Cape Epic race day 2

23 Apr 2006

We both felt reasonably refreshed and optimistic as the air horn signalled the start at 5 am this morning. Despite the obvious pain and suffering stage 2 was much more enjoyable as it had stopped raining and its one of the most scenic stages. Leading groups shared part of the path with two elephants, wildebeest, impalas and even got a scare from hyenas.

The opening 50 km took us through forestry again with spectacular crystal clear views all the way down to the sea. Next up was the technical up and downhill of Big Five Game Reserve North of Mosselbay. It housed huge boulders which would have suited any World cup Downhill venue. It would’ve been more fun if we’d had more than 3 brake blocks between us. This meant we descended gingerly – at least the brake noise scared any predators away. Note to self: fix bloody brakes.

The dusty roads were made harder by the wind and made it especially tough in the flat sections. Team work was a theme of the day with Phil occasionally helping Lloyd up the more difficult accents. This was apparently duplicated in many teams. The final third of the race saw us pegging back many of the riders that had previously overtaken us, finishing with a time of just over 6 hrs. Both the men’s and the master’s first places went to the same winners as yesterday in 4 hrs 33 mins and 5 hrs 9 mins respectively.

Today’s distance: 75 miles (116 km), accents: 2,020m

Currently sitting 18th in category, 63rd in overall race.