Well, from an organisational side, it has refined my creativity for the race. I have seen that some of the things we had in place that may have worked 10 years ago, but aren\u2019t relevant now. Times have changed and somethings may no longer make sense. From a personal experience, I can now totally understand why this race is so addictive \u2013 and why people will finish on Sunday and enter on Monday.<\/p>\n
What makes it so addictive?<\/strong><\/p>\n Its uniqueness. The exhilaration of finishing a stage – and then resting and getting up the next day to ride again is fantastic. The riding has also been fun \u2013 it\u2019s tough but not so tough that it\u2019s torture.<\/p>\n How did you prepare for the event?<\/strong><\/p>\n I trained early in the morning so that my training wouldn\u2019t eat into family time \u2013 but that also meant I wasn\u2019t as acclimatised to riding in the heat, which I have struggled with.<\/p>\n What do fellow riders say to you when they encounter you in the field?<\/strong><\/p>\n Occasionally I\u2019m recognised by other riders, and it\u2019s really humbling when \u2013 in broken English \u2013 a foreign rider will spontaneously thank me for this awesome experience. The great thing is that you soon settle down and ride with people of similar skill \u2013 and it\u2019s satisfying not to have slower riders holding you up on the single track or faster riders in your ears.<\/p>\n Is there anything about not being a rider that you miss?<\/strong><\/p>\n I miss not able to watch the racing at the front. The women\u2019s race has become so competitive – and that was part of our strategic effort to build it. We want to see the South Africans doing well in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s categories but it\u2019s amazing to see these global mountain bike pros racing in our country. Half an hour before the winners came home I\u2019d be at the finish line, waiting with all the fans and team managers. I loved the buzz and adrenaline on the finish line. I miss that action.<\/p>\n![\"ccs-62657-0-14460700-1458312872.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-14460700-1458312872.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Kevin Vermaak and Cedric Jakobsen during stage 4 of the 2016 Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike stage race from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Wellington, South Africa on the 17th March 2016. Photo by Dominic Barnardt\/Cape Epic\/SPORTZPICS<\/span><\/p>\n