Cape Epic 2009, Stages 4 and 5 …..

 

Stage 4, 114km (with 2202m climbing), March 25th 2009 (By Bobby Behan):

 

Winning four stages in a row was great and I suppose barring major problems things were looking good for us, but as I say barring major problems. Today unfortunately was a day full of problems, one which was major problem and could have cost Team Songo.info the entire race.

The lads looking focussed ….. the leader’s jersey is off their shoulders, a rare sight at this year’s event

The problems started on a big open road after 15 minutes where Susi suffered a puncture, standard with many teams here in The Epic, given the nature of the event, varying surfaces and terrrain. Once fixed the lads chased for 30 minutes and managed to get back into the main group. Right when they got back to the group, just when they were breating that sigh of relief that you are back on the lead train, another puncture came ….. it was basically the plug coming off from the repairs to the previous puncture.

What sportsmen … DCM Chrome offered to wait and help, but unfortunately their rotors were a different size. Susi and Burry got going again and chased so hard, thanks to DCM Chrome who really helped with the chasing. Songo.info were almost back on the lead bunch again when Burry crashed bad. He wrecked his front wheel!!! This was where the major problems started. Once again DCM Chrome were there to help. We cannot say enough thank you’s to DCM Chrome and riders Brandon Stewart and Max Knox. Burry’s wheel was crushed. Max a former runner opted to run with Burry’s bike to the feed, while Burry rode with Susi on Max’s bike …. Once to the feed Burry and Susi waited patiently for Brandon and Max. This was such a tough wait and as the time elapsed any thoughts of winning The Epic started to evaporate. Max and Brandon arrived ….. wheels were changed and then the race back began. At this stage we were 25 minutes off the pace.

Burry and Susi were almost crushed by the pace the DCM Chrome duo set. The chased as if they were racing for a World Title, with Susi and Burry on their wheels. It was a true mark of sportsmanship – the sacrificed themselves, given that their overall GC hopes were over for Songo.info. With just 23km to go and almost 2.5 hours of chasing the DCM Chrome boys were spent and there Susi and Burry kicked into gear pushing hard to the finishline. Team Songo finished only 5 minutes off the winners, which was a miracle in itself.

Post race debates after any event is a manager’s worst nightmare. But the protests started, because Burry rode a different bike for a period of the race. After two meetings and lots of discussions Songo.info received a 15 minute penalty. The lads now lie 20 minutes behind.

Psyched is a good word to describe it, but both Burry and Susi are psyched!!!! The race is now on and they are not in it to loose! The kids in Kayamandi and all the support staff are willing them on ….. race day tomorrow and over the next two days is going to be very interesting.

 

Stage 5, 111km (with 2233m climbing), March 26th 2009 (by Christoph Sauser): 

Benno, our top race mechanic and road manage for Italy with the lads, after stage three and victory celebrations

 

It is nice to start out on a hilly paved road for the first kilometers, but soon after we hit a big climb, where Burry and I tried to split up the field, especially isolating Team Bulls from their second team.  This move quickly formed a group of about six teams riding towards water point two. It felt like we were on holidays compare to yesterday’s full on chasing!! Bart and Jongewaard attacked in the feed zone! I have no idea why they did it, but probably you have to when your chances are getting limited…

Burry and myself did take it steady, leading for most of the time towards the fast roads an feed 3. The real racing started there, and everybody knew it. The cross country race was on, and the small field broke into pieces over hard steep climbs towards the end. Despite racing so hard yesterday, we still felt very crispy. With about 10km to go, we finally chased back Bart / Jongewaard and rode the victory in to the beautiful Oak Valley Estate.

We need a whole lot of luck, or even better “supersonic legs” in order to win the Epic. That fifteen minute penalty might be too great to make up.

 

Christoph’s Bike:

Bike: Specialized Epic Carbon Full Suspension

Tires: Specialized Fast Trac LK (Front)

Specialized Fast Trac LK (Rear)

Tire Pressures: 28 PSI (Front and Rear)

Fork Pressure: 75 PSI

Rear Shock Pressure: 170 PSI

Weight: 9.2 kg

 

Burry’s Bike:

 

Bike: Specialized Epic Carbon Full Suspension

Tires: Specialized Fast Trac LK (Front)

Specialized Fast Trac LK (Rear)

Tire Pressures: 27 PSI (Front)

27 PSI (Rear)

Fork Pressure: 75 PSI

Rear Shock Pressure: 180 PSI

Weight: 9.2 kg

 

Stage 5 Results:

1. Songo.info 4 hours 15’ 50’’

2. Trek Brentjens 4 hours 17’ 05’’

3. Felt Factory 2 4 hours 20’ 00’’

 

Overall Results after Stage Five:

 

1. Bulls 21 hours 46’ 45’’

2. Trek Brentjens 21 hours 52’ 18’’

3. Songo.info 22 hours 00’ 56’’

Browse Timeline

• « Cape Epic 2009: Stage 3
• » Cape Epic 2009: Stages 6 and 7

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