It’s not just the riders in the Absa Cape Epic who put their blood, sweat and tears into the race. Indeed, the event wouldn’t be a success at all without the many behind-the-scenes players involved.
Two critically important people behind Team CPUT and Team CPUT PPS are Marwaan Baker and Niel ‘O Connell. The pair work for Adventure Cycles in Wellington and are the teams’ go-to guys regarding any mechanical issues with their bikes. Niel says the bikes are essentially like rally motorcars – after each stage the bikes are stripped and serviced completely, making sure all the components are in a race-ready state for the next day.
“It’s a labour-intensive exercise that requires a lot of concentration. The riders usually finish racing at 2pm each day, and that’s when we’ll get busy servicing the bikes, finishing up sometime in the evening.”
Niel has both raced in and been a team mechanic in the Epic so he’s got a world of experience on and off the seat. He says the Epic only really starts on Day 4, when your body starts rebelling against you.
“Your system gets so depleted, your stomach doesn’t want to accept food and nourishment, and you almost have to force-feed yourself, especially at breakfast time. It’s a very hard thing to do to your body.”
He says another critical factor is one’s mind set – contestants have to accept that they’ll be riding through the most difficult terrain, for seven days, up to eight hours a day.
“Having said all that, you cannot describe the emotional rollercoaster that is the Epic – you laugh, you cry, you want to quit and you want to carry on, many, many times each day!”
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