The days all blur together and it is really surprising to realize that we just completed the sixth of eight days on the Cape Epic. Friday? Really? Are you sure? Only two days left to go sounds close to the end but there is still quite a bit of riding left to be. Tomorrow in particular is going to be a test as even though it is “only” 96km there will be around 3000 vertical meters of climbing to be done. That is basically from harbour to the top of Table Mountain. Three times!

For those interested in the numbers (and I am not sure there are any), some race data

Now here’s the interesting bit. Total riding time to the end of stage four was just over 24 hours, so about a day. During that time we expended 18,567 Calories. Keeping in mind that a during an average day – work, family, sleep, I expend about 1950 calories, so riding the Epic uses up energy at about 10 times the normal rate! And you have to get that back by eating. A lot. Plus of course you need to be hydrated which means roughly 8 to 10 liters of fluid a day. Water, energy drink and coke being the main ones. A medic mentioned to me that they had stocked up on 20% more rehydration bags (saline drips) than last year and that they had exhausted their entire supply by the end of stage 3. And indication of how hot and tough the race has been.

Your body starts to rebel at all the food and liquid you are stuffing into it and you just don’t feel like eating. How irritating that just when you can eat whatever you want to, you kind of can’t really.

So here we are on Friday afternoon after another tough stage (there is no other kind). Only 75km today but with almost 2000m climbing and 22km on single-track there was almost no flat bit at all. And some of the up was steep enough to grind away in “granny” – you easiest gear – for long stretches, which did not feel easy at all! We were fortunate to start at 7am with the front runners, but even we felt the heat in the vineyards on the slopes. Due to possible congestion the start was staggered over an hour and a half with the slowest riders starting when it was already hot. Plus they will be out there for longer. Ain’t going to be pretty.

Along the way we passed the leading ladies attending to a flat tyre. Also notices that Yolande Speedy was bleeding a bit from the elbow area. As they passed us again shortly I chatted to her partner Catherine Williamson. She had both arms swathed in bandages from the previous days, and quipped that Yolande only took the tumble in order to benefit from the attentions of Cathy’s hunky medic. Good teamwork!

Laura and the kids were waiting at the finish again and it was super to see them. Michael was easy to spot!