The rich man’s privilege of travelling across the world for self-induced hardship on $6,000 bikes is something that’s not lost on me – but that’s not the story you’re here for, nor the story I’m qualified to tell. Unfortunately the sessions didn’t suit my timezone, but the workouts were very close to what my coach prescribed anyway. So many people we bumped into knew exactly what the Cape Epic was and were impressed by our participation in it. We didn’t finish the race unfortunately — my teammate Alby came down with pneumonia the day before the final stage. Relative VO2max: 61.6 ml/kg/min Share. Marketed as ‘Queensland’s final frontier’, it should come as no surprise Cape York has limited phone reception and expensive pay-per-use WiFi, that is, if you find any at all. Out of everything that could have gone wrong – rim size, rotor size, axle size, cassette alignment, tyre width, boost or no boost (whatever that is) – Phil’s wheel miraculously fit like a glove. It was at this point that seemingly everyone was visibly shattered and the race village looked like the aftermath of a battleground. Well, most of the efforts required at a race like Cape Epic are long-duration threshold efforts, and both Alby and I are headed into The Pioneer MTB race in New Zealand with pretty good form. Sometimes health and fitness can become two different things, and this is the most difficult balance to keep. But if any of those things were easy, it wouldn’t be the amazing adventure that it is. I’ve worked with Mark Fenner of FTP Training for three years now and there’s a special bond you begin to build with your coach. Weight: 87kg That suited me just fine and we rode almost like it was a rest day. We caught up and rode with them for a little while before we rode off just like they rode off on us two stages earlier. This journey is what drew us to South Africa only three months later. A woman has set out to complete the fastest cycling journey from the top to the bottom of New Zealand and raise awareness about bowel cancer along the way. It’s not even guaranteed that you’ll get in, such is the demand for entries. 4:30pm: Eat more, chill out in the chill-out zone, inevitably have a nap in a public place. They may have been the only two in the entire race using hardtails and were clearly struggling with that decision. The Great Barrier Reef Drive from Cairns to Port Douglas is one of Australia’s most spectacular coastline and scenic drives, along secluded beaches and stunning rainforest clad mountains. 5:15am: Drink the first of three cups of coffee. Eight times national road cycling champion Anriette Schoeman has withdrawn from this year’s Absa Cape Epic, due to illness. A unique range of clothing and accessories designed to make it easy to show your support for the world's premier mountain bike stage race. I had been conserving energy for the final 25km but this crash limited me to a pathetic limp. The first step in this was calling on my friend Dr. Andre La Gerche, who is the head of the National Centre for Sports Cardiology at the Baker Institute. Stuff our faces with as much pasta, toast, pastries and muesli as we could stomach. We never thought we would be able to finish one, let alone 5. I asked my local South African mate and fixer Kevin ‘Benky’ Benkenstein (check out his adventure bike tours. Not only that, but my adductors were beginning to cramp and we still had an hour of riding to go. This mission is entered on the Absa Cape Epic, a race held on South Africa’s western cape that covers 600+km and over 50,000′ of climbing in 8 back-to … Fortunately there was lots of time to recover and enjoy what felt like a day off. I knew that I couldn’t do this alone and left to my own devices, I’d get far too carried away. Some paracetamol was all it took to bring Alby’s fever down and get him looking halfway normal again. Posts about Cape Epic written by alexstieda. Coming up to its 17th edition, the ABSA Cape Epic is the pinnacle of XC stage racing. Expert mountain bike skills are not required, but you’ll need to be proficient, and you’ll need to be fit. I wanted to track them down to ask about their memories of the race, but it wasn’t until the final day that I got the chance to chat to them about it. I often do this on. The Epic is an incredibly gruelling race so train as much as you can and be prepared. Lactate threshold: 324 watts (5 W/kg) Adding insult to injury, I got stung by a wasp on the ear. For some reason, we’ve decided to do it all again. We were well suited for each other during the Pioneer, but at that time Alby was just getting acquainted with mountain biking and his skills and fitness had gone up exponentially since then. Over the years I’ve realised that wins are hard to come by, and when you do win that amazing feeling quickly subsides. Where to Find Additional Resources. As expected, Alby was flying and had me in the hurtbox straight out of the gates. The analytical report was one of three that confirmed the presence of hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic) in her sample. Coming up to its 17th edition, the Absa Cape Epic is the pinnacle of mountain bike stage racing. It’s easy to overdo it as a cyclist. These would be useful for establishing a baseline in our training as well as tracking our progression. It’s like running coarse and fine sandpaper over the bike. Get the Epic Series APP; Follow The Race; Spectator Points; Fans FAQ; Hospitality; Epic Trippers; Route Tours; Epic Flights; Professional Riders; Prize Money; Jerseys and … 1. Wear a banner as a cape to make your Minecraft player more unique, or use a banner as a flag! Cape Epic is cancelled. If you were planning to Insta-story your entire trip from Cairns to Cape York, we’ve got some bad news for your followers. Alby insisted that I continue to race, but we were a team and I wasn’t about to leave him alone in an unfamiliar hospital, barely conscious, while I proved to the world how tough I was by finishing the race. That would have erased all those low moments in an instant. We rode. The ABSA Cape Epic is the pinnacle of mountain bike stage racing. It wasn’t about that. Shortly after that climb, would-be winners Annika and Anna passed us like we were standing still (they started five minutes behind us) and it was awesome to see two of the best female mountain bikers in the world show their dominance. The first 15km or so of stage 2 was the same as stage 1, so we knew what was coming up and knew how fast we could go. Myself and my good mate Alby ‘The People’s Champ’ Iacuone competed in another Epic Series race in New Zealand called The Pioneer back in December and we were hooked on the team format of this type of event. The Pioneer was difficult indeed, but it was also one of the most enjoyable experiences we’ve ever had on a bike. Join thousands of fellow campervan travellers. Pro tip – bring your own Aeropress and beans. We checked-out of the hospital a few hours later and went for our first proper ‘second breakfast’ in a week, which felt like heaven. After clearing myself for head injuries I got up, brushed myself off, and continued riding so I wouldn’t stiffen up. This is the only time I’ll ever be able to say that I beat Petacchi and Chicchi in a race, so I’m taking this opportunity to get it on the record. Cape Epic Tip No. The Untamed African MTB Race, 17-24 October 2021. With nearly everything only a tap away on your phone these days, getting fit is one of the few things left for which there are no shortcuts, and no way to buy it. I haven’t felt this heightened anticipation for a race in quite a long time and it’s a wonderful familiar feeling that I missed, reminding me of lining up at my first ever race. 111km on a MTB is a long ride at full gas, and with about 20km remaining I began to experience that familiar sensation of ‘hitting the wall’, ‘the bonk’, ‘hunger flat’ – whatever you call it, you know what I’m talking about. : full body lactate burn for the next 4-6 hours. After completing The Pioneer in the Epic Series, CyclingTips competed at this year’s Absa Cape Epic to see what makes it so special and the crown jewel of cross-country mountain bike competition. This was the first we’d see of the race village and even though we’d later find that this would only be a tiny version of it, we began to understand the enormity of the event and what it means to many in South Africa. A closer look revealed that the rim had cracked near the valve stem. Alby could have stayed with them, but I had to put my foot down and get sensible about our pacing in a race that had six days left. Everyone who came across the finish line — from Grand Tour and Spring Classics winners, to World Champions, to mountain bike legends, and all the way down to us weekend warriors — shared the same level of accomplishment, emotion and enthusiasm for completing the Cape Epic. Both Alby and I have competed in races with a higher level of competition before, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever competed in a race with such a unique profile before. Mountain biking legend Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå will be taking part in the 2015 Absa Cape Epic. I don’t know if endurance amnesia is an official medical diagnosis but I can tell you it exists. I spoke to others about their training and everyone’s would be drastically different. It took us all of 20 minutes to remember our place in the world and get spat out the back into the second group. Absolute VO2max: 3.989 litres/min Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Tumblr Pinterest WhatsApp Telegram Share via Email Print. The legs were fine, but built-up exhaustion was evident after I crashed twice going relatively slowly through some nice loamy singletrack – once over a bamboo bush that I snapped in half and nearly impaled me (luckily it only pierced through my jersey — the bibs and base layer kept my skin intact). Picture: Coco Van Oppens. Next Race: 17 - 24 October 2021 Race Office: Email: [email protected]. For the second day in a row we caught up with Alessandro Petacchi and Francesco Chicchi (who started five minutes ahead of us in the UCI men’s group) which gave us a false sense of our place in the cycling world. La Cape Epic 2018 è stata emozionante e piena di colpi di scena. After we finished it felt like the stage was only a blip in time, but I swayed between loving and loathing every moment of that two hours. This was the part of the day that I dreamt of and that got me through the stage. There was an abrupt shift from first world living standards to third world settlements during our drive to Stellenbosch, giving just a glimpse of what we’d be sheltered from in the bubble of the race over the next week. But as complete newbies do, we decided it would be a good idea to ride in the front group with team Rodriguez / Hermida and Dekker / Tjallingii, thinking we were worthy of winning a Grand Tour and staying with these guys. This was daunting, knowing what we had already been through and what was coming up. Make sure your bike is in tip top condition before the race. CAPE EPIC 2015 Team Nico et Jean Luc. Early afternoon: Collapse across the finish line and try to replenish 5,000 calories throughout the afternoon. I’ve come to appreciate the process of putting together that magic puzzle of training, building, testing, training more, and having the discipline to rest. : Zwift session before work (1 hour, moderate intensity with usually 2-3 longer threshold intervals). But then this magical text message came through: Nino Schurter / Lars Forster (UCI Men): 4:24, Annika Langvad / Anna van der Breggen (Women): 5:09, Sebastian Stark / Lara Stark (Mixed): 5:21, Joaquim Rodriguez / Jose Hermida (Masters): 4:45, Bart Brentjens / Abraao Azevedo (Grand Masters): 5:09. It attracts the highest profile professional athletes and the most competitive of amateurs, who over eight days test their limits across the stunning Western Cape province of South Africa. Commute to and from work at recovery pace (45 minutes each way). He couldn’t breathe and had excruciating back pain that he’d never felt before. 6:00am: Start thinking about pumping up tyres, lubing chain, pinning on race numbers, and everything I should have done the night before but was too buggered to do. Wake up to a bagpiper walking up and down the campsite. After a few days of getting over jetlag, testing our equipment, finding our legs, and seeing the sights in Stellenbosch we picked up our motorhome and travelled to Cape Town University to pre-ride the prologue course, check-in to the event, sort out logistics, and get one last proper sleep and shower in a hotel before things began to hurt. That damn wheel weighed about 4kg, but I wasn’t going to be picky at this point. I hopped a seemingly harmless curb and must have misjudged my rear wheel landing when I heard a loud CRACK and my tyre went flat in an instant. : Make our way to the start gates (this is the point we wished we were in the 7:45am, F-Group). After a day of mixed riding conditions on Stage 4 of the Absa Cape Epic, PYGA Euro Steel riders Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes still hold onto the Absa African special jersey, while NAD Pro MTB (Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck) made a dash to claim a top 10 spot on the stage. The course seemed to go by in a flash thanks to big crowds cheering us on and the pace Alby was setting. Share. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has alerted the Absa Cape Epic to an adverse analytical finding from a sample provided by rider Yolande De Villiers during the 2015 event. Created Minecraft Banners on planet Minecraft but we just missed it by places... Had the entire trip we set off on our road to Cape Epic organisers for inviting us South! 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