In a promo video ahead of the Absa Cape Epic, Kevin Evans said that after the first stage a few years ago he thought: “If it carries on like this I don’t know how long I’m going to last.” After the prologue of the ninth Absa Cape Epic yesterday I was left wondering the same thing. It was JUST 27km…but it JUST had 900 metres of climbing. That’s almost as much climbing as the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour has in 110km. It’s, like, a lot.

There are better places to meet than in the Race Hospital at the Absa Cape Epic, but that was where myself and fellow Team Absa rider Elana Meyer found ourselves yesterday around happy hour time. Elana was there to change the dressing on the stitch she received on her damaged elbow on Monday after her crash. I was there to have the wound on my elbow cleaned up after my crash yesterday.

It is probably the wrong thing that the race director of the Absa Cape Epic is a German. It makes jokes about cruelty and coldness too easy to come by, particularly if you are a rider doing his first Absa Cape Epic, and have listened to her briefing every night after dinner has been served, looking ahead to the next day’s stage.

I cried when I finished the fourth stage of the Absa Capo Epic yesterday. I didn’t want to cry. Rita Duckworth, mother of Clayton my fellow Team Absa teammate, hugged me as I came over the line in nine hours, 49 minutes and a whole lot of pain. Then she cried. And I cried. Jesus wept. The relief of it all.

Ge Lydia van Gildenhuys has hurt me daily since I began the Absa Cape Epic, but in the nicest possible way. Lydia is one of our physiotherapists and has been my angel with the healing hands this week as she has massaged and worked the pain from each day’s ride out of legs that told me they had no business riding 781km in a week.

And so, with a gentle flop to the right, I fell over at the finish line of the sixth stage and the seventh stage of the Absa Cape Epic with a beer in my hand and one waiting in the hand of a lady. It was a slow, inelegant fall, a result of exhaustion, eagerness to get the bear and relief, relief, at having come through a tough second-last day on the Epic.

There are no words. There is no reason, no rhyme, nor sense to be made of the maelstrom that is my head as I right this. I finished the Absa Cape Epic three hours before I sat down to write this. I’m still struggling to take it in. My mind has no sense of direction, no amount of drifting, dragging and dredging can pull it into line to make a straight line of the accomplishment. There’s an acronym that works: WTF.

Let the Cycle Lab technical team provide you with their technical expertise and ensure all you have to do is focus on getting from start to finish of each day of the 2012 challenging 2012 Absa Cape Epic. We will endeavour to resolve any bicycle-related technical issues such that you will be able to finish each day’s stage as hassle free as possible.

So do not think about it twice, complete the attached booking form to benefit from The Cycle Lab Private Technical Centre from 25 March to 1 April 2012.

Please send your completed booking form (our banking details are included) together with proof of payment via email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by fax on 086 214 2333

The total cost of R 3750.00 (Per Rider) paid to Cycle Lab in regard to the Rider Maintenance Package includes:

• Minor Service Daily (setting of gears, brakes, service BB etc.).
• Lube service.
• Unlimited Free High Quality Gear cables (these will be replaced as required during the 2012 Absa Cape Epic).
• Truing of Wheel
• In-house Suspension Repairs
• Any other repairs needed

Extra supplement:

• Spares specific to your bike will be available at your own cost. An active job card will be run from a lap top during the race therefore any parts used can be settled immediately after completion of the 2012 Absa Cape Epic.
• All services and hospitality above is exclusive to Cycle Lab Private Technical Centre paid up riders. Trespassers aren’t welcome!
• Please note the Technical Centre will be setup within the VIP section of the Race Village.

Riders are required during the event to:

• Ensure they bring their bikes to the Cycle Lab Technical support area prior to the Prologue in order for the bikes to be labelled with riders’ name.
• Riders must bring their bikes to the Cycle Lab Technical Support area during the race themselves from the wash bay.
• Payment of account accumulated during the event to be paid in full on the last day of the event to Cycle Lab. (Should there be any queries or disputes riders must discuss this prior the start of the next day)

Should you require any further information, please corroborate with Sean Wightman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on (021) 910 2022 as we need to get all the specs of your bike so that he can order the spares accordingly.