Cape Epic race day 7

28 Apr 2006

Today was to prove to be by far the toughest stage of the race. Long, steep, rolling climbs were the order of the day and put us over the bars for 2,920 metres. This meant that half the route from Hermanus to Boschendal was spend fighting against gravity to conquer the hills.

Lloyd is normally a very strong climber but the temperature soon reached 32 degrees and his breakfast didn’t stay down for long so he was quickly suffering. A team effort led Phil to drag Lloyd up the mountainside. The decent was real forearm busting stuff. The bikes held up well but shorts are ripped, elbows trashed and about a dozen and half inner tubes are redundant. I guess that’s how it is when you’re riding for 8 hours and 18 minutes (37th place in cat.). The master’s winning time was 6 hrs 26 mins. Our accumulative race time is now 44 hrs 55 mins and puts us in 103rd overall. 

Tomorrow sees the last stage of the race and as tired as we are, we intend to give it everything. It promises to be a true mountain bike ride in the traditional sense of the word with many single track and technical stages. Watch this space as we try to improve on placements.

Today’s distance: 90 miles (144 km), accents: 2,920 m