Stage 6

The penultimate stage of the Cape Epic and we're feeling good. Like most riders we've got sore bums, stiff legs and are very tired but with the finish line in sight and two really good days of riding we're really positive about the final stage.

Today was a case of riding in our own back yard which made it all a lot of fun. The main privilege of the day was riding through the Kogelberg biosphere which is NEVER open to riders so for the Epic to get access is truly amazing. The riding in there consisted mainly of long rocky descents and long flat sandy patches both of which play to our strengths. On one of the rockier sections I was told I was "@#$%@ nuts!" and at the first water point another team were praising us for our technical skills in riding through some rock patches that everyone else walked.

The single track in Lebanon, Thandi and Oak Valley was all fantastic and a little local knowledge was very helpful. Paul was in full race mode and gave a class lesson in race strategy. At one point he managed to work us through a whole pack of riders so that we were at the front as we entered the singletrack. I stand in awe of some of his skills!

We started in Group E having worked our way up from G on Sunday and being in the earlier start group has really helped as we've managed to be at the front of the pack each morning and then pretty much hold our own for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be more interesting as everyone will be wanting to improve their overall standing so the racing should be a bit more intense.

Tonight will be dedicated to feeding, drinking and resting ready for a full-on day tomorrow.

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