Ride It | At the Race
Race Village

In the race village
The Absa Cape Epic together with some of South Africa's most well respected mountain biking retailers provide a bike service in the tech zone in our race village. Their services are in high demand during the race, so please only draw on their expertise when absolutely necessary. They only service clean bikes, and any spares are for the riders own account.

On the route
Probike provide basic technical support on the route, please ensure to carry cash or credit card should you need to purchase spares.

PRAGMA BIKE WASH

Once you cross the finish line, Pragma will immediately take your bike to the bike wash and park it safely in the bike park. Motorex is providing a bio-degradable cleaning agent to help you keep your bike clean throughout the race.

PRAGMA BIKE PARK

There is a bike park with 24-hour manned security in which your bike is safely stored. Only riders are allowed access in and out of the bike park, so you must fetch your own bike should it require a service. The bike park in each race village is normally a fenced tennis court, and is therefore uncovered in the event of rain.

NUTRITION

On the route
There are 3 water points per stage. Their location is marked and you will know exactly how far to the next water point. Each water point will serve chilled water,  Energade and Coke. The water is chilled in special refrigeration trucks so that even if air temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius and above, you will have cool water and energy drinks. Mulebar is the official energy bar of the Absa Cape Epic and their bars will be available at every water point. The second water point will also have a selection of fruit available. Each morning at breakfast you can make sandwiches to carry with you if you feel you require more nutrition for the ride.

In the race village
Woolworths will greet you on the finish line for a complimentary hamper of scrumptious woolworths food to start your recovery process. The race finish area is typically in the centre of each stage town or on one of their large sport fields. The local town communities will have food stalls in the finish areas from which you can buy take-away food. You are responsible for your own nutrition between race finish and the evening meal that we provide in the race village.

Dinners and breakfasts are served in the race village, and there is be a vegetarian dish available each evening for vegetarian riders only. The buffet dinner is served from 18h00 - 19h00 and breakfast from 5h30 - 6h30.

Beverages
Tea and coffee are provided with breakfast. Water is provided in the race village as well as during dinner in the dining marquee. All other beverages (alcoholic and soft) can be purchased from the bars in the chill zone and at the dining marquee.

PERFORMANCE AND RECOVERY

Massage Service
Students from Stellenbosch University Sport Performance Institute provide a massage service to all riders. Massage packages can be pre-booked in your rider zone, individual sessions are available at event.

Polar download service
A Polar Rider Service Centre will be onsite throughout the race to assist you in monitoring your performance and energy expenditure and help with any problems you may have.  

A Polar Download service will be available to download your daily files and check your race progress.  At the end of the event, all of your files will be e-mailed to you.

Polar Rider Services will be located at the Start/Finish next to the ACE Stage and services will be available up until dinner each evening.

HEALTH

MEDICAL SERVICES AT EVENT
The Medi-Clinic Private Hospital Group provides a complete emergency and medical services programme to the Absa Cape Epic. Their service includes an Advanced Medical Care Centre at each stage location and mobile paramedics and ambulances roaming the route. All basic services are free however, medication for pre-existing chronic illnesses and ailments will be charged at cost. Consumables for repeated daily strapping of repetitive stress related injuries will be available at cost throughout the race. Riders that require daily strapping are welcome to bring their own consumables (rigid strapping tape).

MTN CHARGING FACILITIES (12:00 - 21:00)

MTN will provide a complimentary cell phone charging station outside the internet cafe. Please note: chargers are NOT provided, you need to bring your own.

MTN INTERNET CAFE (12:00 - 21:00)

There will be an MTN Internet Cafe with computers in the race village at each stage location. This is a complimentary service to all riders and on a first come first served basis.

LAUNDRY SERVICES

Each town offers a laundry service in each stage location race village, washing will not be accepted unless provided in a laundry bag. Alternatively There will be basins in the race village in which you can hand-wash your cycling clothes. Please bring your own bio-degradable detergent.

DAWN WING

Dawn Wing is the official courier service at the Absa Cape Epic. They will be offering a wide range of courier and storage services to suit your every need.  These services will be available anytime before, during and after the race. Dawn Wing will collect your belongings from where ever you are and safely deliver them to your desired destination locally or internationally.