One of the key attributes that road riders have is good leg speed. We mountain bikers enjoy raw power and the ability to grind out technical climbs and treacherous downhills. I therefor succumbed to doing some road riding with some of Cape Town’s notorious racing snakes.
I have to thank the Swift Carbon lads for kitting me out with a demo Ultravox RS1. What a beautifully fast machine…… very fast machine! I have no doubt that if I was still on my retro Italian Pep Magni with the Dura Ace down tube click shifters, I would have been riding around the mountain on my Pat Malone.
I have trouble at the stage races with the fast starts and W2W was the perfect example of how to damage your end result by going out too fast. I’ve decided that by hitting the tar with the lycra lads, I might build some of the speed and sustained cadence endurance that one needs to have for the long jeep track roads when mountain biking.
You know that when you’re riding in a group on the road you have to be aware of any kind of acceleration. There is always at least one rider who is feeling frisky and prepared to test the legs of the bunch. It is great interval type training even though it hurts like hell having to close the gap and get on the wheel and back into the desired slip stream.
One major benefit of riding with racing snakes and having Strava on is that you arrive home with a bundle of new PRs for the ride. I have no doubt that riding a fast bike has more than a lot to do with those PRs. So if you get a chance to ride with stronger riders, don’t turn it down, use it as an opportunity to bridge the gap and build on your own abilities.
For the Gauteng riders who don’t have the benefit of preparing for the Cape Epic by riding the beautiful trails that we do, use your time on the tar to build up your leg speed and endurance that will no doubt help enormously for your big adventure in March.
Until the next update on Epic training, push yourselves hard because we are entering the “min dae” before registering for the real deal.
Mark is training for his first Cape Epic and will be riding for Team Bicycling. Tune in for regular updates as he preps for his virgin ride come 15 March.
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