the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[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 March 18, 2025 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?

[SamTaylor]

12 minutes ago, Spafsack said:

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

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

I dont even want to think about how *** hot it must be in those tents right now. 

Like @DieselnDust says, they need to truck water in, and they seem to battle to get it in fast enough, primarily because the access to the site is really limited. there is only 1, narrow standard farm gate, and one farm track to access the race village, support village (which is about 6 dusty rugby fields away), spectator parking, AVIS uprgrade parking and everything in between. there is no seperate entrance for services - which is like event planning 101. 

 

The race village is also just plonked on a dusty field in the middle of nowhere with absoulutey zero sense of place, and the layout means everything is far away from everything else. I would swop a ankle deep in the mud sloshfest at Oak Valley for this place any day, and cant believe we will be spending two more days and nights here. I keep telling myself there must be some kind of good reason they chose this setup, but im really battling to come up with one.

anyway, long day ahead tomorrow, so I better get some more sleep in.

[babse]

Yoh thats frustrating to read in the comfort of my bed can't even imagine the restlessness in the camp... 

All the best okes! Hope you managed the heat and camp issues.

 

From TV, they could at least cut the grass on the finish straight? 

Edited March 19, 2025 by babse

[daveno7]

10 minutes ago, babse said:

Yoh thats frustrating to read in the comfort of my bed can't even the restlessness in the camp... 

All the best okes! Hope you managed the heat and camp issues.

 

From TV, they could at least cut the grass on the finish straight? 

noticed that as well...attention to detail etc is a bit lacking...

that village area is totally exposed to the heat elements...

[DieselnDust]

3 hours ago, babse said:

Yoh thats frustrating to read in the comfort of my bed can't even the restlessness in the camp... 

All the best okes! Hope you managed the heat and camp issues.

 

From TV, they could at least cut the grass on the finish straight? 

That’s not grass grass, it’s all mostly thorn 

[karma]

At least they can claim it's the most difficult Epic Rider Village ever!

[michaelbiker]

From a tv spectator point of view the Brown Belts was a pretty interesting decision. I love riding these trails myself but the scenery is pretty ugly on tv. Why did they pick this area to have the race? Part of the Tour de France is showing off how beautiful France is, this is showing off how dry, burnt and grey the Cape is - which it isn’t of course. 

[Mamil]

I think I'd have a mamil meltdown. Like a cyber cowboy with 2 guns, LekkerSlaap and booking.com Apps at the ready, credit card loaded like a silver bullet.