The hub for marathon mountain biking
“One man’s crazy is another man’s adventure” Back to where it all began 10 days ago, in the back of the backie, time to reflect on the ABSA Cape Epic 2012. This is the first year I have arrived with a few days to spare before throwing myself into the daily ABSA Cape Epic routine. […]
The final stage of the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic wasn’t the procession it was expected to be as defending champions and overall leaders, Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser, attacked their rivals on the 64km leg from Oak Valley to Lourensford to win a sixth stage and claim their second successive overall win as teammates. The […]
The ABSA Cape Epic 2012 is over for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. Unfortunately only half the team finished again, as last year – just the other half this time. Mike was there to welcome me over the finish line today though, like the good team-mate he is, despite his own disappointment at not being able to […]
South Africans Kevin Evans and David George of Team Nedbank 360Life shrugged off the bad luck they’ve endured over the past week to claim a dominant victory on Stage 6 of the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic at Oak Valley on Saturday. The sentimental favourites also continued their yo-yo-like status on the overall classification by moving […]
You heard from Mike yesterday that his knee pretty much gave up the ghost after a brutal few days. Hard stages at the ABSA Cape Epic, made harder by the conditions, and also by being raced aggressively. Go hard or go home, right? It was a tough call for Mike to make, but the right […]
Mountain biking is such a diverse sport now, with down hill, free ride, all mountain, dirt jump, street, XCO, XCM, Stage Racing, Short Track… what happened to just riding? The huge diversification of the sport has lead to amazing product development, and very deep ranges from a broad spectrum of manufacturers. This week, the level […]
Burry Stander (RSA) and Christoph Sauser (SUI) of the 36One-Songo-Specialized team showed just what complete mountain bike racers they are when they overcame wet, cold and muddy conditions to win Stage 5 of the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic on Friday. It was their fifth stage win in six days, but it will go down as […]
Stage Racing encompasses many ups and downs, and Stage 5 of the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic today showcased some of the downs, especially for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. The previous night in Caledon had been abysmal, by Cape Epic standards. Gale force winds combined with rain and cold temperatures to heavily dampen the camp, and then […]
It isn’t always the longest days with most climbing that are the hardest. That’s the main lesson from today. At “only” 105k and 2600m of climbing, it was shorter than the previous three stages, with a chunk less climbing and almost a third less distance than yesterday’s queen stage. It was also considerably cooler than […]
Stage racing offers a lot to people who choose to pursue some of the World’s best Mountain Bike Stage Races. It is difficult to share the entirety of the experience, but there are some things that are easy to relate to: our five senses. Many of these will relate directly to Marathon Mountain Biking too, […]
