Mark Nel accepted an invitation out of the blue four days before the race from Patrick von Schoor to do the Absa Cape Epic as his teammate. Knowing just how formidable the Cape Epic is to finish when prepared, we think he’s mad! So, we asked him to write a daily diary so we can follow his suffering, er, um progress.
I have always had a really good relationship with Fridays – and today was no different! Having spent most of yesterday in the Grumpy Corner, I woke up apprehensive about today’s stage, which was basically 85km of climbing with a lot of rain forecast. It wasn’t something I was particularly looking forward to. But it turned out to be a really, really great stage!
In stark contrast to yesterday, Pat and I both felt really good. The climbs suited both of our riding styles. We found we would ride away from others on the climbs. In fact it’s been like that all week. We ride away on the climbs and then get caught on the singletrack, technical descents. Today was no different.
Yesterday Pat said that all he was worried about was finishing in one piece. That’s been the mantra of the whole week so we haven’t taken any risks. Today we both felt really good and there were plenty of really cool climbs!. Luckily the serious rain stayed away for most of the stage. It did get quite wet in the latter half where it most lightly rain, but the Wellington trails really were fantastic!
It was enough rain to wet the trails and there were some rocky descents on the way back down but we played it safe and got to the finish line with smiles. We are looking forward to getting to Val de Vie on Sunday now.
The last hurdle is, well, I guess there are two more hurdles because Sunday’s stage is far from a procession, but tomorrow is another 90 kays with I think 2300m of climbing. So that’s a proper day out. The rain has now started to come down in buckets. The talk is that there may be floods tomorrow and the stage has been shortened by 10 kays. It will be interesting.
One of the real highlights of the Epic is the guilt-free eating! We finished the stage and at the Woolworths tent devoured our daily bag of food. Pat and I then went and got more Woolies pasta, I have just eaten a tub of ice-cream and popcorn and have ordered a pizza! It’s that short time in your life when you can just eat what you want and nothing that you eat is going to be enough. So I’m making the most of that! I have struggled in the mornings though. Breakfast throughout the week has been incredibly challenging because you eat out of necessity, not for enjoyment…
The riders are all tired. It’s been a really tough week. The one thing Pat and I have done well is that we haven’t looked too far ahead. We have taken it one day at a time and I think that’s crucial when you’re doing an Epic. As soon as you start thinking too far ahead, it can really throw you. There are times when you are riding when you a suffering so much. If you think about the days ahead it can really unsettle you and even break you. So tomorrow, we’ll think about tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a tough one.
Read Mark’s previous daily diary posts of the first five days here:
Stage 4: Sense of Humour Failure
Prologue: Clearing the Cobwebs
