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That’s Nick Stephenson from a race last year. Nick doesn’t speak much when he rides. Nor does he take in the view. I went riding with Nick a few years ago when we were novice cyclists spending some time on two wheels in Girona, Spain. Nick was leading a breakaway, heading home, after a 140k bike ride. He was doing 45k’s per hour on the flats and I was barely hanging on. After 30 minutes, my legs and heart blew as I was jettisoned from the back of the speed train. I spoke to him afterwards at the pub about that half an hour of pain.

Team Aero are not known for staying at the back of the pack.

Registration
Keeto is only a few weeks away from getting married. His team mate, Matt Godwin, is only a few weeks away from having Keeto as a brother-in-law. Keeto’s still recovering from a chest cold he picked up at his bachelors two weeks ago paintballing with his mates in cold Guildford. Keeto sent me a text on the day before the prologue:

Guys at registration all look like rakes, they need to eat. Had to persuade doctor that we were fit enough to start. Kit and spare parts required. Guys started talking about 25hour training weeks, my arse started to quiver. We have speaker on bike hooked up to iPod music, so at least we can die to music. Tomorrow is 17k prologue with climbs. We rode 1st hills of day 1, oh my sack, I have had some kak ideas in my like, but Epic is the worst.

Team Shlang Balles are not in this race to compete. They’re in it to survive.

Prologue – Knysna 17km time trial prologue
Both teams managed the prologue without any mishaps. But both agreed, they went far too fast, far too early in the Epic. And they knew that going way outside their comfort zones might come back and haunt them further down the line.

Stage 1 - Knysna to George (123km)
The riders left the beautiful coastal town of Knysna, up Simola Pass, a 3km climb with a 7% gradient before heading into the forests. Lots of sharp climbs, slippery corners and heart-in-the-stomach descents through Homtini, Jubilee Creek nature reserve, and a technical descent through Katara forest. Riders then got onto stretches of the 7 passes route, with some deviations on more rugged terrain, before they reached the first race village on the beautiful Saasveld Campus.

Approximately 10 teams didn’t finish the 10h30m cut off from stage 1. They could continue to ride the tour, but would not be classified in the final standings.

Keeto and Matt finished in just over 8 and a half hours. He managed to send off a text from his tent:

Oh my f%£^”$ Rodney! 8h30 today! My poephol is so sore! 7 days to go. Cut off is 11hrs tomorrow.

Nick and Shane, as calm and cool as cucumbers, sent off details after stage 1:

All good today, my boy. Time 6h50m. 94th out of the men. 134th overall.

Stage 2 – George to Calitzdorp

Here’s a picture of the 2,518m of climbing the boys faced on Sunday’s stage 2. This was said to be the hardest day ever in Cape Epic’s history. It also proved to be one of the hottest reaching temperatures in the mid- 40’s.

The route took riders through a very hot Karoo (low – 40’s°C) and up the tough climbs of Montagu Pass, with dirt roads winding 9km up an 8% average gradient, and the Gamkaberg killer – Breakback Mountain (1,100m in altitude with gradients at 18%). Lots of loose rocks, sharp rocks, hairpin bends and suicidal downhills.

A sunburnt Keeto made it home with lots of minutes to spare before the 11 hour cutoff.

Day 2 complete. 9h30min, 90 minutes before cut off. 43 degrees in Karoo. Burnt like a prawn. Barry Atkins took on 8 punctures.

Nick managed to text in while trying to keep off the groupies:

79th general classification. 114th overall. Tired and hot, but ok.

See you for Monday’s Stage 3,
RobbyRicc