By Ben Elvy

So the alarm goes off at super-early-o’clock. However, I’m so keyed up that I’m at Alex’s place with 10 mins to spare. Ross Chaffer was added to the mix and we’re on our way to Eastern Creek. Coming off a solid win the previous week at Lansdowne and with a large team presence, KMD were keen to get amongst the prizes in the Specialized Cup.

Thick As Pea Soup

Arriving in Eastern Creek at 6:15am was a little surreal. The carpark was pretty full, loads of guys were complaining about the cold (well it was only 7 degrees) and everyone was concerned about the fog. On the way in visibility at one point was down to 50m and it wasn’t much better on the raceway proper.

KMD was tipped as the team to beat since we had entered 10 of the 92 starters in A grade. On the line were Danny, Alex, Foz, Ross, Roscoe, Miha, Jordan and yours truly. Buzz was a late scratching due to a mishap with keys at the Convict 100 MTB race the previous day. Just as well he got a podium placing to go along with Miha’s awesome age-group victory. Burrgo was just a non-starter (too early, too cold, too much overnight vomiting perhaps?) The Manly contingent also included the team from PiluCyclismo of Deano & Giovanni, with another of their guys Dave, racing in B grade.

Apart from a strong KMD team, there was also plenty of other heavy hitters starting due to the additional prize money on offer. It seemed to bring out reps from most clubs including a large Penrith contingent, a couple of Bikelab’s, the standard Waratahs, NSCC, LACC, a few SuVelo’s plus a lone Turbo Studio. The starting straight was as full as anyone could see. The pack was huge and well, it was also pretty foggy!

The pace was solid from the start as all riders were trying to adhere to Paul Sherwen’s refrain, “You must always ride at the front”. There was plenty of nervousness in the pack as all riders tried to warm up into the race, avoid each other and work out what was going on with all these guys racing.

KMD had Danny, Alex and Foz at the front covering early moves. As there was such a pack, all of the early breaks were shut down pretty quickly, none actually staying away. Coming into the Prime, KMD had a good position, with Ross going out super early with Alex on his wheel. Ross faded a little to a bloke running a 54×11 and Alex looking like he edged out Liam Kelly.

Being too far back, I couldn’t quite work out how it went but afterwards Alex reckoned we had 2nd & 3rd – yeehaa, some bikkies heading our way. Unfortunately, there was a guy up the road in the fog that nobody knew about (go figure?) so we only got a 3rd via Ross.

Round and round the track we went, KMD ready to pounce on any breaks with a view to get in and get away, or shut ‘em down as required. Every now and then something would start but not many seemed to be too committed to making the break stick. For example, I once found myself at the front and had to go with it. The break got a slight gap of about 50 metres, someone didn’t pull a turn so it died amongst a series of frustrated groans from those away.

Towards the end of the race, Alex was prominent on the front, at one stage getting a small gap on his own. From back in the pack, I was hoping he would just ride off into victory, but it was not to be. Before too long the bell went for the last lap – it seemed early, ringing at 70 minutes instead of 75 mins as expected. The pace picked up as all riders tried to get to the front. Unfortunately for team KMD we were in little pods throughout the pack. Alex and Danny were still near the front, I remember being near Foz (as his new Venge went wide again through the fast right-hander) and had a word to Ross to get himself “up there”. On the rise just after that right-hander, I also suggested to Foz that the “Bikelab fella’s gone too early”.

Justin Roscoe, Danny and Jordy had a little train going and Alex was still at the front of the swarming pack. I was no chance of getting any closer, so just sat and watched the proceedings unfold up front. I was also expecting that Bikelab fella to fall in a heap as the pack got closer. It just didn’t happen – Liam Kelly stayed away and flung his arms wide in victory. Our guys had a bit of a go at the finish and we ended with Alex getting 5th on the line.

Count The KMDRacing Blue Arms Across The Front - But Not Close Enough

Team KMD learnt a few lessons on Sunday. 1. It’s good to have a team meeting prior the race and run through a plan. 2. Have a plan. 3. Don’t let Liam Kelly ride off on his own. 4. It’s good to be part of Team KMD!

Alex, Buzz and The big unit Justin Roscoe headed out for some Sunday racing at Lansdowne. All 3 were looking for some solid race training. All riders had done some solid KM’s the day before and wanted to load the legs up again to help them on the way to finding some form. The plan was set from the start. “If the race is together with the Sprint Prime looming I was to jump at the last rise before the turn into the long finishing straight to try to gap the field hopefully with Alex on his wheel. Big Justin was the Policeman on the day and got to work early to reel in some attempted escapees. I chimed in for the Lion’s share of the work with a couple of other riders doing their bit as well. This enabled the race to come together for the Prime.

Perfect, It was set up for a cash collect if we could make it work. A rider jumped on the back end of the course and I followed a wheel up to the front to eyeball Alex. I knew the attacker was close enough for us to close it up and he was fading. Al was in perfect position and it was up to me to deliver him as close as possible. I put the power down or what there was in my still tired legs from the Epic. I caught the chaser, Al jumped and the Prime was in the bag. Justin was rolling around well for his first ever crit race and positioned himself perfectly most of the day. He even tested out Mountain bike track on the side to see how the Rapha Condor Steed handles the rough stuff. (keep it on the road mate will ya)

Alex was obviously feeling good and was in multiple attacks until one stuck with Stan from Turbo Studios. Turbo had about 8 riders in the field and were the aggressors early. It was a two man break with my confidence in a clean sweep growing by the lap. In conversation with a Turbo Studios rider I asked what Al’s offsider was like. He said ” He cant sprint out of sight but will pull turns till he drops. Perfect. My reply was ” Bugger, looks like 2 zip for us then ” The bunch struggled to mount a solid chase and Justin and myself played Scrooge and covered all the moves. Alex easily accounted for his partner in crime in the sprint to the line to jag a clean sweep for KMD racing. Alex shared the spoils of the win with his lead out man so all was good. Justin gets a special mention for his first Crit with some really good position and reaction throughout the race.

Cheers

Buzz

All Pictures Copyright Ernie Smith Photography

The Blayney to Bathurst 2012 has been on the Team KMD Calendar all year, and with the Tour of Canberra being postponed, with the exception of Buzz and Le Foz  just about the whole team entered the event. When you add our clubmates from  Manly Warringah (including Pilu Ciclismo and a few of the Wilson Racing GPM boys there were nearly 40 MWCC riders in attendance – fantastic.

The training that Radek Valenta had developed had been done, we were ready to go…. The mis-adventures started on the way up to Bathurst, with our trusty support vehicle the Fixed Wheel Van stranded on the side of the side road at Lithgow. A few phone calls to team mates already in Bathurst, 6 bikes, 16 wheels, 4 blokes, luggage etc all had to fit into one car.

We had people coming in from everywhere to the event. Andy Bateman flew in from SFO via (Brisvegas) then backed up by driving our second support vehicle up to Bathurst. Andy, the Guvna and I arrived at about 9pm to find that of the the Giovanni Pilu lasagne had been consumed and The Fixed Wheel struck down with a virus looking like death warmed up… This was not the plan… The bus to Blayney leaves at 630am so its a 5am wake up.

Ready to Go

Team KMD with was tackling the 110km Long course, with the first running of the Extreme 162km course there were a few less NRS riders taking part in our race. Andy had to do something with his 18 hour trip, so he prepared a speech to send us off. If you have seen Pacino in Any Given Sunday and his final speech “Inch By Inch”, you would get the gist of the speech (if you havent seen it the 4 mins is worth it), and a few times those inches and the Team made the difference during the day!

It takes a 1 bottle of oil for 2 legs

We lined up with 15 minutes to go, and heard the announcer say we are going to let the first 110 go, Danny and I did a quick calculation, 12 rows back by 10 accross, if we dont move up we are going to miss the race start… We started wriggling through gaps moving towards the front. We waited with the familiar faces from MWCC and SUVelo, thankfully it was warm and dry – unlike last year.

It turned out that they were going to let 150 go so it eneded up not being a problem. As the Extreme break wizzed past with their first 53km complete, they had 4 minutes on the main bunch. Once they were through we were on our way.

Just around the corner Radek and Andy were waiting with the support vehicles. Andy was supporting KMD and Radek was supporting the Pilu Ciclismo riders.

150 riders were let go in the first wave, it was a mad rush out of Blayney a left, a right and a final left and we were on the open road out of Blayney…. 150 bikes humming along the road, the wooshing and constant movement.

About 3k in was the first crash, Ben was caught up in it. It wasfogging to be a long day of chasing for him and the first of two crashes. The next time we would see him was at the finish bloody nose and hip covered in dirt, chappeau for finishing.

Alex had given me two pieces of advice before we left Blayney. The first was that he was going to try to get in an early break. After about 20k i heard that Danny and Miha were up the road in a break, I didn’t see them go because I was trying tostick close to Alex, and that was extremely hard to do with this bunch. There were so many different experience levels, apeas everyonewas heard Phil Ligget saying you need tome in the front 15riders evertime we went downhill a group from the back would come flying down the wrong side of the road, around blind corners etc to the front and all of a sudden you were 1/2 way down the field… This scenario mush have repeated 100 50 times over the course of the day.

Alex decided it was time to go and make the break and zipped across – and all of a sudden they were gone. Game over? I wasn’t sure… Soon a few from the break started drifting back to the bunch. I asked Miha what was happening, he simply said “I blew up” man of few words.

Up the road on the first climb it turns out that Danny had decided to thin the non workers out of the breakaway, so preceded to take everyone up the first hill like he was riding the TDF, it worked more riders were being picked up by the bunch.

After the first hour the bunch settled down a bit – it had been flat out, and it ws a relief to get into a rhythm, for a while I thought that  I was going to be piped out the back – it takes a while to warm up these days!

Lots of guys riding their first big road race were doing really well, Justin was always near the front, Deano and the crew from Pilu were there too – great going guys! About 1/2 way into the race, I hear “Jordo how much fun is this” I didn’t have to look, it was the master Chef himself, Giovanni had been surfing the bunch and having the ride/time of his life. It was really great to hear the excitement in his voice and see the big smile on his face – me I was thinking of Rockley coming up.

And all of a sudden the break was caught – just like that without a whimper, I took up position next to Alex.

Just before we hit Rockly we passed the main bunch from the Extreem course, the NRS guys were soft tapping, but it was still  fun riding past their peleton. All of a sudden people are moving up to the front, the whole road wide, and then we are turning left onto a 1 lane bridge – ahhhh that’s why they are moving up. The bunch slows concertina’s I’m at a dead stop, doing atrack stand, the sound of carbon cracking and popping isn’t nice… Danny is rightnext to me both feet out of the pedals, but somehow upright – “Dude move it the bunch is disappearing up the road”.

When your in this position I don’tthink that there is ANYONE in the world who I would want with me (if I could have 2 Le Fozz would be the other), 40 guys are up the road, even after being in the break Danny puts his head down and brings us back to the bunch – great effort. By this time we are close to the bottom of Rockley the steady 2-3% gradient started to become 10% a big push from the fixed wheel and all of a sudden there are on 25 or so left with 4 from KMD,… Then the mountain takes over, I was looking around for Caleb or Andy Crawley because I felt like I was being dragged backwards and when that happens I find those two clowns holding onto my seat- very funny, only this time they weren’t there strange.

I could see Alex sitting comfortably in the bunch as Roger, Miha and I started to slide off the back of an ever thinning group, with a few of the GPM guys from the peleton riding through the carnidge.

We crested the climb, and deme emerged the second piece of advice that Alex had given me, if you drill it from the top of the climb – and work had your race isn’t over!

Head down, big ring check, 11 check and we were off. It’s a three lane road thelefty one looks dodgy, you know country road, potholes, washboard, I take the middle one – 86kph….

Dirty Kit - Sponsors Won't Be Happy

Its probably time to mention the crashes, there were a lot of them during the day. The sound of Carbon and skidding was almost constant, in the end you just stay have to stay focused, the guys who don’t ended up on the deck as well . Until this point i really didn’t see any, but all of a sudden I see a guy about 100m in front bike flying, rolling over and over- ummm not good, he was later airlifted to Sydney, we’re all hoping he’s ok. The middle lane was looking like a good choice.

We’re off the mountain, we can’t see the bunch, but the three of us start working, chopping off, Alex’s words ringing in my head. We pick up 2 other guys, and now Miha starts putting in monster turns, all of a sudden we can see the bunch, Miha just digs deeper and brings us back, as we catch the bunch I punch him on the shoulder “AWESOME effort” I get a rye smile in return.

I was on the front and made the decision to roll straight around the bunch to the head of affairs, 15k tocould wasn’t going to be at the back of the bunch. Safely installed at thefront I start drifting back to find Alex. All of a sudden Danny was next to me 6 words I won’t forget “let’s go, this is the race”. So the four of us started chopping off on the front watching the km’s ticking down trying to make it happen for Alex.

About the same time Alex gave the legs a test, and wasn’t happy with how they felt, he knew we were working for him, he made his way to me and said “we don’t need to do this” let the other teams have a go.

The boys backed off and a few more people joined the bunch as we rolled along into Bathurst, all of a sudden Norbert and his shadow from Turramurra were there, we didn’t know it but Ben Kersten had made it back as well.

We turned towards Mt Panaroma, 5k to go, focus. We hit one of the final small rises, all together, it’s short and a little sharp, sort of like Hospital Hill and I could definitely feel it in the legs, Alex is right on my hip the rest of KMD is there, good. Try as Alex might he couldn’t explain the finish to me and the minute we turned left into the emergency road I understood why, I had been thinking we were coming through the main gate. 2k to go, and I knew that there were lots of short sharp rises until we went through the tunnel under the track.

A few attacks had got about 100m, we are twisting and turning, the road is wet, these short rises in the big ring, wheel spin, the tight turns, I wasn’t hearing the crashes behind, 1k don’t loose the wheel, look for Alex… He’s there, then he is ducking down the inside, he’s 3rd wheel, how did he do that…. We’re tracking up Pitt straight strung out at 50kph – the third piece of advice I had had ringing through my ears (from Gary Oliver) whoever goes through that corner first can win, 9th wheel is no where near close enough, but I can’t make up ground on these guys – Alex is 4th wheel.

We exit the corner, 100m maybe 15om to go, I’ve let the wheel go – not on purpose these NRS guys have another gear (how do I get that), Alex crosses the line, looks like 4th awesome. I’m alone but I know that more guys are coming so I get out of the saddle and put my head down, lucky I did two guys are coming fast.

We regroup at the end, wow what a race, Miha and Roger got caught up in a crash 3k from the finish, the Pilu teams, Manly guys lots of huge smiles, and satisfied looks on faces.

What A Difference 10 Meters Makes - The Guvna Delivers

All of a sudden Alex reappears, a HUGE grin on his face, “2nd overall, and 1st in Masters”, what awesome, your kidding, who were those other guys? It turned out that we were mixed up with some of the Extreme riders, Danny and I looked at each other and made our way to the back of the Cycling NSW tent to see if we could sneak a look at the results…

Jords, Danny & Burrgo

There they were Danny had bagged 5th in Masters and I had gone top 5 overall and 2nd in Masters – very happy and lucky I made the effort to the line, 7th and 4th doesn’t sound as good does it?

All in all an awesome day for the northern beaches, in other results Caleb took 2nd overall in the Extreme, Pilu Ciclismo finishing 1st in the mixed teams and 2nd in men’s teams – for a while we thought that Norbert had won his age group, but it turns out the announcer jumped the gun…. He finished 4th in the end I think.

Special thanks to Radek and Andy for driving our support vans – you guys are AWESOME!

A great weekend and a great event.. Till next time.

Done & Done

By Buzz

I’m sitting on a plane heading back to Johannesburg from Cape Town. It has been 5 days since the end of the final stage of the epic and in those 5 short days I have squeezed in copious amounts of food, a fair chunk of alcohol, ice creams, interrupted sleep, had late nights, oh and slipped in to married life after having our wedding on Wednesday out in a quaint little place called Tulbagh.

Tulbagh hosted stages 1-3 in last years Epic. I was the second for my my then girlfriend (and now wife Christelle) and her brother Ben. The 2011 Epic afforded me the opportunity to sit back and watch the proceedings while having a close involvement with the competitors and the race village and logistics involved in running such a huge event, more on that later though. While in Tulbagh we kept driving past this beautiful little church on the hill at the Montpellier wine estate and with the back drop of the magnificent mountains that surround the region it grabbed me as place I really liked. It had a good feel about it especially after experiencing some of the undertones of Joburg and Capetown city. It seemed safe and peaceful out there and a time I really enjoyed. After Christelle broke her ribs on stage 2 and pulled out of the race we obviously got to spend more time together which was certainly great for us but a bummer as well for Christelle as she worked very hard in preparing for the race and to not be able to finish it is a very tough pill to swallow.

My first time in South Africa and then Zimbabwe where I proposed at Victoria Falls left questions of where to get married and given Christelle lives in Australia far away from her family we decided a South African wedding it was to be and funnily enough we both said “what about that great little Church in Tulbagh?”. So it was set, Montpellier was to be our venue for the wedding. Wow, 12 months down the track and a lot has happened in my life. I’ve now entered the realm of MTB racing, I’ve got engaged and now married my Princess and completed the Cape Epic. There has been countless hours of training and race prep along with wedding preparations, even though Christelle has handled the major chunk of that and done a cracking job and now here we are about to embark on a small safari in the Kruger National Park before heading home and getting back to the organized chaos that is work life. What an awesome wedding we had and shared it with great people that travelled far. The Aussies were all overwhelmed with how much they liked the area and Cape town itself. So for us, what an amazing result.

So, back to the race.

My body is still dead, that’s the best way I can think to describe it. My muscles are sore and tired and I’m in major need of a service, there is one coming up in the form of some serious deep tissue massage booked in for Saturday in Pretoria….can’t wait for that and the rest I’m planning in the Kruger could be just the shot I need given there is a big road race season with the boys from KMD racing coming up, again I can’t wait for that either. My feelings of overwhelming emotion as I crossed the finish line in the final stage of the Epic surprised me at the time. Given some reflection I can see why my throat choked up and the tears ran.

I had seen our 2 mates Johnny and Mark moved to tears after 2 grueling stages of the race. One being stage 3 the 147km day with 2800m of climbing and mid 30 degrees temps and the other being the brutal 5th stage of 119km and 2350m climbing in horrendous conditions. There was serious wind chill, rain, copious amounts of mud, constant chain suck, no brakes by the end for most, mechanicals everywhere and just the challenge of mentally driving your body to the line after some massive days in the saddle already in the legs and body. These days were tough for everyone including Foz and myself but somewhere in there we both were able to lock all that in and stay focused on racing.

In the end we just love racing, we love the challenge of it and seeing where we can take our bodies and mind. I loved the race and how it unfolds, the challenge for 2 roadies like us was pretty big but one we accepted with glee and determination and one I enjoyed doing together. it’s not a race I would want to do on my own though and that was a major part of the attraction for me, to be able to share every km, every deep road rutt, every rocky tough ascent and speedy dangerous descent, every stack, food flat, mechanical, and you get my drift……..!!

The Epic is a race within a race each day and needs to be attacked as such if you are in fact going to race it, plenty don’t as we saw one day after a major mechanical forced us to be well back in the field. Although you need to consider the next day and the days ahead you really need to race the day and leave the tank pretty close to empty each day and work overtime on hydration, fuel and re fuel every day in preparation for the next race. This is one of the big challenges of the Epic. It’s amazing to see and feel the body slowly deteriorating as each day goes by but in saying that it’s also amazing to see how you can manage to push it to that point each day if you really want to and there in lies the beauty of the team. Let’s be honest, when you’re in that hole at times you wouldn’t keep pushing to the same point if your partner wasn’t giving you a nudge and if your a good team mate you rise to that nudge to drive a little bit harder even if you think you can’t. Foz and I both experienced that at many points throughout the race and I thank him for both pushing me, dragging me and being pushed and dragged. What an amazing athlete Foz is at 50, brilliant mate and here’s cheers to you for a memory that will hopefully be burnt into your brain and body for ever. I remember on the long 147km stage asking Foz as I was groveling behind him mid climb through the pine Forest as my tire was slowly going flat for about the 5th time during the stage. “How are you enjoying your birthday present mate?” I think I got a response somewhere along the lines of “GET STUFFED”

Let me travel back to what seems an eternity ago

The Prologue

We did a course recy two days prior to the race which stood us in good stead to cut a minute or two from our times if we hadn’t have done it. It was a tough dry and hilly course with 900m of climbing in just 27km. Our aim was to finish outside the top 50 as we didn’t want to be tempted to try and hang onto the pros and Elite riders in the race proper and blow our biscuits early in the race. We rode well throughout the race but I certainly had to pull the reigns on Foz constantly as he is a pure racer wanting to chew each competitor up that lay in front of us and trust me there was always another one to get. We had passed 4 teams by the first turn at about 500m and we were raising the heart rate to red zones that needed to be settled as the climbing started almost immediately. Ease was the call of the day for me and let’s think long term here. The final climb was pretty brutal and trust me the race senses had been fully turned on and the dread of what lay ahead had certainly kicked in. With 800m left at about a 20% incline Foz snapped the crank, time to start running. I was glad as I was flagging. I grabbed his handlebars and said just run Foz, which is tough in itself in MTB shoes. I’m glad it didn’t happen 5km early. A good result in the end as we ended up 66th and right where we wanted to be, in start shute B for stage 1

Stage 1

We were told is always set up to scare and shock the system. That it did in spades. The first real climb we hit ended up being a 2km walk instead of a ride as it was virtually impossible to ride and as soon as that first punter tips over it dominos back down the group. I think only 1 rider on the day managed to ride it and that one being Burry Stander who weighs in at 64kg. We reached the top with Foz saying he couldn’t see through his fogged up glasses and had no contacts in. The trail was a blur to him as he couldn’t see detail. A nervous time indeed as it was pretty sketchy and a narly descent before hitting feed station 1. The second climb was as brutal and silly in the fact we couldn’t ride it. Bad luck, you just had to blow your calves up walking. It was a long and tough 119km push with us getting ahead of ourselves at the final feed point with 40km to go. It was like we are done so lets just smack it home. 2 hrs later we said lets not do that at the final feed again. I was busted but said the count is now at 1, I’ll be very excited when I say the count is at 7

Stage 2

Was right up the roadies alley with 115km of solid dusty country roads, single track and not too tough climbing. The danger for us was hitting it too hard, so we tempered our exuberance and sucked wheels where we could. We were slow out of the first feed though and lost the fast bunch though, which in hindsight may have been a good thing. We rode well that day and it lifted the confidence with us really pushing hard in the final 10km and chewing up a lot of teams in the last 5km’s as I tucked into Foz’s slipstream as we hit the Tarmac for the charge to the line. That final assault was awesome and one that blew a lot of the groups around us apart. Foz had a massive smile on his face after that and said that’s what I love about racing. We knew those road like opportunities would be minimal though in essence through the longevity of the race. Hence why we took the opportunity while it was there.

Stage 3

Brought some serious nerves and pain right smack bang into the face. It was hot and it was really fast early. The first 40km consisted of Tarmac and open dusty roads that had the heart rate high and the reality that fatigue was in the house and sitting comfortably in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. Foz was in the box early as we sat in the bunch right up the front and a continual slow rise to the first major climb. There was a crash once we hit the dirt and that enabled a split which we managed to get into. The pace opened that gap right up and we hit the climb with fresh air behind us. Again it was to be a couple km walk. Foz had blisters from that prologue sprint so his pain was high whenever we walked. I think it was good for his technical climbing as he did everything in his power to ride the climbs and not be walking where possible. I got a massive thorn in the front tire which almost leaked all my stans sealant out. It did seal mostly but a slow leak would be the Bain of our existence for the next 100km. I literally just made it into the second feed station before rolling the tyre off the rim with the last few corners being super dodgy trying to get around them and not losing the bike under me. Both Foz and I were in the hurt locker proper on the long climb of about 15km out in the beating sun that day and were very happy to see the downhill after it. I let loose down that with Foz a little more cautious. This stage was brutal to say the least and my Garmin was off it’s game as I had us with 30km to go when someone mentioned we had 10km left. I couldn’t afford to believe them until I saw the 5km to go sign and even then the going was tough with Dr Evil finishing us right off with some very tough pinches to finish. We were glad when that was over I must say. We felt we were on the run home.

Stage 4

Saw our worst mechanical with Foz snapping the chain clean through while pedaling, he wasn’t even changing gears. We had passed through a feed station about 6km back and after a few fouled attempts by Foz to fix a link and a Spare one supplied by our Manly teammates on their way past. We had to return to the tech station at the feed zone. I again rode with Foz’s bike while he ran with screaming blisters. In the confusion I got the bike sorted almost died on a descent coming through a fruit orchard with only one hand on the brakes and the other controlling Foz’s bike. Foz had taken a short cut into the feed zone to find me and we had missed each other. I then had to chase him down, we were going in circles and losing valuable time and places, I certainly wasn’t happy at that point as we had been passed by about 200 teams at least. Back on track and we started chewing through the km’s and teams that were dawdling through the race. I said “so this is what it is like to not race the Epic” mark my words it is a different caper after about 130th. The urgency at every turn is dialed RIGHT back. Foz was in the hurt box after the midway point this day, his legs had turned off after the cool down of the walk/run and it was my turn to sit in the wind and do my bit. Man did the wind blow that day. We were almost at a stand still at some points or leaning at a 45degree angle to compensate for the brutal wind. We had to break free of a final bunch about 10km from home as we were amongst a bunch of broken men and didn’t want the remaining life sucked out of us as well. Foz had a big superman stack in the final 3km down a steep hill but managed to stay in one piece. We got home and salvaged what we could out of a tough day but had been pushed out to 122nd spot. The crash stats were Buzz 2, Foz 1

Stage 5

We wanted retribution and a day free from mechanicals. When we woke though it was pouring and had been all night. It was going to be a tough day in the saddle and we had 119km of tough terrain and 2350m of climbing. My glasses got me through the fast wet and muddy first 20km then it was mud in the face time. The chain suck started from there and Foz was complaining of shifting problems again. My hope was that it was just the shitty mud and grit which we were all suffering from. He did mention early a feel of minimal brakes as well which wasn’t a good start. We did get a cracking start though and I knew we were well up on GC early. I looked to Foz in the rain and said “mate this is our day in this shit”. He said “yep I love it”. We trudged through the day with a no fuss attitude just praying for no bad mechanicals. After feed 2 it was bloody cold with rain and high altitude wind chill. I said we have to stop and put our spray jackets on or we’ll freeze, Foz wanted to keep going which lasted about another 10mins before I pulled rank. We both agreed it was the right call about 15mins later as the shivering had stopped. That could’ve been ugly if we hadn’t and our poor Manly teammates John and Mark felt the full brunt of it and ended up with hypothermia and in a 4WD heating up. They did finish but were in bad shape and close to break point. Credit to them both to stick it out and get back on their steeds the next day. The last 30km saw Foz with absolutely no brakes and a lot of single track to get through. He was clipping out to use his foot for a brake on every downhill and ended up in the bush after overshooting the odd corner and we lost a good 30 places in the end. We were bitter sweet to be honest. After seeing our poor mates come in 2.5hrs after us and in a bad way we sucked up the brake issue and thanked our lucky stars. While they were suffering we had been handed hot chips and a dirty big beef burger at the finish line by my wonderful fiancé, cleaned ourselves, got warm, sipped on cups of tea and smashed copious amounts of food and CHOCOLATE. We felt if we can get through that we only need to stay upright now and we are home.

Stage 6

Was 89km of solid climbing and one on paper that looked to be one of the toughest. The start was frenetic and these guys certainly don’t know how to organize a neutral start for the life of them. We climbed well early on some seriously steep ascents and found ourselves in a great position on GC early. It was time again to help drag my mate Foz home. I bet he never thought nor did I that he would sit on my wheel for about 70km of the day. His mind was playing games with him like mine usually does when behind his wheel or in fact my team mates back home when on the road. Maybe I can drift back a little and it will be ok maybe I can slow down etc, but his tougher than that and the real mind kicked in. He said the tempo is good I must stay here and he did. I was on a flyer and in the beautiful weather and what I felt was the best track we rode in the most scenic area of Oak Valley. Just magnificent up high where we were. We got told we were in 70th overall and made a decision to fly through the last feed only for lube and a coke and bang we were back at it for the last 20. Some amazing single track of which Foz got up close and personal to a tree for a few seconds, crash count Buzz 2, Foz 2. Then there were some cool burms to take at full tilt and some driving flowing dual track. We smacked it home and finished low 60′s that day and had a ball. On the finish line is where my Modelling career took to a new high though. First National Geographic wanted my lived in face on camera and the lovely girl asked me to keep my shirt off. Christelle said I was in my element then I got asked if I wanted a Red Bull by the Red Bull models, I replied yes please, to then be asked if I could have my photo taken with the Red Bull, why not. Poor Foz was looking around to get someone to take his photo to no avail, he just had to sit back and watch the pro do his work.. Ha ha life was good for all of us with only stage 7 and 67km to go

Stage 7

The body was just about spent at this stage but there was a final push to be done. The pace as usual was hot at the start and my legs wanted no part of it. It was a gradual up hill for a few km’s and my legs were on a go slow warm up. Foz had to do his best to hold himself back and was a good few hundred meters up the road, which was enough to keep me pushing as hard as I could. Eventually on a downhill I was able to reel him in and sit in. From that point on we gradually wound it up, just picking the dead and broken off. You could see no one wanted to race anymore and that the race was done for many. Not for us. We wanted to push it all the way home and when we saw a couple riders who we knew from South Africa through Christelle we stepped it up and grabbed their draft where we could. One of them was struggling on the climbs and when Foz saw the opportunity he hit the gas and said lets go, we broke clear of a bunch we were all in and set a solid tempo. There was lots of single track to navigate some punchy climbs through the vineyards of Lourensford and some fast long downhills. We were picking more and more teams off after my slow start and my legs had kicked back in and we could both smell the finish line. Team KMD were on full throttle in the last 10km and we swallowed up plenty to finish in a time that would’ve been on the Masters Podium if not a win. We had our best finish for the race in the 50′s and topped off an amazing race. The ups and downs can come and go very quickly in this race and it can test the mind and body in all sorts of ways. The build up of all of that was ready to come out when we crossed the line. My throat choked right up coming down that final Shute and the tears weren’t something I could hold back. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t a blubbering mess on the ground, I was on a massive high and felt a great sense of achievement.

This race delivered all I thought it would and some. It was a privilege to traverse some of the great natural landscape of South Africa with a great mate and push the envelope and race ourselves over 800km. Prior to this race I had completed a grand total of 1 x 50km and 1 x 115km MTB races, my riding preparations had been mostly road based due to our poor summer in Australia. It is certainly different to road riding in many ways, some parts are easier and some are harder than road riding. I love them both and look forward to more MTB races in the future.

But for now someone please hand me my new Canyon road bike and get me back on the road…… 

Buzz

Well, it had to happen…..the day I had been dreading didn’t play out well for KMD Racing. It started well enough. Once again the race had 14k of good gravel roads as a start, before we hit the first of 2 very serious climbs of the day. We made the selection with the big guns as we went over the undulating gravel roads towards the very serious mountains that surrounded the town of Caledon. Today was a 105k loop, very steep with 2700m of vertical climbing. I was feeling good at the start and as we took off, told Buzz to tuck in.

For the first feed station at 41k, we were well inside the top 50 teams. We had a quick stop as we didn’t want to lose the group as there was 20k of undulating tracks before we hit the second climb of the day, a very steep climb called Charlie’s Heaven. I thought if we could get the second climb in good shape, we would be in a good position for a good stage result.

About 6k through the first feed zone, we were on an open country dirt road, when disaster struck Team KMD. My chain snapped! We stopped to fix it as I was carrying a chain break and link pin, when in my haste, I didn’t have it through the rear derailleur wheel properly. I had to rebreak the chain. Now we were stuffed! Teams came streaming past up. Johnny and Mark came past and gave us another link, which didn’t fit. So Buzz and I had to walk my bike back against the race for 6km to the first feedzone and see the neutral mechanic who fitted a new chain. The walk back in my Mountain bike shoes nearly put an end to my heavily blistered feet. We went from top 50 to 400th on the stage, when we eventually rejoined the race 80 mins later.

Chain repaired, we then took off at a steady pace to ensure at the end of the day we didn’t fall outside the top 150, as we would have to move to group C and not be able to start in the first group of the day in future stages. It would be a big advantage lost. I didn’t feel so good when we took off after an hour and a half break and after 20k was what is known as “cooked”. I was having a bad day. Buzz was unbelievably strong and pulled me home for 50k, while I sat on his wheel with tunnel vision. I knew I had eaten and drunk enough, but the body plays some strange tricks when you put it to so much physical pressure over 8 days like this event.. We pushed our way through the field and ended the day in 230th position. The other thing to beat today was the wind. It was 50kph and blowing a gale. I don’t think I have ridden in such strong wind. Buz took the brunt of it as he did all the work in our team. We came in 43 mins behind the Weatherzone boys who “claimed” the win in the “Manly Showdown”!

The chain break had cost us dearly. We have slipped to 121st overall. Johnny and Mark had a good day and are now only 14 mins and 10 spots behind us in the GC.

We are now back at the hotel eating and drinking for tomorrow. Tomorrow, another horror stage asnd as I type this it is pouring with rain and wind as a big change has it.. I hope I recover or else it is going to be a long day!!

Not many photos today as we are in a patchy internet area..

The usual routine took place this morning. Up at 4.45am. Stuff as much breakfast into us as possible and be on the start line ready for a 7am gun. It is the longest hardest stage ever in Cape Epic history. 149k and 3000m of vertical climbing. None of us had ever done a stage like this and I was very quiet and apprehensive during breakfast. Would my body hold up? We estimated The stage would take us around 7 and a half hours of full on riding.

The gun went and the pace was on. Buzz and I got a good start and our plan was to stick with the lead pack for the first 18k as it was pretty flat and good for roadies who know how to ride in a big pack. 1200 riders took off all at once. Once the race settled, we were in the top 70-80 riders tucked in and rolling along with Olympic champions, Tour de France riders and a couple of hacks from Manly. The level of riders in the top few hundred riders is incredible. All around us we these tall lean strong Germans, Dutchmen, French, Polish, Danish and South African riders. They can pull your legs off with their strength along the flat trails. It was very exciting with choppers hovering 100m above the peloton filming as we rolled along at 50kph on a spectacular morning in the Winery’s area of the Western Cape.

After about 18k into the race, there was the first hill. Buzz and I dug deep and got over it with the lead group. It is incredibly difficult riding at 50k an hour with 100 guys around you, 1 inch space handlebar to handlebar and making sure you are keeping position in the peloton as well as ensuring your team mate is right with you. It is no point riding by yourself at the front as this is a 2 man team event. It requires very close communication and teamwork. Buzz and I have done a lot of km’s together in training and we know each other’s riding pretty well. A lot of the time we can tell how each other is feeling just by looking at each other! You know things are going well when one of us loses the wheel of the other and without turning around you just hear an Aussie accented “yep” behind you and you know he is tucked in behind you or it is me doing the tucking in. No need to waste energy by turning around.

Loving the Epic to ride on. 25% of the field must be on Specialized 29er’s After about 25k there was a sharp turn onto a narrow trail. The peleton breathed in, but not enough. Bang! A crash just in front of us at 40kph in the blinding dust. Rider and bikes are sprawled across the sandy road. Buzz and I miss it narrowly. The riders at the front heard the sound of carbon and bodies hitting the deck and instinctively accelerated. We went with them and next thing you know there was a split in the peloton. We made the split and got pulled along by the strong boys up the front.

We were in a great spot, positoned in the top 50 teams coming into the first feed zone at the 59km point. We had strong teams around us and we felt good tucked in and taking advantage of the draft. Just after the first feed, we had our first mishap. I lost my chain between the frame and lowest gear as I changed into the big ring. We had to stop so I could untangle it. We lost the group. We took off again, chasing and got into another group. Still well up the front of the race. We were climbing well and felt good. Then Buzz got a puncture. Here at the Epic we have tubeless tyres with a special sealant in it that “seals” the tyre if it gets a puncture. It didn’t work correctly and we had to stop to fix it. Group after group past us as we stood by the trail. We got going again, but the damage was done! We had lost 30-40 positions. W had to stop another 5 or 6 times to keep putting more air in the tyre as it was losing air as we rode. We kept at it however and managed to limit the damage and still finished within the top 100 teams for the stage and only dropped from 82nd to 84th overall.

It was an unbelievably hard stage. I know know what the tour riders feel like when they see the 1km to go banner. Buzz’s garmin was playing up and we thought we had 30k to go when we saw the 10k to go banner. I asked a spectator as we came tearing past to make sure it was real. He confirmed it. It was like winning the lottery!! Once I had my nose pointed to home, I cranked up the Specialized Epic and told Buzz to tuck in. We came over the line in around 7hrs and 10mins of racing. Johnny and Mark had a tough day in the saddle and came in around 50 mins after us. Mark had a tough day in the saddle. After the race in the recovery tent, they had a little raffle and Buzz and I managed to win a waterbottle each! Much mirth by all with the Aussies winning!!

We moved tonight from our Orphanage in Robertson to a nice B&B called the Hoew Hoek Inn near Grabouw. It is like luxury compared to our little room at Robertson. No problems sleeping tonight.

We are now half way in time and distance through the race. It feels like hump day is over. We know know we can finish this race!! Tomorrow is another 110k and 2300m of climbing. Another tough day!!!

We were up early….this is starting to be like ground hog day. 4.45am, up, walk over to breakfast, eat as much as we possibly can and then back to the room to kit up. The body is holding up reasonably well, but with 6 stages to go, preservation is the key. Buzz and I got to the start chute early, ready to go at 6.30. Looking around we are one of the few leading teams using camelbacks. We decided that we should use them as I am the type of rider that if I am out of water, then I am out of gas!. Our Camelbacks were full of various bits and pieces that we may need……spare tubes, pump, gas canisters, food, gels, chain break and multi tools. The extra weight is a small tradeoff, as if we have any issues out on the course, we have to be able to fix it ourselves.

The race started at 7am with 6k on the tarred roads out of Robertson, before we hit the trails. The pace was full on as it was a mass start and we were probably about in the first 70-80 teams. The peleton was spread out right across the road. After 150m, my chain jumped off the derailleur. Lucky Buzz saw me as the pack was screaming along. I had to stop and put my chain back on by hand. The trick with this is not to panic and I fixed the bike and Buzz paced me back up to near front. After a 2k chase we were back into position.

Once we hit the trails, the first thing we did was have to cross a rather deep creek. It was ridable (just), but our feet and shoes got a drenching. It also has the effect of washing all the lube off our chain, so the risk with a dry chain is snapping it.

Today’s stage was a little flatter and faster than yesterday. There was more “pack” riding as there was more open firetrail. This suits Buzz’s and my road riding background and we found some nice packs to roll along in. My bike was performing much better after a complete rebuild overnight by our mechanics. It is interesting rolling along in the packs. In some of the groups today were riders from Germany, France, South Africa, New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal. You don’t hear much English being spoken, except for the odd Aussie telling someone to “pull a turn mate!”. 
We hit the first feed station at the 38k mark. As what is now becoming the norm, the feed stations are bedlam. No one wants to stop any more than required. Riders grab water, stuff bananas, coke, muffins, lollies, and these very nice small boiled potatoes dipped in salt(my favourite), as well as getting lube on their bikes usually all at the one time. I have never heard so many swear words in so many languages happening all at once. Buzz and I more than hold our own, and we elbow in and grab a feed.

Besides the rocks, the other memory of the ride is the dust. As you know, Africa has this very fine red dust. We get to ride through it all, and it gets in everywhere. It is unbelievable. Washing it out of clothes and bodies is a real challenge. Results wise, we continue to climb up the leaderboard as do Johnny and Mark, from Team Weatherzone. We were 72nd today out of 601 teams and we are now 84th overall. Mark and Johnny are 108th overall and 18th in masters, so both teams are doing well.

The last 4k was back on the tarmac today and as soon as we hit it, Buzz and I showed these mountain bikers how to ride a time trial. Buzz took off as we swung onto the asphalt and I was right on his tail. I came around him with about 2 and a half k to go, in the big ring (tks Fixed Wheel!). Buzz swung in behind me and we tore past 4 teams, a couple that jumped onto our wheel. With about 1k to go, we hit a few tight turns and as we came into town the crowds were out and cheering. There was no way anyone was coming past me. With 500 to go, Buzz yelled from behind me ‘come on Foz, keep the juice on, we don’t want these bastards coming over the top of us!. We had a few 90 degree turns and we hooked through them at full speed, and managed to win our little race within a race.

As you finish the organization of the race takes over. You are handed drinks, food, a wet towel and they take your bike and clean them. We headed into the rider recovery tent and started to get ready for the monster stage of tomorrow. As we sat there, Buzz showed me his scratches from a fall he had today. I was ahead of him and didn’t know. He washed out his front wheel coming around a sandy corner and put it into the sand. So falls at the moment is Buzz 2, Foz 0. Let’s hope there are no more falls from KMD Racing.

Team KMD after the finish of Stage 2- 72nd on the stage
We came back to the orphanage this afternoon and in the room next to up is 2 teams (4 Guys) from Sth Africa and the Middle East. Yesterday 2 of the guys ended up in hospital on drips due to dehydration and today one of those guys had an epileptic fit 20k into the race. To come to this race unprepared is to court disaster.

Injuries and aches and pains have to be managed every day. Besides general tiredness and sore muscles, I have a few ailments that I am looking after. The left side of my lower back is very tight and sore, however the physio said that stretching and some Volatrin will fix that. My hands are also incredibly tired and it feels as if I have been squeezing a tennis ball in both hands for 12 hours. I can hardly type. This is as you are constantly on the brakes and gears and it makes for some sore hands! I also have a saddle sore forming. For those you who aren’t into cycling, I am not going to explain it here. I would suggest you look on Wikipedia. Needless to say it is very sore and if not looked after can be a big issue. I bought a big tube of Bepathen crème and I plan to use it all!!

All in all a good day. Tomorrow is a monster with 147k and 3000m of vertical climbing. I am a bit nervous about it. We will see how it pans out……

Everything up until this point has been preparation for the challenge. Even the prologue wasnt anything out of the ordinary. The next 7 days are full on racing in harsh terrain, with over 100k of mountain bike riding each day. The alarm went off at 4.45 in the little room in the Childrens Orphanage we are staying in (dont worry, the kids arent here!).

Four full grown men staying in a little room with bags and bike kit is pretty tight. We headed over at 5am to the ride village which is over the road from where we are staying for breakfast. As we walked through the rider village, we could hear the piper playing his bagpipes and the sound drifted across the valley. He plays in the village at 5am sharp every morning as the alarm for the riders.

To give you some idea of the scale of this event, the dining tent is 160m long by 50m wide. It seats 600 people comfortably. Breakfast is anything you want. Porridge, Bacon, Eggs, Cereal, Toast, Juice, Coffee Tea etc. It all went down well, washed down with tea. Breakfast done, we headed back to the rooms to kit up. We then collected our bikes from our mechanics ( I must admit it is cool having our own mechanic who does anything we need on our rigs!) and went to the start chute.

The atmosphere is full on. 1200 riders all in groups, music blaring, people taking photos, last minute trips to the toilet….and it was still dark. Facing us was 112k of hurt on narrow rocky trails with huge hills, thorns, and drops to catch the unwary rider. It was overcast as the gun went off and the pace was on. Buzz and I being predominately road riders had no problems taking off as the peleton weaved its way out of the streets of Robertson. All the roads are closed while the race whizzes through, and the locals are out in force while we go by. It is actually one of the highlights of the race. As we race through winerys and workers villages, all the locals are out by the road(track)side yelling and beating bits of tin as drums and screaming out to the riders. It must be quite surreal to these poor farmhands as people from 50 countries from around the world come tearing past their front door.

After 10k or so, we went off the unmade roads onto rocky single trail. It was bedlam as teams fought for position, and many were taking risks. To both sides of the trail was thick thorny bushes that would tear your skin or your tyre if you went off course. Teams were puncturing everywhere. Buzz and I were riding reasonably conservatively as we knew this was only day 1. After 20k the race settled down and the field stretched out. I felt pretty strong and Buzz was riding well, the bikes were performing as per spec, so we settled in for the long haul. We knew some teams had started too fast and would come back to us.

Then we hit the first hill of the day. By hill, I mean over 300m of vertical climbing. You couldnt ride up it, so you had to push or carry your bike up 1000ft of rock, sand and foliage. My feet in my riding shoes were killing me and I could feel the blisters forming on the back of each heel. It was unbelievably difficult and our heartrate went off the scale. Riders heartrate monitors were beeping as riders went over their threshold.

After we hit the top, I realized I had made a big error in not using contacts. My sunnys that have a script in them were fogged up. I had sweat pouring off me and couldnt see through them. We had a dangerous technical descent and I couldnt see!! Shortly after we got to the first food station and I got a tissue and managed to clean them, but from now on it is contacts!!!

The food stations are crazy! Teams come tearing in to the allocated area, grabbing muffins, bananas, coke, water, gatorade in a frenzy as no one want to loose time by stopping. We fuelled up and headed up the second climb of the day. It was steeper and longer than the first. It was also unrideable. The rear of my feet are now raw blisters and I will have to be careful over the next few days. Finally we reached the top and we thought most of the climbing was over. We were wrong. We zig-zagged our way around farms, winery’s fields, little villages. It all went past in a flash.

After the 3rd feed station at 70k, the terrain flattened out. Buzz and I were pretty much on our own. I had my nose pointed for home and wanted to get there. We latched onto a little group of a Danish team and a team from South Africa, and for 25k or so we went tearing along as a little group. Not a word was said between the teams the whole time, riders working silently as the collective group moves. We made good time and the k’s flew by. After 112 dusty, hot and hilly k’s we came back into town. Buzz and I didnt have any other teams with us and we flew along the streets of Robertson cutting corners as the officals had closed all the roads. After 6hrs and 6 minutes of riding, we entered the finish shute, hands off the handlebars arms linked in what we hope will be our finish salute for another 6 times this week.

We finished in 90th place out of 601 teams, and are in 89th place overall when you add yesterdays and todays time together. Considering the size and quality of this field, with world and Olympic champs as well as National Champs, we think it is a pretty respectable result. I take a little pride in also being the oldest rider out of the top 100 teams – looking down the list all you see are Date of births like 1985, 1987 etc.

Team Weatherzone are also doing well at 122nd place and they had a good day today. They will get stronger as the week goes on. As soon as we crossed the line, we began to get ready for stage 2. 119k of the same. The alarm goes off at 4.45 tomorrow morning…..

Buzz and I were up early….4.50am. Today was the big day. The prologue. The format is that each of the 600 teams does a 27km time trial, leaving at 20 second intervals. The first team of the day left at 6.45am and the last at 11.30am.

We had already arranged Breakfast at the hotel. Cereal, Yoghurt, Fruit, Bacon, Eggs, Toast, and a cup of tea to wash it all down. It was going to be a big day so we needed all the energy we could muster. We met Johnny and Mark at 6am and packed the cars. We were sorry to leave the 5 star luxury of the Bay hotel, and the accomodation tonight would be the Robertson Orphanage dormatory with shared facilites, so a bit of change in the accomodation!!

We got the the course at Meerendal Winery around 7am. The first riders were already out on the course. I was having trouble with my front derailluer, so first job of the day was to get the mechanics to sort it out. Job done, Buzz and i got changed, filled our bottles and packed our “goo” (which are 100gram shots of caffine and carbohydrate in a sticky sugary mix) and had a warm up ride. The plan for the day was to make the A/B start for the first stage tomorrow. Todays result in the prologue determined if you started in groups A to H. We thought we needed to ride quicker than a 1hr 40 mins to make the group. As the race only really starts tomorrow, a couple of minutes wasnt going to make much difference.

We watched Johnny and Mark leave the start, about 40mins before us. Before long it was our time. We climbed the ladder to the start shoot where the offical starter starts each team with a 5,4,3,2,1 go and the riders ride down the ramp like you see in the Tour de France. As we stood on the start ramp, I couldnt believe 2 years of planning was coming to fruition. All I wanted now was a good safe race with no mechanicals. We rolled out and the adrenalin was pumping. We passed the 2 teams that had left immediately before us in the first 500m. Buzz called me to back off a bit. He was right. It is a long race. We were riding well and I felt strong, however we were getting held up by slower teams in front of us. We were riding smoothly and were one of the fastest groups on the course to date. They were doing split times on the internet, as well as showing the prologue live on Sth African TV. TV cameras, crowds yelling as we climbed hills, Helicopters overhead, it was all very exciting. We settled into our rythm and picked off the groups in front. No one caught us from behind, so we backed off a bit, safe in knowing we would be in teh A/B group providing we didnt have a fall or mechanical in the last 10k. The day was getting hot. It was around 35c by lunchtime, so we kept the fluids up and pressed on. With 800 very steep metres to go, all of a sudden my left crank and pedal fell off! I jumped off the bike and without thinking started running with the bike up the trial to the finish.

Buzz came next to me a grabbed the bike, taking the load from me. I ran behind him riding one bike and pulling the other. It isnt easy running up a rocky dusty hill in Mountain bike shoes. I could feel the blisters forming on the backs of my feet as my riding shoes rubbed. This isnt going to be good I thought. We managed not to lose too much time, and crossed the line in 1hr 40mins, which gets us the start in the first group tomorrow which was our objective. Johnny and Mark from team Weatherzone also had a good ride and came in 4 mins behind our time, but they also made the first group.

I then had to ride back off the hill with no crank, not an easy feat! Luckily most of the riders have their own mechanics, and we also had a our own mechanic, courtesy of Christelle, who arranged it for us. I dont know what anyone else who is not riding this race does if their bike breaks down this week, as every bike mechanic in South Africa is working at this race.

After we got back to the start area and got the bike to the mechanic, we started what will become a ritual for the next week….refuelling. We will not be able to eat enough, so one benefit of doing an event like this is you can eat as much as you want, as often as you want! We had milkshakes and egg sandwhichs, along with muffins and bananas immediately after the race. We then stopped as we drove to where we are now, a wine town called Robertson, 140k from Meerandal, and had more to eat, including hot cross buns. We then had a couple of meat pies when we got to where we stayed as well as a full dinner and desert after.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for tomorrow stage. It takes a couple of hours to redo all our food that we take on the bike as well as get our kit and spares ready. We will be up around 4.30 in the morning so we have time to shower and eat another huge breakfast before being on the start line at 6.30am for a 119k smashfest!! It is going to be 35c so it will be a very tough day in the saddle.

Here we are only 5 days from the start line in the Cape Epic Prologue. All the study is done and there can be no more craming all that is left to do is the EXAM. It’s no HSC or Uni Degree exam either. It’s a test of the physical, mental and emotional kind. This race is an 8 day classic which will traverse some of the best scenery and hopefully, non lethal wildlife South Africa and the Cape Town region has to offer. 1200 riders making up 600 teams of 2 will converge on Historic Cape Town to ride a brutal 800km and climb 16,500m over the 8 days. There will be an inordinate amount of electrolyte and gels consumed and an equally large amount of nervous toilet stops made. This is a well run event and one which allows you to concentrate on one thing, and that is racing. Most punters will be racing themselves, the clock and maybe another team that they know, some will be World and ex World champs, some will be ex Tour De France riders, past winners and some that have spent little time on a Mountain bike. Either way the test they are about to write is going to be a tough one.

My team mate Mike Foster AKA Foz has trained the house down amongst his other regular life comittments, I too have put in the hard yards. Although being hit with a 3 week lay off with Bronchitis hasn’t helped my prep I feel I’m going to be strong enough to push the envelope every day, even if it is by sucking Foz’s wheel for a large portion. I know he loves to sit on the front and get a rhythm and can climb quicker than me. But I can usually find a smooth line through the single track and enjoy the technical stuff as well. You see, this race requires a plan, it requires communication and team work, it requires each rider to play to their strengths and speak up when they are in the hurt box or in turn feeling great. There is no doubt at some stage during this race both riders will be in a world of hurt and be running on empty and in the need of some solid encouragement from their team mate. You need to know your team mate is going to be there when that time comes and help nurse you through that tough spot. I know Foz will be there when required, you see I’m bigger and meaner than Foz and there will be repercussions if he drills me too hard

It certainly is getting exciting now and I can feel the anticipation of what may lie ahead of us in Fozzy’s demeanor and as the days tick by I find my mind wandering to the race and the possible scenarios that could unfold. The Prologue is a great way to start and hopefully help settle the nerves. It is important for us to not go into the red zone on the day but but certainly give it a solid nudge and get off to a good start. This is a real build type race not an out of the blocks and jut drill it every day unless you’re a pro of course. We have a nutrition plan, we have a ride plan, a communication plan, all our accom and logistics are in place. All that is left to do is get there adjust as best we can to the heat that we have missed over our summer and of course the new time for our body clocks, get a couple of easy spins in and loads of rest and good food and fluids.

We want to thank our sponsors to this point for helping get us all decked out in our kit sort our bikes out when needed, our wheels, shoes, helmets, help with funding our nutrition needs and odds and sods that pop up. We also want to thank the our friends with the support and words encouragement and banter they have thrown our way.

The Weatherzone team of John Miller and Mark Hardy also from Manly are all set as well. They too have had to deal with the crappy summer Sydney has thrown up and had some injury setbacks along the way as well. They managed to enter, complete and win the pairs category in the Mountains to Beach MTB stage race a couple of weeks ago in very trying conditions and are now set to go in South Africa. These guys are old hat at MTB racing and will be right up there in the old man category, although racing as a team of two is mostly unchartered territory for them as well. We’ll share accommodation and logistics with these guys so there will be loads of great stories to dissect each day and a great journey to share.

I’ve been writing this blog over a few days and we are now only 3 days out, given the last minute work commitments, playing my part in organizing some of our team logistics, packing and most importantly helping my fiancé to tie down any loose ends in our wedding preparations which takes place just 3 days after the Epic. This next month will most certainly be action packed, exciting, memorable, lets hope on the positive mostly and challenging in so many ways. I look forward to racing with a good mate and great man in Foz and hopefully that will turn into an even better friendship through our journey ahead. Most of all let the good times roll and let’s in enjoy the BUZZ

More shortly………..

BUZZ