April 3, 2008 — Today was the last of the long stages which I think is a bit of a relief for most every rider in this race. With the heat and such demanding courses each day it’s not just our legs that are sore. Most everyone seems to be suffering where the body meets the bike. Saddles are not at all that comfy anymore. My hands have not been this blistered ever, and my wrists are throbbing after each stage. But otherwise I’m feeling quite fine.

Last night was the first night it rained. While the mobile home park at the race site is very large, still the majority of the riders stay in the tents set up by the organization. They look pretty comfy when the weather is good, but last night when the heavens opened around 9pm I did not envy them at all. On the other hand I was pretty happy hoping that the rain will keep the dust down a bit during the start.

We rolled out of town for today’s stage on a tar road for some time and the pace in the group was very relaxed. It was really a nice start to the day. On the first climb of we were riding with the top two mixed teams and Pia and I were both feeling good. The main challenge of the day was a 14km climb thru a nature reserve.

After feeding at the base of the climb we just settled into a steady pace. We were in pretty low gears as it was quite steep and loose, but this climb was rideable to the top. We got to the top and descended very, very carefully down the loose rocks not wanting a repeat of the previous 3-flat day. Today we were really riding strong together and this allowed us to get with some better riders for the last 65km. It was a fun group as today it was good not to be out there alone.

We had a long section of flat corrugated gravel road, maybe 20km long. It was so slow and bumpy it was like riding cobble stones for 40 minutes. Ouch. It started to get sandier and sandier signalling our proximity to the ocean. Toward the end we had a really sandy double track which opened to a big sand beach. The previous day we’d been close to where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic and today we were on the Atlantic ocean side and it was significantly cooler as we approached the water. Very refreshing!

We had our best ride at the Cape Epic today and I really enjoy that at these events one gets to share the good days with your riding partner. After yesterday we really earned our satisfaction today. Our support crew continues to look after us really well so we just have to pedal the bike, eat and sleep. The team satisfaction factor is in fact shared by many of us. Pia and I have long race careers behind us on the road and on mtn bikes so we’ve been leading some big races in our time and we were calm about the final two days.

But not our mechanics, they’re so nervous. They care quite a lot and have worked very hard as well behind the scenes for our leader’s jerseys. When the people behind you are like that the little pains in the body right now just seem to matter so much less.

Tomorrow’s ride is short, only 91km (yeah but that’s still a pretty long mtn bike ride) and quite hilly, but takes us to the nicest single track sections of the whole race. Hopefully we’ll find a nice group to ride with. I’m sure we will. As the race goes on the respect and bond between all the riders still left in the competition grows and that’s part of the special nature of these events.

Canadian MTB cycling legend and Pedal columnist, Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain), is competing at the 9-day 2008 Absa Cape Epic with her team mate, Marathon World Cup winner Pia Sundstedt (Fin), and will be sending us daily reports as conditions allow for an inside look at this amazing race with 1,200 riders from 41 countries.