Oops - we did it again....

It's been a couple of weeks since the 22nd of March - the last day of the Cape Epic. And if you've been following this blog, you know that the last day wasn't exactly what we'd imagined when we started this whole

Stage 7: Grande Finale - the other side of the fence

Today was the last day of the Cape Epic. Not my last day of racing - that was two days ago, at kilometer 111 of the Queen Stage. Today I was on the other side of the fence, and it turns out that's a much harder place to

Stage 6: Team Trippz Epic down to one

Below is the story of Jeroen's day out on the Stellenbosch trails. No longer a teammate on the bike, I just assumed the role of ghostwriter. I slept really well, thanks to the wonderful bed at Darrel and Christa's. After starting Cape Epic with a few

Stage 5: The Queen Stage

I am out of the race. The Queen Stage proved too much for me. After the crash in Stage 4 — landing hard on my thigh and hip — I was struggling with the pain going into yesterday. But the bigger problem was what it did to my sleep. Another night lying

Stage 4: Rocks, Pain, and Pushing Through

I slept. Actually slept. After three nights of tossing and turning in Montagu - between the heat, probably suffering from sugar overload as we felt we had overdone our nutrition somewhat, and whatever else was conspiring against us - I finally cracked the code. Half of one of Jeroen'

Stage 3: the long way to Greyton

If you read yesterday's post, you know how Stage 2 ended. A destroyed rim at kilometre 61, a 16-kilometre walk to the water point, an hour waiting for a replacement that didn't quite work, creative shifting on three functional gears, and a finish in 186th place

Stage 2: We were flying (to close to the sun)

We started Stage 2 in good spirits. Jeroen had slept properly and we both felt ok, realizing we would fine out if the legs would agree with that position later. We were in start batch H, and as we arrived quite early, we were the right at the front at

Stage 1 — Rock Bottom, Coke, and a Comeback

It started exactly as Stage 1 of Cape Epic probably shouldn't start: Jeroen hadn't slept a single minute. On the way to the start — which was already hectic and slightly chaotic, the timing having been pushed 30 minutes earlier due to expected heat — he told me

Prologue: a rough start

Well, that was not how I imagined the first day of Cape Epic would go. Let me rewind to last night. About an hour afterdinner, I'm blaming a dish that was loaded with raw garlic, my stomach decided it wanted no part of this adventure. What followed was

The Day Before

The Day Before This morning we did one last proper ride. About 40 kilometers, with a solid chunk of trails around the Berg River dam. It was a good one, technical enough to feel purposeful, but not the kind of effort that leaves you wondering whether you've overdone

Our first test ride in Cape Epic-like conditions

After a twelve-hour flight from Amsterdam, we landed at Cape Town International just after 10PM on Wednesday. My friend Darrel was waiting at arrivals, and it was great seeing him in person again. We worked out it had been 2,5 years almost... He and his wife have been extraordinary

Packing a couple of days earlier than I wanted

Last Wednesday coming off the bike, I felt like I was hit by a train. After an easy endurance ride, it felt like I just completed the Cape Epic. I skipped 2 days to recover and tried again on Saturday. Same result.. Turns out I have a virus that attacks

Cape Epic - it's time!

Cape Epic — it's time! Yes, the time has finally come. All those months of preparing are over. I did my last ride yesterday, on a beautiful spring day in the forest. Jeroen skipped his last one — he finally caught a virus too 😉 — but he'll be fine.

The Last Push

A couple of days ago I caught myself doing something I hadn't done before. I started counting down the number of training sessions left until Cape Epic. Eight. Not twenty. Not fifteen. Eight. Funny how that number never felt worth counting at higher numbers. At twenty you'

Walking away from training for 10 days

I'm writing this from Switzerland, where I should be doing maintenance rides on the Kickr this week. Instead, the trainer is 900 kilometres away, back home with the bike still attached to it.  And I'm sitting here feeling surprisingly good about that decision. Let me tell

I've reached peak fitness

But maybe not in the way you might think. I've reached peak fitness in the sense that this is it. This is what I've got. Work at Trippz has been relentless these past weeks, and the reality is simple: I can't commit the training

Race day -38days check-in

When Ingmar is explaining that that life gets in the way of training in all the ways possible, it may look like I'm not struggling too, well guess again! Training in the winter in the Netherlands with a bike that's falling apart is kind of challenging.

The Countdown becomes real: 6 more weeks

So yes, another two weeks have passed. And I'll be completely honest with you, keeping up with the blog has been a challenge. Again. It's not like I don't have things to write about. The training data is there, the sessions are happening (mostly)

Finding strength in the data (When your head says otherwise)

So there I was, driving back from Girona after barely one day of what was supposed to be a proper four-day training camp. Jeroen had felt notably stronger on our ride, my family needed me home, and the clock is still ticking down to Cape Epic. Not exactly the confidence

When life hits hard: from training camp to emergency room

January 10, 2025 – 66 days to Cape Epic I'm writing this from home in the Netherlands, not from Girona where I should be finishing day 5 of our training camp. Sometimes the universe has different plans for you..... The Plan vs. Reality Sunday, January 5th: After a ten-hour

Most painful 20 minutes on a bike

First of all, sorry for my minimal contribution to the blog the last weeks. While increasing my training hours, I was also moving to a new house and trying to run a company with end-of-year deadlines. Basically, just a lot of excuses. I admire how Ingmar still finds the time

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.

Back into it!

Tuesday morning, 10:30 AM. Back on the Kickr for the first time serious session in a week, after doing some light work for an hour on Saturday (which was the sweatiest session so far, shortly after catching that virus) 2.5 hours scheduled: 1 hour endurance at 190w, 24

The first virus of the year (is here)

Tuesday morning: Sore throat. Itchy ear. Slight runny nose. I'd just finished a massive week of training. Six sessions, 390km. For the coming week I had two four-hour rides scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Everything still fully on track for Cape Epic. And then somehow nature always finds