Uncut – Paul Du Toit Talks About The ABSA Cape Epic 2014
Mountain Biking Beast In The Backyard…
The ABSA Cape Epic is not for the fainted hearted, dubbed the mountain biking event of the year, it see’s avid bikers and tenacious newbies tackle the rigorous 718KM journey across the Western Cape.
The adventure see’s entrants cover the long trip over 8 days, 14 850 meters of climbing thrown in for good measure and to test the sheer will of mountain bikers looking to complete the race and be awarded a medal.
A team consists of two members and the race can only be completed if both members cross the finish line. Nobody can help us understand this more than our own local father and son team, Paul and Johannes du Toit from the Wine Village Hermanus.
Paul has been cycling his whole life but never in races or as he says: “Anything more than 10KM.” The reason for eventually signing himself up was that the Absa Cape Epic had been his passion for more than 10 years, Paul joined them in 2004 as the Race Office Manager, a position he held until 2013. In May 2013 he challenged his son, Johannes, to join him in cycling the 2014 Epic, the game was on!
Training started in September 2013, 6 months too late for Paul to be fit and strong enough. The first and only other Mtb ride that Paul did was the Attakwas Extreme Challenge, about four weeks prior to the Epic.
Johannes and Paul work very different times and Johannes is also the father of two very young boys which meant training together was hard. Paul had time off during the week and did most of his training over weekends. They did however make sure that they got together on the road at least once a fortnight.
General preparation consisted of cycling, cycling and more cycling with some SHITS (Short high intensity training sessions) in between. There are 100’s of training programs and they had to adapt them to suite their difficult working hours. The diet program saw that they ate as healthy as possible to drop weight and gain muscle power.
Paul describes the toughest part of the race as an epic story! “100km in the saddle, mountain up, mountain down, that is the Epic. The rain, mud and strong winds did not make it any better. Sleeping in a small tent with 1,200 other snoring, talking, grunting etc. riders made the little rest-time we had very difficult!”
50km into day six Paul developed an over saturated sugar condition and became delirious and powerless. Johannes, pushed him for about 5km before they realized it was of no use. Johannes then went ahead to complete the whole distance…
Paul says that interested mountain bikers should start training well in advance with slow long rides, getting a ride partner to join you as frequently as possible is a big boost [does not need to be your Epic partner], experiment with various feeding plans and once you found what works for you, STICK TO IT!
The Hemel en Aarde Valley at Hermanus has some of the most beautiful mountain bike trails in the Western Cape and they add new sections every month. It is an ideal training area for any future Absa Cape Epic rider.
Cycling through hardship and joys, with his son, Johannes, is Paul’s fondest memory of the ABSA Cape Epic.
Photos by: ABSA Cape Epic
It has always been a dream to cycle the epic. – Paul du Toit