Absa Cape Epic
I hate road racing!
Rebecca Rusch / 27.03.2009
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 on 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 5th to 6th 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.See All Event Posts
