Blogs by Professional Cyclists - Professional Cycling Unplugged™

by Matthew Weatherley-White (Rebecca’s team mate on Specialized/Red Bull), Mar 27

Finally. A day of real mountain biking. Rebecca and I have been – in all modesty – constantly surprised by the relatively low level of technical skill demonstrated by most of the riders in the field. We’ve seen insane fitness and a huge amount of enthusiasm for daily suffering… but not a lot of skill on display. We’ve used this to our advantage, repeatedly, over the past week, but the opportunities for really throwing down on hairy single track have been few and far between. Not so today…

After the typical road racing madness for the first twenty kilometers – including watching one rider huck himself off a bridge as he was trying to pass the entire field during the neutral roll-out when the road pinched to a single-lane river crossing – we settled down to a solid, steady pace sitting in the top thirty teams and got on with our day in the saddle. Following a surprisingly technical climb (not particularly steep but rarely out of the granny gear), to a peak deep in a wilderness preserve called the Woolfkloof, we dropped into the finest descending of the entire race. Ripping down an ancient and heavily-eroded jeep track, we flew past riders who had stacked themselves on the big drops, bunged their bikes by smacking rocks or were just generally over their heads. Finally reaching the bottom, we looked at each other with huge grins and mentally high-fived each other all the way to the next moment that required our immediate attention.

Down from the Woolfkloof, we disappeared into a forest of Eucalyptus and Fynbos that hid a most satisfying, swooping, rolling single track that dropped a further 700 vertical feet and delivered the most satisfying single-track experience of the race. Of course, with a cumulative drop of nearly 2,000 ft, we had to climb back out to cross another peak in the Cape Nature Conservation area called Kogelberg. With the sun peeking out and a bit too much enthusiasm spent on the early parts of the stage, we pared our pace and steadily ground out the nearly one hour climb that topped out on a wind-blown ridge with a panoramic view of what seemed like all of South Africa spread below us.

We were surrounded by the teams with whom we had been racing for much of the past week as we punched out the last few, stiff, hot climbs and cruised the final, freshly built single track into Oak Valley, yet another gorgeous wine-making area in the Western Cape.

We are sitting solidly in 6^th place now in a stout mixed field.  With just 60 km left to race tomorrow and a 10 minute gap to the 5^th place team, the results will most likely stand.  There is still a solid day with 1500 meters of climbing and anything can happen.  As with each day, the goal is to stay safe, race hard and enjoy the scenery.  We are looking forward to the final finish line and closing the books on an incredible week of racing and training.

Our final report will tabulate calories burned, kilometers climbed, heart beats, average speed and a host of other really interesting details that have been recorded on our Suunto watches this entire week.  I guess it really was an 8 day work week.

Thanks for tuning in! 

Absa Cape Epic, Stage 5, 111 km, 2233 meters ascent

by Rebecca Rusch, March 26

I hate road racing.  That’s the title of this posting for stage 5 of the Absa Cape Epic.  Today’s stage was the last super long one, 111km and “only” 1546 meters of climbing. As usual, the first hour of the race was hard for me.  I don’t have a stitch of fast twitch muscle and I usually require a long warm up before events.  Logistically, it’s not possible here to warm up, so when the gun goes off, I’m pinned immediately.  For many of the stages there are long sections of dirt or paved roads, so being able to stay with a strong group offers a huge advantage and the opportunity to rest and recover while still moving at a fast pace.  Unfortunately, my diesel engine has not allowed us to stay where we want to be for the first part of the race.  Once I’m warmed up and moving well, we then have to pick our way back up through the field and try to close the gaps between packs of riders.  It ends up being like a very hard interval session that goes on for hours.   Most days we end up passing people for the second half of the day, but today we really paid for the extra work.

Today felt like my weakest day of the whole race.  I’m not sure why I was extra tired.  Perhaps it’s the 500 km we’ve already ridden and 6 intense days of racing.  I just wasn’t my normal self felt like I was working way too hard.  I am really feeling the lack of miles under my belt, the heat and the challenges of a racing style that is not my forte.  I know this is a long race, but each day is 5-6 hours with a very fast, explosive pace.  Over 6 days, we’ve raced about 22 hours.  Normally, I’d race that amount of time in one day.

The last 20 km of today’s stage was very hilly and the heat was intense.  I struggled into the finish today and unfortunately we dropped from 5^th to 6^th in the mixed ranking.  I was really affected by the heat again and am trying to take full advantage of the recovery this afternoon.  Natasha and Claire have been incredible taking care of us with massage and nutrition.  Our Specialized camp scene has been a welcome reprieve at the end of each day.  It has been great to roll in, sip on recovery drinks, watch Benno and Dylan completely rebuild the bikes and share race stories from the day.  There is a constant flow of people coming by Camp Specialized to say hi, get mechanical help and just hang out.

I am looking forward to the final finish line in Lourensford in 2 days.  However, I will miss our nomadic lifestyle and the camaraderie that has developed around this race.

Tomorrow’s stage is 86 km with 1546 meters of climbing.  It’s rumored to be the most technical stage in any Cape Epic race ever.  Perhaps it will be less of a road race and will suit my strengths a bit more.

Cheers from a hot and tired Rebecca

by Rebecca Rusch, Mar 25

This stage was reported to be an “easy” day. I think saying any day of the Cape Epic is a bit of an oxymoron. We are tired, bruised and the affects of this many days of racing are starting to show. Matthew and I are both feeling fine, but the legs are sore and the 5am wake up call is taking its toll on me!

The stages begin with a mass start of 1200 racers. Teams are lined up in zones based on their overall time and placing. Since we have been sitting in the top 5 in the mixed division, we are allowed to start in Zone A with about 200 other riders. You can feel the weight of the other 1200 riders pressing behind you and the starts are always fast and furious with a cluster of athletes jockeying for position. The first 30 minutes of these days are my least favorite part of the day. It’s difficult to keep track of your teammate, hard to stay safe in the jumble of riders and quite a rude awakening with no warm up.

Today’s start was a neutral roll out through the sleepy town of Greyton. A car was leading us out through the town and onto the open roads. Unfortunately, the course marshal must not have had his Red Bull this morning because he took a wrong turn and lead the whole entire field into a dead end road. The whole field was stopped and confusion set in. We were only 5 minutes from the start and rumor circulated through the field that there would be a re-start. The pack mentality made people push other riders and trample through gardens. The group was making its’ way back toward the start and then just kept going. The re-start never happened and in the confusion, Matthew was pushed over and I lost track of him. Hundreds of people passed us before we realized the race was proceeding despite the botched start. I rode for about 30 minutes not knowing where Matthew was. He was behind me working hard to catch up. When we finally found each other, we were among hordes of recreational riders. We’ve been riding in about 40^th position overall for the first three stages, but today’s start put us somewhere in the hundreds.

We spent the rest of the stage working through groups, passing people and trying to catch back up. Much of the day was on fast roads with a headwind. It was truly road racing for ¾ of the day and since we were back with slower riders, we were not in packs that could share the workload. Matthew put his nose into the wind and his head down to work. It took us about 2 hours to move into the top 10 mixed field. It took us another couple of hours to work into 6^th place in the mixed division. The whole stage took us 5:41 and most of our effort was spent passing teams and working back up through the field after the botched start. We finished the day in 6^th and maintained our 5^th place in the GC. However, we now only have a 4 minute advantage on the next team, which leaves very little room for error.  We’re still in overall 5th place for our division, but we have lost time.

As the race goes on, Matthew and I are definitely finding our racing rhythm and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Today was frustrating to have lost so much time due to a mistake by the course marshal. However, we rode really well and cut our losses the best we could. It’s hard not to look at the standings for today and wonder where we should have placed. However, this race is very much an adventure and very few teams have 8 days in a row with no mistakes, mechanicals or mishaps. I crashed today and bent my wheel about 5 km from the finish. Luckily, it was still operational and got me to the finish line. The other Specialized team (Songo.info) with Christoph and Burry were not so lucky. Burry crashed early in the race and also damaged his wheel. After winning every single stage so far, they lost approximately 20 minutes and lost their overall lead. They are motivated to make a historical comeback and try to regain the lead. As I said, this race is an adventure and the fatigue is setting in for everyone. Bikes and bodies are getting worked, so anything can still happen.

Stage 5 tomorrow (Thursday, 3/26) is also rumored to be an “easy” day at 111 km and 2233 meters of climbing. The goal is to race well, stay upright and maintain our position in the general classification.

Cheers, Reba

by Rebecca Rusch, Mar 24

Although relatively short at only 73k, stage three packed a wallop. Just shy of half-way, we encountered a 2,000 ft climb, the vast majority of which was too steep, loose and rocky to ride. The summit ridge offered astonishing views of the incredible hill country known as The Overberg (over the mountains). Although this climb was the crux of the day, it was by no means the only challenge.

After a howling fast start straight up a 1,000 ft. + loose double-track, followed by several kilometers of loose, challenging, off-camber vineyard service roads, we found our adventure racing backgrounds serving us well as we marched up a steep trail that would take us to the summit of the Boskloof, the tallest mountain in the region. With our bikes on our shoulders, we steadily worked our way through the field on the long hike and eventually saw the 3^rd and 4^th place mixed teams in the overall standings. Knowing that this was our best shot at moving into the top four in the overall standings, we pushed relentlessly seeking seconds wherever we could find them.

The picturesque village of Greyton, sitting snugly against the mountains, was our destination, and after the insanely fast descent (max speed 35mph), we joined up with a pack of ex-roadies who stormed towards the final grinder climbs. Our legs had a hard time shifting from big-ring ripping to granny-gear grinding, but our minds were willing: we crossed the line in 5^th, again, solidifying our overall position but failing to budge one step higher.

After the race, we agreed that we couldn’t have gone any faster or raced together any better than we did. No flats, solid tactics, the courage to attack a hard course, no mistakes, good nutrition and hydration… it is a wonderful feeling to know that you’ve left it all on the trail, and that those who beat you were simply stronger on the day.

We also wanted to share our observations on the total professionalism of the team that is supporting us. Benno and Dylan, our mechanics, strip our bikes down every night, clean the chains link-by-ink, install fresh rubber every night (and even modify the tread for increased traction) and even use bike shine to make sure our rides are fully pimped at the line. And Claire and Natasha, our soigneurs, wake us with coffee, wash our clothes every day, massage the day’s punishment from our legs and generally make sure that we are presentable when we go to the line.

And, in terms of psyche, it’s never a bad thing to be sharing a designated mobile home slot with the team that has won every single stage of the race so far… although the groupies and journalists are starting to get a bit tedious!

Cheers for now…time to rest up for another grueling 114 km in Stage 4.

Reba