the unofficial Cape Epic thread

[deonkretch]

1 hour ago, Shebeen said:

great race report from the field.

 

So what next?

*Epic take this on board and look to find the sweetspot on making the bulk of the amateur field happy to be there with a few more luxuries, while still bankrolling the whole affair?

*races that fell away - 7 day joberg2C/7day pioneer come back to fill the void

had a quick squizz at Cape pioneer. currently in year two of a 5 stage relaunch with 2 race villages. about 140 teams (some single riders) so probably 200 riders in 2024. entry is R21k pp early bird for a team. accom ranges from R2k for a tent up to R43k if you run a hedge fund. or arrange your own.

If I was their marketing guy I would be punting this race HARD right now.

 

You won't go wrong with Cape Pioneer - the race organisers really do understand how to put on a challenging route (This is not a Sani2C - you need to be fit) and they look after the riders! It's the only race that I have done that has perfect sosatie's at the last waterpoint. 

[andreas17777]

23 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.

I did my first Epic, From December til March I was averaging about 60 hours of riding with 20,000m elevation per month. Every weekend we did heat training at z2 intensity and multiple long days in the saddle. I did lack a bit of intensity, but as we were only riding to finish and not race it wasn't that crucial. The Wednesday was proper hot and brutal  but if you stopped and refuelled at all the water points and had a hydration pack, you should have been fine to ride.

[Skubarra]

13 minutes ago, Ozzie NL said:

Yes, team drop out rate

 

According to me the main difference from 2022 onwards is the percentage of single track as opposed to gravel road riding ... that also gels with less distance but more elevation

OK fire up the flame throwers as to why I an wrong

I get why you are using teams - but of that 20% of teams I think at least half of them have individual finishers that still finish the race so I don't think team finishes tells the full story.

[ikerarri]

1 hour ago, Ozzie NL said:

Yes, team drop out rate

 

According to me the main difference from 2022 onwards is the percentage of single track as opposed to gravel road riding ... that also gels with less distance but more elevation

OK fire up the flame throwers as to why I an wrong

Thanks for the info. And ... yes, I think this is very relevant information. Distance and relevation do not tell the whole story of the "hardness" of a race. Many times weather conditions, terrain difficulty, stomach issues, and other factors account much more. And having a general view on how many teams start and how many teams make it to the finish is a very good indicator, in my opinion. 

Are riders better or worse prepared now compared to some years ago? I would say, generaly, better. And I have reasons to back up this. Nowadays there is more focus on training plans, and personal trainers, nutrition plans, and use of potentiometers, and software to monitor and improve training. I am getting older (yes), but my numbers are getting better (also). 

Are some people undertrained and going to the epic unprepared because they can afford (economicaly) it? Yes, sure, but ... I do not think this is a growing trend.

  

Edited Wednesday at 11:47 AM by ikerarri

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, Ozzie NL said:

For what it's worth I use drop out rate (defined as 1 - (No of teams finishing stage 7/teams starting prologue) as proxy for how hard the edition is, see graph below

2025 drop out rate as heavily influenced by Stage 3 cancellation that allowed a lot of riders to come back in Stage 4, and the lengthening of cut off of Stage 5&6 and shortening of Stage 7

Edited Wednesday at 10:54 AM by DieselnDust

[DieselnDust]

57 minutes ago, Ozzie NL said:

Yes, team drop out rate

 

According to me the main difference from 2022 onwards is the percentage of single track as opposed to gravel road riding ... that also gels with less distance but more elevation

OK fire up the flame throwers as to why I an wrong

i think you need to simplify that and just use individuals dropping out. The IF's are part of the finishers group, just not timed

[MongooseMan]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

i think you need to simplify that and just use individuals dropping out. The IF's are part of the finishers group, just not timed

Agreed

Here's 2024/5:

[Lynskey]

So for me personally I am not interested in all the stats. The front 10 teams are what counts. They are all on their best game. No waiting for single track, no sitting under a bush to cool down and almost no stopping at the water points. There is also a funny clip somewhere of when a guy didn't stop at a water point and Karl made it his mission to catch that team and inform them how it works.

These guys are there to win. They have the best of everything. So in my opinion... the quicker they go the less demanding the race becomes. Maybe less demanding is the wrong word. I also don't want to say easier as that is not what I mean. 

You can't count on Billy Bob Joe as a stat. Too many variables. But to each their own. I really enjoyed it when I did it. But I was young and not a fatty then. At this stage of the game I would still be doing the prologue right now.

[Danger Dassie]

1 hour ago, deonkretch said:

You won't go wrong with Cape Pioneer - the race organisers really do understand how to put on a challenging route (This is not a Sani2C - you need to be fit) and they look after the riders! It's the only race that I have done that has perfect sosatie's at the last waterpoint. 

Read that as souties at first, was about to say well yes, souties kan ook lekker mense wees!
But also, sosaties, at a water point! Throw them at my face!

[ikerarri]

My report on my 2025 Cape Epic.

Having completed the 2021 Cape Epic successfully, with 8 months of training, better numbers than in 2021 and a younger and strong(er than me) riding partner ... all looked good when we travel to Cape Town from home Basque Country. 

We had some days for acclimatization. 1^st day testing in Meerendal and 2^nd day in Bloemendal Trails … where I crashed badly on my right side against the rocks in the Lombard’s Terra’s gap-jump (which I unintentionally took). Pain was bearable so far, so I took the start of the prologue which we completed at a very slow (and painful) pace in less than 2 hours. Yes, I was one of the riders walking up some of the steep climbs … I felt like a knife stabbing my side / lower back in all the a-frame fence ramps where a had to kick-pedal through. Could not stand up on the bike and could not push harder than some 200w … could see the stars in daylight.

Side note: do not criticise riders that walk up steep climbs in the prologue, there might be some story behind you do not know (and not necessarily undertraining). 😊

Stage 1 was long and hard. Again, better than in the prologue but still limited in my breathing and power in the legs. Pain was intense in the right side lower back,… but legs also got pretty tired. Finished the stage in less than 7 hours and a half,… but starting to worry about things not getting better, pain not diminishing and legs not being able to deliver what they had.

Stage 2 time trial was a relatively easy stage on paper. 62 km and mainly flat. I felt quite OK in the first kms so we decided to open gas and made very good progress in the first hour.  From P170 to p124 in our category in the first 15km. We were back! … but happiness lasts little in the house of the poor (Spanish saying). My power and strength started to drop like a stone as the heat increased. I was toasted, … soon all our progress went overboard, my heart rates high and my power numbers low,… reached WP2 with heat stroke symptoms. Got checked by in the medical tent, drank a lot of Coca Cola, got cooled down and hydrated, blood pressure checked, sugar levels, temperature, etc… and after 40 minutes I was good to continue. Finished stage 2 with fatigue and dehydration symptoms … and with intense heat forecasted for the already hard stage 3, I decided I would take a day off to rest, recover and attempt to continue as blue rider on stage 4. My aim was to enjoy the Cape Epic (rather than suffer to be a finisher), so that seemed the best route to follow.

On my rest on scorching hot stage 3, I made a visit to Paarl hospital to discover I had a broken rib. End of the game for me. Changed my role and mindset to assistant of my teammate + videographer.

More on the drama from stage 3 later in another post.

So, I went on camping mode the rest of the Cape Epic, watching the pros, supporting my teammate (that made it as individual finisher), following the race as a spectator. Not what I have trained for, not what I have desired, but adapting to circumstances. Enjoyed it in a different way.

I also had the chance to meet personally @DieselnDust, which I knew from the forum and had been helped by him in various questions I asked. I had a high opinion and respect about him, which I keep after meeting him in person in Lourensford.  

Will there be another Cape Epic in the future for me? Early to say. Mixed feelings and need some time to reflect and settle down things. Not in 2026, I think.

 

Edited Thursday at 08:26 AM by ikerarri

[ChrisF]

13 minutes ago, ikerarri said:

My report on my 2025 Cape Epic.

Having completed the 2021 Cape Epic successfully, with 8 months of training, better numbers than in 2021 and a younger and strong(er) riding partner ... all looked good when we travel to Cape Town from home Basque Country. 

We had some days for acclimatization. 1^st day testing in Meerendal and 2^nd day in Bloemendal Trails … where I crashed badly on my right side against the rocks in the Lombard’s Terra’s gap-jump (which I unintentionally took). Pain was bearable so far, so I took the start of the prologue which we completed at a very slow (but painful) pace in less than 2 hours. Yes, I was one of the riders walking up some of the steep climbs … I felt like a knife stabbing my side / lower back in all the a-frame fence ramps where a had to kick-pedal through. Could not stand up on the bike and could not push harder than some 200w … could see the stars in daylight.

Side note: do not criticise riders that walk up steep climbs in the prologue, there might be some story behind you do not know (and not necessarily undertraining). 😊

Stage 1 was long and hard. Again, better than in the prologue but still limited in my breathing and power in the legs. Pain was intense in the right side lower back,… but legs also got pretty tired. Finished the stage in less than 7 hours and a half,… but starting to worry about things not getting better, pain not diminishing and legs not being able to deliver what they had.

Stage 2 time trial was a relatively easy stage on paper. 62 km and mainly flat. I felt quite OK in the first kms so we decided to open gas and made very good progress in the first hour.  From P170 to p124 in our category in the first 15km. We were back! … but happiness lasts little in the house of the poor (Spanish saying). My power and strength started to drop like a stone as the heat increased. I was toasted, … soon all our progress went overboard, my heart rates high and my power numbers low,… reached WP2 with heat stroke symptoms. Got checked by in the medical tent, drank a lot of Coca Cola, got cooled down and hydrated, blood pressure checked, sugar levels, temperature, etc… and after 40 minutes I was good to continue. Finished stage 2 with fatigue and dehydration symptoms … and with intense heat forecasted for the already hard stage 3, I decided I would take a day off to rest, recover and attempt to continue as blue rider on stage 4. My aim was to enjoy the Cape Epic (rather than suffer to be a finisher), so that seemed the best route to follow.

On my rest on scorching hot stage 3 a made a visit to Paarl hospital to discover I had a broken rib. End of the game for me. Changed my role and mindset to assistant of my teammate + videographer.

More on the drama from stage 3 later in another post.

So, I went on camping mode the rest of the Cape Epic, watching the pros, supporting my teammate (that made it as individual finisher), following the race as a spectator. Not what I have trained for, not what I have desired, but adapting to circumstances. Enjoyed it in a different way.

I also had the chance to meet personally @DieselnDust, which I knew from the forum and had been helped by him in various questions I asked. I had a high opinion and respect about him, which I keep after meeting him in person in Lourensford.  

Will there be another Cape Epic in the future for me? Early to say. Mixed feelings and need some time to reflect and settle down things. Not in 2026, I think.

 

 

Ouch ....  Respect for getting that far with a broken rib !!

 

SUCKS that your races ended before it even started.

[Ozzie NL]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

2025 drop out rate as heavily influenced by Stage 3 cancellation that allowed a lot of riders to come back in Stage 4, and the lengthening of cut off of Stage 5&6 and shortening of Stage 7

Agreed ... if they would have stuck to the all who made it to WP3 rule the drop out rate would have spiked

[Ozzie NL]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

i think you need to simplify that and just use individuals dropping out. The IF's are part of the finishers group, just not timed

I do not NEED to do anything🤪

All can use their own definition but to me this is a team event and if the team did not make it, you're out. Finish and klaar!

[DieselnDust]

6 minutes ago, Ozzie NL said:

I do not NEED to do anything🤪

All can use their own definition but to me this is a team event and if the team did not make it, you're out. Finish and klaar!

okaaaaaay , need was the wrong word........lets try "I would like...."😂

[Lynskey]

27 minutes ago, Ozzie NL said:

I do not NEED to do anything🤪

All can use their own definition but to me this is a team event and if the team did not make it, you're out. Finish and klaar!

You NEED to calm down 🫡

[Mamil]

I NEED a drink