Cape Epic NOT the Toughest MTB race in South Africa.

[Bro Derek]

I've done both

If you're racing, like racing racing, then the skillset required is completely different.

Different engines, different mindset, different training. 

If you're doing it to finish? Be a part of the experience, enjoy the event and learn some things about yourself, both will offer that too, but differently.

Why do we need to compare things?

Do both, learn the skills to do both. Nav, sleep deprivation, staying in the diesel engine zone and seeing Lehanas pass in the snow, Heading up to Vuvu and doing 300km into a headwind in the eastern cape will definitely hit differently than doing some technical half day loops around some wine farms.

BUT staying healthy and happy is difficult at CE. They are two very different beasts.

Neither is easy, neither are cheap.

Be grateful that we have the option to do either. Be grateful you can afford to do either. 

You will be a different (I am sceptical to say 'better') person after completing both to the best of your ability.

 

[I FLY]

2 hours ago, vanniri said:

I did the part of FC sometime ago. From Rhodes to whenever. It was a last minute hook-up with some cyclist with an open spot.

I loved the farm stop visits on the way, ended up spending more time on two farms playing catch-up to the others (all very social riders). Obviously we used GPS to track each other.

Lots of fun, I will recommend it to all. At the same token I will also recommend  CE (also from experience). Same goes for Sani2C, etc., etc.

I guess I like cycling

I am off on Sunday to do the 5 day Karoo Meander along 500kms of the FC route.

A not a hard core version as there is a guide and a support vehicle 

[willem.dup]

@Eddie Stafford Thank you for the positive feedback that I was looking for. Much appreciated.👍 Respect

Edited Thursday at 01:40 PM by willem.dup

[vanniri]

55 minutes ago, NGM said:

My immature mind read "last minute hookup" a different way, which made everything you said thereafter really funny.

Maybe that was the point.

No idea what you're talking about, being mature and all

[Eddie Stafford]

23 minutes ago, I FLY said:

I am off on Sunday to do the 5 day Karoo Meander along 500kms of the FC route.

A not a hard core version as there is a guide and a support vehicle 

You have a lot to look forward to and hope that you enjoy the ride. My favourite riding by far is touring parts of the Freedom Challenge route with a group of friends. Amazing scenery during your ride and good food and banter in the evenings. Memories to remember for a long time.

[Shebeen]

6 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

But is ChatGPT amaboepensi!? 
if not it must go sit in the corner

someone called for Robbie K?

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, Eddie Stafford said:

Sadly, no mention of Kaptein Caprivi.

So, I have done a RASA, the Munga, and the Silk Road, and I am doing the Trans Balkan Race at the end of this month. All races have to market themselves and each comes with its own gnarly claims about being the toughest, wildest, longest, most climbing and most brutal event that you can do. I think most people considering an entry to a certain race take those descriptions with a pinch of salt and rather look at the other aspects of the race to make up their mind.

Take the Desert Dash, at 367km it was marketed as the longest single-stage 24 hour MTB race in the world, then somewhere else a longer race was started and the Dash responded by increasing the distance to 397km (2023) and 401 km (2024) to reclaim the title. As a result last year only 58 out of 160 solo riders finished within the 24 hour cut-off and as a result there will probably be a drop in solo entries going forward.

What I’ve come to realise is that every race attracts different riders for different reasons. Some people can finish a RASA but would struggle with a Cape Epic and vice versa. If you do RASA over 26 days, it’s a jol, yes every day is tough, but every night you have proper food and accommodation (few beers) and a good sleep. Race it hard then it is a different story and that is when you hear the horror stories about hallucinations, navigational nightmares, and see videos of shell shocked riders trying to describe what they’ve just been through. Your mindset and the way you approach these races makes a huge difference in your suffering. 

Also everyone has their preferences, I meet riders doing their 10th Munga and they absolutely love it whereas I won’t do it again as I found it mind numbing just endless straight roads and hours of solo grinding. The same can be said about the shorter races, you might consider the Attekwas extreme suffering and won’t do it again, but yet you would go and do a Baviaans or 36ONE year after year.

That’s why I think there is no point in comparing the “toughness” of races like RASA versus Cape Epic. They are completely different beasts. And while I might like to think that finishing RASA makes you tougher than an Epic finisher, the truth is it does not. I would happily ride a RASA tomorrow, but even if I got a free entry, won’t do the Cape Epic. Eight days of high intensity suffering is definitely not for me!

Well said, this is a subjective comparison of apples with pears. 

 

 

Can you "tour" the Epic - sure, some people ride with partners well below their fitness level. Weird way to spend a lot of $$$ and a week of leave though IMHO.

The Epic has loads of hype, and that does attract a certain type of person. The FC is totally different, and attracts different people. Some overlap.

The people who go back and back to Munga each year confuse me, but there are plenty so there must be some sort of attraction to it. Same thing with ocean rowing.

life would be boring if we all thought the same.

 

[Shebeen]

8 hours ago, dave303e said:

My issue with freedom is that it is cheaper to fly to Kyrgyzstan and race Silk Road Mountain race than it is to just enter freedom. And if we going to argue about toughness(which is pointless), the first climb at Silk road this year is 90km long 3600m of elevation gain. After that you still have 1750km with over 20 000m of climbing to go in temperatures ranging from -10C to +40C...

Again not a fair comparison. Rather put SRMR against the Freedom Circuit bikepacking race put on by RASA legends and which is on while I type this. 700km race through epic(pun intended) territory for R6500. BARGAIN!!

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJWivbos6JX/

 

 

 

 

[NotSoBigBen]

Sometimes it's not the event but outside influence that can make a specific running of an event tougher than others

For me despite having done an ACE and a few iM races amongst others ... The toughest I can recall doing are a Sabie experience, in fact one of the first ones it rained like crazy and the mud was bloody horrendous .... Doing an Audax, one of the longer ones, it was so cold at the super early morning start it was difficult to ride in a flippin straight line! 

But I guess it's that human trait of having to be able say 'I suffered more than you' 'one up man ship'

[blondeonabike]

Freedom is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I had toured sections before and knew some what to expect but the reality of 3 weeks is a completely immersive experience.

The first week was about my body settling into the routine and my mind staying focused. Emotionally it was sad to see poverty and sick animals. An emaciated dog with a starving puppy, and watching local boys beat their donkey had me in tears. The relentless climbing and somehow dragging my sore body out of bed every morning. 

I started with a partner,  who had two blankets. He pulled out at rhodes due to injury. I never expected to be alone and had a very sobering evening in Rhodes knowing I had to figure this out. I teamed up with another freedom virgin like myself. We figured it out until Rouxpos where at 3 in the afternoon I could not do more and he went on to Anysberg. So my second week was about dealing with all my abandonment issues. From my childhood,  my divorce and now being alone on the trail I had nothing but time day after day on my bike to get real with myself. You cannot be distracted by social media and daily things. You are alone in the beauty of nature and have nothing but hours to talk to yourself in your head. Somehow you get around the bulldust you have been telling  yourself your entire life and get really honest. While pushing your body on and on. The beauty  and the remoteness of the trail is humbling.

The last week I found confidence riding, now being on my own. I spent a day  in Anysberg and it was the most liberating experience. I found the endangered conophytums, and figured my way to Trouthaven eventually after doing many detours and getting lost.  The dot watchers must have had a field day. I finished with friends on the last day and somewhere out there are some very unglamorous photographs of me, dragging my bike out of the Setyns Valley.

I was exhausted.  I had lost 8kg , my lips were broken, I had nightmares of being lost for weeks after I got home. I had survived a violent thunderstorm in a spaceblanket on a mountain, puffadders and scorpions in the Osseberg and a mince meat fandangle that required double bibs for the last week.  But I got my blanket, nogal a pink one! 

 I came away knowing who I am, how strong I really am and that  there is nothing in life I cannot achieve or do. I saw tortoises mating, wild animals galore, and experienced such wonderful hospitality from the hosts.  There is no price for that. Freedom is worth every penny

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 06:55 PM by blondeonabike

[I FLY]

19 hours ago, Shebeen said:

someone called for Robbie K?

I remember attending a sponsor function before RK's 1st Epic and talking to him for a bit.

He was worried about all the uphills. Turns out he managed them  quite well.

 

[Eugene Oppelt]

The term "toughest" is best used in marketing and promoting hype; that's about it.

And, of course, there is no one truth. Everything is relative, that's why this thing called Life is so rich, nuanced, beautiful and helluva complicated. 💟

 

[DieselnDust]

On 5/8/2025 at 12:03 PM, J Wakefield said:

Same category as you not a real mountain biker unless you did the Epic as the saying goes or it’s the TDF of mountain biking. Both a load of **** for narccistic personalities to make themselves feel important. 
 

doing the Argus without having a “cold” the week before is more challenging and harder than FC or Epic it seems 

 

 

 

 

 

I see what you did there........

But then I asked SearchLbs Ai Overview....

Search Labs | AI Overview

Learn more

 

The Common Cold is generally more prevalent for athletes, like those participating in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, in the week before the race, compared to the general population. The odds of catching a cold or flu before the race are reported to be six times greater for cyclists. This increased risk is likely due to factors like physical exertion, stress on the immune system, and potentially increased exposure to germs in large gatherings. 

 

DND here....: And Hear I thought this was just a K&K excuse used by those who didn't do they turns on the front at 99er but above is definitive proof

<scribbles "find common cold week before Argust" into TP>

 

 

[J Wakefield]

6 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I see what you did there........

But then I asked SearchLbs Ai Overview....

Search Labs | AI Overview

Learn more

 

The Common Cold is generally more prevalent for athletes, like those participating in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, in the week before the race, compared to the general population. The odds of catching a cold or flu before the race are reported to be six times greater for cyclists. This increased risk is likely due to factors like physical exertion, stress on the immune system, and potentially increased exposure to germs in large gatherings. 

 

DND here....: And Hear I thought this was just a K&K excuse used by those who didn't do they turns on the front at 99er but above is definitive proof

<scribbles "find common cold week before Argust" into TP>

 

 

The sacred immunity idol of Argus excuses — forged from overtraining and under-recovering. This is your all-access pass to sympathy, redemption, and athletic glory, no matter the result once you cross the line in Greenpoint or once you walk into the office, Bootlegers or Noordhoek village the following morning.

The ultimate get out of Jail free card:
Scenario A:
You blow up and go over the time limit.
No worries! Simply activate the “Mild Cold of Doom”™.
Everyone — and I mean everyone — will be in your corner - your mom, your colleagues and the guys you ride tempo with every Tuesday and Thursday to chappies and back. 

Ultimately pushing through with a chest infection like a war-hardened gladiator.

They’ll totally forget how you spent the week before telling your boss, your dog, and your barista that you were aiming for a sub-47 because your FTP is basically VDP’s twin brother or the price of 2nd hand PNS kit. 
You could have won the fun ride, but destiny unfortunately sneezed in your face.

Scenario B:
You actually do a good time.
Now flip the script. Same cold, but now it’s proof of your incredible athletic resilience.
You’ll be hailed as a demi-god with an 83% hematocrit and lungs carved by angels and the size of a balloon.

“You did that time… with a COLD?!” Yes. Yes you did. You’re basically an immune-compromised marvel of modern endurance, built for speed and made for endurance that is worthy of being studied. In a lab. With champagne.

Either way, the cold wins where you land up a tragic hero… or a sick legend.

[Shebeen]

The funny thing is neither are claiming to be the toughest. This one is, and it probably isn't

 

I know the tagline for Epic is The untamed African MTB race. "come network on your fiets" or something similar might be more suitable, but this works.

 

I do know the FC one is "Adventure Guaranteed", I don't think anyone has come back and complained about a lack of adventure.

[ChrisF]

18 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

The funny thing is neither are claiming to be the toughest. This one is, and it probably isn't

 

I know the tagline for Epic is The untamed African MTB race. "come network on your fiets" or something similar might be more suitable, but this works.

 

I do know the FC one is "Adventure Guaranteed", I don't think anyone has come back and complained about a lack of adventure.

 

Now that is just plain unfair ....

 

Confusing them with FACTS .... on a Friday ....