Ahh well - and so today symbolises the end of the 9th Epic. All the Smooth Knobblies are back at work with a huge sense of pride because some of our fellow cyclists have completed this arduous race. Epic John now has 9 official Epic finishers medals. Riaan Cracker has 5 under the belt.
Technology has amazingly kept us in almost real-time touch with our guys. The Epic website kept us updated of their position during each stage; update e-mails came through at bizarre times; the instant messaging apps on our phones were abuzz with updates, words of encouragement; photos; and we even made a few calls to the Fat Sknobbers Team. It made the race amazingly personal for us and we remained in a state of continued awe at the riding times and distances that these riders had to endure.
We could almost feel the pain when Cracker described his heinous saddle sore (words like "angry" and "seeping" come to mind...). We felt the pang of anguish when we learned that Cracker had sent his cycling shoes home in the washing (and rode 65km in takkies!); we experienced the helpless frustration when Epic told us of his broken Cannondale (Crackenfail?) only to follow up with a broken dérailleur on the loan bike. You guys exhausted us! But we are so very proud of you. To come 46th in the Masters Category and 183rd overall is a feat to be proud of. 48 hours of riding in a week is tough.
There will be more stories posted as I get to the bottom of some of the more juicy experiences that Epic and Cracker had.
Now they have inspired some of us to try and ride this.
- Step one: Negotiate with the family (Done).
- Step two: get an entry......(In process....)
- Step two.one: Secure a sponsor (like 2000 other wannabees out there!)
- Step three: Watch this space
Team Fat Bob - proud associates of The Smooth Knobblies - put yet another Epic behind them....
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