Only one woman has ridden every rugged kilometre of countryside over which the Absa Cape Epic has traversed since the first race in 2004. And in 2016 Hannele Steyn will be back on the starting line and aiming to finish her 13th Cape Epic.
She has pedalled a massive 9 535km over the 12 editions of the event to date and won the Women’s category in 2005, so what brings her back? “The challenge to conquer one of the toughest stage races, not only because of the race itself, but also because of the unforgiving terrain and weather of our beautiful country,” Hannele says. There’s also “the privilege of riding in places which you won’t necessarily see otherwise”.
One other woman, KwaZulu Natal’s Joyce Benade, has more than 10 finishes. She became a Cape Epic addict after taking part in the 2005 event and this year finished for the 11th successive time.
Joyce remembers doing her first Cape Epic in 2005 with broken toes in her left foot and never having ridden a bike for more then 90km: “I finished with a very sick body, but my spirit was high and not broken. I had pushed through when other, stronger riders, had thrown in the towel,” she recalls. “I made lifelong friends that I would meet year after year. I met crew members that became my inspiration on the route. I had a supportive family. It was magical. It was addictive.”
In 2016 two other women, Yolande de Villiers (the winner in 2007) and Bonny Swanepoel, will aim to join the elite group of 10-time finishers. Yolande says she keeps turning up on the start line because of “something magical and untamed about the race … it makes me come back for more”.
Bonny is drawn to the Cape Epic by “an amazing route each year and the great atmosphere in the race village and on the route. The toughness of the ride also makes it a great challenge.”
The Absa Cape Epic has an additional significance in Bonny’s life: “This race has always been very special to me and I intended to do 10 in a row but was diagnosed with cancer during my ninth Epic
(in 2012) and did not finish. But I feel that I owe my life to this experience as the cancer was caught just before Stage 3 and now I am healthy and on my bike again. Having done and finished my ninth Epic in 2015, next year is going to be even more special as I will be achieving my long term goal of 10.”
She encourages “anyone out there who has been ill to stand back up and achieve your goals … it is a fantastic feeling being back on the bike”.
And when will they all stop taking on the mighty challenge?
Hannele believes she is “truly blessed to be healthy to be able to do this race” and will carry on “until I physically cannot manage anymore”.
Joyce will not be riding in 2016 but “maybe I will do it again with my son sometime in the future, or when I get a sponsor that wants to ride and not race”.
Yolande laughs: “20 sounds good.”
And Bonny: “One more …”
Racing snakes Hannele and Yolande naturally regard their wins as their finest Absa Cape Epic achievement. But for Joyce it is something different: “My finest achievement is the journey that I have every year and being able to enjoy it. Lots of riders forget why they ride and they set ‘measurable’ goals. My journey starts when I enter for the next Epic. Every morning I get up, every training ride, every event I enter, every new friend I make, every new path I discover … that is my journey and my achievement.”
Over the years a number of people have thanked her for inspiring them to ride: “That to me is a very humbling achievement that I am proud of.”
Bonny adds: “Completing the damn thing in one piece … fantastic feeling.”
Each of the Epic veterans has memories of their toughest race and toughest stages or climbs.
Hannele’s nightmare year was 2010, when she rode with the “very tough” German Yvonne Kraft. “We were in the lead but unfortunately lost it on day four and had to fight every day to try and get it back.” Despite their efforts, they finished that race in second place.
Hannele adds that over 12 years there have been many routes that fit the “toughest” description: “Fortunately the human body tends to forget pain very quickly.”
Joyce describes the change of format in 2009 as being “psychologically tough because I kept going around the same bloody mountain and I had no sense of ‘going somewhere’.”.
And in 2005 she made the mistake of relaxing mentally after completing Stage 7’s whopping 145km: “Stage 8 was only 75km, but mentally I finished on day 7! Big mistake and tough to battle through mentally as it was also a feeling of ‘I did the impossible’, and coping with ‘this is coming to an end and now I need to go back to ordinary life’.”
Yolande remembers 2014 as being challenging when her partner Ischen Stopforth “was sick and suffered the entire race”.
Like many veterans of the race she remembers one particular ascent as being the most challenging over the years: “Groenlandberg … it’s always difficult”.
Bonny’s cancer diagnosis in 2012 meant she did not finish and in spite of being ruled out for medical reasons “the monkey on my back weighed a ton for two years until I could ride again in 2015 … what a feeling being back at the race that saved my life”.
Her toughest days were the opening stages in the early versions of the event when it left Knysna “with no prologue to get you into the groove”.
Typically though, the good moments overwhelm the tough ones.
Hannele’s favourite moment in her 12 races was “when (race founder) Kevin Vermaak shook my hand to congratulate me on my 10th Epic and told me that I was the only woman in the world that had done that”.
Joyce has several: “Looking forward to hearing and chirping with Steven Thomas and the Daytrippers on the route with his coffee shaker every day; having Chris Walden and his crew on the route and at Water Point 2 and the finish line from 2005 to 2015; meeting Jaco Strydom in the shower queues and making friends with Hannele Steyn - both inspiring me to ride; the comradeship between mountain bike riders”.
Yolande’s best moment is “each time we rode over the finish line … you feel huge satisfaction and like you are king of the world”.
For Bonny it is “just great memories of spending hours chatting with the partners that I have ridden with: they are great friends”.
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