TAKING ON THE
CAPE EPIC
WITH JAN LOMBAARD
This March, serious mountain bikers from
around the globe will travel to the Western
Cape to take on one of the world’s most
gruelling races: the Absa Cape Epic.
This elite mountain bike (MTB) stage
race is the most televised in the world
and sees 650 two-person teams take on
an eight-day, 700-kilometre route that
includes 16 000 metres of punishing
uphill terrain.
Sure Travel’s IT Solutions Manager, Jan
Lombaard, will be one of them.
“A friend of mine, Jacqui Jackson – who
is no stranger to the podium, asked if I’d
be willing to ‘ride for her’ and I jumped at
this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he
says, adding that although he knew it was
a tough race, he didn’t quite know what he
was in for until he began training.
While Lombaard is used to preparing for
tough MTB races such as the Attakwas
Extreme (a 121-kilometre route from
Oudtshoorn to Mossel Bay), training
for the Cape Epic is a whole ‘nother ball
game – “It requires at least six months of
copious sweat and extreme mental and
emotional endurance.”
And that’s not including the intensely
strict diet he has to follow: “Nutrition is
super important. I have to pack specific
meals for each day, including snacks, food,
recovery meals, endurance powders and
water. It can be a gigantic pain, but I keep
at it when I remember the openness of
the trails, the friendliness of fellow riders
and the general camaraderie.”
The opportunity to travel for races
was not initially why the 41-year-old got
seriously into mountain biking in 2016 –
“the MTB bug just bit me hard” – but it’s
become an inseparable part of his love for
the sport.
From parts of South Africa not on tourist
routes to the back roads of wine farms at
home in Cape Town, seeing new scenery
from the saddle has become just as
addictive as the actual riding.
Sure Travel’s IT Solutions Manager, Jan
Lombaard, gearing up for the Cape Epic.
His MTB travel bucket list includes races
in Switzerland, Canada and Madagascar.
But for now he’s got his sights locked on
one finish line only, and he reckons it’s
going to be epic.
Fill your life with adventures, not things.
Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.
CHINA | PRAGUE | ETHIOPIA | NEPAL | MADAGASCAR | SPAIN AND MANY MORE!
Contact your nearest Sure Travel consultant to book
Call 0861 47 48 49 or visit www.suretravel.co.za