the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[Me rida my bicycle]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

@babse

ya stupidly hot ride today. At the 45km water I swear I saw Jesus. I just could not drink enough. 
course was super sandy with heat radiating from the ground up. 
camp site is on a stretch of land covered in thorns . It’s super *** aka epic.

As they say don't stop till you see Jesus or the checkered flag 😁 thanks for the interesting insight. Best of luck for the rest of the week 👌🏻

[SamTaylor]

Glad we staying in Paarl tonight, just chatted to okes in the checkout line at PnP saying the water situation in the race village is dire. Both for drinking and showers

unless they sort something out quick, and maybe get some more shade sorted out for chill zones, three nights in that dust pit are going to get seriously unpleasant.

and everyone in our group is pretty happy with the stage being shortened. 

Edited 8 hours ago by SamTaylor

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, karma said:

Ironman influence spreading....

The customer satisfaction is non existent. Next year is available if you call  now for R119950,00 

but that’s not all they’ll throw in a tub of Vaseline for free!!!

Edited 8 hours ago by DieselnDust

[SamTaylor]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

The customer satisfaction is non existent. Next year is available if you sell now for R119950,00 

but that’s not all they’ll throw in a tub of Vaseline for free!!!

And they have gone extra heavy on pushing the upgrades this year compared to previous years. If you don’t have ABSA VIP access, then you’re stuck to suffer like a real pleb. Pretty much anything that would be considered decent customer service is only available as a paid upgrade. 
 

Heard a lot of grumbling from the international riders at the bag pickup and the massage tent today. Okes aren’t happy.

[mrcg]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Yip

not enough water

Wi-Fi is intermittent 

charging points are over subscribed 

camp site is dusty and covered in duiwel doorns.

showers work intermittently 

it’s all epic man

C'mon man, what are you expecting for a bargain price event??! Although I believe there are luxury upgrades 🤪 Is the kos also premium grade as every year?

[mrcg]

1 hour ago, MongooseMan said:

Stage 3 apparently shortened 

 90km → 78km, 2600m → 2450m. Updates on Water Points, Cut-offs & Start Times will be in the Stage 3 Route Briefing.

as expected...but the right thing to do! I saw few people on course today who are prime heart attack and kidney failure candidates 😷

[Zebra]

9 hours ago, 'Dale said:

…. made riders opt for water points and not carry excess weight and keep optimal ventilation on the core area and back.

…THIS….100%…

[SwissVan]

2 hours ago, SamTaylor said:

Somebody needs to be drawn and quartered for firstly choosing this site as a race village and then also for the piss poor layout of the race village.

starting to get the idea the accountants had a lot more say than the people on the ground when making these calls. 

It’s the untamed AFRICAN mtb race and it’s considered hors catégorie by the UCI

The ou manne will be thinking you should have seen when we…..

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by SwissVan

[cadenceblur]

Reading about the lack of decent facilities etc is just unacceptable for an event of this nature, actually pathetic! 

[Paulst12]

Thats not great to hear about the poor facilities etc and the internationals competitors complaining. It doesnt take a lot to turn a world class event into a circus and soon struggling to survive. I hope Ironman reads this type of feedback and make adjustments next year... although im not holding my breath to see if they do 🤢

[saturdayknight]

Problem is riders simply don’t carry enough water and drink enough. And then the ego comes in and they don’t listen to their bodies and tail off the pace as heat stress starts to develop. But every rider that’s not a pro should be riding with a hydration sack. And then even the pros! 

[JohanDiv]

3 hours ago, MongooseMan said:

Stage 3 apparently shortened 

 90km → 78km, 2600m → 2450m. Updates on Water Points, Cut-offs & Start Times will be in the Stage 3 Route Briefing.

The sections they are cutting out is definitely more than 150m of climbing. Closer to 300m. Still gonna be a tough day.. will try and make my way up the mountain to come spectate the next few days. 

[saturdayknight]

19 minutes ago, Paulst12 said:

Thats not great to hear about the poor facilities etc and the internationals competitors complaining. It doesnt take a lot to turn a world class event into a circus and soon struggling to survive. I hope Ironman reads this type of feedback and make adjustments next year... although im not holding my breath to see if they do 🤢

I agree. For planet earth’s top Mtb race there are some people in the Ironman organisation who should be sacked. They are just not doing a good job. There are many areas for improvement to make it the world class event it is. Last year bunching all the riders together on the last day and then pushing them up a narrow steep single track close to the start was a disaster. I got the feeling the race is run by a bunch of office workers who have never ridden a MTB.  The spectator experience is also very disorganised. The app is terrible.  The western cape and cape town is totally insane from a riding and visitor experience point of view. They just need some better people to run the race. Just having a team ride the trail the week before the start and simply fix up some of the styes and crossings and getting rid of fencing wire lying on or close to the track would be a good start. 

[Spafsack]

3 hours ago, SamTaylor said:

Glad we staying in Paarl tonight, just chatted to okes in the checkout line at PnP saying the water situation in the race village is dire. Both for drinking and showers

unless they sort something out quick, and maybe get some more shade sorted out for chill zones, three nights in that dust pit are going to get seriously unpleasant.

and everyone in our group is pretty happy with the stage being shortened. 

Why is there a water shortage?

Can't imagine how hot the tents must be at night as well, on thorns....must be rough. Really not good to hear.

[DieselnDust]

3 minutes ago, Spafsack said:

Why is there a water shortage?

Can't imagine how hot the tents must be at night as well, on thorns....must be rough. Really not good to hear.

They are trucking water in. It’s hot and the trucks are not arriving g in time to fill the tanks. Sometimes the pumps aren’t running yet riders are coming in. This morning I wanted to fill my hydration pack bladder and had to wait 10min for a “voorman “ to come and turn the pump back on. Total fup. 
at the moment the chill zone is a thorn coated disaster. Sit down , likely on a super dooring and get a lekker infection.stand up in your tent and a thorn penetrates your foot though the base. It’s like the ANC is running the show

[Spafsack]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

They are trucking water in. It’s hot and the trucks are not arriving g in time to fill the tanks. Sometimes the pumps aren’t running yet riders are coming in. This morning I wanted to fill my hydration pack bladder and had to wait 10min for a “voorman “ to come and turn the pump back on. Total fup. 
at the moment the chill zone is a thorn coated disaster. Sit down , likely on a super dooring and get a lekker infection.stand up in your tent and a thorn penetrates your foot though the base. It’s like the ANC is running the show

**** that's not good to hear.

How is the heat in the tents, probably bad in the day?