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Anyone riding the Cape Epic next year? Looking for any advice of those with experience of it and perhaps if there is anyone looking for a training partner around mid-Sussex?
Not riding it but whenever I’ve needed advice about biking in South Africa, which has been a fewtimes, I’ve just asked on bikehub.co.za always been very helpful there.
No, would love to but not next year. I have done it twice in the past and it's an amazing event. You're treated like a pro athlete from the moment you sign on and the organisation is second to none.
With regard training, lots of road riding is probably the most useful advice. That is in no way a snipe at the event, but you are going to have long days in the saddle where you are just pedalling long distances. Training in Sussex in the winter is going to be a bit of a slog off road.
The event is multi-day and it wears you down. Any individual day is not that bad on paper, but the accumulated distance and climbing does take its toll. Get your bum used to being on a saddle day after day.
If you can still buy the massage package, I found that useful to put me back together each day. Also the drinks service which provides your own bottles of chosen gloop at the mid points and the end of the each stage.
The likelihood is the temperature change will come as a shock - you'll be heading over at the back end of winter straight into late summer/autumn temperatures. Make sure you're drinking and eating correctly.
There are some big hills over there, which can't easily be replicated in southern England. Try and find a way to prep for long uphill drags.
A lot of the riding is jeep track and gravel road, however there will be technical sections and some singletrack on each stage. The likelihood is you will have far greater skills in these areas than the locals (I appreciate that's a generalisation, but you will see what I mean), so make sure you get ahead of people before entering them to make the most of it. If it rains or there are any muddy sections, European riders seem much better equipped to deal with it (you will have just been riding through winter).
The campsite is woken at 5am every morning - occasionally it can be chilly so have a warm jacket/jumper with you. I found it useful to have all my kit for each day in one large freezer bag within the provided holdall and then I wasn't scrabbling round for different pieces of kit. Try and have as many days of clothing as possible - yes, you can hand wash or get some kit washed in certain campsites but you're going to want to rest, eat and sleep.
Book some extra time at the end of the event to enjoy Cape Town and the winelands. It's a stunning area.