the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[Pandatron]

2 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

WOW ... why not ?

 

Doing a solid ride day after day, and managing your effort and energy to be ready for the next day.  Frankly, this is better than many prepared for this time round ....

 

Let's face it, you are in one of a few groups:

- Racers ...

- Going for a personal best 

- Fun rider .... in which case a well planned effort is worth a heck of a lot more than a blown engine mid way ... (couple of Hubbers in their race reports were clear about how they managed their effort, and made it to the end)

I'm asking the question not making a statement.. but i will provide my own answer.

You should be arriving at ACE competently prepared in my view and have the ability to at least clear the cut off by 30 minutes.

Survival of just making it Waterpoint to Waterpoint day after day increases your risk exposure exponentially, there will definitely be days where something goes wrong and stuff happens.

But going or attempting to day after day in a completely blown state/dehydrated and then wondering why bad things happen, is doff.


 

[DieselnDust]

7 hours ago, Dappere said:

Fair – but the event still has a positive impact on South Africa. Beyond the race itself, people are booking accommodation, dining at local restaurants, and supporting small businesses. That broader ripple effect is still significant.

It seems we share a similar perspective – appreciate the clarification.

It’s a slippery slope when we prioritise economics over human health.

i doubt anyone wants the event to die. I certainly don’t. 
I don’t believe that an event should be trivialise health to gain notoriety. At the mom that is what it feels like. Kevin sort of knew where the limit was and if there was an over reach a correction would be in place the next day. By observation I’ve noticed a gradual ratcheting up of the intensity of the epic to be the toughest roughest most badass bike race. At some point you’re going to kill someone and that is not good for anyone , especially the deceased. That only benefits the bottom line of financial services. Did the event need to go up that long steep incredibly hot climb on Wednesday? My Garmin registered 51degrees C. Or could it have gone along a more flat route , cut out more climbing and got riders home ?

Debating this won’t bring anyone back. Those who were involved in comforting , monitoring , first aid, and paramedic duties will find ways to deal with their own trauma of the day and the arm chair warriors will type “but you signed up”. 
 

 

[jcza]

45 minutes ago, karma said:

Excuse me, you need either 0 or 3 Epic medals to have an opinion...

Midpacker...somewhere in between. 

[karma]

11 minutes ago, Pandatron said:

I'm asking the question not making a statement.. but i will provide my own answer.

You should be arriving at ACE competently prepared in my view and have the ability to at least clear the cut off by 30 minutes.

Survival of just making it Waterpoint to Waterpoint day after day increases your risk exposure exponentially, there will definitely be days where something goes wrong and stuff happens.

But going or attempting to day after day in a completely blown state/dehydrated and then wondering why bad things happen, is doff.


 

What's doff is, assuming everyone who struggles did not prepare well.

If you make the cut-off daily by 1 second, you still made it.

[DieselnDust]

3 hours ago, cadenceblur said:

Have to say, looking back - such a pity that much of this thread was not about the performances of the athletes and gear on display.

Did GvA finish?

[jcza]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Did GvA finish?

24th and just managed to beat Hoogerland

[Dappere]

37 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

It’s a slippery slope when we prioritise economics over human health.

i doubt anyone wants the event to die. I certainly don’t. 
I don’t believe that an event should be trivialise health to gain notoriety. At the mom that is what it feels like. Kevin sort of knew where the limit was and if there was an over reach a correction would be in place the next day. By observation I’ve noticed a gradual ratcheting up of the intensity of the epic to be the toughest roughest most badass bike race. At some point you’re going to kill someone and that is not good for anyone , especially the deceased. That only benefits the bottom line of financial services. Did the event need to go up that long steep incredibly hot climb on Wednesday? My Garmin registered 51degrees C. Or could it have gone along a more flat route , cut out more climbing and got riders home ?

Debating this won’t bring anyone back. Those who were involved in comforting , monitoring , first aid, and paramedic duties will find ways to deal with their own trauma of the day and the arm chair warriors will type “but you signed up”. 
 

 

I’ve never suggested that economics should take precedence over health, far from it. Kevin himself often spoke with pride about the broader economic impact of the Cape Epic and referenced it in many of his interviews. My point is simply that this aspect should also be acknowledged — if not celebrated — as part of the event’s overall significance.

That said, many of the responses before my initial comment seemed more like a call to boycott the event or to respond with anger or a sense of retribution. When feedback is framed in that way, it becomes all too easy to dismiss it as yet another case of ‘keyboard warriors’ complaining for the sake of it, and that does little to bring about meaningful change.

There is plenty to critique — and rightly so — but if the goal is improvement, then the way we voice concerns is just as important as the concerns themselves.

[DieselnDust]

9 hours ago, Titleist said:

Can those who participated this year please post some feedback on your training for the past 6 months so we can see what it takes?

Weekly hours, intensity, amount of rides >4 hours etc etc.

10-12 hours per week

Very specific about zones 

Tuesday to Thursday intervals targeting specific zones 1-1,5 hrs

friday recovery; gym, swim , easy ride

saturday 2-3hrs endurance with intervals

sunday 4-5 hrs zone2 only

 

this is a very basic overview and does not convey the periodisation.bThe detailed plan is structured using both pyramidal and polarised models for specific training blocks.

when time crunched you have to be very disciplined to the point of divorce if you want to ride the cape epic comfortably and complete it.

i don’t believe in training camps, special mats or extraterrestrial interventions 

i train my metabolic systems as if i was racing. 

I do not target specific carbohydrate intake per hour. That will naturally increase as you get fitter. For the epic it is not purely about carbs per hour as you are not at that sort of intensity for very long if you wan to last the duration of the event. Racing the Cape Epic takes a couple of years of build unless it is your job to do so.

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:08 PM by DieselnDust

[Pandatron]

48 minutes ago, karma said:

What's doff is, assuming everyone who struggles did not prepare well.

If you make the cut-off daily by 1 second, you still made it.

Is there a point responding to this?

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, karma said:

What's doff is, assuming everyone who struggles did not prepare well.

If you make the cut-off daily by 1 second, you still made it.

It is however a safe assumption. 
 

what is preparing well? 
training peaks has these measures called 

fatigue (ATL)<30

fitness (CTL) 75-85

form (TSB) a positive number >10

the numbers are what I would target for the start of a stage race like cape epic but not a hard and fast rule.

Everyone is watching YT videos but also extracting nuggets that

serves to confirm their bias. Some want to train by racing every weekend and nothing in the week. That’s a high risk strategy basis the accumulated training load, long recovery that often results in unsustainable short term gains. They won’t have the durability for an 8 day event.

The other extreme is ride every day and this builds up massive fatigue. If rest isn’t managed then this person is poorly prepare despite the high training load.

the  there are the nuances in the middle. Basically it is easy to be badly prepared yet have ridden regularly.

the fact that many survive is more testament to the generous time cutoffs than anything 

I rode with many prologue hero’s who then hung on by their finger nails. Some made the week and others did not. Many who got cut rode a lot.

preparation is not about volume alone. Preparation is about understanding the job at hand and building the required engine

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:54 PM by DieselnDust

[Lynskey]

My last epic was 2014. I got an invite a week before. So nothing new happened,  we came 159 I think, at that time i was riding 5 times a week for about an hour per ride. I wouldn't do it now. I don't ride anywhere near as much and I am just gone 50. Every single scenario is different. There is no one size fits all here. 

[DieselnDust]

Just now, Lynskey said:

My last epic was 2014. I got an invite a week before. So nothing new happened,  we came 159 I think, at that time i was riding 5 times a week for about an hour per ride. I wouldn't do it now. I don't ride anywhere near as much and I am just gone 50. Every single scenario is different. There is no one size fits all here. 

In a nut shell^^^

[Bro Derek]

To throw a cat in amongst it, if the race is billed as the toughest in the world, do those who finish at the back and struggle every day truly believe they have trained well enough to confidently tackle the toughest race in the world?

If not, then the question needs to be asked, why do it if it's not the toughest in the world as you've not treated it as such but still want to claim the accomplishment, which seems like a whole other series of questions regarding motivation, drive and expectation.... It's a pretty deep thing to go into.

I personally don't think many of the field train sufficiently to ride what they claim to have ridden once they ride it OR say it was too tough if they don't successfully ride it. 

 

[NotSoBigBen]

A certain mental fortitude (just plain old vasbyt if you will) definitely helps .... It may even overcome a bit of shortcoming in training. Luckily I haven't done 0 or 3 events so I guess I can comment 😜

[DieselnDust]

4 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

A certain mental fortitude (just plain old vasbyt if you will) definitely helps .... It may even overcome a bit of shortcoming in training. Luckily I haven't done 0 or 3 events so I guess I can comment 😜

#vasby

#bytvas

#HTFU

all contribute to getting through 

 

the most important thing to train is ….?

answers below

 

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, Pandatron said:

I'm asking the question not making a statement.. but i will provide my own answer.

You should be arriving at ACE competently prepared in my view and have the ability to at least clear the cut off by 30 minutes.

Survival of just making it Waterpoint to Waterpoint day after day increases your risk exposure exponentially, there will definitely be days where something goes wrong and stuff happens.

But going or attempting to day after day in a completely blown state/dehydrated and then wondering why bad things happen, is doff.


 

 

Fair enough.  That makes sense.

 

Not the Comrades approach of running to meet each cut off by seconds ....

 

Thus a comfortable and well planned pace, without trying to set age-cat record times.