the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, OVERDRIVE said:

We agree preacher 

Do I got a witness..!?

[daveno7]

the way Beers and Grotts have waited for the race to come to them....little drama...not over pushing the barriers.....mature riding 

its been great seeing the coverage here in the UK...there are a few fellow Irish riders doing the event...YouTube and X coverage has been great to see...

Edited March 22, 2024 by daveno7

[tinmug]

Fireworks today. 

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, tinmug said:

Fireworks today. 

Just not with Speed Company. They’re way off the back and out for a training ride with Justin and Kai

[Smartie]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

Just not with Speed Company. They’re way off the back and out for a training ride with Justin and Kai

Looks like it is over - Lucas has dropped out. He had a bad day yesterday.

 

EDIT: Stomach bug apparently

Edited March 23, 2024 by Smartie

[Eugene Oppelt]

"This is Africa. Rain is a blessing" - Stefan Sahm.

That is a lot of VAM required for today. And it will be slippery. Tyre choice and pressure very key.

There'll be weary bodies and minds today, which can lead to delayed reflexes and errors in judgements. Hope all the amateurs makes it through safely to move oh so close to their personal and team ambitions.

 

Edited March 23, 2024 by 'Dale

[DieselnDust]

32 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

"This is Africa. Rain is a blessing" - Stefan Sahm.

That is a lot of VAM required for today. And it will be slippery. Tyre choice and pressure very key.

There'll be weary bodies and minds today, which can lead to delayed reflexes and errors in judgements. Hope all the amateurs makes it through safely to move oh so close to their personal and team ambitions.

 

I had to deliver a pep talk last night. There is a lot of conflict at the back of the field. BR’s wanting their IF’s to stay with them and hold their hand to the finish. Eish

Pity about Lucas. He didn’t look his normal self since the prologue already. They need to regroup and account for their new paradigm 

 

[Vaultboy]

Nino's so bored at the back he has time to fool around while Fini is struggling, shem. 

[Rowl]

5 minutes ago, Vaultboy said:

Nino's so bored at the back he has time to fool around while Fini is struggling, shem. 

Nino and Sofia would both like to trade-up their partners...

Edited March 23, 2024 by Rowl
Shem😃

[The Bull Shark]

32 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Pity about Lucas. He didn’t look his normal self since the prologue already. They need to regroup and account for their new paradigm 

 

I have been saying that earlier in the week but I was attacked by the Bike Hub faithful. Already with the first stage Lucas was being pushed by his partner on some climbs. Eventually if you ride outside your body limits for too many days your body will shut down.

[babse]

12 hours ago, babse said:

I recon Fini had his bad day and tomorrow will be fresh as a daisy 😶‍🌫️

Okay not... His backing up his bad day with another. 

Grotts looking like the King of the weaker partners 👑

[Jewbacca]

It's almost as if some people on here forget that Nino is almost impossible to pair with, nevermind someone with the same/similar sponsors and timetable.

The guy is relentlessly brilliant and has topped the MTB world for a really really long time. 

Add to that there is always one partner stronger than the other. It's nobody's fault, it is purely impossible for 2 people to perform equally over 8 days. It is what makes this format so intriguing.

The top end of the field are racing within the tightest margins, I mean mere minutes over hundreds of Km.

It is a phenomenal thing to watch and enjoy.

I know I'm certainly a million light years away from criticising or suggesting I know better than the teams and their riders. 

[Scary Rider]

2 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

It's almost as if some people on here forget that Nino is almost impossible to pair with, nevermind someone with the same/similar sponsors and timetable.

The guy is relentlessly brilliant and has topped the MTB world for a really really long time. 

Add to that there is always one partner stronger than the other. It's nobody's fault, it is purely impossible for 2 people to perform equally over 8 days. It is what makes this format so intriguing.

The top end of the field are racing within the tightest margins, I mean mere minutes over hundreds of Km.

It is a phenomenal thing to watch and enjoy.

I know I'm certainly a million light years away from criticising or suggesting I know better than the teams and their riders. 

Jewie, on the topic of partners being equal and all...who's going to team up with you on an BMX? Maybe @Mamil??🤔😉

[Mamil]

6 minutes ago, Scary Rider said:

Jewie, on the topic of partners being equal and all...who's going to team up with you on an BMX? Maybe @Mamil??🤔😉

Thread hijack ...

What we have to understand about @Jewbaccais that he's a proper athlete who doesn't take himself too seriously unlike this mamil who has minimal ability and plans training, nutrition, race strategy meticulously to mitigate this dearth of talent. 

So he arrives at the water point  having ridden the last 30km with empty bidons, announces that he doesn't have anyone to feed him, eats half a banana and the soggy end of a leftover boerie roll, and then takes a short nap before finishing ahead of me and my carefully mixed malto and fructose drink, my imported energy bars and my perfectly timed taper.

It would not be a good marriage.

To wit, I'm carefully curating my bike setup for munga at the end of the year, dynamo lights, losing the Camelbak in favour of saddle mounted bottle cages, painstaking selection of handlebar bag, fussing over whether aero bars will work for me. I'm already training, riding trial events .... Etc etc 

@Jewbaccawill get his BMX out the back of the garage, brush the cobwebs off, do a loop of the green belt in preparation, lube his chain and be asleep at the third race village when I get there.

[Scary Rider]

42 minutes ago, Mamil said:

Thread hijack ...

What we have to understand about @Jewbaccais that he's a proper athlete who doesn't take himself too seriously unlike this mamil who has minimal ability and plans training, nutrition, race strategy meticulously to mitigate this dearth of talent. 

So he arrives at the water point  having ridden the last 30km with empty bidons, announces that he doesn't have anyone to feed him, eats half a banana and the soggy end of a leftover boerie roll, and then takes a short nap before finishing ahead of me and my carefully mixed malto and fructose drink, my imported energy bars and my perfectly timed taper.

It would not be a good marriage.

To wit, I'm carefully curating my bike setup for munga at the end of the year, dynamo lights, losing the Camelbak in favour of saddle mounted bottle cages, painstaking selection of handlebar bag, fussing over whether aero bars will work for me. I'm already training, riding trial events .... Etc etc 

@Jewbaccawill get his BMX out the back of the garage, brush the cobwebs off, do a loop of the green belt in preparation, lube his chain and be asleep at the third race village when I get there.

You had me in stitches, almost choking on my juice🤣🤣🤣

[The Bull Shark]

I am enjoying Daryl Impey and Craig Colesky's videos of the real Cape Epic. I know exactly how it feels when you have nothing in the tank and the sun wants to kill you, and every little mountain stream is mana from heaven.

Edited March 23, 2024 by dev null