“We have a very special relationship as mother-and-daughter and we enjoy riding together but we will see how it goes if we have to stick together,” laughs Colleen Jacobs as she contemplates taking on the 2016 Absa Cape Epic with her daughter.
They will be one of only two mother-and-daughter teams in the field. Only one other mother-and-daughter team – Joan Louwrens and Mary Haw in 2008 – has previously finished the race.
Daughter Johandri Jacobs is looking forward to the experience: “She (her mother) is very strong and such an awesome motivator. Riding that well and training this hard at the age of 55 is an inspiration in itself,” Johandri says. “She’s done the Epic and many other tough races: I know she will be fine and I am more worried about keeping up with her.”
The relationship between partners is key to Cape Epic success. Does Johandri think that riding with her mother will help in this regard? “She’s been my hero and inspiration from a very young age, so I trust this will only bring us closer. She is very strong, physically and mentally, so there is not much that can get my partner down.”
Colleen has been riding since 2007 and has finished four Absa Cape Epics – with her husband in 2008, 2009 and 2013 and her son in 2011. She has also competed in many other stage races and the South African and World Championships.
But the 2016 Absa Cape Epic will be a whole new ballgame: “We have taken part in the same races at the same time, but we have not done one as a team. We are very excited to do this,” Colleen says. “We live very close to each other, so yes we train together a lot. We also work together on the farm in our family business.”
And their objectives for the race? “Our main mission is definitely to finish, but it would be nice to have a safe middle-of-the field finish,” Colleen says.
Johandri has been riding since 2010, “but only started to ride seriously in more intense and longer races from 2013”. She has finished the joBerg2c and Knysna 300 with her father and the Storms River Traverse with her brother. “The bug has bitten and I am definitely hooked … now for the Epic.”
She confesses to not having trained “that hard during the winter, but we kept the fitness as we will be doing the Karoo2Coast”.
“On the bike, Mom has definitely been more active. She a machine and very disciplined, so whenever I feel like sitting out she’s on my case,” Johandri laughs. “It’s obviously great to have a training partner like that.”
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