen. I have had a lot of messages this week saying 'you, watching the epic coverage has made me so amped to get back on the MTB and do the race' from people who wouldn't last 4 days.

Unfortunately the middle/back of the field is not attractive and seeing the level of suffering and dedding isn't going to sell next years entries to overweight CEOs, wannabe pros or people living on past glories.

One part of the human brain that gets wholly underprepared people to buy into this event is ego and romanticism. They KNOW it's tough, they KNOW it's a big effort to get to the start line but 'it can't be that tough. I'm way more hardcore than those guys/girls who didn't finish and suck that badly.'

I'm all for it. I may sound like I'm being derogatory or mean, but you get the point.

The 'LIVE' feed is also getting shorter and shorter. 

I'd love a 90 second short montage each day of the other part of the epic and category winners, but I'd guess that until the race doesn't generate the numbers, very little will change.

[DieselnDust]

13 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

The thing is, the UCI teams don't make up many numbers.

Let's round it to 490 finishing teams, 42 were UCI mens and 17 were UCI ladies.

54 men UCI teams started and 19 Female teams out of 720 ish teams. A shade more than 10% of the field 

The marketing is pro centric though. The whole strategy has been aimed at getting to ride the same race, route etc at the same time as the best pros in the world. 

It isn't the L'Etape where you ride the same route but on a different day, you are sold on being a part of the MTB tour de france actual race.

The race coverage follows the pros at the racing end as it is exciting and the big names get people engaged and keen. I have had a lot of messages this week saying 'you, watching the epic coverage has made me so amped to get back on the MTB and do the race' from people who wouldn't last 4 days.

Unfortunately the middle/back of the field is not attractive and seeing the level of suffering and dedding isn't going to sell next years entries to overweight CEOs, wannabe pros or people living on past glories.

One part of the human brain that gets wholly underprepared people to buy into this event is ego and romanticism. They KNOW it's tough, they KNOW it's a big effort to get to the start line but 'it can't be that tough. I'm way more hardcore than those guys/girls who didn't finish and suck that badly.'

I'm all for it. I may sound like I'm being derogatory or mean, but you get the point.

The 'LIVE' feed is also getting shorter and shorter. 

I'd love a 90 second short montage each day of the other part of the epic and category winners, but I'd guess that until the race doesn't generate the numbers, very little will change.

The first 5 years of the epic had a half hour highlights package of the main race aired at 10pm every night. In that segment there would be 5mins of interviews with the back of the field , getting their views and feelings. That sold a lot of people into the event and grew its demand. In addition there was a 60min film on super sport of the whole event. Participants would purchase a dvd that contained their race photos , the highlights of each stage pro race and the weekend warrior movie. 

That came to an end with the shift to higher entry fees and the clover leaf format.

Point is the backmarkers sold the event . The pro field wasn’t big enough to sell the event but they set the benchmark for regular Jill’s and Joe’s to measure themselves against. And that’s the ego sell that works a treat. This formula brings people back year after year so why change a winning formula?

it would still be great to have a view form the sharp end of the amateur field, mid pack and those running from the hyenas. Doesn’t cost extra and gives more exposure to the event.

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, DieselnDust said:

The first 5 years of the epic had a half hour highlights package of the main race aired at 10pm every night. In that segment there would be 5mins of interviews with the back of the field , getting their views and feelings. That sold a lot of people into the event and grew its demand. In addition there was a 60min film on super sport of the whole event. Participants would purchase a dvd that contained their race photos , the highlights of each stage pro race and the weekend warrior movie. 

That came to an end with the shift to higher entry fees and the clover leaf format.

Point is the backmarkers sold the event . The pro field wasn’t big enough to sell the event but they set the benchmark for regular Jill’s and Joe’s to measure themselves against. And that’s the ego sell that works a treat. This formula brings people back year after year so why change a winning formula?

it would still be great to have a view form the sharp end of the amateur field, mid pack and those running from the hyenas. Doesn’t cost extra and gives more exposure to the event.

I remember that. The live feed wasn't a proper thing back then though, so it was a far more edited outlook.

The e-bikes, wireless networks and transportable editing technology has allowed the live feed to really take centre stage, which makes the montage content less important 

I'm sure they will do a highlights/marketing wrap up which will really get the hearts racing, the amp high and loosen the purse strings of those so inclined.

 

[DieselnDust]

4 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I remember that. The live feed wasn't a proper thing back then though, so it was a far more edited outlook.

The e-bikes, wireless networks and transportable editing technology has allowed the live feed to really take centre stage, which makes the montage content less important 

I'm sure they will do a highlights/marketing wrap up which will really get the hearts racing, the amp high and loosen the purse strings of those so inclined.

 

Yeah for the racing perspective the full stages are available on YouTube for your to watch at your leisure. It’s the amateur field that needs some coverage.