Stage 6 of the Absa Cape Epic was around Lourensford Estate over 87km with 2550 metres of climbing. It was made even more challenging by the rain and mud and then, even more challenging by some pre-race drama!
Day 7: Stage 6, Lourensford-Lourensford
Distance: 87km | Climbing: 2550m
Time: 5hr 58min 20sec | Position: 201 overall; 38 Master Men
General Classification: 195 overall; 33 Master Men.
Moved down 6 places overall and down 2 positions in Master Men.
MARK
Upon leaving Water Point 2 today, I had in my mouth, at the same time, two boiled potatoes, one cheese sandwich and one Marmite sandwich, which was all washed down with Coke and water, which was all very sandy. Incredible!
We were on the back foot from the get-go. When I collected my bike from my mechanic this morning, as we were pedalling towards our start chute, I realised the gear shifter wasn’t working at all. Catastrophe! It didn’t help that we were already running late.
So I went back to him and he had to put a completely new shifter on, which he did very quickly, but it did mean we missed our start batch and had to start in a later batch. Not ideal.
It was all a bit unfamiliar. From the start your pace is normally dictated by the riders you have been riding with and finishing around during the week. So we found ourselves pushing a bit harder than we normally would. There was a monster climb from early on. We had a lot of guys on our wheels. And then a few kays into the climb a few of them started passing us, which was pretty demoralising. We really struggled for the first half of the stage.
The trails were insanely muddy. There had been a lot of groups that had ridden through before us, which wasn’t ideal. It was crazy. At one point, after about 15 kays when we were quite high up the mountain and had been pushing our bikes up singletrack I just looked at Jimbo. He said: “Should we just go home?” Part of me thought he was being serious and I was more than up for it!
It then occurred to me that this would be how it was for the day and I mentally needed to adjust to being out there forever. Our morale was really low, probably the lowest it’s been this whole Epic. But thankfully we somehow made it down the mountain and from about halfway we found our groove again. We began to pick up riders we recognised from our original start batch and that was good for our spirits.
There was so much singletrack today and a lot of it was completely unrideable, which is a real shame because ordinarily those trails are fantastic. But today, it was just absolute carnage. It was really just about damage control today. All things considered, we didn’t do too badly.
Tomorrow is also another tough day. We are in quite good spirits but are really looking to the finishing. Hopefully it’s a smooth stage and the rain stays away.
JIMBO
Somehow, every time the Cape Epic comes to Lourensford, the trails are a mud fest, which they were today! So, a super tough stage made even harder by the mud from the first three kays on. It’s always quite interesting just sliding around corners without even trying. It was quite demotivating. It’s hard to get your head in the game when you are so wet and cold and your bike is making awful noises. But after about 40 kays, we perked up and managed to have fairly decent second half of the stage.
The body is sore now. Hands, back and neck have taken massive shots. And of course all on top of the added anxiety of Mark’s broken shifter before the start. But all in all, a fairly solid day. I think the guy that invented mud, must live in Somerset West…
Stage 7 on Sunday is the final stage. It’s another ride around the spectacular Lourensford Estate covering 64km with 2100 metres of climbing! The finish will be a welcome sight!
You can follow Mark and Jimbo’s progress live by downloading the Epic Series app and selecting them under ‘Riders’. Their team name is Barneys Army/Ride 4 Child and the team number is 397.
Mark and Jimbo are riding for two charities: The Player’s Fund and Ride for a Child. The Player’s Fund is an official charity of the Absa Cape Epic and primarily raises funds to assist rugby players that have suffered catastrophic injuries. Find out more on the official website here. You can find out more about the Ride for a Child charity via Mark and Jimbo’s fundraising link here.
