Now though, reality is setting in. Some riders are facing the fact that in a rugged mountain bike race with 120-kilometer stages, they cannot race at all-out speeds day after day. I had some idea of what we would face; I have competed in La Ruta de los Conquistadores, Trans Alp and several other stage races.
Today we awoke before dark and headed to the breakfast tent, where riders from South Africa and from around the world were fueling up for the toughest stage ever in the Cape Epic's history. Some racers were already in riding gear, some wearing pajama pants, t-shirts and Crocs; some spoke German, some Italian, some Russian and even others many different styles of English. Common to all were bleary eyes and weary faces. Perhaps they were dreading the hardest day of the Cape Epic, or maybe the realization of seven more days of racing on noodle-legs, sore butts and raw feet was beginning to sink in...
You can read the rest of my recap from Stage Two at the Trek/VW team diary.
And be sure to check out our latest photos. If you haven't seen it already, Cycling.TV is providing awesome real-time coverage and daily shows. There are links on the News page.
Enjoying the adventure,
Jeremiah
Labels: Cape Epic 2008, Endurance Racing, Epic Adventures
posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 8:15 PM 
