the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[love2fly]

7 hours ago, SwissVan said:

 

Yeah I didn’t seriously think they rode with cooling vests.

Personally I always rode these kind of events with a camelbac or small backpack, the benefits outweighing the discomfort imo. 
 

What I don’t like is the extra effort it takes to drink (suck) from them, especially if you are riding hard or very fatigued, and then the effort to keep the bladder and tubes clean from goggas 🤢 every day

Don't bottles pick up a lot of dust and stuff like cow ****? 😃

Proper daily rinse with water and toilet paper in Bottom to soak...

[ChrisF]

5 minutes ago, love2fly said:

Ah ok, my bad. Must be my German sense of humour.

 

Yea, @babse has his hair in twist because I dared to comment on the number of people that walked the Missing Link hill on the Prologue.

 

More to the point, I asked how did people CHOOSE THEIR GEARING if they have to walk the Missing link after the first 20km, as there will be much worse hills to come in the event.  But hey, let facts not stand in the way of good gat krap ....

['Kaze Pete]

2 hours ago, Hilton. said:

That adds another 72 teams back into the mix, that were at WP 3 and not DNF.

Somebody I know posted a ride (no map, just distance and time) that correlates with WP3. See they received a finish time of more than an hour more than what was posted

[Jbr]

11 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Yea, @babse has his hair in twist because I dared to comment on the number of people that walked the Missing Link hill on the Prologue.

What hair

[Mamil]

14 minutes ago, love2fly said:

Don't bottles pick up a lot of dust and stuff like cow ****? 😃

Proper daily rinse with water and toilet paper in Bottom to soak...

Much cleaner than bottles imo. And easier to drink from. The bite valves just open to slight pressure from teeth.

Long term, mould is an issue which I deal with by soaking in Milton sterrinappy at regular intervals and keeping in freezer when not in use.

[love2fly]

14 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Yea, @babse has his hair in twist because I dared to comment on the number of people that walked the Missing Link hill on the Prologue.

 

More to the point, I asked how did people CHOOSE THEIR GEARING if they have to walk the Missing link after the first 20km, as there will be much worse hills to come in the event.  But hey, let facts not stand in the way of good gat krap ....

In the CTCT you see people walking up (is it Edinburgh Drive?) Bishopscourt area....and in last year's YouTube video you could see Epic riders walking down a medium difficulty decent.

You should have to "qualify" to get an entry but think of how much that would affect profit......I pity the riders staying in tents and getting the Epic Delhi Belly gyppos.....

[Mamil]

11 minutes ago, love2fly said:

In the CTCT you see people walking up (is it Edinburgh Drive?) Bishopscourt area....and in last year's YouTube video you could see Epic riders walking down a medium difficulty decent.

You should have to "qualify" to get an entry but think of how much that would affect profit......I pity the riders staying in tents and getting the Epic Delhi Belly gyppos.....

To be fair ... That missing link climb is pretty horrible ... And sometimes has those big humps on it that just hurt so much

[saturdayknight]

3 hours ago, dev null said:

It is piss poorly organised. Anybody who looked at the weather forecast 2 days ago and knew just a little bit about mountain biking in the Western Cape knew it was going to be bad. Especially Paarlberg which is extremely exposed to the sun on the western slopes and northern slopes. Just refer to some of the  earlier comments here on this forum from a few days ago.

I think you have beancounters in NYC where Ironman is headquartered who squeeze and only interested in margins who are calling the shots. And they report to a media company and the venture capitalists. That’s why it’s poorly organised and not properly resourced. To run out of water is inexcusable (if it’s true). And it’s obvious a week out and even a year out that it can be super hot on Paarl rock. Just put extra water stations in. And don’t f%^* run out of water. Ever. 

[babse]

1 hour ago, love2fly said:

That's a bit harsh, she got blocked/baulked by something.

 

58 minutes ago, love2fly said:

Ah ok, my bad. Must be my German sense of humour.

Yeah just pulling the micky on previous posts... 😂

 

Also dont mind me, im just a 2x finisher who's opinion are weak until the amabubesi medal is in the bag. 

[love2fly]

5 minutes ago, babse said:

 

Yeah just pulling the micky on previous posts... 😂

 

Also dont mind me, im just a 2x finisher who's opinion are weak until the amabubesi medal is in the bag. 

I'm a 6 time finisher on 4 different couches! 😬

[babse]

42 minutes ago, Jbr said:

What hair

Ouch.

 

🤣🤣🤣

[ChrisF]

7 minutes ago, love2fly said:

I'm a 6 time finisher on 4 different couches! 😬

 

Post of the year 🤣

[Me rida my bicycle]

1 hour ago, 'Kaze Pete said:

Somebody I know posted a ride (no map, just distance and time) that correlates with WP3. See they received a finish time of more than an hour more than what was posted

Could most likely be auto pause so they are posting moving time and the event posts total time. 

[Danger Dassie]

Being on site throughout the day, some facts that are due are that the start was earlier, the route was shortened, and cutoffs were extended along with extra water. Unfortunately, it can also be compounded by someone dousing themselves with water. Yes they shouldn't and yes they should be stopped, but for anyone who has been involved with events, try stopping someone in that condition from doing so. 
There were also a host of other issues brought about. What I did see on site was vehicles with extra water going out. The decision to stop riders at Christmas Camp (66km) could well have compounded this. However, with the air ambulance operating, the call had to be made. The event also put out an emergency evac, which called for all staff, etc., to take vehicles up to the evacuation point and bring riders down. 
I'd say approx 220 od people were evacuated in the space of an hour or two. Trucks etc went up to collect bike. The staff and officials took pictures of each registration as well as rider numbers.
As far as fatality/ies go, there's no confirmation and if so it requires a severe amount of delicacy, family would be involved and any priority of notice is toward them. There is also the fact that in such a scenario for most, they'd prefer to keep such a thing private. It should be respected, no argument.

It's a difficult call to make, hindsight is always perfect, and no doubt there are questions to be asked. On the keyboard flipside there's those who are calling the decision soft, and fairweather riders. Personally, I feel that these are those kinds of moments people should step back a little until the dust settles. 

[ChrisF]

3 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:

Being on site throughout the day, some facts that are due are that the start was earlier, the route was shortened, and cutoffs were extended along with extra water. Unfortunately, it can also be compounded by someone dousing themselves with water. Yes they shouldn't and yes they should be stopped, but for anyone who has been involved with events, try stopping someone in that condition from doing so. 
There were also a host of other issues brought about. What I did see on site was vehicles with extra water going out. The decision to stop riders at Christmas Camp (66km) could well have compounded this. However, with the air ambulance operating, the call had to be made. The event also put out an emergency evac, which called for all staff, etc., to take vehicles up to the evacuation point and bring riders down. 
I'd say approx 220 od people were evacuated in the space of an hour or two. Trucks etc went up to collect bike. The staff and officials took pictures of each registration as well as rider numbers.
As far as fatality/ies go, there's no confirmation and if so it requires a severe amount of delicacy, family would be involved and any priority of notice is toward them. There is also the fact that in such a scenario for most, they'd prefer to keep such a thing private. It should be respected, no argument.

It's a difficult call to make, hindsight is always perfect, and no doubt there are questions to be asked. On the keyboard flipside there's those who are calling the decision soft, and fairweather riders. Personally, I feel that these are those kinds of moments people should step back a little until the dust settles. 

 

Thank you for balanced feedback

[love2fly]

5 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:

Being on site throughout the day, some facts that are due are that the start was earlier, the route was shortened, and cutoffs were extended along with extra water. Unfortunately, it can also be compounded by someone dousing themselves with water. Yes they shouldn't and yes they should be stopped, but for anyone who has been involved with events, try stopping someone in that condition from doing so. 
There were also a host of other issues brought about. What I did see on site was vehicles with extra water going out. The decision to stop riders at Christmas Camp (66km) could well have compounded this. However, with the air ambulance operating, the call had to be made. The event also put out an emergency evac, which called for all staff, etc., to take vehicles up to the evacuation point and bring riders down. 
I'd say approx 220 od people were evacuated in the space of an hour or two. Trucks etc went up to collect bike. The staff and officials took pictures of each registration as well as rider numbers.
As far as fatality/ies go, there's no confirmation and if so it requires a severe amount of delicacy, family would be involved and any priority of notice is toward them. There is also the fact that in such a scenario for most, they'd prefer to keep such a thing private. It should be respected, no argument.

It's a difficult call to make, hindsight is always perfect, and no doubt there are questions to be asked. On the keyboard flipside there's those who are calling the decision soft, and fairweather riders. Personally, I feel that these are those kinds of moments people should step back a little until the dust settles. 

Thanks for that.