Training Log Archive: nmulder

The 2007 Cape Epic
Final position: 94th overall ( 57th men).
Total Time: 45h52.43

The race is greatly improved from 2 years ago, something that is quite astonishing. Audio-visuals, catering, entertainment, spectating has all made tremendous leaps. Even the top athletes eat at the dinner tent. The organization is amazing... easily the best organized event I have ever witnessed. I'll probably end up doing it again, but with more support. A good innovation is the support people now involved such as Grants Cycles. In future, cycle services, massage and personalised nutrition are vital after each day. Oh... and a bit more training. I think we'd have come top 70 (50 mens) if I hadn't broken a dérailleur, but I suppose mechanical trouble is always going to happen. Note: We had no punctures at all.

C • cape epic 1

0830 - Kleinmond to Lourensford. A later start for what is traditionally an easy, short day. This was not. It was firstly 12km longer than reported with 300m more climb and plenty of technical sections. I thought we'd get under 4hrs. Felt decent to start with after I got a massage the night before (big help). But had a small crash in the Palmiet area, which set my back off again. Struggled through Highlands and the apple orchards, before improving over the Gamtou Pass where we recaught Sue and Ryno. Felt much better from here. Had to endure a very irritating section through a wine estate where no passing was allowed (they didn't want to be sued for accidents). Ran out of water as well due to the 11km extra. 97th overall (65 men). Tm 4.48.03 Dst 86.65 Av 18.0 Mx 61.7

0700 - Villiersdorp to Kleinmond. Another tough day, about the same as Day 1. Luckily the distance was shorter than expected by 7km. I was slow out of Villiersdorp, felt queasy after breakfast. Caught up with Ryno and Susan as we climbed Groenlandberg and left them at the top. Thankfully it was mostly downhill from here, as I was suffering in a few places. Last section was down the Palmiet where we did okay. 89 overall (59 men). Tm 5.35.51 Dst 109.38 Av 19.5 Mx 60.5

0700 - Montagu to Villiersdorp. I'm really starting to feel down in the mornings. Another fast start where I didn't warm up for 1-2 hours. Hard to get up to proper racing speed with the poor result of yesterday hanging over our heads. Lots of tar road today, which deffinately doesn't suit me. I spent all the off-road time re-passing the roadies who I'd struggled to stay with in the road bunches. One nice hike-a-bike section which also allowed me to stretch my back, otherwise I was flat the whole day. Mac had the most spectacular save on the fast 70km/hr+ section when he went wide in a bend and road up the side bank - he blames me. Surprisingly, we are quite high up the rankings... felt like it should have been another 10 places down... 89 overall (58 men). Tm 4.49.45 Dst 111.16 Av 23.0 Mx 72.4

0700 - Barrydale to Montagu. This turned out to be the first true easy day, but one which we could not capitalize on! Started slow again, my muscles really ache for the first 1-2 hours. At 11km, got taken down by another rider in a turn on a dirt road when he hooked handle bar ends. Gave me a matching set of grazes down my left side. Two crashed behind me, one of whom must have damaged my dérailleur. This snapped 1km later, by which time Mac was nowhere to be seen. Took me way too long to replace the drop out, then the chain broke... at least I know how to repair that quickly. I had to run the ups and keep the gearing high to stop the jockey snapping again. Was at the very back of the field, but Mac returned with a spare dérailleur after word of mouth reached him. Got this fitted in the Shimano Neutral Zone at water point 1 at 25km, only took 6 minutes - dérailleur and cable change!!! We then spent the next 14km chasing the back of the pack with the sweep car behind me (a la Cape Epic 2005). We had lost 1hr+, and caught the backmarkers at the first of 2 major climbs of the day. We pushed past on the single track climb and pulled our way through the rest of the field for the remainder of the race. Never managed to get up to max racing speed however. 240th overall (152 men). This has pulled us down overall from about 87 to 104. Tm 5.00.43, Dst 102.67 Av 20.4 Mx 50.9

0700 - Ladismith to Barrydale. This was supposed to be the first easy day, but I had my suspicions. They turned out to be right, as it was still hard and tough going due to lots of sand (a la Richtersveld) in stream washes. There was also a killer section after water point 3. We paced ourselves to start and blitzed the last section, probably passing over 25 teams at the end. Felt like our best ride of the week. 77th overall (46 men). Tm 5.16.13 Dst 120.76 Av 22.9 Mx 60.6

0700 - Oudtshoorn to Ladismith. Each day is getting tougher. This was the toughest stage in 2007. Three major climbs. Started off okay, struggled staying on the A bunch, so had to drop back on the early dirt roads. Caught places however on the major climbs. Came off bad in a stream wash early on, taking Mac down with me. Lots of grazes down the right side. Suffered on a tar road at 70%, but recovered right at the death to catch a few teams in the last few kms. A good day again, but a lot of masters ahead of us for some reason? 93rd overall (57th men). Tm 6.35.32 Dst 126.88 Av 19.2 Mx 69.8