(April 22-29) in South Africa with RAF-Andreas and Frogeater-Thomas with the goal of riding 572m/921km and 54478 vertical ft/16605hm in 8 stages, in 8 days.

We made our way to the starting point in Knysna independantly from each other. I barely got there on time and had to resist some con artists in Cape Town, while Andreas sniffed out the race in Knysna, the location of the 1st stage.
On Friday (April 21st), the day before the beginning of the race, we were sort of able to anticipate the approximate proportions of this organizationally perfectly planned stage race. It was the day of the bike trunk hand over. We also handed over our brains at this point, since we wouldn't be needing them after that.

Stage 1 (Saturday, April 22)
77 m/124 km
9186 vertical ft/2.800 hm

Our alarm clock rang at 5:30am; too early for us to want to get up. It had rained throughout the entire night and it didn't stop when we made our way to the starting line at 6:15am.

Andreas, totally awake and Thomas is still sleeping.

After a neutralisation period of 3m/5km the race began. We decided not to let ourselves be sucked in by the tempo of the race and to go about the whole thing comfortably.
Overall, it was sectionally very wavey, no long ascents, but pretty damn muddy. At mile 18/km 30 Andreas had worn down his back and actually spanking new brake pads - from now on he would brake steel on steel. I noticed this phenomenon for myself after 31m/50km. At the finish line we noticed that not only the break pads, but even the supports were completely worn down.
We still went crazy on the downhills. New techniques were called upon during 56m/90km without any real braking function. By the way, we weren't the only ones with defects such as these. We had never seen a marathon with as many break-downs, like in this first stage. Some of the aspirants were riding without a brake and using their feet as a braking mechanism, wearing away their shoes.

Once we got to this sign the man with the hammer hit us hard

.3m/0,5km from the finish, the man with the hammer hit me qith a destructive blow. I wanted to get off my bike, but Andreas pulled me the last few feet across the finish line. Yup, Andreas had taken precautions; he had sucked the guts out of 35 halves of oranges at the last snack stand. It took quite a while, but I guess it worked.
We were curious about how we would fare the next day.

Andreas washed his jersey!!!

Stage 2 (Sunday April 23)
72 m/116 km
6627 vertical ft/2.020 hm

I slept through the signal horn at 5am, was there even one? Andreas thoughtfully woke me at 5:30am. How gloriously wet it gets in Africa at night, just lovely. All of our clothes were damp. The 1 1/2 hours until the "standing in the starting block" at 7am, go by rapidly; grab breakfast, get dressed, pack bag and hand it off, get bike, BANG, the starting shot is fired at 7:15am.

I forgot to wash my jersey

The weather was much dryer, not warm, but acceptable.
I also had to accept the fact that that my Fatty with air suspension was now a Fatty without suspension. 2.8in/7cm lower in front... cuts through the wind easier and stretches the large thigh muscle more, how convenient. And I do happen to have quite a lot of power in my legs and lose Andreas, after a misunderstanding during our consultation, because of it... I thought he had passed and was trying to catch up. In reality he was riding in back of me, thinking that I was trying to bullshit him with my speed... weren't we gonna ride together(?).
Due to my rashness and lack of suspension in the fork, I got a colossal flat on a rocky descent that almost decimated my rim. But luckily I had my foot on the rim. At this point we were really threatened with being DONE for; 50m/80km to the finish with the cut off time at 5:15pm. Not even Sveny, Jörn and co. could have made it on foot ;-)
To cool off there were three passages through streams. Some of them had to be waded through knee-deep. I guess our shoes will dry when we get back to Germany.

Well, who is that climbing out of the river?

The whole thing was loaded with a few carry/push passages.
We rolled into the finish after 7 flats and slightly unnerved. And looky there: the camp is set up looking like a million bucks. PERFECT

Nice job! Thanks

Tomorrow we're looking at 80m/130km and something like 5249 vertical ft/1600hm - we are no longer intersted in the specifics.

Stage 3 (Monday April 24, the fast day)
76 m/122 km
5905 vertical ft/1.800 hm
And once again 5:30am, same f...ing procedure....
That day there were a lot of offroad slopes, a lot of speed and passing the torch in bigger groups. In the beginning the first flat of the day annoys us withing the first 3m/5km. Ans so we're the last guys in the field.
Andreas' left knee was screaming for attention by being in pain. A little bit of tape and some painkillers could have helped, but didn't. That was only fair ;-) , because my lower arms hurt due to my non-functioning suspension. Pain should be distributed evenly. I always knew where Andreas was, because of a sharp cry here and there, brought on by a sudden shooting pain that allowed me to guess his location. On the other hand, Andreas could locate me by my loud swearing, when the slopes got a little bumpy; going downhill over roots and rocks.
I only had two flats that day, which alleviated some of the cruelty that my body was going through a little bit. I STILL WANT UST!!!
And TADAA! Once again the camp was completely constructed at the finish line. And once again the food, which was pretty good, was stuffed into our machine-like bodies without any appreciation. Even two plates can be unsufficient.
Our clothes won't dry anyway.

The sun takes its leave around 5:30pm.......BYYEEE

Stage 4 (Tuesday April 25)
83 m/130 km
6890 vertical ft/2.100 hm
We actually finished without any breakdowns. Again, the track could be described as being wavey. Unfortunately there are no long ascents (good for Thomas). Those little waves wear you down (not Thomas, he loved that).
Andreas´ knee hurt, our legs were wicked tired, our a..es were raw. But whenever we thought that we felt shitty, we just had to take a look into the medical tent.

Coke guzzling contest at the snack stand

There were a number of off-road sections - that really had to be described as off the road. This really affected Andreas' wrists in a big way. I, Thomas, no longer have wrists, thanks to my rigid fork.
Andreas barely missed his first striking snake with his front tire.
And how could it have gone differently? The camp is up, the food is stuffed and we fell asleep at 9pm again. BURP, SNORE, TRALALA...

Stage 5 (Wednesday April 26)
71 m/114 km
4921 vertical ft/1.500 hm
I can't remember any breakdowns or anything else for that matter. I mean, we had given away our brains and with them our short term memory. Anyway, a day in Africa is the same as any other day in Africa ;-)
The route was Thomas' taste entirely. He literally flew over the flat, dusty slopes. Andreas ducked down in the slipstream could hardly keep up. Legs were burning. The group grew and grew and Thomas enjoyed leading the pack. Pirates in the triumphal procession.

Attack!!!

And Andreas chills out in pursuit

Stage 6 (Thursday April 27)
72 m/116 km
6562 vertical ft/2.000 hm
Very cloudy memories. Long, sunny ascents and a dreamy downhill to the ocean...wonderful. Well, wonderful for those with good suspension.

Green, green, green

One of the nicest stage locations

Stage 7 (Friday April 28)
90 m/145 km
9514 vertical ft/2.900 hm
The monster day, announced as the hardest leg in Cape Epic history.
The first 31m/50km went as always; wavey with a few small inclines. The temperature increased more and more. The 7.5m/12km ascent to the highest point of the race began at mile 37/km 60 in over 86°F/30°C heat. The trail was only partly ridable, due to the large amount of rubble. Thomas was pretty much destroyed. This was his darkest day. During the last longer asphalt ascent people could have passed me walking at a leisurly pace for the most part.

You can vaguely make out Thomas's ashes in the middle of the picture

Andreas, on the other hand, fared better. This was his terrain and he couldn't really understand why I was being such a slow-poke. In the end, we reached the finish line in an acceptable time.

Who's got his eye on my food?

Andreas takes a break from everything and contemplates the strategy for the last day of the race

That night we dared to enjoy a light beer.....WEAVE, SWAY

Stage 8 (Saturday April 29)
42 m/67 km
5577 vertical ft/1.700 hm
Finally we were allowed to sleep in. The stage began at 8:30am!!!
That days route was the best. Finally some mountainbiking; a lot of singletrails, the World Cup DH track of 1997, up and down through vineyards. The one annoying thing were the recreational bikers that were mixed in with the field during the technical sections. They fell from their bikes like windfall at the sight of a pebble and couldn't understand why all of us were in such a hurry. Once again, my lower arms nearly broke off on the descents, but hopefully Andreas had some fun, right?

This was the longest and hardest MTB stage race in the world? HUH?

And so it all came to an end. We finished in 149th place after a little over 60 hours. The winners (Christoph Sauser and Silvio Bundi from Switzerland) would have made it there and back in that time. What animals!!!

Come on PACK

About 300 teams tackled the race in the men's division originally. Even though it was a close call, we survived. Now it's time to mend our broken bodies. What's next?

CHEERS

Addendum (Thomas):
And what did I notice a few days later, when I unpacked my bike and took it down of the transport rack?
A colossally broken frame at the seat and chain stays. The whole thing was only held together by the back wheel. Good thing it's a Kanonental with a lifetime warranty and I'm the first owner....PHEW

Greetings from Andreas and Thomas