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Cape Epic race day 8 (final)

29 Apr 2006

Eight days ago 1,046 riders split in two-person teams to start the world’s largest full-service mountain bike race. 20% wouldn’t be getting a medal today as the field had shrunk to 824 riders. The weather could not have been better for our final day with bright blue skies. We found ourselves as pumped this morning as we were at the start.

We were riding in the magnificent scenery of the Western Cape to the Spier Wine Estate near Cape Town.  The quality of the trail was excellent again with jeep and single track riding, technical climbs, and breathtaking downhills. We actually crossed onto the original ’97 UCI World Cup Downhill track in Stellenbosch.

It was easy to lose concentration and to start thinking about having completed the stage, taking in a beer or two. With the terrain as technical as ever this was fatal and meant plenty of last minute crashes - including a face plant by Phil half way around!

We had each trained hard putting in 3,500 miles on the Specialized Epics in the months before jumping on the plane but arguably we should have done more. The daily challenge has been as tough as any we’ve experienced. We’ve covered 572 miles off-road (921 km) and climbed a total of 16,605 metres – the equivalent of riding twice up Mount Everest!

We rode for 4 hrs 24 mins today giving us a cumulative time of 49 hrs and 20 mins. This put us 36th in category and 103rd overall out of 412 finishing teams. A good week’s work, I hope you’ll agree. However, winning all 8 stages Ruddock and 53 year old Linus von Onselen completely dominated the Masters category. They finished with a time of 38:42:11 placing 9th overall. 

A big thanks to over 420 staff who worked in the background of the race. Every day hey pitched 1,200 tents, built 33 showers and 100 portable flush toilets. In total they transported 780 tons and 2,700 cubic metres of equipment and supplies in 110 vehicles. Thanks most of all to Tredz for the support.

Today’s distance: 41miles (67km), accents: 1,210 m

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

Cape Epic race day 6

27 Apr 2006

The 7am start from Greyton saw some of the best single track riding of the race so far. We started to really enjoy the plush tracks and felt things were less of a slog. The route led across the historic 1820 Riviersonderend Bridge followed by long scenic sections with plenty of challenging technical riding. Just how our Specialized Epics like it! Good job really because we both feel rough.

The highlight of the day – spectacular views over Hermanus and the Walker Bay – first demanded hard work. We had to climb one of the toughest ascents in the entire race with gradients of up to 25 degrees at certain points which seemed to go on forever. What made the climb even more difficult was the constantly changing terrain ranging from soft sand to lose gravel. Even the climbs at Glyncorrwg trails are more forgiving. Up was followed by down as we entered a fast and technical jeep track downhill section. 

We both thought we were having a bike-mare day with punctures and a snapped chain but the leader Silvio Bundi in team Specialized ripped off his derailleur. “Fortunately we were able to fix it, but it cost us about seven minutes”. The tough final climb to the famous whale watching town of Hermanuswas made even more strenuous by the roasting heat.

Finished 48th in category (1 hr 24 behind the leaders) standing 99th overall in race.

Today’s distance: 72 miles (116 km), accents: 2,005 m

Cape Epic race day 5

26 Apr 2006

We had the worst night’s sleep yet thanks the wilderness of South Africa. The throbbing in Phil’s thighs was made to feel less of a hindrance as the pain was overridden by a stinking headache brought on by fatigue and sleep deprivation. Still, no time for whining eh, team Tredz need to clock 114 km today.

This stage ran from Swellendam to Greyton and saw the first victory of a ‘home’ team. The South African pairing of Shan Wilson (RSA) and Brandon Stuart (RSA) took the lead early and astonishingly held it for 100 kms! They rode the stage in just 3 hours 52 minutes. Trust me, that’s pretty fast. Silvio Bundi (SUI) of team Specialized, who finished third, said “They deserved to win, because they worked hard for it. I just hope that today’s win hasn’t cost them too much energy which will be needed in the next few days as the toughest stage is still to come.”

The leading Masters team of Linus von Onselen and Geddan Ruddock also rode a phenomenal race today gaining an additional seven minutes advantage over the rest of us silver foxes. Their total lead time is now 45 minutes, quite a hard gap to close.

We finished in 145th place today with a time of 5 hrs 21 mins. This puts us 94th overall with an accumulative time of 30 hrs 25 mins (7½ hours behind leaders) and 46th in category (6 hrs behind Master’s leaders).

Today’s distance:  70 miles (114 km), accents: 1,535 m

Cape Epic race day 4

25 Apr 2006

We awoke to a thick mist hanging over the camp and prepared for what was supposed to be the hardest day. We headed up into the Langenberg and through one of the Western Cape’s gems: Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve and Bontebok National Park. Almost fifty percent of today’s ride went uphill, which involved us climbing a total of 2,175 metres (equivalent to climbing 25% of Mt. Everest). Unfortunately we didn’t see much of the view as most of the day was spent dribbling on the front wheel in the blazing sunshine. 

We managed to link with another group and continued climbing until midday. This was followed by hazardous and rocky descents. One of these gnarly descents gave Lloyd the chance to take an unscheduled break from his bike. He’s trashed his knee and tested his Specialized helmet. We had no time for him to feel sorry for himself as we turned off into Bontebok Game Reserve and rode the hardest terrain over rough tracks with boulders. Lloyd had a second nightmare with two punctures, but Team Tredz were still able to finish in Swellendam with a time of 5 hrs 58 mins (accumulative time 25 hrs 4 mins).

Tomorrow’s stage is apparently the ‘easiest’ stage of this year’s Cape Epic. Believe it when we see it!

Today’s distance:  82.5 miles (132 km), accents: 2,175m 

Currently sitting 24th in category, 83rd in overall race.

Cape Epic race day 3

24 Apr 2006

Slept on the beach in a mud hut, which would have been cool if weren’t for the mosquitoes and our throbbing thighs. We shovelled breakfast down in an attempt to fuel for the day and prepared for the 7.15 start.

It was a neutral start through the town with a 5km climb retracing our steps of yesterday. The route flattened out for 20 - 30km along secondary roads (dirt tracks). We stayed in a group taking advantage of the shared workload. Although the route was open, the harsh terrain and an abundance of rocks gave the bikes a hammering. Injuries in the field ranged from the obvious cuts and bruises to race ending broken bones and dislocations. 

Riversdale welcomed us with a festive atmosphere as hundreds of school children lined the finish chute to spur us on. We finished x behind the category leaders with a time of 5 hrs 41 mins. This puts us (fell or gained) in x place in the Masters Category and x overall. A good day at the office. 

Today’s Distance: 76 miles (122 km), ascents 1,800m

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.

Cape Epic race day 1

22 Apr 2006

We got up early to meet each other at 5am. We needed to load our bags and prepare in general. After that a hasty breakfast was followed by an agonising wait in a rain soaked starting shoot. At last the air horn sounded at 7:15am and stage 1 was under way! Rider number 477-1 and 477-2 along with 1,044 other cyclists exited Knysna on mass over a wet, flat, fast road. The comfortable flat soon ended with a tough 3km climb into the forest. We remained in the severely undulating forests of the Western Cape for virtually the rest of the stage.

Heavy rainfalls and mud made the 128.5 km stage with its several technical sections and strenuous climbs even more challenging. Everyone was covered with a thick mud crust and had sore eyes, as poor visibility forced many to take their glasses off. Unlike many we managed to avoid brake failure on the very technical downhills in the forest. With 5kms to go we broke through onto tarmac only to be faced with another severe hill to the Nelson Mandela Metropoliton University at Saarsveld. 

In arguably the toughest Cape Epic conditions on record our time was a credible 6 hrs 52 mins. Go Army! First in our Masters category are Onselen and Ruddock in 5 hrs 39 mins. Dual World Cup Champion Christoph Sauser (SUI) and his team partner Silvio Bundi (SUI) of team Specialized finished first overall in an outstanding 4 hrs 41 mins.

Today’s distance: 77 miles (128 km), accents: 2,940m

Cape Epic registration day

21 Apr 2006

A decent night’s sleep in a proper bed and a hearty breakfast got us off to a good start. The sight of the crew and host members of the Cape Epic army (best word to describe the many hundreds of people involved in the organisation of this event) was breathtaking. The boys are like a pair of dogs starring at a bone, they can’t wait to get going.

They completed registration, had their bags issued and attached bike numbers. So all that is left is to enjoy the sights and take in the atmosphere of Knysna and the swap bike stories with our fellow Epic riders over a beer (or is that HI5) or two!

Our next issue will be from Saasveld which is 128km and 2950m of climbing from here. See you later.

Cape Epic travel days

20 Apr 2006

Phil and Co left Wales behind them at midday and headed for Basingstoke to team up with Lloyd and fly to Cape Town at 8pm. The bikes were tenderly packed and luggage kept to a bear minimum. We managed to check in at Heathrow with no excess weight! 

The eleven hour flight passed without a glitch and we arrived at 8am on Thursday. Passports and customs over and done with the next hurdle was to fit 4 people, 2 Specialized bikes and 4 bags into our hire car: a Fiat Cinqecento!! Only joking, an MPV driving for several hours saw us arrive in Knysna - the start of the Cape Epic for real.

Phil and Lloyd were accommodated several miles apart but eagerly unpacked their bikes straight away. Lloyd’s rear mech had been ripped off and Phil’s rear wheel had been badly buckled, the headset allen bolt was snapped and front wheel skewer was bent beyond use along with a broken spoke. Nightmare. Unbelievably we managed to find a local shop that was more than accommodating at short notice. They fixed us up straight away and we breathed a collective sigh of relief.