Not being in social media, and Knowing a few here have shown an interest, I thought I'd post updates and such as the week pans out!
Headed off to Heathrow at crack of dawn today... And tonnes of a3/m25 traffic on the way, but Heathrow meet and greet, and club class lounge made it well worth it!
The cost difference was minimal when you take into account the fact a bike bag AND suitcase are included.
Plus... Bling innit!
Just about to board the delayed plane to Zagreb... Sigh...
And for those who doubted..2 bike bags and luggage Can be squeezed into a Polestar!
DrP
Hope you have a good 'un. Slightly jealous as i sit here listening to hail stones bounce off of the windows🙄
looks like some epic riding is ahead of you!
What is your team name? Seems to be a fair few taking part, looking at the starters list!
Good luck
I rode some of the trails on Krk and Rab during my euro tour last year.
You're in for a treat
Lack of pre-flight Stella is disappointing 😂
Go the OC! Enjoy fellas.
1124am start time for the prologue tomorrow....
Will give us a chance to warm up the legs, then properly give it some!
Only 12km tomorrow (seeding event) so happy to burn all the fuel... A full afternoon of resti g awaits!
DrP
That looks like a BCBR holdall in your boot. I’ve got one like that 😜
It is.. Phil did it back in 2018...
Things I've noted here so far...
I am MASSIVELY under prepped! Not in terms of riding..but it seems everyone has team kit and matching everything!
We did a last minute panic buy of cheapo endura tops as you do actually have to match!
Everyone has shaved legs... Not us lol!
It seems hard to be a pro level cyclist (female AND male) and have a 'bad' bottom!
Just out for a warm up spin...
DrP
Sounds amazing Im well jel,
Enjoy the trails and pert bums
8th I think in cat. Might be more to finish though. Anyway, good work The OC!
Yup..I think all in now..
8th in amateur men (and BOY are we amateur!)..51st out of everyone...
Had a drink and dip in the sea after! Baltic..but refreshing!
Manage to overtake about 2 or 3 pairs in the first km by stoping through the beach section and first climb... Then picked off a few more on the road climb sections...
One final pair overtake on the awesome loose and dusty descent (which annoyingly I didn't record as I'm an idiot who doesn't know how to use my camera!)...then just a 'roadie tap out' for the flat final few km....
Hard, with average HR of 174 for the stage!
Relaxing now... Prepping bike and kit for tomorrow!
<hr />
DrP
Looks great, the best of luck DrP. 👍
Have fun! We are out there end of May for some non racing riding.
Oof... Stage 1 finished... Already pooped 😂
Just over 4 hours to complete it..the fastest amateur team were about 40 + min quicker!
Legs just ran out of top end for the last climb, so sat and span...
The descents were fun..even enjoyed the road descents!
We've dropped a few places overall - expect this trend to continue 😂😂
DrP
Just great to be part of something like that. Times who’s counting?
DrP, which evoc bag is that please?
I tried one and found it a little short for my bike.
This caught my eye when it was in the mag last year. I'd struggle to justify the expense of it - are there any similar events that aren't quite so dear?
My wife did the Med Epic a few years ago. Said it was really good, although she had a huge crash on one of the days. But being a top level event there was a moto medic there in minutes and got her arm stapled back together trackside and then she finished the day with only a small time loss, and was fine for the rest of it. Well, sore but fine. Yeah, really well organised and run is the gist of it.
Accommodation was reasonable too, as there were lots of holiday apartments available at out of season prices, all just a short ride (mostly) from the start of each day's race.
Love the thread, keep the updates coming!
@munrobiker - I'm doing the Alps Epic in June which is about half the price and allows solo entrants (not pairs only) and you can organise your own accommodation which might reduce the price - though logistics are not straightforward. There are other cheaper events out there. 4 Islands is run by the Ironman company (like Cape Epic), they do run expensive events. Maybe someone else can comment on whether they're worth it.
Some other events I looked into:
Med Epic
Girona Singletrack
Andorra Epic
Transalp
Alps Epic
Sudety MTB
Swiss Epic
Algarve Bike Challenge
Roc D'Azur
Yep, loving the thread, keep us up to date.
Well indeed, small world, small island and small town... I've been chatting to you today at the rider bag station for Strip Stop bags..... I'm sure you enjoyed the leg stretch climb to the treeline and moonscape beyond, today.... I took my bike up there yesterday at got caught in the storm.
See you tomorrow at Merag and the start on the ferry....
Ah! Are you the bag guy then....! Thank you for all you do!
As for value...
Well, I'm massively impressed at the organisation, logistics, AND feeding strategy!
It was advertised as breakfast and eve meal (which tonight is on the boat..last 2 nights were in the Baska hotel).. but each day there's also been a proper lunch/post ride meal too..
3 feed stops today..3 tomorrow (80km)... So plenty of opportunity to refill and refuel.
Also, each pair have a GPS device which ,I think, live tracks you for the interim stage times! Plus has an SOS button. For punctures and being tired I guess 😉
I'm just being antisocial hanging in my cabin watching YouTube and drinking local tramp juice!
I PROMISE tomorrow I'll figure out how my helmet cam works! Thought I was recording more awesome descents and vistas, but I was actually just turning the camera on..not recording!
DrP
Oh..the bag is an Evoc bike bag PRO… i was going to borrow a bike bag/box, but newer bikes are about 40mm longer than their bag would carry!
It was expensive..over £400..but it’s an investment and actually really good. The ‘sled’ made rebuilding it a breeze..put everything back in place on the sled, THEN just do the wheels!
DrP
Fantastic stuff, keep it up.
The idea of the boat accommodation looked very cool!
Some ironing today on the ferry during the crossing... DJ and pumping chooons...
Sending out an SOS/message in a bottle...
Boom..stage 2 done..
despite the legs and body feeling VERY tired yesterday, and a bit stiff this am, we pushed on through and loosened up after a few km, which was nice as today was an 82km, 2060m climbing fiesta!
Weather was grade A..sun and warmth, but not boiling.. despite that we were grateful for the feed stops as the sweat poured!
These islands really are the land of rocks - miles of road with (small) baby head rocks made for some challenging sections, but interspersed were gravel tracks, long road climbs (which though dull, are kinda a welcome break!) and some teckers descents!
After a puncture yesterday (despite a rimpact CX in the rear) I added a few more PSI to the tyres (something like 22 front, 25 rear…normally I run about 20). No punctures or issues today, but you don’t half get pinged about with harder tyres!
Please to come in at 4hr 48 min, to keep our overall position of 15th in category.
Great to catch up with a fellow STWer Rikmeister at the bag drop (well, technically pickup) after the race… a few tequila and lemonades and some group (all included) went down a treat, and now chilling on the boat after having had an AMAZING shower!
I managed to figure out the camera, so hold fast whilst YouTube does it’s thang, and I’ll post the video!
I forgot I’d pre-paid for the photo package, so here’s some pro pics from the prologue and stage 1..
DrP
EDIT..here you go!
Stage 3 today... A short one at only 40km but had 820m of climbing in basically 3 climbs!
Started flat on the coastal paths, then went a bit inland for some loamy forest... Then a fair bit of road climb to a challenging rocky descent (steep and wide ..Phil had a bit of a tumble..see the vid 😂)..
Then STRAIGHT BACK UP a practically 1:1 climb 🥵🥵
Nice to have a shorter stage, and now on the boat cruising to the next island..
Enjoy the clip!
DrP
Damn! That looks amazing!! Assuming Phil is ok?
A few more pro shots from yesterday...
Boy am I tired! I feel I could sleep for another 5 hours! But a 1005 start time today means we must go go goooooo!
Hands and sore from gripping on the rocky descents... I've callouses on my callouses...
But Rab appears to be a lovely island!
DrP
I'm enjoying the updates and vids, and am quite jealous!
But Rab appears to be a lovely island!
Apparently it's "the happy island" - though I wasn't too happy with one of the climbs we did there...
Final(ish) update as have spent the day travelling, so proper pooped...
Plus can't download the hi res images on phone for some reason,...
Stage 4 finished 2 days back... FANTASTIC route, with some decent techy bits and fun sniggletrack descents!
Basically, since stage 2 the top 15 amateur men pairs stayed in the same position... Hence "The OC" finished 14th in cat, and something like 61st out of everyone.
I tell you what though.. The fast lot are VERY fast... I mean, the UCI teams are incredible... The speed they smash through the stages is mighty impressive!
Anyway..back to the event..
I REALLY Loved it.. Beautiful islands, great logistics by the epic crew...and I really liked the stages. I'd call it "euro XC"... In the sense that if most of the euro riders had a go at Brighton Big Dog, or a gorrick XC, they'd poop their pants at the technicality of them! The Europeans seem to love a long gravel/Stony path... I personally didn't mind that, but Phil my riding partner got a bit bored of the long flat sections. He's more of an Enduro rider, so was gagging for technical trails. I'd say each day there were probably 2 or 3 descent descents.. for him that wasn't enough...but I really like the marathon feel of the event, so would DEFFO do again...
DrP
glad you had a good time DrP. Pics and vids looked like it was good fun.
Interesting about the lack of tech and gnar.
Nice to meet you both and pleased you had a great time on the islands and importantly, it was well organised...
If you are up for Swiss Epic and a stage up the Gnarr-o-meter let me know and I can do the shuttle to the race for you, I'm close to Basel.
Good ride The OC! Looks good.
What a fantastic experience. Dare i ask how much all that set you back?
