Author Archives: Saddlesaws

We rode really well for 101km today!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Saddlesaws

Pity the stage was 120km. We left Tulbagh knowing that the first 40km to WP1 (water point) was long gravel roads and fast jeep track. Sitting behind a lead rider the slipstream offers up to 25% advantage in effort required … Continue reading →

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Left standing at the alter….

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Saddlesaws

As the cutoff for Stage 3 approached, I wandered over to the finish line not expecting the drama that was about to unfold. Riders need to complete the stage in the allotted time which is set depending on the length … Continue reading →

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What the buck went on in Stage 1

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Saddlesaws

It’s a little late to be filling you in on the what happened yesterday on Stage 1 as I am sitting here at at the Saronsberg wine farm near Tulbagh, after having survived Stage 2! So perhaps it’s worth making … Continue reading →

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What’s a little prologue between friends?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Saddlesaws

Before we get on to the prologue, a little background info on the format of the Cape Epic race. Obviously we ride mountain bikes. The course follows (a little) tar, (more) district roads, (lots of) farm roads, (some) rugged jeep … Continue reading →

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A major victory today

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Saddlesaws

I am quite sure that I have previously wondered on these pages why any-(regular)-one would enter a multi-day test of endurance, will and character. Stage racing can be pretty tough going and yet along 1199 others I lined up it … Continue reading →

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My extreme-o-meter is broken

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Saddlesaws

Emily writes from the Turnberry Lodge in Oudtshoorn… Just a week ago I was sitting in this very spot with a spinning head and sinusitis frantically typing up an assignment. I knew what it meant to be starting a mountain … Continue reading →

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After all is said and done, more was done than said.

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Saddlesaws
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How can just 3 hours be so hard??

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Saddlesaws

It’s quite simple really. The basics. Screw up on the basics an you can expect the consequences. The basics of bike riding: You can only go X hard for Y long After X times Y you will run out of … Continue reading →

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On a scale of 1 to 10, I am at a zero!

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Saddlesaws

Emily crosses the Kamanassie… The cape pioneer trek has so far reached many new extremes for me. Extreme awesomeness, extreme pain and then there’s just extremeness… The part when my processing power falls below that of a dying birthday card … Continue reading →

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Where did you finish today?

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Saddlesaws

The trail through the Kamanassie mountains has to be seen to be believed. We headed out for todays short 65km stage, leaving de Rust on a trail that becomes progressively more primitive – starting out as a narrow gravel road, … Continue reading →

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