CAPE EPIC MASTERSleave anything unfinished, I reached out in a
last-ditch attempt to one of my biking mates,
Minter Barnard. Not only is he a good friend
but a very, very accomplished mountain biker.
An asset to the cause indeed!
Being a former South African as well it's not
surprising to learn that he jumped at the idea!
Before heading off we laid out three goals:
- Finish the race together
- Still be mates when/if that happens
- Achieve a top 10 finish
Jottings from the race
The 2019 edition of the Cape Epic had about
700 teams competing, equating to 1400 riders.
We arrived at the Prologue start line with
'Eye of the Tiger' blasting from the speakers.
So corny but so cool. The race village
certainly was a spectacle to behold, you
immediately get a sense of the enormity and
professionalism of the event.
The Prologue is basically a full-on 21km ride
through fire roads, pinch climbs and single
track on the majestic Table Mountain just on
the outskirts of Cape Town. We had a good
clean run through the course and ended up in
10th place. It was a good result but definitely
early days with the monstrous 112km stage
waiting for us on Stage One.
With brutal terrain, long rocky climbs totalling
2700m and steep loose descents you definitely
know you have arrived. Recovery became very
important after this stage. This is what makes
the Cape Epic such a unique race. Strategy
is key to succeeding over the eight-day event.
Burn too many matches too early and you’ll go
off the deep end in the back end of the race.
We enjoyed a solid Stage Two, finishing fifth
in a field containing a bunch of ex-pros. Mind
you it wasn't without its fair share of drama.
The last 5kms saw us being chased down by
two teams, including the ultra-competitive
American Pink Star outfit. We were forced to go
full pelt for the final 3kms with Minter heroically
leading the charge.
Stage Three saw us head to
Groenlandberg, such a cool word and to
actually pronounce it properly in Afrikaans
requires you clear your throat deeply and utter
a sound out of the gutter! The stats on this
climb are so ominous. A 30-kilometre climb
rising nearly 1,000 vertical metres and topping
out at 1,100m above sea level. It was shrouded
in low hanging clouds this year and light rain
greeted us as we hit it.
Our recovery training was clearly paying
dividends on this stage as we managed to hang
on and finish eighth. At this stage the leaders
of our Masters category were former pro road
cyclist Joaquim Rodriguez and Jose Hermida.
Stage Four was time trial day. On paper it
looks like a rest day but it's far from it, you have
to ride full gas with dual goals of trying to catch
your 'minute man' (the team in front) but always
looking over your shoulder to try to make sure
you weren’t caught by the team behind!
Team Velosure started well and we caught
our nemesis, Pink Star, relatively quickly. It soon
became apparent though that we'd made a
rookie error, gone out way too hard and then
proceeded to implode. Well, when I say 'we' I
mean 'me!' Our saving grace was the plethora
of quality single track around the Oak Valley
Wine Estate and the time trial took in most of it.