We celebrate Mother’s Day one Sunday a year. But we all know that for Moms, every day is Son’s or Daughter’s Day. Joanne Badenhorst (Mrs TREAD), a mother, will be featuring three Epic moms each day during the 2017 Absa Cape Epic on www.treadmtb.co.za
This is to give some recognition to the women that play an integral part of the Cape Epic, either as a rider, a supporter or a race crew member. We’ll share each day’s featured Epic Moms via our social media channels so that you don’t miss out on any of the incredible women that we never give enough recognition to…
THE PROLOGUE:
Mums on the route: Wife and mum Anna Winters, with Madeline, Jack and Granny (& her mum) Marianne supporting Benjimen Winters & Greg Smith – Team 529. Based in Zambia, but from the USA, their comments on the 2017 Absa Cape Epic: ” so far so good”.
Post prologue smiles from today’s racing/riding mum Theresa Ralph and teammate Yolandi du Toit. Yolandi insisted she sometimes feels like a mum as she has to look after boyfriend Ben Melt Swanepoel…
STAGE 1:
Stage 1 at the 2017 ABSA Cape Epic, and there was lots of nervous energy and excitement trail side. We visited a few water points and spectator points on today’s circular route that started and finished in the coastal town of Hermans. These mums, were incredibly positive and eager to tell us there stories.
Mum supporting at the EPIC: Cindy Rebello was trail side anxiously awaiting her son Dylan, team 23-2. It’s his first Epic, but they are not new to the event as she has supported her husband, Wayne at four Epics. Cindy feels it is a lot more nerve-wracking supporting her son, who is in the UCI race category, as there seems to be a lot more red tape when the riders are at the top end of the race.Mum working at the Epic: Annet Theuns from the Netherlands assisting at the rider’s feed station at Water Point 2, stage 1. Their days are long and full, from being on the route from dawn until after lunch. Travelling back to the race village to start preparing 4000 “bidons” for the next day. This is her first time working on the Epic and her husband Enrico is competing in the event (Team 233), Annet has two adult children at home.Mum riding the Epic: Marie Claude Baars-Respinguet Team 176. Marie is riding her first Epic. At the end of her stage one, a smile was no problem. This mum of 4. ages 18 to 24 (including a special needs child) has only been riding for 6 years. Marie has done a few multi stage events, but says this is way tougher than the rest. Marie originates from Switzerland but currently lives in New Zealand. We wish her luck on her maiden Epic ride.
STAGE 2:
Stage 2 at the 2017 ABSA Cape Epic, started with a bit of a shake up with the route being shortened by 40km due the threat of excessively high temperatures. All our mums today where at the race village in Elandskloof, about 26km outside of Greyton, where the race was originally due to finish.
Mum Supporting the Epic: Nicolette Smith, with 13-month-old Owen, were found taking shelter in the refreshment tent. She has been supporting her brothers Gavin and Brendan Williams 599-1 and 599-2 through five Absa Cape Epics, since 2009, and was very keen to share their 2017 Epic story so far. Their team had a troubling Stage 1 as they missed the cut off, by eight minutes, due to the Tech Zone not having the spares to fix a mechanical issue. They waited for over an hour for a spare part, which resulted in them missing the cut-off. They’re continuing, with their original number boards because there weren’t enough blue boards after the stage, which claimed a high number of DNFs.Mums working at the Epic: On the left, Sisipho Hlangabezo has a daughter and is proudly working at her 2nd Epic. She tells us that she really enjoys making the weary riders feel better and more relaxed after their ride. Nketeleng Lebata has 4 children and is well accustomed to working at the epic as this is her 4th time here. They are both massage therapists for Mangwanani and are from the Eastern Cape.
STAGE 3:
With the stage being a relatively short one today (by Epic standards), it was a mad rush for the TREAD team to get from the various water and spectator points, and then to the finish. The top riders came through Water Point 1 at a blistering pace, and it was barely ready for them. Thank goodness for google maps, we managed to get around and to the finish just in time to catch the Pros burn across the line. As usual there were mums at all the water points and we had a chat to a few.
Mum working at the Epic: Simone van Zyl from Paarl is working on her first Absa Cape Epic. She has an events management background and has been involved in high profile events including Wimbledon, The Open Golf, Royal Ascot, to name a few. Her 5 year old son Nicolaas, is a keen mountain biker and regularly rides the Jonkeeshoek 11km route. He thinks he has the coolest mum. We chatted to Simone at water point 1 on todays stage where she is the Pit Stop manager.Mum supporting the Epic: Meryl Russel, came well prepared to water point 3 with her travel coffee mug. Its was still early and the sun was yet to warm up the day. Meryl was trail side supporting her son Brent Russel, team number 609-2, who is competing in his fourth Epic, this meaning it was Meryl’s fourth time supporting too. They are from Cape Town and have been driving through to the spectater points and finish line, daily. Meryl has proudly, yet always anxiously, been supporting Russel since he started mountain biking 35 years ago. She admits that its the waiting that gets to her and panic mode sets in when he doesn’t arrive when expected! Brent is a qualifies mechanical engineer turned Pastor.Mum riding the Epic: Re-fueling in the Woolworths recovery Zone, post her stage 3 ride, is Louise Ferriera, Team 49-2. She told us she had a great day today as she liked the technical stuff. She is competing in her fourth Absa Cape Epic and had a triathlon background. When asked why she got into mountain biking, “I love being in nature”. Louise is a mother of two, daughter of 17yrs and a son of 20yrs. Her daughter is in matric and its a hectic year for them. Being a mum is always tricky as we usually but children and family before our own needs, and thats no different for Louise who fits in her training before work.
STAGE 4:
Stage 4 at the Absa Cape Epic felt like we experienced four seasons in one day. Fresh start with drizzle, windy and sunny, hot and humid, and now the rain. Despite this all the mums today were making the most of being in this privileged environment.
Mum supporting the Epic: Joretha Kruger and her pooch where busy preparing for the arrival of their rider Alex Kruger and his partner Robert Kitching Team 193. Alex is riding in his 8th Epic and Joretha supports him 100% of the way. Joretha is a mum of 2 young boys age 13 and 16. The eldest is adament that he wants to do the Epic with his dad. They are from Belville, so logistically supporting and doing the Epic is not too much of a challenge.Mum working at the Epic: We managed to pin a very busy Lise Ackermann down for 2 minutes to have a quick chat. Lisa is a mum of a 18 yr daughter from Cape Town. She rushes around the Woolworths recovery zone making sure the various stations are stocked and ready to meet every riders recovery needs. Woolworth invites employees to be part of their Epic crew, and you can see by her smile that she is perfect to welcome the weary riders. The highlights for Lisa are when the riders are appreciative of the support and being able to bring a smile to the riders faces.Mums riding the Epic: I personally truly admire any mum that can ride the Epic and these two are no different. Teresa Coetzee, team 79-1, a mum of two boys age 10 and 13 years is riding in her 4th Epic. She says the only way she is able to do this is because her husband doesn’t ride and she has an amazing support system at home. Teammate, 79-2, Bonny Swanepoel is riding her 11th Epic, she has an adult daughter and has been a single mother since her daughter was 4 years old. I could only dream of having her amount of enthusiasm and energy at the start of the day, never mind on the finish line. They both agreed that today was a fabulous day, but stage 3 was their favourite thus far. As far as training goes, they don’t ride outdoors much together, but do manage to corordinate their WattBike sessions.
STAGE 5:
2017 is the first Cape Epic where TREAD is a digital media only, as we stopped doing a print issue in about June 2016. It has been so liberating and we have been on a growth spurt ever since. It enables us to cover the Epic in a different way to before, and we are loving it!
Mums supporting the Epic: Candice Posthumus, mum to Daniel 10months and , Mathew 4 are supporting her husband Mike (Team 33-1). This is the fourth Epic she has supported Mike, the first one she was pregnant with Mathew Mike 33. Candice is convince Mike is super dad as he manages to fit in all his training, being a great husband and supportive dad. She has no doubt that their sons will follow in Dads footsteps.Mums working at the Epic: Playing an integral part of the daily services offered to the riders, Celeste Peters, owner of Galleria Laundry Services, is thrilled to be part of the Absa Cape Epic. She admits that being at the Epic every day so far has been like a bit of a holiday, because of the change of scenery. This is a family run business which they had had for 18 years. Bother her adult son and daughter are here helping out too. This is their first year at the Epic, but being the preferred supplier for the Protea Marriot Hotel group, she feels they are the right fit for the job. Her wish going forward, should they continue to be part of the Epic, is that the local laundramats that handle the casual clothes cleaning, be set up next to them, so she can guide and help them make their operations more slick, while being convenient for the riders.Mums riding the Epic: Doing her second Absa Cape Epic, Anel Henn (Team 287) seemed relived that they were passed the half way mark. She did her first Epic in 2015, and at the point thinks this will be her last. Being from Herman, she is familiar with a lot of the local trails, and this years event has been very convenient for them. he has 2 children age’s 9 and 7 years old, but says the 10th preparing for the event with 2 little ones is tough. She has been lucky that they have been at the event most days to support her. Anel is riding the race with her brother and has a suspicion that they are the only brother/sister team in the event. Her favourite stage so far was stage 4 as it wasn’t too technical and today had a lot of fun trails too.
STAGE 6:
The penultimate day of the 2017 Absa Cape Epic was this year’s “Queen Stage”. You can make of this name what you want, but I believe it refers to it being the “Mother of all stages”, the tough one or the one with all the thrills. For at least one of our mums today, it was just this for all the wrong reasons.
Mum supporting at the Epic: Im not sure if she realised it but, Brenda de Groot, had a ton of support from the collective mums at the end of todays stage 6. Brenda is mum to Robyn de Groot (Team 51-2), current South Africa Champions. Sabine broker her handle bar in a crash, and only had it replaced at water point 3. Our pic is from the end of Stage 5, happily dishing out a warm embrace. It was a successful stage with Robyn and her partner, Sabine Spitz (GBR) winning the stage in a sprint finish. Brenda waited patiently at the finish line for her daughter to arrive, and there was not shortage of hugs for her drained “baby” at the end. Brenda was composed as she compared the Epic to a rollercoaster ride. Lots of highs and lows, so unpredictable. They are all now focusing forward on Brenda’s son wedding where Robyn is excited to be a bridesmaid.Mum working at the Epic: Probably one of the toughest jobs on event of this magnitude in being Head Doctor at the Mediclinic tent. Jan Killops seems to tackle it with a smile. Jan is mum to two teenagers. She believes being involved in this event defines you and challenges you whether you are working on it or riding it. Jan’s hours are from around 4am to 11pm, and is thrilled that what she and her team do, makes a difference. Her hi lights at this epic, and its the seventh one she has been at, is the team she is working with. She is inspired by them and says that it is a privilege to work with such calm and dedicated people. Another hi light was treating two patients, earlier in the week, that were really not well. Jan and her team were able to “return them to showroom condition” and send them home to their families. Great job to Jan and the Mediclinic race village team.Mum riding the epic: Our mum for Stage 6 is the incredible Jeannie Dreyer (Team 438-1). So laid back, yet so super strong. I swear she is the modern day “action woman”. Mum to Ruby (4) and Callum (7), Jeannie is not afraid to suffer. She even seems to enjoy it. Her teammate, Sam Sanders says that Jeannie is too hard on herself. As with most mums that do these events, she credits her support team back home, her parents, for stepping in and looking after her children. As much as she is a keen rider, she is a super focused mum and says that she gives all of herself to her children and is incredibly proud of the little people they are becoming.
STAGE 7:
How so much can happen in eight days is difficult to comprehend. There were so many extremes, from weather conditions (4 deg C to over 40 dec C), emotional highs and lows (seeing riders you know succeed one day then struggle the next); and this year being most evident, the privileged VIPs vs. average Joes crew/staff treatment. It was just like being part of an enormous dysfunctional family for the week. But despite the extremes and different roles we all played, on some level we were all connected.
Our final post for the Mums at the EPIC features 2 ladies that are no strangers to the event. A mum supporting, Ingrid Taylor and a mum riding, her daughter Cherise Willeit. Ingrid for the most part was calm and composed, but as we were waiting at the finish for Cherise, and the clock kept ticking she became more and more anxious. “She should have been in by now”. But Cherise was just fine. Cherise and her team mate, Mikayla Webb (Team 59), were one of many teams riding for a cause. With Cherise being so well known at the Epic, their charity CANSAactiveILoveBoobies received plenty of coverage. The high light for Ingrid was seeing her daughter cross the line and being able to spend time with her grandson Thomas, while the highlight for Cherise was crossing the line and being re-united with baby Thomas.So thats a wrap from me, Joanne Badenhorst. I have supported my husband, Sean aka MrTread, through two Epics and worked at three. What most don’t realise, is that it is not glamours being involved in the Epic, on any level, unless you are lucky enough to have a fancy armband or your name on the list at the ABSA VIP marque. Its long hours and hard work. Somewhat like a rollercoaster. While you are on the ride you swear you will never do this again, but once it stops and you get off, you look back and think “I could do that again!”
