the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[The Bull Shark]

Yes. I know I am gonna rub a few people up wrongly with that statement. And everybody are entitled to their opinions. I have lots of respect for Burry. Visited his home at Port Shepstone and his memorial, and my 2 sons rode the MTB track at his home.

For me there is no real or not real MTBer. If you rocket up at Jonkers with an old 26er and ride a few trails there I will respect you just as any other person that pulls off a new Spez Epic from the bike rack on his Porche. We cannot start making little cliques to classify MTBers. We all love riding our bikes on trails.

Edited March 25, 2024 by dev null

[BuffsVintageBikes]

And you're fully entitled to feel & think that way. Many of us don't however, much as we don't believe in the "spirit of gravel" BS that floats around.

[Jewbacca]

In a weirdly roundabout way, I have no affinity towards anyone having to be a 'real' anything.

A 'real' mountain biker because you can suffer? Eish..... Lest we all forget, Burry was 25 when he died. I'd not quote the wisdom of a 25 year old kid, regardless of how good they are/were at a sport. I'm sure the sentiment was sincere and I'm sure he meant well by it, but it just isn't something we should revere.

I also don't buy in to anyone having to prove anything to anyone in any field to earn 'respect'. 

It's a weird thing that people feel they need to endure voluntary hardship in order to garner support in an imaginary pecking order. 

If it isn't fun or you aren't doing it for your own benefit or introspection, I'd question the motives.

 

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, saturdayknight said:

So many riders dropped out with heat stress - mediclinic apparently was struggling to find hospital beds after day 4 - 40 odd riders in hospital with kidney failure / heat stress - thats not counting all the riders in the race village hospital on a drip. Heat acclimatisation for me seems to key to making it through if this race is held in Wellington / Tulbagh area - my Garmin read 39 degrees with no wind going up the Alp de Huez to Cliffhanger. Was brutal. I did quite a bit of heated yoga going into the Epic and I think this helped, but us back markers are riding in the heat of the day whereas the pros are already done and dusted.

 

Interesting tit bit of information

 

At least two teams from Ceres withdrew on Day 4, due to the heat.

 

Theses are LOCALS that did all their training in this climate !!

 

Doubt anybody expected so many consecutive HOT days ....

[NotSoBigBen]

Sorry snowflakes, I'll take my coat and hat ... 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, saturdayknight said:

I reckon once the choppers are out the way they should throw a few drones up to get coverage of rest of the field. There were no drones which I suppose is due to concern with choppers still in the air. And maybe attach a few go-pros to riders for an entry reduction ?! 

 

Previous two years had a fair bit of drone coverage, in the single track sections

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Sorry snowflakes, I'll take my coat and hat ... 

I think people can have a different opinion than others without being Snowflakes and/or other derogatory terms.

Are you offended by it? 😉

[tubed]

Just been sitting next to 6 Chinese riders at the *Waterfront who obviously rode, then there are the other obvious foreign riders milling about. Point being, with the currency where it is at, I can't see why a profit making company like the Epic wont do everything to make sure it cant maximise the spend from those with hard currency and promote the event to that audience.

Also seemed to me to be a very large Spanish speaking contingent, supported by the number of enthusiastic posters in the Youtube comments, they seem to love the race. Maybe some Hermida wackyness in the race commentary booth would be in order, he could comment in Spanglish alongside Sabine who was great.

On the patriotic side - Matt is the best Epic rider in the world. Candice is of the best Epic riders in the world (just needs a stronger partner choice, which is also a skill of Matt's).

*Edit: context

Edited March 25, 2024 by tubed

[DieselnDust]

3 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

In a weirdly roundabout way, I have no affinity towards anyone having to be a 'real' anything.

A 'real' mountain biker because you can suffer? Eish..... Lest we all forget, Burry was 25 when he died. I'd not quote the wisdom of a 25 year old kid, regardless of how good they are/were at a sport. I'm sure the sentiment was sincere and I'm sure he meant well by it, but it just isn't something we should revere.

I also don't buy in to anyone having to prove anything to anyone in any field to earn 'respect'. 

It's a weird thing that people feel they need to endure voluntary hardship in order to garner support in an imaginary pecking order. 

If it isn't fun or you aren't doing it for your own benefit or introspection, I'd question the motives.

 

Burry’s comments reflected the views of his sponsors at the time. Those statements came at a time when mtb was at a popularity peak and there seemed unlimited desire for mountain bikers to participate in. Mtb stage racing became the new golf course for Selling banking and asset management products to other corporations and well healed individuals including farmers and land owners through whose land the epic now navigated. It was all very deliberate 

[DieselnDust]

31 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Sorry snowflakes, I'll take my coat and hat ... 

funny but I missed the context . I do love the term snowflake. Reminds me of Lewis Hamilton 

[DieselnDust]

Well early bird entries have opened so let’s see how fast they sell out at R113,750-00 or $8190-00

 

oh well I needn’t have bothered, sold out already 

Edited March 25, 2024 by DieselnDust
Update

[DieselnDust]

That’s the first 100 teams entered. Even though the absolute demand might be lower than 10 years ago there is still sufficient demand to cover operating costs for the next year. 
boom 

[Milosh]

On 3/18/2024 at 9:09 AM, Shebeen said:

might not be for everyone. lots of cheapo nylon still there. not an easy village to organise, i suspect there will be a lot of people in tulbagh/ceres/wolseley guesthouses then moving to wellington/paarl

 

@Shebeen  fake news-  as below and personal experience the tents were actually pretty good ,

The upgrade tents were at another luxury level, but standard tents were proper solid canvas.

On 3/17/2024 at 11:33 AM, Danger Dassie said:

Rider tents a vast improvement over previous years. Significantly larger and made with proper weather proofed rip stop canvas, shade net liners for doors/windows and a sponsor branded sun cover. 

 

[Mtbiker404]

A bit boring Epic again. If only there was an individual category, we would have seen an Nino/Beers showdown. The 2 man team thing is hurting the Epic, it is too much risk to be timed on a riding partner, hence most pros just skip the Epic and many do it only once and never return. Dumb rules.

[Milosh]

 

16 hours ago, Mtbiker404 said:

A bit boring Epic again. If only there was an individual category, we would have seen an Nino/Beers showdown. The 2 man team thing is hurting the Epic, it is too much risk to be timed on a riding partner, hence most pros just skip the Epic and many do it only once and never return. Dumb rules.

I disagree,  the team thing makes the ABSA Cape Epic. 

- Candice managing pace https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1104218804249860

- Candice going hell for leather up ou-helshoogte to do the same again and ghost marking her attack and getting the holeshot to stop a repeat.   

- Beers and Grots - F1 style 60-second wheel change to stay in touch when on the back foot after smashing a rim and multiple plugs  not working 

To mention a few and don't forget the classic "Pussy move " 

Nah boet stage racing is like test cricket, there is a fascinating ebb and flow that is addictive! 

Granted it is not for everyone, but there are enough solo races for all tastes, please let us keep this a team one ? 

Edited March 26, 2024 by Milosh
spelling

[babse]

47 minutes ago, Mtbiker404 said:

A bit boring Epic again. If only there was an individual category, we would have seen an Nino/Beers showdown. The 2 man team thing is hurting the Epic, it is too much risk to be timed on a riding partner, hence most pros just skip the Epic and many do it only once and never return. Dumb rules.

Forgot to add *in your opinion