The hub for marathon mountain biking
As touched on yesterday, when talking about DNF’s, we read a lot about races in the results sheets alone – even though they don’t always relay the whole story of a race. At the moment, it seems the 4th Stage of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic is set to be another race where the results […]
When a 94k stage with almost 2,000m of climbing is described as a ‘rest’ or ‘easy’ day, you know something odd is going on. But that’s the Absa Cape Epic for you; it doesn’t really play by normal rules. And it’s certainly true that after Monday’s 96k sandfest and yesterday’s loooong 146k day, maybe today […]
Today was the Queen stage at the Absa Cape Epic for 2013. A mere 146km from Citrusdal to Saronsberg wine estate in Tulbagh, with 2350m of climbing. It was billed as something of a ‘roadie’ stage; and indeed there was a decent amount of tar and dirt road. Despite the length, this was almost certainly […]
The ABSA Cape Epic camp woke to cold temperatures and a heavy dew in Citrusdal this morning. This was far removed from what all racers would experience today. The temperature was already starting to lift before the 7am start, and the heat from the pace came soon after. There is an air of familiarity in […]
Stage racing is a fantastic way to experience the sport of Marathon mountain biking. You get to race hard every day, ride in some amazing locations, and meet like minded people from around the globe. At the ABSA Cape Epic, this experience is elevated beyond what you could ever expect. Today, the Prologue was raced […]
With just two days to go until the 10th Absa Cape Epic starts, the top professional riders were gathered in Cape Town to be presented to the world’s mountain biking media. And the collection of riders was highly impressive. With a mix of new Cape Epic riders, World Champions, Olympic medallists, and race veterans, one […]
The 10th ABSA Cape Epic is just days from starting – but those with a season plan will also have an eye on what is beyond the HCS ranked Stage Race in the Western Cape. Mountain Bike Stage Races can be all consuming events, especially at one as prestigious and arduous as the Cape Epic. […]
There’s barely three weeks to go to one of the biggest stage races on the calendar – the 2013 ABSA Cape Epic. So it’s time for a preview of the race. The race kicks off on 17 March, and runs for eight days, taking in some of the most beautiful areas of South Africa’s Western […]
The current edition of premium mountain bike magazine, Privateer, includes a 20-page feature on this year’s ABSA Cape Epic, in which Subaru-MarathonMTB.com riders Mike Blewitt and Will Hayter attempted to put to rights their abortive race from 2011, with mixed results. There’s some great photography in there as well from the Sportzpics team, led by […]
What the Cape Epic giveth… She can just as easily take away. Over the eight days of the Absa Cape Epic I found new levels of strength and new depths of determination. With every passing obstacle, emotional, physical, or meteorlogical, I uncovered a piece of me which had previous been obscured. It seemed, by day […]
