Absa Cape Epic founder Kevin Vermaak found it an “emotional” experience, Rugby World Cup winner John Smit thought it was “lekker” and former Welsh rugby captain Colin Charvis “had great fun”.
And everybody found it to be “windy”.
They were commenting minutes after finishing the 26km Absa Cape Epic Prologue, which started and finished on Meerendal Wine Estate today.
Vermaak said he had been “quite emotional” as he started the race for the first time since he launched it in 2004. But from there one it was “awesome … we had fun the whole way”.
“People kept asking if I felt under pressure, but we were smiling the whole way and didn’t exert ourselves too much”.
And after his first taste of actually riding his own event Vermaak was “looking forward to the whole experience”.
Former Springbok captain John Smit said it was a “lekker (very nice) ride … but they are quite sneaky making us climb so much on a Prologue”. According to his GPS he had gained 930m of altitude on the route.
Former Springbok rugby player Marius Hurter said “ja, it was quite windy and we were bobbing and weaving a bit”. He added that the overnight drizzle had settled the trails on the course and made for a pleasant ride.
Former Welsh international rugby player Colin Charvis said the Prologue had been “great fun … there was a little bit of wind but it was nice to warm up the legs and now I’m ready for seven days of pain”. He added that the ride had been a “nice way to drown the sorrows after yesterday’s rugby result” (England beating Wales).
Charvis’s partner, adventurer Ron Rutland, said there was “a lekker gees (spirit) out there”. Charvis had punctured on the route and “everybody who came past asked us if we needed help … that’s the gees of the race”.
Internationally-renowned adventurer Riaan Manser agreed there had been “a lot of climbing for a prologue and it was windy, but we feel strong”.
His partner, Vasti Geldenhuys, said it had been “tough … but that’s what you expect at Meerendal”.
Last Lion Mike Nixon – one of four riders who has done every event to date and bidding for a 13th finish this year – said “the winds of Meerendal were blowing today and it wasn’t an easy prologue”. He had seen “a few guys blown off their bikes” on the Hoogekraal section of the ride.
Amputee Reuben van Niekerk, riding with a prosthetic limb after losing his leg in a motorbike accident in 2008, is attempting his third finish to join the Amabubesi Club and also said it was a “lekker” ride and he was feeling strong. “It was a bit windy but we had a jol,” he said.
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