Cape Epic Stage 5
Posted by Nicholas Hops on Saturday, March 31, 2012
Submariners Log:
Waking up today, in the rain, standing in the chute, in the rain, starting and riding, in the rain...Stage 5 was horrible. It rained the entire night so everything was wet and sodden. I don't like cold, with a body fat level like mine anything below 15degrees can bring on pneumonia so I dressed up as warm as I could and headed off to the start chute as late as possible. We had 118km and 2600m of climbing to be done so it was going to be a long day from the beginning! We started on fast gravel roads, which coupled with the rain became fast muddy slides of death. The first climb was muddy and the rain subdued for a while so the going was good. Coming over the top of the main climb it was raining incredibly hard and was incredibly cold. I had to keep sprinting ahead of dad and stopping on the side of the road to do star jumps and push-ups because I couldn't feel my hands or feet. The descent down to water point 2 was made even worse thanks to the freezing cold and rain, at the water point we caught Trevor and Hentus who had been having mechanical issues. Standing looking miserable in the rain, it really was horrible. I've never been so cold and wet and displeased at the same time than I was yesterday! I had to smash it down the hills just to keep myself warm, it was that cold!
Because of all the rain, the single track at the end was incredibly hard, slipping and sliding all over the place. Every pedal stroke pushed the bike the wrong way, it was A LOT OF FUN! dad hates single track, but I loved it. Mashing the pedals through the trees and thick mud was seriously fun. Vix, Mom, Kurt, Crystal and Jenny all came out today and did some shouting and screaming at the final waterpoint and the finish line which was cool but I was so cold and bleak the only thing I needed was to jump in the shower and heat up!
What a day, we finally finished in 8h32, about 45 seconds less than the 143km we did two days before.
Tomorrow is a short day, 85km but with 2200m of climbing
Nick
Waking up today, in the rain, standing in the chute, in the rain, starting and riding, in the rain...Stage 5 was horrible. It rained the entire night so everything was wet and sodden. I don't like cold, with a body fat level like mine anything below 15degrees can bring on pneumonia so I dressed up as warm as I could and headed off to the start chute as late as possible. We had 118km and 2600m of climbing to be done so it was going to be a long day from the beginning! We started on fast gravel roads, which coupled with the rain became fast muddy slides of death. The first climb was muddy and the rain subdued for a while so the going was good. Coming over the top of the main climb it was raining incredibly hard and was incredibly cold. I had to keep sprinting ahead of dad and stopping on the side of the road to do star jumps and push-ups because I couldn't feel my hands or feet. The descent down to water point 2 was made even worse thanks to the freezing cold and rain, at the water point we caught Trevor and Hentus who had been having mechanical issues. Standing looking miserable in the rain, it really was horrible. I've never been so cold and wet and displeased at the same time than I was yesterday! I had to smash it down the hills just to keep myself warm, it was that cold!
Because of all the rain, the single track at the end was incredibly hard, slipping and sliding all over the place. Every pedal stroke pushed the bike the wrong way, it was A LOT OF FUN! dad hates single track, but I loved it. Mashing the pedals through the trees and thick mud was seriously fun. Vix, Mom, Kurt, Crystal and Jenny all came out today and did some shouting and screaming at the final waterpoint and the finish line which was cool but I was so cold and bleak the only thing I needed was to jump in the shower and heat up!
What a day, we finally finished in 8h32, about 45 seconds less than the 143km we did two days before.
Tomorrow is a short day, 85km but with 2200m of climbing
Nick
