2025: The year we started Chasing Cape Epic
March 2025. A random day, when I texted Jeroen: ‘’Hey, that Cape Epic thing you told me about a long time ago, shouldn’t we just sign up and go for it?”
It was something completely out of the blue, as Jeroen and I had not discussed it anytime recently. But we’ve had a busy time at work, and I really felt I was up to a new challenge that was not work related. The next morning Jeroen responded ‘’This is so crazy, I was just discussing it yesterday evening with Marjolein (re: his partner) to maybe ask you whether you would be up to Cape Epic’’.
If that's not the universe handing you a sign, I don't know what is.
We signed up that week. Cape Epic 2026. But we had to go through the lottery, as the early-bird tickets sell out within a minute and we were obviously too late for that. We had to wait till June 19 till we would know whether we’d be admitted. But the final word came in and it was what we were hoping for: we were in!!
And as I was just going through my Whatsapp history with Jeroen: the entire top 20 in Masters started as a joke, and Jeroen even pushing back on the idea that it was really not realistic. He was just coming back from an injury and his FTP was at a (for him) record low of 225. He said ‘’to perform at that level, I would need to improve 100 W at least, that’s really not realistic’’.
The Baseline
July: Downloaded JOIN, the training app well known in the Netherlands amongst cyclists. We inputted our Cape Epic goal and got our structured training plans loaded. We started following them with something approaching religious dedication.
On August 21, we did a performance test in a lab test day at SEG Cyclinglab in Amsterdam. It was time to face the music and see what we were actually working with.
My FTP came out at 230W. Jeroen hit 270W, which was already a remarkable improvement from his early July 225W. For me: I was never a cyclist, other than the recreational MTB rides in the forest near my house. I had never heard of FTP till July, let alone what sort of level and improvements would be feasible. So I was ‘’happy’’ with doing only 40w less than Jeroen, who had lived in Spain for 5 years and probably did as much MTB as he did paid work there 😊.
In the meantime, we embraced the top 20 Masters ‘’joke’’, as it was an interesting goal to pursue, not knowing how feasible it would be in the first place.
For context, to have any shot at top 20 Masters, we'd need to be pushing well over 300W each. Probably closer to 320-340W. The gap between where we were and where we needed to be was significant.
But at least we knew. No guessing, no assumptions. Just numbers on a screen telling us exactly how much work was ahead.
The Work
Here's the thing about Jeroen and me: we live 200km apart. He's up north, I'm in the middle of the country. We almost never train together. Different schedules, different routes, different lives. The only thing connecting our training is that we're both following the same JOIN program and checking in with each other about how sessions went.
I locked in my schedule early. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 6:00 on the Kickr, Friday morning ideally in the field (depending on weather) Those became non-negotiable. Everything else - work meetings, family, social plans - had to work around those two sessions. Weekends stayed flexible for outdoor rides when the weather and schedule allowed.
Jeroen's approach is different, as he despises indoor training. He gets outside whenever possible, even when the Dutch weather makes that a character-building session. And the funny thing is: I have huge respect for Jeroen riding outdoor no matter the weather, he has huge respect for me being able to ride the Kickr for anything beyond 1 hour.
But the consistency paid off.
Mid November, I did a sports medical examination. A full VO2max test and an ECG to check for potential heart issues. My VO2 Max came out at 55, FTP came out at 285W. That's 55W up from August. In just over three months.
Jeroen did a field test in early October. 326W. A 56W jump in less than two months.
We'd both made massive gains. The kind of progress that makes you think "okay, maybe we're not completely crazy here and maybe, just maybe that top 20 is feasible after all.’’
The Reality check
Then came the route announcement. October 9th. Jeroen and I were both glued to the livestream at 21:00.
692km. 15,900m of climbing in eight days. It was more brutal than we'd feared. Stage 3 is crazy with 134km (only 1.750m of climbing and the ‘’queen stage’’ (stage 5) is even worse with 128km, but with a staggering 2700m of climbing it is absolutely vicious. The whole thing is a proper suffer fest.
And that's when it started to feel real. Not in an abstract "someday we'll do this" way, but in a "this is actually happening and here's exactly what we're up against" way.
When life gets in the way
September: My first MTB race. Ever. Utrechtse Heuvelrug, right in my hometown. 54km, and I somehow managed to pace it properly instead of blowing up early. Ended up 84th out of 201. Not spectacular, but it felt like progress.
September again: Jeroen and I flew to Seattle for work, but of course we squeezed in a day on the trails with Seattle Mountain Bike Tours The climbing showed how far we'd both come - Jeroen couldn't drop me this time. Last year he and our guide left me behind. This year I was right on his wheel. Fitness gains are real.
October: Skills clinic. Turned out Jeroen’s personal trainer is also a certified MTB instructor, so we did a private session on technique. Descending skills, line choice, bike handling. All the stuff you can't train on a Kickr but desperately need for Cape Epic's technical stages.
October again: Family holiday to Austria with my wife and daughters. Beautiful mountains, autumn colors, perfect weather. Also the first time I struggled to keep up with training. Holiday schedules don't align well with 3-hour sessions. I compromised - did shorter rides, accepted that not everything can be perfect, tried to be present with my family instead of obsessing over JOIN's schedule.
November: Forgot my MTB shoes on a work trip to Austria. Spent a week not training. And it was... fine. Actually kind of great! The forced rest probably helped more than another week of grinding. Got back on the bike and the legs remembered everything.
December: Got hit with a virus, a full week without training, right after a massive BUILD week. But you recover, adjust the schedule, and keep going. JOIN recalculated, I got back to it, and everything still moved forward.
The Tools
JOIN has been the backbone of everything. The structure works really well, the progressive training does and it keeps everything interesting and engaging.
Amacx for nutrition. I tested a few brands (which is recommended), but I found that I like these the best in terms of both taste, but also digestion. Gels, bars, 2:1 carb powder sports drink, all tested during training rides so nothing's new on race day.
The Kickr on the terrace. Before Cape Epic, I never heard of Kickr, or Tacx for that matter. My has become main training partner. While training, I’ve been watching Cape Epic recorded livestreams at Youtube like there’s no tomorrow.
Where We Are Now
78 days until we fly to South Africa.
I'm at 290W FTP and 78kg. Target is 310W at 75kg. Still work to do.
Jeroen's pushing for 335W at 79kg. Also still work to do, but he’s getting close!
What 2025 taught me
Structured training works if you actually do it. That 230W to 290W jump didn't happen by accident. It happened because I showed up for (almost) every session, even when I didn't feel like it. Today I’ve recorded 99 sessions in JOIN with a cumulative training time of 173h. And Jeroen’s numbers are similar, he also committed fully to getting the most out of it.
Recovery matters as much as the hard sessions. Those forced breaks probably gave my body adaptation time it needed.
Training is easier with a rhythm than with constant decision-making. Following a schedule served to you by JOIN made everything simpler.
Work, family, training - something always has to give. The trick is not letting it always be the same thing.
Bottom line: you can make huge progress in a short time if you're consistent and smart about it. Nine months ago we were nowhere near Cape Epic fitness. Now we're in range.
What strikes me most
We're both still genuinely motivated. Not forcing it, not faking it, we actually want to do this. The training sessions still happen. The discipline is still there. Nine months in, with three months of Dutch winter training still ahead, we're both locked in.
That simultaneous decision back in March feels even more significant now. This whole thing started with a coincidence - two business partners independently landing on the same crazy idea on the same day. Now it's 78 days from becoming reality.
692km. 15,900m. Eight days. Top 20 Masters.
Still don't know if it's realistic, but we're going to find out.
Until then, Keep Chasing!
