Stage 7 - Our first "short" stage

Leaving the beach for a winery is not a bad thing unless you're doing the Cape Epic. Today's stage started from the pier in Hermanus to the winery at Oak Valley featuring nearly 2000m of climbing over a shorter 91k. Like the past few days I've had to work my way the slower groups as quickly as possible. This time I got a nice tow from another individual rider trying to do the same. There was less flat tarmac to start before our first climb of the day. I was able to move up much quicker. There were two major climbs that included some steep pitches that a lot of people off their bikes. I made up a lot of ground in there sections. The downhills were also on my side as i was maneuvering through the technical sections well especially the deeper sand. Eventually I would catch Stijn and Lindsey on one of these descents and rode with them to water stop 2. Then came the best single track of the entire race. At first i was bogged down by slower riders until an opening gave way to let it fly. Samantha, a rider on a mixed team from Calgary also had the same idea. The two of up ripped it up and dropped everyone including her partner. As the course went back up hill, I found myself alone for most of the final 20k. A few really steep winery hills and it was downhill to the finish. It was another good individual day clocking a time of 5:16. Props to Jim and JD for cracking the top ten in masters. They will be protecting their position tomorrow. Bad luck for my friend Rich who broke his derailleur and had to ride single speed for 70k losing over 1:30 hrs.
Tomorrow's final stage is even shorter and i'm really looking forward to the after party!

Jim and JD (Team SloGrown)discuss the last stage with Rich and Doug (GPSUpload.com)

Downtime after a day's racing

So what's it like after finishing each race? For one, downtime is scarce. It took us a couple days to get everything down. The first order of business is to mark a tent. In the tent city location can be key to convenience as well as a good nights sleep. Second is getting your gear bag which the transport everyday to the next stop of the race. Like most everyone's bag mine is completely stuffed and probably weighs over 50 lbs. If you don't feel like hauling it to your tent, you can ask a local young volunteer to help. The quicker you do this the quicker you have access to your recovery drink. Of course i use Endurox R4.

Then its off to bike wash. Bikes work better clean. Again you can have a volunteer do it for you. From there you can go to the mechanics at Maxxis or Shimano for a repair or tune up. Luckily i've been able go directly to the bike check for safe keeping. Usually the secure area is a tennis court. Next its back to the tents to shed the dirty clothes and queue up for a shower. Then its off to eat. On the longer days this would usually be the first thing to do. The race village always has concessions.


Then its off to get a massage. The race has official massage therapists but Jim, JD, and I booked with a private outfit. Thanks to Jeanette and Amori we've been able to get on our bikes day after day.



Immediately after it is time for dinner which has varied each day but usually includes chicken, beef, potatoes, salad, and bread. Shortly after there's presentations, the course preview for the next day, and picture and video highlights from the day's stage.There's maybe an hour before bedtime. That's part of the reason why my blogging has either been short or delayed. The other has been cell coverage to send my posts.



At 0500 a loud fog horn sounds to wake everyone up in the morning. Again, you just have enough time to prepare for the day's stage and get to the startline. Breakfast is the first order to avoid long lines and wasting precious time. You also get first dibs on the more popular foods. Then its general race prep, packing up and dropping of your bag. Each day's race starts at 0700 however getting to the staging area by 0630 is key to starting at the front. The faster you finish the stage the smaller the lines and the more time there is for downtime.

Stage 6 - The last "hard" stage

Last night's race briefing told us we had one more long and tough day. I was looking forward to the finish right at the ocean town of Hermanus. I got to staging early this time for a front position right behind the G section. Unfortunately my position resembled something like Bay to Breakers as it took over three minutes to cross the start line. I time trialed for the second day to bridge up to my former start group. I was a little more careful today not to blow myself early like the day before. Its so hard to recall the details of each days race as there is so much terrain, climbing, and suffering. Today's long climb i do remember. The combo of steeps and sand (walking). The descent was fast and rocky and by the end my fingers and forearms were killing of from braking and avoiding hazards. I was lucky enough to hook up with two German teams who pulled and paced me through the next 20k until one of them got shelled and had to slow. I was off solo until 20k to go when I found myself with a group of eight riders. We entered into a really nasty section of washboards and sand where the clean lines were never very clear. One guy from a Dutch team lead and had us zig zagging all over the place at a frantic pace that had us all on the rivet. Riders were getting squirrelly but no one wanted to lose the group. As soon as we made a turn we hit more patches of sand that took out a few riders including the Dutch guys. The road pitched up and more were done. I was fortunate to make it thru and carry my momentum up the hill where a whole mess of riders were feeling the pain of the last 10k. For some reason this gave me energy. I rode aggressively through a lumpy section of the sand dune. The next 3k would be on the beach where there was a stretch that was completely unrideable. I took a look back and to my surprise didn't see anyone else yet make the beach. To be sure I kept pushing hard once I hit the tarmac. Five k more to go and i went into TT mode and soloed in to a beautiful finish overlooking the water with a nice crowd cheering me in. It felt good today to ride so strong at the end. There really is no prize for the solo rider but its good practice and fun. For the record the had me as 14th individual on the day although i only recall one person passing me. Jim and JD keep making time on the nearest Masters competitors in their bid for a top ten. They edged out Rich and Doug at the line.